Plastic Injection Molding

While it’s impossible to predict every fluctuation in commercial and industrial markets, there are plenty of predictions for where the plastic medical market is heading in 2020. With shifts in global manufacturing and a spike in the demand for medical equipment, supplies and devices, the plastic medical market is expected to grow as the year progresses. Developments in the Medical Plastics Market For the last 10 years, the medical plastics market has maintained a steady incre

Thinking about switching injection molders? We know it’s not a decision to take lightly. Fortunately, most businesses find themselves in this position only rarely. Unfortunately, it’s often due to a deterioration of the OEM and contract manufacturer’s working relationship. Perhaps costs have been on the rise, perhaps you’ve experienced a rise in quality issues, no matter what the reason, if you aren’t completely satisfied with your manufacturer, you may find yourself preparin

With another year making its way out the door, it’s a great time to reflect on where our industry is heading. Below are a few of the trends we believe will affect plastics professionals and consumers in the months ahead. The Search Continues for Lighter Weight Parts While not exactly a new trend, the search continues to find lightweight solutions for many of today’s top industries. Nowhere is this truer than in the automotive industry, where environmental concerns are making

As anyone who has gone through manufacturing before knows, injection molds are one of the most expensive investments you will make as you prepare to bring new products to market. An injection mold can easily cost upwards of tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity of the mold and the materials that are used to build it. It’s no surprise, then, that you really want your injection mold to last as long as possible. So how long can you expect your mol

A multi-cavity injection mold is, as the name implies, an injection mold that has more than one cavity. Each of those cavities is the same. The mold is designed to produce multiples of the same part during each production run. Multi-cavity injection molds are often used for higher volume products since it means each production run produces a higher number of finished parts. Multi-cavity injection molds are sometimes confused with family injection molds, but the two are quite

Managing Profitability The key to manageable business growth and increased profitability is to maintain healthy margins, but you might find that the amount you spend on manufacturing is throwing your profitability out of whack. Depending on what you’re manufacturing, the types of materials you’re using, and the scale of your operation some manufacturing costs might be unavoidable, but there are several things that you can do to cut your costs overall. By putting some key tips

If you use injection molding to produce plastic parts and components, it's important to consider the ways in which your production affects the environment and what you can do to minimize the effects it has on the world around you. Here are just a few of the ways we can work together to make injection molding more sustainable for all of us. Injection molding often produces a significant amount of scrap that goes to waste in landfills. Not only does scrap contribute to increase

Since injection molding processes were first developed, they have become increasingly popular for applications across just about every industry. One industry, in particular, that’s been revolutionized by the advent of advanced injection molding technology is outdoor recreation. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to the success of injection molding for outdoor products. Benefits of Injection Molding for Outdoor Recreation Gear Versatility: Because of the extensiv

As any new year begins, people speculate about what to expect in the coming months. Here are some of the trends affecting the plastics industry in 2019. Growth in automotive end-use applications: While injection molding has traditionally been utilized to create parts and components for machinery, equipment and industrial applications, we expect to see demand growing for injection molding for end-use applications in the coming year. The automotive industry, for example, is tak

Injection molding has been an important manufacturing process for decades. The process can be used to make a wide variety of products rapidly and on a large scale. Most manufacturers and product developers understand the benefits of using plastic injection molding for their parts, components, and products, but lots of people don’t know how many different types of injection molding they have to choose from. One of the more popular types of injection molding is structural foam

No industry exists in a vacuum. Injection molding is a process that’s used for the production of a wide range of components from a variety of industries: Telecommunications: Regardless of the popularity of mobile devices and wireless technology, much of the information that’s exchanged on a global scale is transmitted through fiber optic cables. Fiber optic networks require all kinds of adapters and specialized plastic parts to work effectively, and that’s where the injection

The injection molding industry can be confusing to navigate. With many different manufacturers, engineers, designers and other service providers it can be difficult to get a clear idea of just what an injection molder can actually do for you. WHAT IS CUSTOM INJECTION MOLDING? Custom injection molding involves a wide range of services that include engineering support, design consultation, analysis, prototyping, tooling and more. The idea behind custom injection molding is that

Manufacturing has come a long way in the last several decades. New processes help increase productivity, shorten processing times, create more reliable parts, and lower overhead costs. Let’s take a look at one of the more popular molding methods, compression molding, and weigh it against standard injection molding based on some essential factors. WHAT IS COMPRESSION MOLDING? Compression molding uses thermoset resins that are poured into a heated mold cavity and then forced do

Not all injection molding companies are created equal and, in some cases, choosing the wrong injection molding company can lead to excessive costs, low-quality parts and prototypes, and worst of all, lost profits. By taking a little extra time to really do your research, you can avoid the frustration of dealing with an unreliable company and instead build a relationship with an injection molder who can provide you with exceptional service for years to come. We recommend you a

These days, it seems like automation is progressively changing the structure of most industries. Even highly specialized processes are beginning to make the shift to automation. In the injection molding industry, this shift can only be categorized as a revolution, one that is changing nearly every step of the injection molding process. Although these changes can be challenging for businesses to keep up with, it’s easy to see how a variety of factors have led to automation’s p

Keeping up with all of the different injection molding processes that are around can be a challenge. All have distinct features, but you might have a hard time determining exactly which one is right for your products. If you need to manufacture more durable structural components, you might consider structural foam molding, a process that was developed to offer several benefits over other kinds of injection molding for particular applications. Below, you’ll find some of the mo

Overmolding is an injection molding process that involves the combination of multiple materials to form a single part. This process makes it possible to create dynamic components that combine the best qualities of different materials for unique applications. There are several different benefits of overmolding that clearly explain why it’s become an increasingly popular process among plastics manufacturers. Find out more about overmolding so that you can decide whether you mig

You’re probably familiar with the old adage ‘time is money,’ but if you're like most of us you might have a harder time actually putting this principle into practice. Cutting down cycle times, even fractionally, can be a challenge and it often requires a significant amount of trial and error to successfully reduce manufacturing time without sacrificing quality. Thankfully, there are several different things you can do to reduce your injection mold cycle time without negativel

As the injection molding industry has evolved, new methods and procedures have been developed to increase product quality. Gas assist injection molding is an injection molding process that uses nitrogen gas to create hollow channels within a mold. As the nitrogen gas forces material away from the core and out toward the edge of the mold, it relieves internal tension, creates a streamlined surface and prevents shrinkage. But even though the process can provide great benefits f

Though injection molding has been around since the 19th century, the efficiency, capacity and quality of the injection molding process has grown by leaps and bounds and the process used by manufacturers today is quite different from its original iteration. One of the more recent advancements to injection molding is the development of in-mold decoration, or IMD. This process allows manufacturers to efficiently and effectively add designs or logos to products in order to boost