SUCCESSFUL INJECTION MOLDING STARTS WITH THE RIGHT INJECTION MOLDER

In our more than 60 years, we’ve often met people who feel intimidated when it comes time to get started with plastic injection molding. Maybe it’s all the big machines, but–more likely–it’s the high costs often associated with getting started. There are initial upfront investments, of course; these include the design and creation of your injection mold. Yes, it can get spendy. But the good news is, by choosing the right injection molder you can take a lot of the headache out of getting started with injection molding.

To help you make a decision that is right for your products, it’s important to start out with a plan. It should be a good plan, a thorough plan, one that takes into consideration your (realistic) expectations for the kind of volumes you’ll need produced and the budget you have to work with. Injection molds can be very expensive (think in terms of tens of thousands, not the thousands) so economies of scale will definitely come into play when deciding what kind of mold you’ll require.

PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION VOLUMES

If you’re not expecting high volumes to begin with, you can work with your manufacturing partner to find a solution that makes sense financially. Luckily, innovations in manufacturing are happening on a daily basis, with the result of new opportunities for savings. 3D printed injection molds, for instance. Once considered only feasible for prototype parts, 3D printed injection molds are rapidly becoming more realistic for full production.

Learn more about 3d printed injection molds.

Of course, these kinds of decisions become a lot easier when you work with a highly knowledgeable and experienced injection molder. Here at KASO Plastics, we recommend getting involved very early in the design process so these types of decisions can inform your design from the beginning, rather than forcing you to make costly changes down the road. Our Early Supplier Involvement process was created to address just these types of challenges.

THE BENEFITS OF PROPER MATERIALS SELECTION

The second element of getting started that we cannot stress enough is materials selection. Think of materials selection as the unsung hero of the injection molding world. Choose correctly, and you greatly improve your products’ chances of success. Choose the wrong material (and there are many, many to choose from) and you could end up with a product that’s not suitable for the types of applications it will be expected to perform in the real world. Ouch. Choosing an injection molder with plenty of experience helping customers select the proper materials is huge.

The bottom line: Injection molding doesn’t have to be scary. There are some questions you can ask your injection molding suppliers to ensure a good fit and the right skills.

Want to learn more? Check out our article on “Choosing the Right Injection Molder”.

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