Plastic components are in high demand as ever today for industries ranging from automotive to health care. In fact, “the global injection molded plastics market size was valued at USD 258.2 billion in 2019,” according to Grand View Research. Injection molding makes even the most complex parts possible through precision mold design technologies, but you may be wondering how this whole process works. Custom Technologies is here to answer that for you. Continue reading to learn more from a local, turnkey manufacturer.
What Does an Injection Molding Machine Do?
In our previous blog, Injection Molding Explained, we discuss what injection molding is, how it’s beneficial for production, and more. This time, however, we’d like to discuss exactly what an injection molding machine does. Essentially, it’s a giant squeezing mechanism that holds a mold tool in place so that material can be heated until it melts and “injected” into the mold cavity. After the injection takes place, the material cools and hardens back into a solid form, and the finished parts are removed from the machine. Then, the process repeats. Overall, it’s incredibly cost-effective for producing production-volume parts.
What Materials Does it Use?
Injection molding machines can use a variety of materials ranging from rigid plastics to flexible EPDM/manmade rubber materials that are UV and weather-stable. Here are just a few examples:
- Nylon
- Polycarbonate
- Thermoplastic Rubber
- Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
- Polyethylene
When working with Custom Technologies on your plastic components, we’ll carefully choose the right choice for your application.
Custom Technologies’ Approach to Injection Molding
In order to view your project holistically, Custom Technologies designs and produces custom mold tooling in-house. Our proprietary modular mold designs make small runs practical and cost-effective. For simple parts with small volumes, we have a proprietary mold tooling design that allows various parts to be made using one mold “frame” (the expensive part of the mold hardware), and we create interchangeable “inserts” that go in the frame. Each insert is for a different part. In this way, we reduce tooling costs and time-to-startup on new items.
Why Work With Us?
When it comes to injection molding, our team of manufacturing experts has a wide range of experience after partnering with multiple industries. From established companies to startups, we handle design, prototyping, manufacturing, and automation. This means that Custom Technologies is not just limited to one area of expertise. Trust in us to remain in-house with all of your other manufacturing needs including laser cutting, machining and fabrication, electronics and software, business practices, and more.
Contact us today or visit customtechnologies.com.