Common Myths about Injection Molding Service

Common Myths about Injection Molding Service makenica.com/common-myths-about-injection-molding-service March 9, 2021

When it comes to production, it's smart to learn the best practices for the method you want to use to produce a part—whether it's plastic injection molding service, 3D printing, CNC machining, or beyond.

Best practices apply to any process and have been created for a reason: they can help ensure the product's consistency; they can make the process of manufacturing more efficient; Ultimately, they can save you considerable time and resources during your growth and continuous production processes.

Best practices can sometimes overlap with what is often referred to as "conventional wisdom." Though, "conventional wisdom" often ends up being the real explanation for a shop to warn you that a particular method or application cannot or may not be carried out.

In each of these scenarios, it's not because anything isn't possible. Because the shop doesn't have the ability or the imagination to provide what you need in a mutually advantageous manner.

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Keep reading on to learn more about some of the myths of plastic injection molding service: Myth: Injection molding service is only suitable for long production runs. In particular, injection molding service can be a cost-effective solution for manufacturing a component of almost any size, from a few-piece prototype to large-scale, six-or sevenfigure runs. Also, for practical prototypes created from a single step, an injection molding service may provide a solution.

2. Myth: Manufacturing a mold is very costly.

That doesn't have to be the case. Because tool steel molds take a long period to have unmatched strength for complete manufacturing processes—and thus cost a reasonable amount of money to produce—other materials may be used to make molds for shorter running applications.

The molds may be 3D printed or even CNC machined from other materials, both at a lower cost than the conventional steel mold tool.

3. Myth: Non-steel molds can only yield minimal volumes.

Many shops would warn you that even a low-cost mold made of different materials is a bad investment since it is only suitable for a few injection cycles, making a low number of sample components. In reality, many non-steel molds can generate thousands of parts with no loss of quality, some hitting as many as 10,000 pieces.

In such amounts, depending on the manufacturing and delivery schedule, you will be able to use a non-steel mold with an injection molding service to manufacture the parts you are selling.

4. Myth: Short-run molds are quickly destroyed.

As the above, the "conventional wisdom" of non-steel molds is that after a few manufacturing cycles, the cavities will begin to be damaged, resulting in the improper quality of the parts. The fact is, though, that the consistency of the parts made should be constant over hundreds or thousands of cycles—again, producing parts numbered in thousands.

5. Myth: Plastic injection molding service is not ideal for prototyping.

For several reasons mentioned above, plastic injection molding service has a reputation for not being a good prototyping technique.

It may be deemed "not cost-effective" or "too time-consuming." Far too frequently, another technique is used to make a prototype that may not have the same resemblance to the final product as injection molding service should have done. Injection molding service, where the right methods are used, will provide cost-effective samples in a few days as possible; let the entrepreneur or other product creator get a sense of how the final finished product looks, feels, and functions.

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6. Myth: Lead times of many months should be incorporated into injection molding service programs.

This is true of tool steel molds. For lengthy manufacturing cycles, molds of 10,000 or more parts require the length of time to manufacture.

However, where other materials or methods are used to make the mold, the mold may be made in only a few days, with shipping possible within a week. This time frame will alter the whole timeline of the product production process while also providing high-quality prototypes and components with injection molding service.

7. Myth: Injection molding service can't be both complex and fast.

When fast, cost-effective molding is debated, it is all too frequently written off for basic geometries only. However, this is not the case: 3D printing molds can also be used to create prototyping and short-run molds with the same compound and complicated constructions as tool steel molds can have.

These procedures shall include: Over-molding Double-shot molding Insert molding Two-shot molding…. and more 8. Myth: Only some materials are appropriate for injection molding service.

Due to the way the injection molding service operates, a common misunderstanding is that only clear, specially designed materials are suitable. Heating time, cavity filling, cooling time, and injection are also dynamic procedures. The base resin must be adequately measured and controlled to ensure that the whole cycle happens as it should be.

The reality is, though, that plastic injection molding service is incredibly flexible.

Furthermore, a wide variety of fabrics with various properties and features such as ABS, PET, PVC, polypropylene, and many more can be used.

Food and medical-grade materials can also be ideally adapted to the injection molding service.

9. Myth: Injection molded pieces must be customized, painted, or otherwise finished post-production.

A widespread misunderstanding is that injection molded components cannot be aesthetically appealing except to maintain the (usually unattractive) base color. Some shops will warn you that all graphic features or embellishments must be applied to the finishing phase after the molding has been finished.

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In reality, injection molds can be constructed so that all of these features of the component are used as part of the mold. These provide custom textures or finishes and Pantone matching to produce resins of nearly any color.

With these capacities, final appearance prototyping (essential for consumer goods and other applications) is much simpler.

10. Myth: The RFQ process for injection molding service is complicated and time-consuming.

Due to the extensive time and complexity that many stores can claim is intrinsic to the injection molding service, they will also end up in an unnecessarily complicated RFQ process. Especially when making prototypes and short-run molds—the process can be as simple as uploading a technical drawing. So, helps you get on the way to a prototype, and finally to a completed product, that much easier.

Tips To Optimize The Process of Injection Molding Service What does it mean to "optimise" the method of injection molding? In a large-scale (and, by default, oversimplified) context, it means objectively analyzing the method to produce the most effective, value-driven process possible. We'll take a closer look at the principle of injection molding optimization below.

It's not that far away from other facets of the molding process, where you've probably seen "optimization" debated earlier, such as product design. The optimized design approach takes into account applicable best practices. It then explores the physical engineering part of the overall manufacturing process and, from there, pursues a proper way of constructing the product for optimum efficiency and bottom-line effectiveness.

It is helpful to think of efficient injection molding process optimization as, above all, a technical process that is entirely guided by data and observation.

A caveat here: This suggests that findings will theoretically fly in the face of traditional wisdom or "accepted" methods of doing tasks—which is precisely why process optimization is essential. If a set of rules could clearly be added to the process and the process would perform as efficiently as possible, optimization would not be required.

Unfortunately, that's not the way it is. Fortunately, though, optimization is a wellconsidered and well-researched technique.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the optimization of the injection molding process let's look at the tips for doing this.

1. Quality management by the production of a sample.

Although quality management is a vital part of the overall manufacturing phase of molding, which typically takes place after production, the quality control of sample parts works somewhat differently.

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Sample parts will play a vital role in the optimization of the injection molding process.

They take the responsibility of carrying out tests and optimization through a complete production run (where problems are only identified after the fact). They also make it possible for you to understand better the operation and how the machine works.

By testing a small component run sample manufacturing process, you will have a firsthand look at how the full process is going, evaluate the part's consistency, the size of the shot, the temperature of the actual batch of resin you have on hand, and more.

The perspectives you will obtain from a sample run and a thorough round of quality management analysis can always do more than makeup for the time and resources you spend.

2. Inspection and examination of molds.

Examining the mold's flexibility as it interacts with your intended material will also provide considerable benefits in improving the molding process.

The wide variety of resin materials and formulations available means that small changes in viscosity, melting temperature, mold temperature, More will contribute to the combined fluctuations and variations in the molding process that can lead to rejected components, an unreliable process, and, ultimately, an unoptimized production process.

Some of the main aspects of mold testing are short shot testing, filling rate, pattern, and pressure curve assessment.

3. Checking and adjusting tools.

Suppose you have a realistic sample size with the details from your mold testing and component element quality control. In that case, you can do the fine-tuning that can lead to significant improvements in process productivity and performance.

For example, if you have experienced short-shot problems or erratic fill times, you will tweak the configuration and functionality of the tool to optimize these issues. If the mold's temperature was erratic or out of a reasonable range, you should change it for optimum heating and cooling time.

After working on sample design and processing, this stage is where you can make changes that contribute to concrete results—in other words, the fun part.

4. Process parameters and performance ranges.

Every part of the injection molding service has acceptable performance ranges—from the equipment to the instrument to the resin—and more. An unoptimized method runs below or at the outer bounds of these ranges.

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That's right: even though the components of the process are functionally within range, the process may still not be fully "optimised" if you haven't done the testing and fine-tuning to see what changes are feasible.

When you go through the above steps and use the tests' concrete outcomes to make incremental (or significant) changes to the process elements, the results will start to add up. This happens before you have a significant effect on the bottom line, your results, and the value you can give to your clients.

5. Create or adopt a straightforward design of experiments (DOE) procedure.

Repeatability is one of the essential considerations in the injection molding process's value and performance. The repeatable process can deliver consistent, suitable component rates that can quickly be troubleshot and helps the user be as knowledgeable as possible of how the process works.

When you run tests to refine the injection molding operation, repeatability is a crucial consideration to hold in mind, and "design of experiments" is the "official" word for doing so.

"Design of experiments" means that you are carrying out the tests in a scheduled, organized, and recorded manner. This assumes that any anomalies or other problems found will easily be tracked back to their precise source.

All too frequently, experimentation is inconsistently performed for various variables. For example, at two poles rather than on a mathematically derived curve, guesswork is the source of any known problems.

In short, if you're guessing at the source of the issue that your testing identified, you won't get the full benefit of your testing efforts (and might not be getting any of the value). Plan your lab experiments with as much rigor as you would have designed a part, and you'll be ready to enjoy the rewards.

Conclusion Experience in the design and operation of injection molding service is one of the best resources at the disposal for an effective and safe manufacturing experience. For more information about improving the design and processing of your product, please contact Makenica today.

Read More: Terminology and Planning in Injection Molding Service

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