Are you interested in getting into manufacturing — especially in the plastic industry? You’ll likely come across products generated through injection molding.
The question is, what exactly is injection molding? And what is it used for?
As a general rule of thumb, injection molding is a multi-step manufacturing process that is often used to fabricate items of various sizes. These range from plastic toys or trinkets, to large car body parts.
If you’ve ever wondered what the injection molding process is used for, here’s a rundown on what you can expect from this process.
Let’s get started!
A Glimpse at Injection Molding in the Plastic Industry
Injection molding produces products such as containers, water bottles, and cases of cell phones. The plastic objects we use every day are often injection molded.
So, why does injection molding create these parts? Because the process is relatively quick and can help with generating a large number of identical parts. Injection molding also stands out because it allows you to produce plastic parts of various sizes and shapes.
The key items used in the injection molding process include a heated barrel, a feed hopper, and a screw.
First, you feed plastic granules into the barrel using the hopper. The plastic is typically in a granular or powder form. However, some resins might be in liquid forms, such as silicone rubber.
Next, you melt the plastic placed in the hopper using a robust reciprocating screw and heater bands. Then, you inject this molten plastic through a nozzle so that it enters a strong mold cavity.
In the cavity, your plastic material will cool and solidify, taking on the cavity’s shape. After the part becomes hard, then the part ejects using pins.
All in all, injection molding is a complex process that only industry experts can execute properly.
Detailed Features
Injection molding offers a number of benefits. For example, with it, you can generate products that have detailed features.
Here’s why.
An injection mold, or mold, is subjected to high pressure. Thus, the plastic throughout the mold presses extremely hard against the mold.
The result? You can add many details to your part’s design. This is something you cannot do with other molding processes.
In addition, because of the high pressure associated with injection molding, you can easily design and manufacture intricate and complex shapes. These shapes may otherwise be too expensive and complicated to manufacture.
High-Level Strength
Yet another reason why injection molding is invaluable is that you can use fillers in your molds. These fillers decrease the plastic’s density as the plastic mold develops. They also help to add strength to your part once it has undergone molding.
Let’s say that you are trying to produce a plastic part in a field where the part needs to be durable and strong. Plastic injection’s unparalleled strength compared with other molding processes makes it a top choice.
Manufacturing Cost Savings
Injection molding also offers the benefit of being automated.
Robots and machines perform most of this type of molding process, and just one operator can easily manage and control these machines. As a result, this process helps with decreasing manufacturing costs by significantly reducing your overhead costs.
In addition, because you can decrease your labor costs with injection molding, you can pass these savings on to your customers. And this may keep your customers coming back to you versus your competitors.
Automation additionally allows you to make accurate and precise injection molds. Specifically, computer-aided manufacturing and design allow for close tolerances when you’re making molds. And this leads to a high-quality product in the end.
Top-Level Efficiency
Injection molding additionally offers the advantage of a quick process compared to other molding methods.
First, the injection mold will be designed based on a customer’s specifications. Then, comes the pre-programmed press. After that, the molding process itself doesn’t take much time.
This means that you can manufacture more parts using one mold, which translates to a high rate of production output. This makes injection molding highly efficient and cost-effective.
Using Several Types of Plastics
Finally, a major reason to choose injection molding in the plastic industry is that you can use many different kinds of plastic at the same time.
You can do this with help from co-injection molding. Thus, you don’t have to worry about having to use a certain kind of plastic each time.
How We Can Help with Your Plastic Part Production Needs
We are a top-of-the-line plastic injection molding facility in the southwestern part of Michigan.
We take pride in being a Tier 1 supplier to automotive original equipment manufacturers. In addition, we are a Tier 2 supplier to companies that work with original equipment manufacturers.
The car manufacturers that take advantage of our complete parts include the likes of Volkswagen, Tesla, BMW, and Chrysler. Meanwhile, the suppliers that purchase our smaller components to create larger systems include Mayco International. These suppliers then sell their systems to original equipment manufacturers.
No matter whether your project is small or large, we have the diverse capabilities and expertise needed to handle it in the plastic industry. In fact, we can give you a quote for your project right away. We look forward to working with you and designing with you.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about how our injection molding facility can turn your vision into a reality in the months ahead.
