When it comes to the industrial world, decision-makers have to make rock-solid choices regarding the sourcing of materials, especially if they’re looking to cut costs. For savvy manufacturing companies, plastic-cast parts can be their best option to cut on costly metallic items expenditure.
Custom plastic injection molded parts and assemblies are some of the options available in the market. Notably, these components come in particular dimensions as required for a range of specific applications. Prototype plastics fulfill a variety of demand requirements for manufacturers looking to develop innovative products within a short time frame.
With many factors significantly contributing to the evolution of the plastic parts, this article looks to establish the reasons for their popularity and how they can benefit designers.
What is a Plastic Mold?
Typically, the custom injection molds are metallic designs having a hollow base. Subsequently, liquid plastic material fills the cavity, thus giving you an ideal plastic product upon drying. One of the main attractions of this operation is the ability of the cast to last through millions of cycles and for this reason, it is an inexpensive exercise.
Use of the Plastic Mold Tech
Application of the template procedure works best for highly stressed technical components, such as those used in the manufacturing industry. You’ll find extensive use of mold plastic components in electronics; cell phone enclosures, computer parts, televisions, etc.
Similarly, the medical field utilizes it for syringe bodies, breathing gadgets, and a host of other life-saving devices.
As it continues to make advancement into the foreseeable future, it is easy to identify with the reasoning of this rapid evolution. Industry leaders find it simple to work with because it affords them; lighter parts, cheaper components, while being significantly quieter and more reliable.
What is Involved in Plastic Injection Molding
First, you liquefy the resin through heating. Then, forcing the liquid into a template cavity, and the outcome is a negative image of the sought after part. Finally, it is allowed to cool, after which you open the cast and remove the complete item.
Where needed, it is possible to build desired features into the plastic mold cavity, therefore, giving the part all its functionalities before it leaves the template. Not only does your finished piece have different texture finishes, but also, custom polishes, markings, assembly fixtures, and shapes.
The Advantages of Plastic Molding
As earlier seen, plastic cast parts have their benefits:
- You can produce identical parts with a high degree of consistency in features, dimensions, and physical outlook.
- The process is ideal for large volume requirement of parts in the manufacturing sector.
- When well maintained, the injection templates can last through many cycles, and therefore make multiple parts for years.
Increased capacity is achievable through creation of multiple cavities. Moreover, the procedure makes it possible to increase production rates, and also produce different parts in one cycle.
To illustrate the efficiency of the process; it is conceivable to have a right, and left-handed version of a part developed in one cast enclosure. Thus, the process reduces the number of cycles needed to make multiple parts. Conversely, injection molds uniquely avail manufacturers flexibility compared to any other alternative method.
Compared to other manufacturing processes, plastic parts have significantly lower scrap rates. In many instances, no second operation is required to remove residual material waste. For this matter, you can apply special techniques that will substantially eliminate small plastic leakage pathways and cut material scrapping rate to the minimum.
Often, high efficiency is achievable through recycling of the raw material removed from cut-offs. This process involves pelletizing the plastic and then mixing the residue to fresh plastic resin in controlled proportions.
If you’re looking to find solutions for the high cost of manufacturing metal parts, it is fitting that you should consider plastic injection mold parts and assemblies. Contact us for more info.