May 26, 2020 5 Tips for Cost Effective Injection Molding Projects

Tips to help you reduce the cost of your project and make it easier.

Injection molding has long been used to manufacture a wide range of products, can be surprisingly cost effective. It can also be a quick way to produce simple products, although is not limited to these. This tried and tested manufacturing method is one that can also be streamlined to reduce the time involved and minimise costs. In this article we will briefly look at 5 tips that will help you reduce the cost and make your project easier.

1: Design Stage

Take your time when designing the product, look for things that are not necessary and design primarily with production and end use in mind. Most injection molding projects involve products that are designed to be practical, so any additional frills that might not be needed can be removed. An experienced designer will be able to attend to this part of the process during the design element, so what goes to the prototyping stage will be close to the end product.

2: Choosing Materials

This is an area where experience in injection molding plays a large part. You have a choice of many thousands of different resins that can be used for a variety of items. It helps to know which is best for your item and your production processes in terms of weight, heat and chemical resistance, and colour among many other factors. If you have the experience you will be able to choose the best option, and if not then make sure you seek advice as the material used can make a lot of difference.

3: Keep Variations Down

Here we are talking mainly about colour changes. Stopping a production run to change the colours means extra time. Stopping for several different colour changes can mean a great deal of extra time. Time when the machines are not producing is expensive and not cost-effective. The trick is to settle on as few colour changes – or indeed any changes to the design or manufacturing process – as possible for one run, which cuts down on the time needed to produce the given quantity.

4: Longer Run Length

If you have a customer who places repeat orders, anticipate to some degree and produce more than the bare order states. The set-up time for an injection molding machine makes up quite a proportion of the cost of the job, so the longer the run, the less relevant this cost becomes. If you have storage space this is a great way of reducing your manufacturing costs.

5: Optimised Molds

Take care when sourcing your molds and make sure they are optimized to the product and the production process. Some items may not require molds as strong and bulky as others, and costs can be saved here. Optimizing is a key word in all manufacturing processes, and especially so when we are talking about injection molding.

There are many more things you can do to bring costs down when injection molding products, so start with above and you’ll see more ways to streamline your production processes.

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