Injection molding is a popular manufacturing process to produce plastic parts. It is widely used to make a wide range of parts in automotive, medical, consumer and industrial industry. Rapid injection molding is a popular technique because it is capable to produce high production rate. It can produce both simple and complicated parts with high tolerances. A wide range of materials can be used in injection molding. Injection molding requires low labor rate so it is very cost efficient.
Injection molding uses an injection molding machine, plastic resin and a mold. Injection molding machine consists of clamping unit and injection unit. Clamping unit holds the mold closed under pressure, Injection unit melts the plastic resin and rams the molten plastic into the mold. Injection machines have many sizes to manufacture different size of part. Injection machines are characterized by the clamping force. Injection mold is commonly made out of aluminum or steel. Injection mold can be simple and inexpensive or complicated and expensive. Thermoplastic resins are the popular type of material used in injection molding. Thermoplastic resin types include polypropylene, polycarbonate and polystyrene. Thermoplastics are recycle, versatile and easily melted. Injection molding is an ideal technology for mass production. It is also used to build prototypes which are used in initial parts and product testing. Injection molding process provides manufacturers a cost effective way to produce reliable parts.
When manufacturers need to produce parts quickly, they will use injection molding service. Rapid tooling come in the form of injection molded parts. Rapid tooling produces parts in low volume quality. Parts created by rapid injection molding process are used to build prototype and design testing. Rapid injection molded parts can be a bridge to production. Rapid injection molding is more of a research and development process. Compared to full production tooling, lead time and production cost of Fast Injection Moulding is reduced. Rapid plastic molding tools are made out of aluminum or steel. At TEAM Rapid, we use steel or aluminum to make injection mold but most of custom tools are made out of steel as compared to aluminum tool ,steel rapid injection molding tools produce more than double the parts. Rapid injection molding services offer many advantages. Upfront investment of rapid injection molding is low. It is flexible, high quality and high speed. Real production grade materials can be used in rapid injection molding process.
The first step in injection molding process is tool design. When designers begin tool design, they will conceptualize the part information. They have an idea of how the parts will look. Complexity of the part will take longer lead time. The way to solve this problem is to break the intricate part into less intricate parts and assemble them. And manufacturer can use rapid injection molding method to mold those smaller and less intricate parts. To take full advantage of fast turnaround, manufacturer need to make use of materials which are readily available. As most rapid injection molded parts can be used to test basic design, function etc, the type of available material is wide. It will work as long as the properties of material are similar to end used materials. Injection molding process is efficient which significantly reduce the overall lead time.
At TEAM Rapid, we combine our experience and advanced technology to make high quality rapid tooling solutions for prototypes making and short production run. Our team of engineers will work closely with every customer to make sure we offer perfect services. We are well-equipped to handle rapid injection molding and mass production molds. If you need help with your next Rapid Injection Molding projects or want to learn more about our injection molding service. Contact us at [email protected] today.
