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3 Main Cost Drivers in Injection Moulding

Injection moulding is an efficient and effective way of producing quality plastic goods. Quality is often assured, but as with any production process, there are factors to consider when cost is an issue. It is usually the cheapest way of manufacturing a product, but that doesn’t mean it won’t necessarily be expensive.

The cost of injection moulding may in part be dependant on the quality of the materials used, size and intricacy of the part, but here’s a rundown of the three biggest cost drivers when it comes to injection moulding.

Part design. A good part design will save a lot of money. When designing a part to be injection moulded, may things must be taken into consideration. For maximum efficiency, a part will be designed with consideration for materials, cooling time and the labour needed to create the tool. Bad part design will cost a lot of time and wasted effort. A badly designed part will cause rejects, slower cycle times (including cooling time) and extra labour. The part may not be designed well for tooling — especially if a part is complicated or intricate — and may require extra or special tooling costs. A part may be designed so that it still requires post-moulding work, adding yet more labour. This is not taking into account transport and packing costs; a good design will account for space requirements when in storage and shipment. Good part design reduces the costs of plastic moulding dramatically.
Tooling. The quality of the mould creation will alter the cost of injection moulding to a large extent. A mould’s design limitation is the parting line — the line which divides the two halves of the mould, the core and the cavity. This must be carefully considered when tooling a mould. For instance, a protruding portion of the mould, if the mould is correctly tooled, can be orientated along the parting line. If the mould is incorrectly tooled, however, this will create an undercut or overcut, and the part will snag in the mould. This will require labour to fix and will cost precious time that could be being used to create more parts.
Tool design. The quality of your tool design will impact immediately on both the quality and production cost of your finished part. Nothing accounts for quality, and the reliability of a tool that will deliver what you want every time will outstrip your initial investment in a very short amount of time. For instance, a cheaper injection moulding tool will only save you money in the short term. Long term, it’s lack of reliability and slow running time is likely to become a liability. Investing in a quality tool design specifically matching your needs and requirements will ensure you will have a consistently high-quality end product.

Taking time to consider your needs will bring you a worthwhile return on your investment. By insisting on good part design, tooling and tool design, you are assured a relatively stress-less endeavour when setting out to produce your product.