Mass Production Injection mold
What is mass production injection mold?
Mass production injection mold can withstand a larger number of plastic injection molding cycle. They are made of P20 steel or nk80 stainless steel and usually last more than 100000 times. In addition, we provide lifetime warranty service for production molds. As long as we continue to manufacture your parts in our factory, we will maintain and repair the tools as needed at our expense.
Can I make design changes on the production mold?
Yes, using DDPROTOTYPE can make design changes to the production mold. Our engineer will coordinate with you to change the CAD file and rework the mold accordingly. Before production, you will receive the modified samples for your approval.DDPROTOTYPE provides a dedicated project manager and engineer for your injection molding production.
Reduce production and operation cost
Although 3D printing does not have the upfront cost of a mold like a mold, it will not reduce the unit cost with the increase of production, while injection molding will not. With just a few hundred production units, plastic injection molding can quickly become a more cost-effective option.This chart shows the unit cost of a part manufactured by injection molding and the same part that is 3D printed. The initial cost of injection mold is $5000, and the cost per unit is $0.14. The unit cost of 3D printers is fixed at $20. On 255 units, it’s cheaper to make parts with plastic injection molding.
Faster production time
Most of the time of plastic injection molding is spent on the mold itself. In actual production, a set of parts can be created in seconds. For a 3D printer, it can take any time between 20 minutes (a small simple design, such as a washer or nut) to a few hours (a more complex or larger part) to make a part. This means that the production of a large number of parts does not have a significant impact on the total time of plastic injection molding. On the other hand, adding more parts to an order can take a 3D printer days, weeks, or even months to complete the order.
Higher quality products
The most common 3D printer is the fused deposition modeling (FDM) machine. This means that the printer creates a part by repeatedly heating a drop of plastic and adding it once to the part. Allow each layer to cool completely before adding the next layer. This delamination may introduce new structural weaknesses, as these layers are sometimes easily separated. For plastic injection molding, the production mold is completely filled with molten plastic and then cooled. As the parts are integrated, plastic injection molding will not bring any new structural defects.
Advantages of manufacturing injection mold compared with CNC machining – reducing waste of materials
On average, even with additional connections (runner), injection molding produces less waste material than CNC machining. This is because CNC machining begins with a solid block of material from which parts are cut. In a very small production run, this cost can be negligible. In the case of larger production volumes and the use of more expensive materials, this waste can add considerable costs.
Reduce production time
CNC machining does not need any previous tools. Once completed, CAD files can be sent to production. In low volume manufacturing, CNC machining will be brilliant. Once a certain number of parts are obtained in operation (depending on the size and complexity of the parts), parts can be produced faster by injection molding.The biggest time waste of plastic injection molding is the creation of production mold. Once the production mold is created and set up correctly, parts can be produced in just a few seconds. In the production process, the more parts, the more time saving compared with CNC machining.
Higher production cost, lower cost
For CNC machines, each part must be manually put into or taken out of the machine, so the cost of each part in the production process is quite fixed. For plastic injection molding, the production mold is by far the most expensive product. After the mold is created, the parts are quite cheap and the production speed is fast. Because of the rapid speed of plastic injection molding, and once the production mold is established, there is no need for manual intervention, so the cost per piece decreases with the increase of the number. Depending on the complexity of the parts, it may be cheaper to produce hundreds of parts using plastic injection molding.
How long can the plastic mold last?
These customized plastic injection molds will typically last more than 100000 cycles. In addition, ddprototype provides a lifetime warranty for these production injection molds. As long as we continue to manufacture parts for you, we will maintain and refurbish the tools at our own expense as needed.
With DDPROTOTYPE, design changes can be made on the production mold. Our engineer will coordinate with you to change the CAD file and rework the mold accordingly. Before production, you will receive the modified samples for your approval.
What you need to know when purchasing injection mold
Ddprototype provides a full range of injection moulds, which will be exported from our wholly owned manufacturing plants in China for you to run in your own factory or designated production plant. Molds for plastics will be designed and manufactured in accordance with us / Western standards. It will be optimized for production on your injection molding machine, with details including cooling line connections ready for your existing setup. The typical steel grades of these dies are 718 / 718H, S136 / s136h, nk80 or as required by the customer.
Different customers have different mold requirements, so we can make it according to your plastic mold injection system specifications, including steel, hot runner system, process, surface polishing or plastic texture of injection mold. We can also meet your functional requirements for mold and injection molding, and match production specifications and mold design. After the completion of the mold, trial production and short-term production can be carried out, for example, to close the gap of the production mold.
Die durability
In the process of injection molding, the stress of injection mold is very large. The mold will wear as time goes on and over and over again. There are many factors that can extend the life of the injection mold, such as the use of higher grade, more durable steel. Similarly, injection molds are designed for specific pressures and temperatures. Operating the injection mold outside these ranges can shorten its service life. At icomold, we offer a lifetime warranty for production molds. As long as you continue to let us shape the parts for you, we will repair, renovate or even replace the mold when necessary, and the cost will be borne by us.
Make sure your injection mold is designed correctly
Considering more complex injection molds, it is important not only to make them to specifications, but also to design them correctly. There are so many injection molding machines in the world that their design capabilities are different. A company with many years of experience and knowledge needs to ensure that the injection mold can work properly. For example, home molds (molds that make more than one part at a time) need to be properly balanced. If the home mold is not made properly, you can get some short shot (unfinished) or parts with burr in the mold. Flash can be particularly harmful because it may require additional manufacturing time to trim parts.
Beware of buying directly from overseas
Trying to cut costs by buying directly from overseas may be tempting, but there may be some problems. Language and time difference are two problems. Due to language barriers, it may be difficult to communicate, and different working hours may lead to project delays. At iconold, we adopt the best of both worlds business model. You can work directly with an American company and save money because of the low manufacturing cost structure of our wholly-owned Chinese factory. You will be working with an English speaking project manager in Holland, Ohio, so it’s easy to talk to them and maintain normal working hours.
Another problem you may encounter directly with foreign injection molding companies is poor quality. However, since we have our own manufacturing plant in China, our internal quality assurance team can ensure that you will get the highest quality injection mold.
Production of injection molding parts
When we do produce injection molds directly to our customers, we can also produce our own plastic parts in our manufacturing plant. Our lifetime warranty will benefit you when molding parts. As long as we run the parts for you, we will maintain, repair and even replace your molds when necessary, at our own expense.