What is low volume plastic injection molding used for?

Injection molding is one of the best ways to manufacture plastics industrially for commercial use. This technology is highly cost-effective and can be easily repeated for the production of high-quality parts. When this production technology is used in industrial environments, it helps produce large volumes of high-precision parts in a short time. This is why it is used for the mass production of identical parts with strict quality requirements from the customer.

What is injection molding?

The injection molding is an intensive production method that can be used to quickly produce different parts in large volumes. This production process uses a lot of pressure and heat to force a molten material inside a mold cavity. It is a very popular production process used in the plastic industry. However, this process can be used to also produce products made from other metals. In the plastics industry, this product uses common plastic materials like thermoplastics like TPU, PP, PC, PE, PS, or ABS. In addition, you can also use ceramics and metals in this injection mould.

 

What is low volume plastic injection molding used for?

The low volume plastic injection molding can be used for several applications. These include:

1). Fast prototyping: Low volume plastic injection molding can be used for rapid prototyping. This is a useful process whereby companies can transform their ideas into real-life products. The production process can be used to imitate all the specifications of the design to function like the final product. Businesses can rely on this plastic injection technology to present their products to clients. It can be used as a reliable technology to seek design validation and approval for mass production.

 

2). Short-run injection molding: Manufacturers can use the low volume plastic injection molding equipment to manufacture smaller aftermarket accessories for bigger products. Furthermore, it can also help businesses create small batches of new products for market testing. They allow customers to use the products and would usually get feedback about the product performance. From the customer feedback, they can decide whether or not the change the product configuration. This is needed before mass production is commenced. With this technology, you can easily produce multiple end-use parts several times to meet customer’s requests. In some cases, customers may demand smaller batch production, and this technology can help you meet that request.

 

3. Custom or on-demand injection molding: The low volume plastic injection molding equipment is useful for producing custom end-use parts. This is suitable for particular applications where customers have requested for their products to be different from that of their business rivals. With this molding form, the customers can get all products customized according to their expectations. In addition, all of these can be done with shorter lead times or a limited volume. This is not usually possible with the traditional injection molding method. The low volume plastic injection molding can be used to quickly fulfill customers on demand production requests.

 

What is the mold used in this production process?

The mold is a very important part of the injection molding process. This is the cavity, which is technically an empty chamber. The molten substance is usually injected or forced into this cavity with pressure. A sufficient amount of heat and pressure is also forced into the chamber to provide the right forming conditions. This mold is designed in such a way that the work operators can easily monitor all the features of the product being made.

 

What type of plastic injection mold do you need for your business?

The mold used for low volume plastic injection molding is usually made from a CNC machine. Another technology that can be used to produce this mold is EDM (electric discharge machining). The CNC and the EDM are both costly industrial equipment that need skilled labour and sophisticated software to be produced. It can take anywhere between four and eight weeks to produce the right metal molds. The cost of this production process usually ranges from $2,000 to over $100,000. The cost of a particular mold depends on the needs of the manufacturer, which requires a certain complexity and shape.

 

Low volume injection molding as a type of molding technology

There are several injection molding methods of which the low volume plastic injection molding is one method. These are efficient molding systems that are used to produce high-precision parts at very low costs. You can easily choose your production volume which could be high or low. The three main types of injection molding include:

1). Low-volume injection molding

2). Mid-volume injection molding

3).  High-volume injection molding

 

A simple overview of the workflow of a low volume injection molding process

1. Design your mold: The mold for a specific product is designed by using simple computer-assisted software.
2. Print out the mold: The designed mold is then sent to a compatible 3D printing machine. It is then printed out.
3. Assemble your mold: The mold is usually printed in parts. As soon as the printing stage is completed, you may want to assemble the parts.
4. Clamp the molds together: Your molds have to be assembled with a tight fastening method by using a clamp. Make sure that this clamp force is not too tight.
5. Injection: This is the time when you get to inject your molds with the right production material like molten plastic, and so on.
6. Cooling the material: Next comes the cooling stage of the molten plastic. For molten plastic, the cooling time is usually longer when compared to that of a metal. You can accelerate this cooling process by adding compressed air. This works to cool off the molten plastic and helps it to become solid.
7. Demolding: The demolding part is that part of the project whereby you use a release agent to separate the newly formed plastic product from the molds. There are many mold releases in the market that you can use for this part of the process.

Getting started with your low volume plastic injection molding process

The low volume plastic injection molding is available for any startup or new manufacturer looking to meet low volume customer demands. It is a production method that can be used to accelerate your product development stages. With the technology, you can easily reduce product lead times and costs which leads to huge savings. It is also the ideal production technology to help you to launch your new plastic product in the market.

For more about what is low volume plastic injection molding used for,you can pay a visit to Djmolding at https://www.djmolding.com/low-volume-injection-molding/ for more info.