Although injection molding is the most efficient manufacturing technique with many benefits, there are a few things to consider before deciding if this is right for you.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the most important advantages and disadvantages of injection molding.
Advantages of Injection molding
First, let’s review the advantages of choosing an injection molding machine.
- Impeccable accuracy
Because of the way the material is injected into the mold and then molded by the mold, the number of defects can be minimized. You can repeatedly produce the same part as the previous one for every run.
As you can imagine, this kind of precision is essential in almost all industries, especially those where quality cannot be compromised, which is why injection molding is popular in demanding fields such as aerospace and automotive.
- Intricate details
As mentioned earlier, injection molding enables companies to produce the most complex mold designs and quickly execute even the most minor details.
You can add multiple details to your mold design and guarantee that the mold will realize each detail.
- Durability
Unlike most other production methods, injection molding offers advanced possibilities in the durability and reliability of plastic parts produced.
For example, you can add filler to an injection mold you create, which helps reduce the density of the plastic material and makes each part stronger.
- Automation
One of the main reasons injection molding machines produce consistent results is that many actual manufacturing processes can be automated.
This means that you can minimize the chance of human error, but you can also have the machine produce parts at a consistent rate and with a high completion rate.
- Save cost
For the most part, injection molded parts are one of the most cost-effective solutions.
Although the project’s bottom line will depend on the materials, you use and the complexity of the design, you will often find that injection molding provides more budget savings than other manufacturing methods.
- A lot of materials are available
If there’s one thing injection molding excels at, it’s the ability to customize materials and finishes to almost any type of requirement. You can choose from plastics, thermoplastic rubber, chemically resistant plastics, biodegradable plastics, and many other materials, so be sure to figure out what you need, and you’ll have plenty to choose from.
You can also choose almost any color imaginably and from various finishes, both for aesthetic and functional purposes.
- Environmental
Finally, in a world where environmental awareness is more critical than ever, injection molding can be helpful because it produces almost no waste.
Every bit of material not used in the mold can be reused for future projects.
Disadvantages of Injection molding
We’ve looked at why injection molding is so practical, so let’s take a look at some of its downsides to give you a fuller picture.
- high-cost for low quantity
As we mentioned earlier, injection molding is very cost-effective, especially for mass production, because the cost of a part is relatively low.
However, before the actual manufacture, you need to design and make the mold itself, which takes a lot of time and workforce to execute appropriately.
Although the process can be complicated, you can quickly produce thousands of parts with this mold once completed.
- It takes longer to get started
Because molds need to be designed and created, it’s understandable that this process can take months to complete, depending on your project.
But even though mold development projects take time, the process can be speedy and reliable once completed. If you know what you’re looking for and have previous experience, you can drastically reduce your time.
- Size limit
While injection molding machines can produce reasonably large parts, up to about 60 cubic inches, if you need something larger, you may have to choose another manufacturing method, such as plastic manufacturing.
Still, your part will most likely fall within the parameters in most cases, so you should be fine.
Application of injection molding
Precision and cost-effectiveness are the two most important considerations most companies look for when producing parts.
That’s why it’s no surprise that processes like injection molding have become so popular and used for small batches and mass production of parts with tight tolerances.
We’ve talked about some high-tech industries that benefit from this kind of manufacturing, but let’s look at some of the more common applications to see what types of items you can produce.
- The package of food and drink
As we mentioned earlier, injection molding gives companies the ability to produce parts from various materials. This is important in industries such as food and beverage, where it requires compliance with various regulations related to food container safety. By injection molding, you can use a BPA-free, non-toxic plastic that can not only safely come into contact with food but also withstand temperature changes.
With relatively low production costs, injection molding is ideal for producing food containers, beverage LIDS, and filtration components.
- Building component
Another industry using injection-molding technology is construction and construction, where custom and complex plastic components play a crucial role in building houses and structures.
Often, these parts must also meet stringent requirements for quality and fit.
For example, when making plastic parts for doors and windows, they must be perfect, but they must also be durable and have a unique quality that resists environmental factors.
Plastic injection molding services are even used to produce parts that can replace metal parts, providing superior performance at a more affordable price.
- Medical apparatus
Because injection molding medical companies can make vital tools and parts cheaper, this helps make health care more accessible to people around the world.
Many integrated medical devices such as heart pumps, various monitors, and a range of medical instruments rely on the precision of injection molding, making the technology irreplaceable in the field.