Managing production costs is a common challenge in manufacturing for both novices and experts. One major quagmire for most is understanding plastic injection molding costs. With multiple factors to be considered, it might feel overwhelming. But what makes the prices go up? Is it the mold design, the size of production, or the material? Without a clear understanding, there is a risk of incurring surprise costs that you never budgeted for.
In this guide, you’ll learn vital elements that affect costs in plastic injection molding and ways to manage them. When you know these factors, you’ll plan your budget well and avoid unwanted costs.
Mold design is a vital driver of production costs for anyone providing plastic injection molding services. While you might require some complexity to get the desired piece, it’s important to have a critical eye and reduce unnecessary complexity to avoid unwanted costs.
There are multiple vital factors in mold design that determine the overall cost. The ones we’ve discussed here can drive the cost up and if controlled in a smart manner minimize the costs. Knowing this will help manufacturers make informed choices.
Design Complexity: It’s important to understand that the more intricate and complex the piece, the more challenges a mold making company will have configuring the injection molding process. Therefore, they might incur more costs in making the final product. The product’s number of undercuts, intricate shapes, surface finishes, and tight tolerances are some of the elements that might impact product complexity and increase mold costs as more precision and advanced features are required.
Material Selection: You can save a lot by carefully considering the material you choose. Always go for cheaper alternatives like recycled materials. However, the appropriate material for your mold will vary depending on the volume you anticipate to manufacture and how durable you expect your piece to be. The resin you choose for your product can also influence your mold selection. For instance, abrasive resins might degrade a softer metal, which means you might require a mold made of abrasion-resistant steel.
Mold Features: Depending on the specifications of your mold, it’s important to ensure that your tool shop has the right tools for efficient production. Ideally, it’s important to install cooling systems in-house as it saves time and money and simplifies the process. It’s worth noting that cooling equipment is not cheap and it might help partnering with an expert to guide you.
While maximizing efficiency in injection mold helps reduce production costs in the long run there are several factors to consider ensuring quality is not compromised. We’ve curated some of them in this section.
Different production volumes highly determine plastic injection molding costs. The production volume determines several factors like required equipment sophistication, amount of raw materials to be used, and plastic injection mold features like strength and durability. For low-volume manufacturing, there’s less need for sophisticated equipment and the production cycle is short thus saving cost. For high-volume plastic injection molding, the manufacturer often requires steel molds because of their long life expectancy thus increasing the costs.
When you produce in high volume there’s higher cost distribution per piece, which reduces the cost per part.
In injection molding, businesses must create the correct balance in terms of short-term investment and long-term production plans. They need to stick to simple designs that will help them save costs when they are starting. They can then start implementing their long-term plan after investing in the right equipment that enables them to do high-volume production.
Plastic injection molding companies that are able to manage mold design costs can offer competitive market prices that enable them to stay ahead of the curve. Here are several strategies that can help you reduce mold design costs and help you get the best results in injection molding.
It is important to simplify part design as much as possible to reduce mold complexity and avoid unwanted costs. For instance, if there’s no requirement for a custom mold design, go for the universal mold which is less expensive and still produces top-quality products. If you have to produce a custom mold, it’s important to have a CAD model before you commence manufacturing. It helps in design optimization and identifying potential problems like complex shapes, steep draft angles, and unwanted wall thicknesses.
Molds are essential in plastic injection molding, and their material can highly impact costs. It’s important to choose mold materials that will reduce production costs and offer long-term durability. For instance, aluminum is cost-effective when doing short productions. For production requiring durable material, steel molds will be perfect because they’re long-lasting.
Choosing the right type of mold helps manufacturers cut massive costs. We recommend choosing single-cavity molds for small and simple productions and multi-cavity molds for higher-volume production.
Experience plays a key role in determining plastic injection mold costs. Working with experienced toolmakers is vital because they understand what’s crucial in terms of quality and cost. They are also familiar with the machinery and materials that’ll be used, and the common mistakes to avoid, and can save you money and time. An expert can also help create mold designs that last longer, produce fewer defective pieces, and reduce overall costs.
Several factors influence injection molding costs including production run size, material selection, labor, tooling, cycle time, and many more. When you understand these elements, you can enhance your budget and avoid unnecessary costs. Having an efficient production plan, making simple design choices, and choosing the right materials will help reduce costs and increase profits.
