From disposable drinking bottles to durable plumbing pipes, plastics are ubiquitous in nearly every home and business. Mass-producing these items often involves efficient and accurate production processes. For manufacturers, this means choosing injection molding as a method to fabricate smaller, more intricate parts over other plastic manufacturing methods. Here’s what you need to know about injection molding and its several advantages.

Your Guide to Injection Molding

What Is It?

As a production process, injection molding is widely used for manufacturing small plastic items, such as disposable razors, syringes, bottle caps, and automotive bumpers, among others. By using a custom-made mold, you can produce high volumes of identical items, like parts for assembly. On the other hand, some molds are designed to make related parts or to produce several impressions in one go. Plastic, either thermosetting or thermoplastic, is melted and injected into the mold to fabricate the product.   

Why Should You Consider It?

Because molds can be modified to produce several items from a single cast, injection molding is considered a cost-effective, highly efficient production process. It also allows you to produce detailed and complex shapes that would be expensive using other methods. With injection molding, you can use a variety of plastic materials simultaneously and add fillers to make the product stronger and more durable. Since the process is automated, you can save on overhead costs, which will reflect in lower product prices. Injection molding yields little scrap that can be reground and reused in production.     

How Is Injection Molding Done?

An injection molding machine is made up of three main components: the feed hopper, screw or ram, and heated barrel. Plastic materials, in granules or powder form, are fed into the hopper and go straight into the heater barrel, where they are heated until they become liquid. With the revolving screw, the molten plastic is forced into the metal molds with pressure until it fills every crevice and sets. Once cooled, the produced part is then ejected from the mold cavity.  

For your customized plastic needs, choose injection molding from IMCO for your production process. Based in Spencerport, NY, this ISO®-certified molding shop has been providing quality plastic molds with their cutting-edge equipment for over 30 years. Call (585) 352-7810 to see how they can help with custom injection molding or visit their website for more information on mold building.