How to Save Money When Buying 2 shot molding supplier

Self-Mating Parts

Maybe you&#;re designing a snap case for medical components, or two interlocking halves of a portable radio? Why build two mating parts when you can make one?  You can redesign the snaps so that the halves can be fit together from either direction, thus building a so-called &#;universal&#; part. Only one mould is needed, saving production expenses up front. And you can now mould twice as many of one part, instead of half the quantities of two.

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Mould Modifications

It is relatively easy to remove metal from an existing metal mould. Adding metal, on the other hand, can be difficult or, for all practical purposes, impossible with rapid injection moulding. To look at this from the part perspective, you can add plastic, but you can&#;t take it away. Designing with this in mind is called &#;metal safe.&#;

Some injection-moulded parts go through multiple iterations until a final, workable design emerges. Instead of purchasing a new mould for every revision, a little clever planning will allow the same mould to be used multiple times. Starting with the smallest, most basic part design, mould as many pieces as needed, then re-machine the mould to include additional part features, or a larger, taller version of the same part, and mould again. This is not an exact science, but given the right part, this re-use approach can save cost on tooling development.

Mouldability-DFM Analysis

Every quote for an injection-moulded part at Protolabs is accompanied by a free design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis. This identifies potential problem areas, or opportunities for design improvement. Insufficient draft angles, &#;un-machinable&#; features, impossible geometries&#;these are just a few examples in which part designs can and should be improved before clicking the &#;accept&#; button. Be sure to review these suggestions thoroughly, and contact an applications engineer at Protolabs with any design-related questions.

Multi-Cavity and Family Moulds

Maybe you are after a higher volume of parts? You can still achieve high volumes using aluminium tooling with two-, four-, or eight-cavity moulds depending on size and part geometry that can reduce your piece part price, although this would impact your tooling costs.

Have you got a family of parts that all fit together? How about multiple moulding projects at one time? There&#;s no reason to build a mould for each individual part, provided A) everything is made of the same plastic, B) each part is roughly the same size (e.g., have similar processing times), and C) can all be squeezed into the same cavity, while still allowing for proper mould functioning.

In addition, maybe you can join some of those parts with a living hinge? This method is a great way, for example, to mould two halves of a clamshell-style container. These parts would otherwise need a pin-type assembly to open and close. The only caveat here is that a flexible and tough material must be used, such as polypropylene (PP).

Part Size

Along these same lines, always consider part extents. In moulding-speak, that means how big is the part, and will it fit comfortably in the mould while allowing for sprues, runners, ejector pins, and all the other considerations needed to make a mould work. Protolabs&#; maximum part size for injection moulding is currently 480mm by 751mm with a maximum depth from the parting line of 101mm deep. However, larger parts like these, in turn, require a larger mould. This may have an impact on your mould and part costs.

As always, feel free to contact an applications specialist with any questions, at +44 (0) or [ protected].

It&#;s a pretty safe assumption that you&#;d like to save money on your next injection molding project. It&#;s also probably safe to assume that you&#;ve been actively trying to do so. Yet with a process as versatile as injection molding &#; one that can meet countless needs and be used in so many ways &#; there are also many ways to achieve further cost savings, which differ from job to job and application to application.

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What&#;s more, the definition of &#;cost savings&#; can vary depending on where you&#;re looking to reduce costs. Shorter-term cost savings might include cost per part or finishing services on a specific job. Longer-term cost savings can come in areas such as decisions about mold manufacturing, or big-picture adjustments to the design principles that your engineers follow.

With all of that in mind, this piece is intended to provide a little bit of everything, which will hopefully help you get direct results in your next project, or to at least start thinking about your product and mold designs in a different way &#; to identify more opportunities for cost savings.

We&#;ll start with a big-picture topic (with which many readers may be at least partly familiar) and move forward from there.

1. Follow injection molding best practices: This is a key tenet of injection molding, and while it may seem obvious, it falls by the wayside all too often. Why? You may hear numerous reasons: a perceived interference with the form or function of the part, a lack of time, or even a lack of knowledge of these best practices. Though the simple fact remains: A part designed in adherence with best practices can be manufactured more quickly, more efficiently, with fewer errors &#; all adding up to lower costs. As an introduction (or refresher) to these best practices, here are some factors to consider:

• Incorporate draft into the design: Draft, or a slight angle to vertical walls, allows for easier part ejection.
• Round your corners: Ninety-degree corners are the enemy of good material flow. With rounded corners, material can much more easily flow through the entire mold cavity, resulting in higher part quality and fewer (costly) rejections.
• Create uniform wall thicknesses: Unless the design and function of a part absolutely requires it, uniform (or close to uniform) wall thickness helps in material flow and allows each part to harden more consistently. Varying wall thicknesses create uneven cooling in the material.
• Use core cavities: For parts with hollowed central areas (such as boxes or packaging), a core cavity is a much more efficient way of designing the mold. Essentially, the mold is manufactured around the &#;empty&#; part of the product (or the core), rather than machining the walls of the product into the mold, requiring a very deep, narrow cavity.

2. Consider volume in the process: Of course, the higher the volume of parts you&#;re producing, the lower your cost per part will be. However, that doesn&#;t help if you only need a run of 20,000 parts &#; let alone 1,000, or just one. Shorter runs can also be produced by different methods than those used for long runs &#; which can start driving down your cost per part in a big way. If you&#;re in need of a short or medium part run, still want to use a molding process, and don&#;t want to invest in a costly steel mold, using a different mold material can be a big help. Look at silicone molding or neoprene casting, for example.

3. Simplify your design: Fewer part features and geometries &#; and greater simplicity &#; will always make your part easier and, thus, less costly to manufacture. Take an objective, dispassionate look at the design of your product, and remove any unnecessary features, designs or other aspects that aren&#;t critical to the performance of the part. This can be a difficult process for someone who has worked hard on designing a part a certain way, but can definitely yield cost savings that make it worth it.

4. Eliminate unnecessary production and processes: Overproduction has thrown off many a P&L, often without anyone ever realizing it. In injection molding, that means to make sure you&#;re only using as high-grade a material as required for the part function; that the mold material is in line with your needs and expectations for performance and shelf life; and that you&#;ve eliminated as many finishing processes as possible (following design best practices and simplifying your design can help with this). Also consider the aesthetic needs of your part: While the appearance of most injection molding plastics isn&#;t necessarily attractive, it also doesn&#;t need to be for the majority of industrial needs. Eliminate any unnecessary dyes and pigment processes, as well.

5. Look at manufacturing partners for outsourcing: In-house injection molding is costly &#; there are no two ways about it. While it may be tempting to incorporate in-house injection molding &#; or expand on your existing capacity &#; to fulfill additional orders, it&#;s also a huge investment that can take a long time to recoup. Seeking a manufacturing partner for injection molding removes the burden of machine investment (and maintenance, operation, replacement, etc.) from you, and allows you to focus simply on providing a part design and relying on the partner&#;s expertise.

6. Research and choose the right partner: If you&#;ve decided to outsource your injection molding, choosing the right partner is another area where costs can be higher or lower, depending on the approach taken. Inexperienced facilities, or those that may have different specialties than what your project requires, can indirectly increase costs. The process may take longer, it may be more prone to misunderstanding or error between the two parties, and the quality may not be up to your expectations. Be sure to research your options extensively. Look for an experienced facility with its expertise on display &#; readily available for you. Shops that offer related services can also reduce your costs by incorporating prototyping, design, fulfillment and more into the production process.

With these tips in mind, you&#;re now ready to start identifying ways to lower costs for your injection molding projects &#; something you may not have previously thought possible. The lowered costs you can see across the board will make your time and energy investment well worth it.

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