Selecting the best thermoplastic material for your product is one of the most important decisions to make during the design phase of your project. The team at JB Plastics is here to answer all your questions about various plastic resins and their properties. The following is a brief introduction to material selection and eight of the most common thermoplastics used for injection molding.
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You may have heard the terms Commodity and Engineered Plastics when searching for the right materials to use for your plastic product. Both of which have specific characteristics that cement their place in custom injection molding. The differences are broken down in the latter half of this blog, but first it’s important to understand the basics of thermoplastic materials.
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In the second half of the 20th century, the quest for lower and lower manufacturing costs led many businesses to move their manufacturing processes overseas. In more recent years, the pendulum has begun to swing back in the other direction; better wages overseas, pandemic complications, higher tariffs, and more sophisticated cost estimation methods are bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States.
Short-run plastic injection molding, also known as small-run or low-volume injection molding, is a specialized process that uses molds made from less expensive aluminum or lower-grade steel to facilitate “small” production runs. Short-run injection molding is a cost-effective way to get all the same cost, quality, and efficiency benefits of standard injection molding. Typically keeping each production run under 10,000 units, but it’s not uncommon to see runs as low as a few hundred or even runs under 100 units for certain markets.
Plastic injection molding uses custom-made, precise tooling molds to mass produce identical plastic models that meet your exact shape and size specifications. The key to getting consistent results is the custom tooled molds, which are carefully and meticulously engineered from high-quality materials, usually aluminum or hardened steel, that can withstand repeated exposure to high temperatures and pressures. These molds can be used to produce millions of products that are all exactly the same.
