Injection molding applications

Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity.

After a product is designed, usually by an industrial designer or an engineer, molds are made by a moldmaker (or toolmaker) from metal, usually either steel or aluminum, and precision-machined to form the features of the desired part. Injection molding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest component to entire body panels of cars.

Injection molding is used to create many things such as wire spools, packaging, bottle caps, automotive dashboards, pocket combs, and most other plastic products available today. Injection molding is the most common method of part manufacturing. It is ideal for producing high volumes of the same object. Some advantages of injection molding are high production rates, repeatable high tolerances, the ability to use a wide range of materials, low labor cost, minimal scrap losses, and little need to finish parts after molding. Some disadvantages of this process are expensive equipment investment, potentially high running costs, and the need to design moldable parts. As well as the used injection mold.

Injection mouldings count for a significant proportion of all plastics products from micro parts to large components such as bumpers and wheelie bins. Virtually all sectors of manufacturing use injection moulded parts - the flexibility in size and and shape possible through use of this process have consistently extended the boundaries of design in plastics and enabled significant replacement of traditional materials thanks to light weighting and design freedom.