Methods for Selecting Injection Molding Molds
Choosing a good mold manufacturer is a time and cost-consuming process. We will analyze how to find a qualified plastic injection molding factory based on seven indicators.
The 7 indicators for finding a plastic injection molding factory include: product requirements, integrality, regional factors, technical capabilities, environmental facilities, quality management, and after-sales service.
01 Product Requirements: Clarify Product Needs
Product requirements are the focal point for all subsequent indicators. If you are not clear about your product needs, it’s easy to head in the wrong direction and find an unsuitable manufacturer. Plastic products can be subdivided into many types, and each manufacturer excels in different areas. This includes functional components, appearance components, whether post-processing is required, printing, or inlaying other materials, etc.
For example, general appearance components may only require a good appearance, no need for precise mold manufacturing, and no need to coordinate with other component processing. The technical requirements are relatively straightforward, such as plastic boxes, trash cans, and similar products. However, for functional and precision plastic parts, the technical requirements are higher, such as airtight valves, perfume spray nozzles, and similar products.
Understanding product requirements is essential to finding a plastic injection molding factory that aligns with the corresponding pricing and technology.
02 Integration: Find a One-Stop OEM Factory
Should you look for a plastic mold factory or a plastic injection molding factory? If there are issues with the product, will they pass the blame back and forth, leaving you to bear the brunt?
If you don’t currently have stable cooperative factories, you can reach out to us. In addition to saving you costs related to communication and transportation, the benefits of our one-stop OEM service lie in “solving everything from mold design and manufacturing to plastic injection molding at once.” Even after mass production of the product, mold maintenance can be completed in a one-stop fashion.
03 Technicality: Mold and Molding Technology
The technical aspect of injection molding lies in adjusting parameters. However, if the initial mold development is flawed, it’s challenging to salvage the situation. The process of plastic injection molding is like making a cake—if the mold pattern’s Pikachu tail is too short, even if you fill the cake batter to overflow, it’s challenging to create a beautiful tail. This can also extend the entire manufacturing time or shorten the mold’s lifespan.
In practice, there may not be an apparent difference in appearance between molds made by beginners and those made by experienced professionals. The real test lies in evaluating the molds through the molding process, actual injection of products, and practical inspections.
Therefore, when looking for a plastic injection molding factory, assessing the manufacturer’s past experience and the machines used are crucial indicators. Because mold technology involves mold cavity design, runner design, slider mechanism, mold material, etc., it is accumulated through experience. Visiting the site frequently to observe whether maintenance is implemented and listening to the manufacturer’s processing experience can help you gain insights.
04 Quality Management: Completeness of Inspection Instruments
Basic inspection instruments such as calipers, micrometers, microscopes, 2D, and 3D are essential for general plastic injection molding factories. However, if producing functional products, it is necessary to test whether the finished products meet the airtight pressure standards based on the product requirements.
Different products have different airtight pressure standards. For example, gas bottles have higher airtight pressure standards. This is because if the bottle body ruptures, it can pose a risk of product explosion, significantly affecting the functionality and safety of the product.
Therefore, if the injection molding factory you choose does not have testing instruments and cannot perform functional testing, you may need to conduct airtight inspections when the goods are delivered to you. If there are quality issues, it may require returning the entire batch, incurring significant time and cost. Therefore, the best situation is to ‘cooperate with a plastic injection molding factory equipped with relevant inspection equipment,’ allowing the factory to address issues promptly when they arise during production.
05 Regionalism: Transportation and Industrial Clusters
In the initial search for suppliers, it’s best to choose a nearby option. The location of mold and molding factory suppliers or the industrial clusters between outsourcing factories can affect the time and cost of logistics. Taking the Dongguan area as an example, including several surrounding regions, it forms a cluster for plastic and water hardware manufacturing. Therefore, suppliers in this area are relatively close to each other, and logistics costs are likely to decrease.
06 Environmental Equipment: Production and Sustainability
If you are producing medical-grade products, you need to select a plastic injection molding factory with a clean room or dust-free room. The presence or absence of this environment becomes a basic criterion for selecting suppliers. Dust-free rooms also have different levels, depending on which country’s standards are adopted. As for equipment, injection molding machines are divided into hydraulic and all-electric types. All-electric machines rely on servo motors and operate on electricity, causing fewer oil-related issues, making them suitable for medical product conditions. Machines with higher hydraulic power are suitable for producing large molds.
07 Follow-up Service: After-sales Service
If the product is being developed for the first time, there may be design changes, mass production, and mold part maintenance afterward. Therefore, you should also consider whether the plastic injection molding factory you choose offers mold warranties, the cost of each repair, and whether the pricing is reasonable.
If you follow the earlier advice and directly choose an integrated factory, then mold repairs can be done directly in-house, which is convenient for you and cost-effective. Moreover, such factories, since they handle subsequent repairs themselves, tend to do a more thorough job in the initial production as well.
Conclusion
The quality of the mold from the beginning will continue to impact the subsequent product quality. Sometimes, a quote may seem very cheap, but in the future, it may incur additional costs.
On the other hand, some quotes may appear expensive, but it’s essential to thoroughly understand the services they provide. Perhaps you have found a quality and reliable manufacturer like Tekwell, which, in the long run, is a good investment for stable and sustainable development.
