What is Custom Injection Molding?
Custom injection molding, is a name for any injection molding project that is customized or changed to fit a customer’s needs. This could consist of developing a design for a new invention, changing an old design, or simply updating a color or plastic type of a common product.
Custom plastic injection molding is often used by individual inventors with new products that they want to sell to a large audience. Or by big businesses who want to create something new for their consumer markets.
How is Custom Injection Molding Performed?
All custom injection molding jobs have to start with a design. Large businesses may already have their own designs and molds, in which case they would skip to later steps. But smaller businesses or individual inventors will likely need to create designs for their products.
Digital designs can easily be made using 3D CAD software or other computer programs. These programs allow designers to see the exact dimensions of the future plastic product, and can give inventors a realistic model to make sure everything is correct before a custom injection mold is made.
After the design is completed, an injection mold is built from metal to the size specifications given in the design. Injection molds may be crafted from aluminum, steel, nickel, or other blends of metals. These provide the sturdy framework for hundreds of thousands of plastic parts that could be made from the same mold.
Before plastic injection molds can be filled to start producing parts, the right plastic polymer has to be chosen for the job. Thermoplastics, elastomers, and thermosets could be options for a product, and each could be available in different colors and textures. In cases of products that will use overmolding, two or more types of plastic may be chosen.
When the mold is ready and the correct polymers are in place, all of the pieces will be put into a plastic injection molding machine. An injection molding machine injects hot plastic into the mold, allows it to cool briefly, and then pushes out the part to make another. Various injection molding equipment will have more specific processes, but overall, they can create parts in quick succession—in some cases creating thousands of parts per day.
Once injection molded parts have been inspected for quality, they can be packaged and shipped, or assembled with other parts to make a final product.
Who Performs Custom Injection Molding?
There are many plastic molding companies that perform custom injection molding. If you are looking for a molding company that performs to high standards of quality, provides excellent customer service, and is willing to work their molding processes around your project, check out Streamline Plastics.
Streamline Plastics is a custom injection molding company in Utah with all of the injection molding equipment to make big and small products. We employ highly certified and experienced molders who can walk you through every step of the custom injection molding process. We can also oversee the creation of custom plastic molds from any design.
With so many plastic injection molding companies vying for your attention, it can be difficult to pick the right one. That’s why Streamline Plastics guarantees quality work, no matter the size or scope of your project, and an exceptional experience with our company.
Contact us for more information on Streamline Plastics, or to set up a design appointment for your custom project.
