Injection moulding is the process of creating parts for all sorts of applications in a wide variety of industries. From cars and motorcycles to household items to models and computers - injection moulding creates the plastic products we use every day.
Businesses invest in this plastic manufacturing process because it is so efficient, reliable, and affordable.
The main benefit of using plastics over other materials is that it requires less time to build or produce mass quantities, which is very appealing to businesses who have limited resources but who want to produce something in a fast timeframe, ahead of the competition.
Injection moulding is the perfect choice for those companies that produce large quantities. Not only does it have the lowest per-unit cost, but injection moulds also last longer and can be used multiple times. Some existing moulds have produced millions of parts.
Making Plastic Injection moulds
Moulds are produced using various materials, depending on the job at hand. Ramjet Plastics uses the highest quality tool steel for its production of moulds, which can create the best quality products to fulfill the needs of the end users over many years of high volume production
The design of the tooling (Mould) is critical to the quality of parts and the life cycle of the mould so strict guidelines are followed to ensure the ongoing balance between tooling and parts is paramount to economy of parts.
When working with you on your project we try to ask as many questions as possible to familiarise ourselves with as much information as we can about your product requirements to help facilitate the best outcomes. These questions will include but are not limited to, the end use of each of the plastic parts, whether they need uv stabilisation and what stresses can be expected in the parts application and many more. All of these factors have a bearing on how we see the project and tooling unfolding.
When you work with Ramjet Plastics, the mould is always suitable and perfectly crafted by experts with decades of experience utilising machinery and computer-assisted design that ensures a flawless result every time.
Advantages of Injection Moulding –
1. Plastic injection moulded part - Injection Moulding is best suited for high volume applications where the ROI of the moulds is generally achieved within a timely manner. These factors coupled with automated 24/7 operations allow for short lead times ensuring volume demands can be met.
2. High repeatability
Once your mould is made, identical products can be made over and over again. And again. A well manufactured mould has a very long life.
3. Low cost per part
Whilst there is an initial high investment for the plastic injection moulding tool, after that the cost per part is very low. Other plastic processing techniques may require multiple operations, whilst injection moulding can do it all at once. If you chose to CNC machine parts for example it would be extremely time consuming and costly. If you're looking to go into full production, injection moulding is the way to go.
4. Fast
Cycle times can be as low as 10 seconds. Combine that with a multi - cavity injection moulding tool and you get a LOT of products very quickly.
5. Material choice
There's a vast amount of materials available for plastic injection moulding. A range of more common materials, but also things like antistatic plastic, Flame retardant, thermoplastic rubber, chemical resistant plastics,, bio degradable...and with colour compounding or masterbatch colouring you have an endless choice of colours as well.
6. Special Surface Finishes, Engraving & Printing
In addition to a range of colours, the injection moulding tool can be made with a special finish which will show on the moulding. You can also have logos or other text engraved in the tool. Finally, you can have your mouldings printed, as a range of inks are available that will print well on plastic.
7. Little plastic waste
Part repeatability is very high for injection moulding. Even the sprues and runners (the leftover bits of plastic created which the plastic material reaches the actual mould) can be reground and the material reused.