The need for custom made plastic materials can be addressed by utilising custom plastic injection moulding. Plastic manufacturers can aid the customer in this aspect from designing and creating the mould up to mass producing the plastic products. http://www.pacplas.com.au/
Custom Plastic Injection Moulding for Customer Specified Products
1. Custom Plastic Injection Moulding for Customer Specified Products
There are times when projects would call for specific and unique shapes and sizes of plastic
products. In these types of projects, customers can count on customised injection moulding to
produce the exact specifications and requirements needed for their material. This type of
injection moulding requires customisation from the design phase up to the production process.
Customised plastic products can be made by forming plastic materials into specified shapes and
sizes using a mould. The injection moulding process involves the use of thermosetting or
thermoplastic raw materials and feeding them into the mould. The plastic material cools and
hardens, taking the shape of the mould cavity. Customised plastic products are usually designed
first by engineers. After which, specific metal moulds are built by the plastic manufacturer using
precision machines to make the mould cavity forming the shape of the finished product.
Generally, custom injection moulding is needed for purposes where the desired material is of
specific size and shape, especially if the geometric shape is a bit complex.
Ideally, this process is used for producing huge volumes of plastic products made out of the
mould. This is because there is expectedly high investments involved in designing and building
the customised mould equipment. Injection moulding, however, it is advantageous for its ability
to produce significantly bigger volumes of plastic products and for the low labour capital
required. Injection moulding also reduces the need for a finishing process after the moulded
plastic products are made.
The injection plastic moulding process involves feeding raw thermoplastic or thermoset
material into a barrel to heat it. A screw type plunger or an injection ram is then used to insert
the melted plastic material into the mould where it rests to cool and solidify into the form of
the custom made mould.
The mould is typically built by a toolmaker using hardened or pre-hardened steel or aluminium.
The choice would depend on the cost consideration and the number of plastic products that
should be made. Aluminium would cost less than steel, but if one is looking to produce higher
volumes of plastic parts, then steel moulds would definitely offset the capital outlay. This is
because steel moulds are more wear resistant, so they can produce more plastic products in a
longer time span. Despite the high initial equipment expenses, the cost per piece goes down as
more pieces are produced.
Although the injection moulding process is basically the same, plastic manufacturers use
different techniques to produce the desired plastic material. Technological advances in
producing moulds for the process have opened more possibilities for more complex designs.
2. For instance, when more complex mould designs are needed, plastic producers use computer
numerical control tools for precision machining.
Customised injection moulding is a good way of coming up with novel plastic product designs.
Although the process requires fairly higher initial investment, overall costs and the quality of
the output are sure to make up for the initial costs.
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