Plastic Injection Molding Prototyping

Many manufacturers use plastic injection molding to produce shapes for custom parts and products quickly and effectively. Injection molding is used by many companies that make a high volume of identical pieces or products. Molds produce exact parts, making them a good choice for those with strict mechanical requirements. Injection molding is a good choice for those with frequent high-volume production runs as the price per part is cheaper than low-volume production runs. 

Prototype injection molding is critical to the mold design process because it allows manufacturers to detect flaws before investing a lot of time and money. Prototypes can be produced quickly to propel the design process forward and meet strict manufacturing timelines. Prototypes can be designed to look like final products for marketing and investment purposes before the last production run. 

Benefits of Plastic Molding Prototyping 

Utilizing prototype injection molding can help you quickly evaluate parts for form and function. Without spending a lot of time or money, you can assess a component for design flaws and remedy those errors before the first production run. Integrating prototypes into your design process can help you save time, money, and frustration during production. 

Increase Design Efficiency: If you are a high-volume industrial manufacturer, it is vital to get the design process correct the first time. Identifying a part defect after your first production run can cost you thousands of dollars on repairs. Creating a few iterations allows you to test the form and function of the component without any risk. 

Eliminate Unnecessary Waste: If you are like most manufacturers, you are concerned about the environment and do not want to waste any unnecessary resources. Prototypes are precise and only require a small amount of plastic to build. There is no need to worry about throwing out plastic or other resources on faulty production runs.  

Incorporate Design Intricacy: Prototype injection molding is a great way to test the functionality of components that require extreme precision and uniformity. If you produce parts with intricate designs, you can create a prototype with many details to show to investors or for marketing purposes. You can test the design of the prototype before mass production to ensure all components work together efficiently.  

Plastic Injection Molding Capabilities

Special Tool and Engineering uses the latest technologies for our plastic injection molds and molding prototypes. We employ a team of skilled engineers and designers to ensure every mold we produce functions according to customer requirements. 

• Rapid Prototyping: Sometimes referred to as bridge tooling, rapid prototyping is a quick and economical way to complete low-volume injection molds for various plastic components. When coupled with an aluminum or steel mold, the plastic mold can be used to make numerous copies of a tool or part during the manufacturing process. Rapid prototyping is ideal for creating moldings on a quick turnaround schedule or satisfying orders before your first production run.
• Aluminum Molds: We use aluminum for plastic injection moldings, depending on customer request. The main advantage of using aluminum is it is fast to manufacture and more cost-effective than other materials. However, aluminum can deteriorate under extreme temperatures and is not ideal for high-volume or complex production runs.
• Steel Molds: Some parts are too complex to use an aluminum injection mold. A steel mold is more expensive but can easily handle part complexity. Steels molds are highly durable and can withstand high temperatures. Most customers use steel molds for their plastic injection molding projects. 

Special Tool and Engineering is a full-service dealer that specializes in design and tool manufacturing. We produce tools for a variety of industries and applications, including automotive, office equipment, and construction. Contact us today to discuss your manufacturing needs!