China Injection Mold Cost

Many buyers who purchase injection molds from China are solely focused on saving money. However, this isn&#;t the right attitude to take, since you&#;ll ultimately want a mold that works properly and is reliable, instead of just being cheap.

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from WIT MOLD.

How much a plastic mold tool will cost is dependent on several different factors. You should, therefore, request the  information when getting a quote.The checklist below details the various areas of interest that you need to consider when purchasing a mold:

• How many check dimensions are required on the print- this will determine the cavity complexity, as well as the part tolerances
• Surface finishes which will be necessary
• Number of necessary tight tolerances and their requirements
• https://www.plasticmoulds.net/designAny required functions in mold operating, such as unscrewing or lifters.
• Balanced cooling requirements- these can  determine  tolerances.
• Part resin
• Number of cavities in the part, determined by tolerances and part volume required
• Tool type, e.g. hotrunner, two plate, or three plate
• the size and complexity of its parts,
• the gating direction
• the tools steel used
• the mold accessories brand
• an estimated cycle time
• and a guaranteed lifespan.

For instance, a three plate or hotrunner may be more expensive at first, but unlike two plate tools, they don&#;t need anyone to operate them or separate the runner. This will mean that you save money on the piece part price, even though the tool cost is higher.

With this information in hand, you will be able to calculate the costs for yourself, and see just why some companies set their prices higher or lower.

When you have answered all of those questions, you&#;ll want to figure out the amount and type of materials and components that you&#;re going to need, and use supplier catalogs to come up with a total cost.

While all of these costs will eventually be recouped once a certain number of parts have been produced, it&#;s important to note that the real cost will also have to take into account the manufacturing process and the molding cycle as well.

Don&#;t put the full responsibility for tool buying on your purchasing department, though. That&#;s because there will likely be factors that they don&#;t fully understand.

Make sure that you determine and specify your tool requirements in full before you start the buying process.

Ideally, you&#;ll want to choose the right tool for the lowest cost, produced by an experienced and knowledgeable molder.

Why those important

Part size- bigger parts mean a bigger mold, which means that the steel cost for the injection mold will be increased.

Part design- the more complex a part is, the more detailed the mold has to be. Some complicated parts will require special features to be added, such as lifters or sliders. You should therefore be open to advice from your mold maker, and see if there&#;s anywhere that you can alter the part design to save on injection mold costs.

Materials-depending on the part material of choice, the injection mold will have to be made of a particular material too. For instance, if a corrosive plastic like PVC is to be used, then the mold will have to be stainless steel to avoid any damage- which will ultimately bump the price up.

For more information, please visit china injection molding company.

Part finish requirements- where parts have high gloss surface requirements, then more expensive steel and precise technical polishing will be vital, which further add to the price.

Production volume- higher volume molds need more cavities, and so the mold will be larger. They also require a higher grade of steel to last for longer, and this has an impact on the injection mold cost.

Country of manufacture- different countries have different wage rates. If your mold is made in a country where labor costs are low, then you&#;ll naturally save money. In China, the average cost of an injection mold is around 40% less than in western nations.

Self-Mating Parts

Maybe you&#;re designing a snap-together case for some medical components, or two interlocking halves of a portable radio. Why build two mating parts when you can make one? Redesign the snaps so that the halves can be fit together from either direction, thus building a so-called &#;universal&#; part. Only one mold is needed, saving production expenses up front. And you can now mold twice as many of one part, instead of half the quantities of two.

Mold Mods

It is relatively easy to remove metal from an existing metal mold. Adding metal, on the other hand, can be difficult or, for all practical purposes, impossible with rapid injection molding. To look at this from the part perspective, you can add plastic, but you can&#;t take it away. Designing with this in mind is called &#;metal safe.&#;

Some injection-molded parts go through multiple iterations until a final, workable design emerges. Instead of purchasing a new mold for every revision, a little clever planning will allow the same mold to be used multiple times. Starting with the smallest, most basic part design, mold as many pieces as needed, then re-machine the mold to include additional part features, or a larger, taller version of the same part, and mold again. This is not an exact science, but given the right part, this re-use approach can save dollars on tooling development.

Moldability-DFM Analysis

Every quote for an injection-molded part at Protolabs is accompanied by a free design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis. This identifies potential problem areas, or opportunities for design improvement. Insufficient draft angles, &#;un-machinable&#; features, impossible geometries&#;these are just a few examples in which part designs can and should be improved before clicking the &#;accept&#; button. Be sure to review these suggestions thoroughly, and contact an applications engineer at Protolabs with any design-related questions.

Multi-Cavity and Family Molds

Maybe you are after a higher volume of parts? You can still achieve high volumes using aluminum tooling with two-, four-, or eight-cavity molds depending on size and part geometry that can reduce your piece part price, although this would impact your tooling costs.

Got a family of parts that all fit together? How about multiple molding projects at one time? There&#;s no reason to build a mold for each individual part, provided A) everything is made of the same plastic, B) each part is roughly the same size (e.g., have similar processing times), and C) can all be squeezed into the same cavity, while still allowing for proper mold functioning.

In addition, maybe you can join some of those parts with a living hinge? This method is a great way, for example, to mold two halves of a clamshell-style container. These parts would otherwise need a pin-type assembly to open and close. The only caveat here is that a flexible and tough material must be used, such as polypropylene (PP).

On-Demand Option

Still another way to reduce molding costs, depending on your part volumes, is to consider on-demand manufacturing. At Protolabs, two injection molding service options are available (see table below). One is best suited for those who need smaller part quantities, usually associated with prototyping. The other option, Protolabs calls it on-demand manufacturing, is a good fit for those who require slightly larger part quantities, typically up to 10,000-plus parts from aluminum molds. On-demand production can be a great option to manage demand volatility of your parts, reduce total cost of ownership, and leverage cost-efficient bridge tooling.

The company is the world’s best china electric plastic mold supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.