What is short-run injection molding as an industrial process?

We usually run into injection molded products in different stores at all times. Such products are often from big companies that make a high number of these products every year. Every year, they make use of injection mold technology to create a large volume of products. In some cases, they make millions of these products every year to be distributed across the world. This shows that this production model is suitable for large production runs. But what if you want to produce a new product in a few thousand or less? What if you want a low-volume on-demand production process that requires less time and costs? All of these objectives are possible when you use “short run plastic injection molding”. For many people, this is a relatively new process that comes with its advantages.

What is short run plastic injection molding?

Short run plastic injection molding is a production process that is also known as small batch or low-volume injection moulding. This production process requires reduced capital and a shorter time to develop. This molding system is used for the production of simple plastics through high-grade aluminium or low-grade steel injection molds. High-grade steel injection molds are used in large-volume plastic production runs. The short-run plastic injection molding is best suitable for injection molding production that needs less than 10,000 parts to be produced.

 

Benefits of short run injection molding

Manufacturers rely on short-run injection molding due to a wide range of benefits. These include:

It helps to reduce the overall production time: Short-run injection molding helps increase the turnaround time of parts production by a matter of weeks or days. This usually depends on how complex the mold designs are. This is highly beneficial in comparison to high-grade steel molds which usually take months for production to be completed.

 

It calls for low initial costs: Higher-grade aluminium or lower-grade steel costs less when compared to that of the high-grade steel needed for large production runs. Certainly, high-grade steel can be used to produce thousands/millions of parts, but short-run injection molding is more suitable for low-volume production.

 

Produce goods of high quality: People often think that short run molding cuts corners and does not offer accurate dimensional tolerances as well as quality. However, the fact behind this production process is that it offers very high dimensional tolerances. It also provides excellent surface quality while also supporting high-volume injection molding processes. It offers exceptional quality when it comes to fitting different parts together.

 

It can accommodate a wide range of material options: When it comes to resin options, there are no limits to using short-run molding. There are thousands of available resins that you can use for this production process. In addition, you can also apply the resins used for higher volume molding for this production process.

 

Does not need any minimum order requirements: High-grade steel molds are used for larger production runs. However, if you are looking to produce several hundreds of certain materials, you don’t have to pay for a minimum amount of products. Simply use the short run injection molding process to mold as many products as you want. In this production system, you are not restricted by any volume requirements.

 

What are the applications of the short-run injection molding system?

Short-run injection molding is used commonly for the production of high-quality goods. A lot of niche industries rely on this production process to create a low amount of products and accessories each year. It can be used in various ways such as:

In the medical industry: In a lot of cases, medical instruments are needed for specialized uses and will require a few hundred parts and accessories to be produced. It is perfect to use the short run molding for low production runs with high product quality.

 

Production of trial parts and prototypes: There are certain cases where you need more product samples and you can’t just fully rely on the 3D printing machine. When this is the case, you can rely on short run molding to produce more samples for you in less time. This is a lot better than using 3D machines for prototyping which can be greatly limited.

 

Usefulness in the military and aerospace industries: The military and the aerospace industries are very similar to the medical industries. Unlike many fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, these industries do not always require a large volume of parts and products. In this case, they rely on short run molding to produce a limited number of accessories and parts.

 

Used for producing limited edition cars and vehicles: Short-run injection molding is used extensively in the production of exotic cars. Many exotic cars are built in very few numbers. This is because it costs money and time to put them together. They are produced by using short run injection molding technology. This molding system can be used to ensure high quality as well as bespoke aesthetics.

 

Working with a short-run injection molding company

There are many short run injection molding companies around. However, you need to choose the best option. A reliable injection molding company will offer you all the benefits of this type of molding as we have highlighted above. Many such companies have a great deal of expertise in short-run projects. Additionally, these companies may offer similar production solutions with the use of 3D and CNC machines. This is because all these machines can be used for supporting or complementary services during an injection molding project. This is necessary because, in reality, many of these production systems are used to support each other. Then again, they are more suitable for specific projects that may not require the use of any other production technology. A reliable manufacturing company will provide the best short-run injection molding services. They will also help their customers solve the different problems as seen in short run injection molding systems. It is common to use a manufacturer that has completed thousands of injection molding projects for different customers.

For more about what is short-run injection molding as an industrial process,you can pay a visit to Djmolding at https://www.djmolding.com/low-volume-manufacturing-service/ for more info.