Injection molding has become the go-to manufacturing solution for plastic components.
Used in a variety of industries, the injection molding market is poised for continued aggressive growth driven by trends such as the need for light-weighting and electrification, where plastics are trending to replace metals and alloys with injection molded parts.
The economics behind injection molding parts is advantageous for molders, especially when the required part quantity is greater than 100,000.
Though the dominant cost of injection molding is the high capital investment of a machined metal mold, once this mold is made, the cost of producing parts is minimal.
Machining metal tools for prototyping can be prohibitive as lead times are lengthy and the cost of machining is high. Engineers often have to wait six to eight weeks to procure parts molded on a metal tool, slowing down design cycles. Prototyping mold tools become impractical for many molders.
Designers are forced to rely on sub-par rapid prototyped parts to make design decisions or skip the prototype phase altogether. This often leads to rework later on in the project, wasting time and money.
Finding solutions to quickly and cost-effectively procure tools that produce parts that meet quality standards is essential to bridging prototype to production for injection molders.
3D-printed mold tooling provides molders the time and cost benefits of 3D printing while prototyping in end-use material. Click the download button below to learn more about these tools.
