Plastic Injection Molding Machines

Choosing the best manufacturing process, such as injection molding machines, profile extrusion, or thermoforming for your plastics project can seem overwhelming. You need to consider the types of material you need, the price point you aim to hit, the size of your run, and what you want the finished product to look like. On top of that, you must ensure that you can get your parts and products delivered in the time frame you need them.

Manufacturing has been slowly moving overseas in an attempt to lower costs. But the fact is, expensive shipping costs, longer wait times, and inconsistent quality can end up causing your plastic part or product to cost more than you initially thought.

CBM Plastics knows the problems that companies face with their plastics manufacturing. They have the experience and know-how to solve these problems, providing their customers with quality plastic parts or products when they need them and at a price that still allows them to turn a profit. CBM Plastics is U.S.-based, meaning less inconsistency and uncertainty with shipping and a better ability to control the quality of your part or product.

Want to learn more about CBM Plastics’ manufacturing capabilities? Read on to learn how our injection molding machines work, or contact us today to discuss your project.

Plastics are the most common materials for producing end-use parts and products, for everything from consumer products to medical devices. Plastics are a versatile category of materials, with thousands of polymer options, each with their own specific mechanical properties. But how are plastic parts made?

A variety of plastic manufacturing processes have been developed to cover a wide range of applications, part geometries, and types of plastics. For any designer and engineer working in product development, it is critical to be familiar with the manufacturing options available today and the new developments that signal how parts will be made tomorrow.

This guide provides an overview of the most common manufacturing processes for producing plastic parts and guidelines to help you select the best option for your application.

How to Choose the Right Plastic Manufacturing Process

Consider the following factors when selecting a manufacturing process for your product:

Form: Do your parts have complex internal features or tight tolerance requirements? Depending on the geometry of a design, manufacturing options may be limited, or they may require significant design for manufacturing (DFM) optimization to make them economical to produce.

Volume/cost: What’s the total or the annual volume of parts you’re planning to manufacture? Some manufacturing processes have high front costs for tooling and setup, but produce parts that are inexpensive on a per-part basis. In contrast, low volume manufacturing processes have low startup costs, but due to slower cycle times, less automation, and manual labor, cost per part remains constant or decreases only marginally when volume increases.

Lead time: How quickly do you need parts or finished goods produced? Some processes create first parts within 24 hours, while tooling and setup for certain high volume production processes takes months.

Material: What stresses and strains will your product need to stand up to? The optimal material for a given application is determined by a number of factors. Cost must be balanced against functional and aesthetic requirements. Consider the ideal characteristics for your specific application and contrast them with the available choices in a given manufacturing processes.

Download the high-resolution version of this infographic here.

Video Guide

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