Injection molding project cost mainly includes tooling ( injection mold) cost, plastic resin cost, injection molding cost, packing cost, shipping cost; among them, injection tooling cost is the most big part at the early stage and also have major confluence to the rest, so the injection tooling solution at the first stage is critical, you shouldn’t just look at the injection tooling cost separately, it will be worth to invest a high class injection tooling for a high volume demand project, because higher investment on injection tooling means higher productivity at molding production stage, but for a low volume demand project, you can just focus on how to make the injection tooling cost as less as possible.
Injection molding project is about exclusively customizing to just meet the demand, so the quotation is highly related with the actual needs, you can easily get some quotation from different injection molding suppliers but their quotation usually varies widely , we have seen some of my contacts choose the lowest bid ends up getting bad result, and some paying too much cost to loose their own competence over their competitors, knowing more about the real cost made-up of injection mold cost will help you to make right decision to work with right supplier.
When quoting a plastic injection molding project, several factors affect the final cost. We’ve listed a few of these components, along with some key points to consider when coming up a solution for a price that fits your budget.
The materials you choose affect the final product’s quality and performance and its production cost. When selecting materials, stick to the base materials as possible as you can, as adding fillings raise the price. Additionally, light color customization makes the product more expensive due to higher scrap rates in production, stay with natural colors or black if working on a tight budget.
Many options are available to achieve the desired degree of polish and texture, proper surface finish will great enhance part’s attractiveness, usually we do default finish B-2 for outer surface and C-2 for internal surface if no specific demand, high standard surface requirement like high glossy or Mold Tech texture means additional cost.
For mirror or optical finishes. Most time consuming. Steel grade important to results.
Removes all tool and machining marks. Provides good mould release. Light reflecting finish on moulded part, some sheen.
Remove all tool and machining marks. Provides good mould release. Mute finish on moulded part, no sheen.
For Decorative finishes. Often used for diecast and thermoset cooling. Helps hide shrink marks and other imperfections. Dull, non reflecting finishing on moulded or cast part.
Tolerances should stay as wide as possible as long as it full fill function requirement, as wider tolerances equate to lower manufacturing expenses.
Plastic injection molding benefits from high-volume production. While initial tooling costs could be expensive, the continuous large-volume output usually offsets the expense over time. The longer you use the molds and the more products you make, the faster you recuperate the investment and turn in a profit.
Undercuts that cannot be released in the direction of mold opening require special mechanism such as sliders, lifters, floating cores etc., this could lead to significant cost increase, injection molded part design should avoid undercuts as much as possible while fulfill the product functionality, Overdo wall thickness means not just higher material cost, but also causes molding production difficulties, and easily create surface defects like sink mark, short shot, war-page etc..
