Plastic injection molding services can be needed to create plastic parts for your company. If your company needs plastic injection molding services, one of the first and most critical decisions you have to make is whether you choose to work with a U.S.-based company or one based overseas. Despite the fact that there are many countries offering mold-making services, China remains the leading player in this sector.
It’s possible that your company is looking into China injection molding since it is generally less expensive than in the US – you are likely to save between 20-60% with a mold made in China. It could also result in quicker turnaround times.
The quality of your injection mold should not suffer as a result of those low costs and fast results.
It would be necessary for you to have excellent engineering support. In its absence, it is possible for a mold to get destroyed or to need to be completely retooled. Could you find this type of service in China? It is possible, but you will need to make sure the companies you are considering are reliable and trustworthy.
Your company and the company making the mold would need to have clear and effective communication. When you are working with a mold-making service located in another country, with a different language, and in a different cultural environment, communication becomes more complicated (due to a linguistic barrier as well as cultural sensitivities), which is why errors are more probable to occur.
To ensure that the mold-making service can handle the specific requirements of the mold, you would need to obtain confirmation from them. You will be able to get a more complex mold based on the complexity of the plastic part you need. Does the company you’re considering have a record of successfully handling mold of this type? It is likely that you should consider looking somewhere else in that case.
Throughout the project’s duration, you would need to visit the facility at least once. As China is 7,000 miles away from the United States, the trip is long and expenYou’d need to be there for the last two weeks of production, at the very least, for such a small mold-making project, in order to ensure smooth product testing, accurate sampling, and any tooling adjustments that needed to be done. made. In addition, you will need to factor in the possibility that adjustments will take longer than expected. I was wondering if you could extend your trip, or if you would be able to make another if that were to happen. In other words, if you do not plan ahead, you may end up with molds that do not meet your requirements.
Despite the fact that cost savings can be substantial, in order to get a mold that is truly satisfactory, all of the above factors need to be met. In case you ignore these elements, you run the risk that once you start working with a plastic injection molding service, the plastic parts you will create won’t look as good as you had hoped.
Mold-making services in the U.S. are de facto superior to those in China. As in any industry, there are high-quality and low-quality mold-making companies in the United States and China. By working with a U.S.-based mold-maker, you won’t have to travel as much and will have fewer communications problems, but it depends on the mold-making service you choose.
The following things will also need to be taken into consideration when choosing a shop in the U.S. or China:
- What are your quality standards for mold-making services?
Mold-making shops in the United States use only high-quality steel to make their molds. The quality of steel in similar shops in China may be inferior unless you specify the grade and the country. We use only high-quality German steel at Micron, which is known for its excellent durability and reliability. China is a country where many mold makers rely on steel manufactured there, which may not be the grade needed for your mold.
- Can the company make tooling adjustments along the way? Are they experienced with tooling?
If you hire a plastic injection molding company, they should be familiar with the type of mold you’ll be using. They can give you insight into how the material will flow in the mold, as well as what types of surface treatments are available. One thing to take note of is that some U.S.-based companies don’t usually build their own molds, instead they use contractors to buy them from manufacturers in foreign countries. Molds made by Micron are produced in-house (unless a client requests that a mold be produced somewhere else). As a result, Micron has full control over tooling and is free to make adjustments during the manufacturing process. The tooling adjustments that you will need to take into account when working with a mold-making service in China as well as what could happen if those adjustments don’t suit you will need to be taken into account.