When developing products or trial-producing new products, many users often only focus on product research and development in the initial stage and ignore communication with mold manufacturing units. Next, I will introduce to you the issues that need to be paid attention to when customizing injection molds.
a. Don’t just focus on product design and ignore mold manufacturing.
After the product design plan is determined, you must contact the mold manufacturer (BFY Mold) in advance. There are three benefits:
1. It can ensure that the designed products have good forming technology, and the final design will not be modified because the parts are difficult to process.
2. The mold maker can make design preparations in advance to prevent insufficient consideration in a hurry and affect the construction period.
3. To produce high-quality molds, only the close cooperation between supply and demand can reduce costs and shorten the cycle.
b. Don’t just look at price, but consider quality, cycle, and service:
1. There are many types of injection molds, which can be roughly divided into ten categories. Different types of molds are selected for molding based on different requirements such as part material, physical and chemical properties, mechanical strength, dimensional accuracy, surface finish, service life, and economy.
2. Molds with high precision requirements must be processed using high-precision CNC machine tools, and there are strict requirements on mold materials and forming processes. CAD/CAE/CAM mold technology must also be used for design and analysis.
3. Due to special requirements during the molding of some parts, the mold also needs to use advanced processes such as hot runners, gas-assisted molding, and nitrogen cylinders.
4. Manufacturers should have CNC, EDM, wire cutting machine tools and CNC copy milling equipment, high-precision grinders, three-coordinate measuring instruments, computer design and related software, etc.
5. For general large-scale stamping molds (such as automobile cover molds), it is necessary to consider whether the machine tool has a pressing mechanism, or even edge lubricants, multi-station advancement, etc. In addition to stamping tonnage, the number of punches, feeding devices, machine tools, and mold protection devices must also be considered.
6. The above-mentioned mold manufacturing methods and processes are not possessed and mastered by every enterprise. When choosing a cooperative manufacturer (BFY Mold), you must understand its processing capabilities. Not only the hardware equipment but also the management level, processing experience, and technical strength.
7. For the same set of molds, there are sometimes big differences in the quotations from different manufacturers. You shouldn’t pay more than the mold is worth, and you shouldn’t pay less than the cost of the mold. Mold manufacturers, like you, want to make reasonable profits in their business. Ordering a set of molds with a much lower quote can be the beginning of trouble. Users must start with their requirements and make a comprehensive assessment.
c. Avoid multi-party collaboration and try to integrate mold making and product processing:
1. With a qualified mold (the test piece is qualified), it may not be possible to produce batches of qualified products. This is mainly related to the selection of machine tools for processing parts, the forming process (forming temperature, forming time, etc.), and the technical quality of the operator.
2. With a good mold, you must also have good forming processing. Try to have one-stop cooperation and try to avoid multi-head cooperation.
BFY Mold integrates product conception with product forming and mainly undertakes plastic mold product development and design, 3D rapid prototyping, mold design and manufacturing, product injection molding, product surface treatment, and other services. With more than 20 years of production experience in mold design and mold manufacturing, the injection molding processing industry can create competitive molds for you. Contact us today.
