5 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Plastic Injection Molding Company
A plastic injection molding company helps manufacturers quickly mass produce a wide range of simple and/or complex plastic components. Because plastic injection molding is a complex process, it’s important that you work with a company you can trust.
When choosing the right plastic injection molding company for your project, you need to focus on five important factors: engineering experience, production volume and capacity, capabilities, communication, and quality standards. Read on to learn more.
1. Engineering Experience
First, engineering experience and know-how are an absolute must. Knowing how to operate or troubleshoot a molding machine is not enough. More is needed. Your chosen plastic molding company should have an in-house team of savvy, experienced, and capable mold engineers.
Only a professional mold engineer has the requisite skills and experience to help you choose a resin, color, and design that will meet all your application requirements. It’s their job to ensure that the molding parameters are optimized for your chosen resin and that the finished part meets all your specific requirements and specifications.
2. Production Volume & Capacity
Next, plastic injection manufacturers must have the machine capacity to ensure your products are delivered on time. This means having multiple molding machines so that any project can quickly be allocated to another machine (or other machines) in an emergency. Smaller molding companies with limited capacity often encounter time-consuming delays when a given machine encounters downtime or becomes idle.
Your goal should be to choose a molding company that can produce high-production volumes while guaranteeing consistently high-quality parts. Your project’s timeline is critical. Only a large-scale molding manufacturer has the capacity to ensure your parts are delivered on time.
3. Expanded Capabilities
When researching plastic injection molding companies, you also need to look into their capabilities.
Having a partner with the knowledge and willingness to provide part design services, prototyping, and small production runs is just as important as partnering with someone that has high production capabilities. In fact, most large molding facilities reject smaller runs, as they prefer to focus on high production volumes that keep their machines running 24/7.
Your ideal plastic molding company should be a one-stop shop for all your molding needs. This means helping you at the outset of any new product design and producing prototypes and small production runs so you can check the fit, form, and function of your parts before moving to full-scale production.
4. Prompt Delivery & Communication
Delivering your parts on time isn’t just a matter of having the right number of molding machines; it’s ultimately about communication. Your chosen plastic molding company should make communication an overriding principle of how they manage your project. This often involves having an initial kick-off meeting where your requirements and part specifications are discussed in detail. This is an opportunity to discuss your needs, expectations, and deliverables.
Maintaining that communication throughout every step of the project ensures you’re aware of your project’s progress. It’s that emphasis on communication and the capacity to quickly address issues that ensure your parts are delivered on time.
5. High Standards of Quality
In the end, it’s all about delivering a high-quality finished product. For that to occur, your chosen plastic injection molding company must have high-quality standards. These standards must be ingrained in every engineer, technician, and operator. Additionally, they should be more than willing to share those standards with you and review how their quality processes ensure high-quality parts. Reviewing these quality standards helps you understand how every team member is devoted to providing the best possible solution for you.
Work With an Industry-Leading Plastic Injection Molding Company Today
If you’re looking for a reliable plastic injection molding company, you’re looking for Silver Basis Engineering. We specialize in designing and manufacturing high-precision molded components for companies in all types of industries. With over 500 patents, 20 industry awards, and 9,000 employees worldwide, we’re capable of delivering the quality and precision you need. Please contact us today to learn more about our capabilities or to request a consultation.