Rapid Injection Molding Can be Slow if You Don’t Pick the Right Supplier

Rapid injection molding is only ‘rapid’ if it is done right the first time. If you don’t qualify your rapid injection molding partner properly you will likely end up with a Frankenstein mold that may be longer to fix than it did to create.

Ideally, you want a vendor that can assist you in creating high quality prototypes as well as creating the actual injection mold tool for you. This will show you that they have experience in tight deadlines. The big benefits surrounding rapid injection molding is dramatically reduced mold costs and mold fabrication time, as well as the ability to produce and deliver parts that are identical to high volume production parts. Your choice of a rapid prototyping supplier can make or break production and your ability to truly be rapid, to deliver your design to the market or testing phase as desired in a quick timeframe.  

Look for a rapid injection molding partner that offers transparency when it comes to material selection. This way, you can make sure that the final product you will receive meets the needs of your application. Check to make sure that they only get resin from verified sources and not secondary black market sources.

Finding the right rapid injection molding partner is also crucial because when you miss your deadline the entire exercise of a rapid injection mold can be for nothing and you may have compromised your ability to make needed changes. Yes, rapid tools are cheaper. Yes, rapid tools are faster. But only if they are done right the first time. You cannot swing and miss with rapid tooling.

Injection Mold Maker: Learn How to Qualify a Good Partner

It is not difficult to find an injection mold maker—the challenge for most manufacturers is finding the right provider to partner with—one that can meet their production requirements, budget restrictions, and timelines. Populating your list of potential service providers is easy enough—narrowing it down to the perfect supplier is often what slows down the selection process. Here are some things that you should keep in mind while trying to qualify a good injection mold maker and partner:

1.    Look for a manufacturer that has experience in producing parts with quality control tolerances that also match your parts needs. Not all injection mold makers can hit the tolerances you desire. Reviewing past projects of theirs will help you qualify the tightness of their work.

2.    Choose a manufacturer that receives high praise from their clients. Look at their ratings and reviews to see what other clients are saying about certain manufacturers and to know what you can expect out of them once you sign your contract.

3.    Make sure that the manufacturer you choose follows international quality standards but also quiz them to make sure they understand product safety, packaging and labeling regulations.

4.    Look for a reputable company that maintains transparency throughout all your transactions. Reputable companies will not hesitate to provide you all the documentations you need to prove their service quality and the legitimacy of their business.

5.    Choose a company with reasonable MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) so you don’t have to be forced to buy more units of a particular part than you actually need. What options for production runs do they have? Are they willing to store product for you? How quickly can they turn around a production run if you get a quick order?

There are many other factors that should come into play when choosing the right manufacturer for your production needs. Ask about their manufacturing capabilities and delivery speed and be clear about payment terms before making a final choice.