Why Is Uniform Wall Thickness for Injection Molded Parts Important?

One of the most important factors in ensuring the quality of injection molded parts is uniform wall thickness. Having uniform injection molding wall thickness is crucial because it helps achieve a better structural part, yielding an aesthetic appearance. Parts with varying wall thicknesses can look distorted or incomplete, while uniformed wall thickness gives the part a more professional and seamless look. In addition, it can reduce manufacturing costs by eliminating the need for secondary operations like trimming, and overall reworking of parts.

Benefits of Maintaining Uniform Wall Thickness for Injection Molded Parts

Injection molding is the production of parts and accessories from plastic materials. This manufacturing process can mold large and intricate parts in various shapes and forms, as required in different industries. The most common injection molded components are made from polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), nylon (PA), polycarbonate (PC), NDPE, and polystyrene (PS).

Keeping a nominal, uniform wall thickness offers more advantages:

Resistance to Warping During the Cooling Process

During the injection molding process, the plastic material is melted, injected, and held under pressure in a mold, which is then cooled solidifying the material into the desired shape. If the cooling process is not managed correctly, different sections of the part will cool at different rates, causing warping or bending. This can result in substandard parts.

Uniform wall thickness helps reduce the risk of warping during the cooling process by ensuring that the plastic cools consistently throughout the part. This improves the accuracy of the critical dimensions of the part and ensures that it fits and functions as intended. Additionally, reducing the risk of warping can lessen the need for additional finishing processes or rework due to dimensional inaccuracies. 

Strength and Durability

Uniform injection molding wall thickness increases the strength and durability of the component. The consistency also improves dimensional accuracy over time, resulting in better performance and longer usable life.

Improved Aesthetic Appearance

Parts with consistent wall thickness create a much more aesthetically pleasing appearance than parts with varying walls. This is especially important in consumer products or components where visual appeal plays an important role in the product’s success.

Overall Cost Savings

Since wall thickness uniformity helps reduce shrinkage and residual stress in the injection molded part, it lowers the required cycle time needed to mold an acceptable part, resulting in cost savings. In a design for manufacturing/assembly (DFM/DFA) review, Engineering will evaluate the part design for strength, and include various elements like ribs to reduce the overall amount of plastic needed. It also eliminates the need for additional finishing operations, such as sanding or painting, furthermore reducing production costs.

Guidelines for Determining Nominal Wall Thickness Uniformity

There are several guidelines manufacturers can follow to ensure uniform wall thickness in injection molded parts:

Use Accurate Tools for Nominal Thickness Measurement

Manufacturers should use specialized equipment to measure the wall thickness of their parts during production. It is also beneficial to adjust parameters as needed to ensure that all components have consistent wall thickness throughout the manufacturing process.

Adjust Cooling Parameters

It is crucial to carefully control the cooling process by adjusting temperature, pressure, and other parameters to prevent warping and reduce sinking. If the part has a wide range of thicknesses, it will cool at different rates which can lead to dimension changes.

Select the Appropriate Materials

Selecting the correct resin, based on the part requirements and environment, is crucial.

Maintain Quality Control Standards

Manufacturers should practice strict quality control standards and inspect parts before shipment. Doing so can ensure that all their products meet customer specifications.

Precision Plastic Injection Molding With D&M Plastics

Maintaining uniform wall thickness is important for ensuring the quality of injection molded components. It provides several advantages, including improved strength, durability, aesthetics, and reduced production and finishing costs. 

With five decades of experience and expertise, D&M Plastics has an unwavering commitment to provide nothing less than the highest of standards to our clients. By following these guidelines and using the right tools and processes, manufacturers can achieve consistent wall thickness in their injection molded parts. This will produce higher-quality components with improved aesthetics and durability at a lower cost.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation or to learn more about our products and services!

One of the most important factors in ensuring the quality of injection molded parts is uniform wall thickness. Having uniform injection molding wall thickness is crucial because it helps achieve a better structural part, yielding an aesthetic appearance. Parts with varying wall thicknesses can look distorted or incomplete, while uniformed wall thickness gives the part […]

Why You Should Onshore Your Injection Molding Operations

Onshoring refers to the process of setting up production operations within domestic national borders. Up until the 1980s, most manufacturing companies kept their operations at home; however, the years of globalization led many companies to outsource their production overseas in an effort to lower labor, material, and transportation costs. While offshoring once seemed like the best move, many businesses are starting to reconsider. Companies have begun thinking about total end-to-end production costs rather than solely focusing on direct manufacturing and transportation costs. 

In recent years, offshore operations have seen rising supply chain issues and higher foreign production costs. As such, companies are finding that even though part costs may be lower, their total end-to-end production costs are higher. For these reasons and many others, businesses have started sourcing their production domestically again, including their injection molding operations. 

If you’re looking to onshore or reshore your plastic injection molding, D&M is here to help. Since our inception in 1972, we’ve served customers across various industries with quality injection molding services right here in the US. 

Benefits of Onshore Injection Molding

Onshore injection molding offers the following key benefits:

Increased Control Over End-to-End Production

One of the biggest advantages of onshore injection molding is increased control over end-to-end production. By keeping your injection molding processes domestic, it’s much easier to control certain operational parameters. This results in: 

• Reduced lead times. Onshoring your injection molding operations results in faster lead times, as finished products won’t have far to travel. This not only reduces transportation costs, but it also increases inventory turns and decreases average inventory. Having lower inventory levels improves business cash flow.
• Faster responses to quality issues. With offshore injection molding, it may take weeks or months to address defective products if they are transported by ship. While you could expedite shipments to solve quality issues, that often comes with higher transportation costs. A lower-cost offshore component becomes very expensive when you add costs associated with quality issues. By onshoring your injection molding, you can quickly and easily respond to quality problems to save on defective part costs and ensure your parts are ready to ship on time. 
• Higher quality outputs. Although onshore injection molding can come with increased component costs compared to its offshore counterpart, the added layer of control results in higher-quality end products. 
• Fewer communication issues. Onshoring injection molding eliminates misunderstandings due to language and other communication barriers. Communicating with your manufacturer is as easy as dialing their phone number or heading directly to their manufacturing facility for inquiries, concerns, or collaborations.
• Easier and cheaper to audit. Onsite audits are often required to make sure your supplier is complying with all necessary specifications and requirements. Compared to offshore locations, material certifications are more readily available in the US. While an offshore supplier may say that materials meet specifications, it can be difficult to verify those assurances. Additionally, local onsite audits eliminate the need to travel across the globe, significantly reducing travel costs. 

Lower Business Risks

In addition to improving control over end-to-end production, onshoring your injection molding operations significantly reduces business risks. Production regulations and standards vary across the world. By keeping your injection molding operations domestic, it will be easier to ensure compliance with all governmental regulations. Working with a local provider also makes it much easier to enforce contracts. 

What Happens When You Offshore Injection Molding?

If a company chooses to offshore its injection molding operations to China, for example, it can cause various issues. While offshoring may come with a lower price-per-part compared to domestic manufacturing, it can lead to significant quality and delivery problems, including:

• The inability to get the component parts they need from their supplier when they need them
• The inability to produce and ship the final product to their customers per their commitments
• The inability to meet changing or growing demands

These problems not only result in increased production costs, but they also jeopardize a business’s reputation with customers. As such, the lower component price is not as important as getting quality parts when you need them. 

D&M Plastics for Reliable US-Based Injection Molding

As more and more companies consider their total end-to-end production costs rather than only their direct manufacturing costs, the manufacturing industry can expect to see a continued trend toward onshoring. At D&M Plastics, we can deliver US-based injection molding services with a commitment to manufacturing the highest quality products. With a highly stocked inventory of raw resin materials and strong partnerships with multiple vendors, we can deliver the solutions our customers need without drastic changes in lead times due to supply chain issues. 

For more information about our capabilities, or for help onshoring your plastic injection molding operations, contact D&M Plastics today.

Onshoring refers to the process of setting up production operations within domestic national borders. Up until the 1980s, most manufacturing companies kept their operations at home; however, the years of globalization led many companies to outsource their production overseas in an effort to lower labor, material, and transportation costs. While offshoring once seemed like the […]