What is Injection Molding?

Injection molding technology is a process that involves mass manufacture of parts. Using the injection molding technology the same, identical part is produced in mass multiple times and in succession.

Injection molding is advantageous because it becomes easy producing parts in large numbers with same precision and scale. The price paid in manufacture of different parts is low especially after covering its initial costs. As more parts are manufactured the price also decreases drastically.
Compared to traditional manufacturing methods injection molding is cost effective due to low scrap rates. Wastage of material is also minimal because all waste comes from different areas such as gate area, runners, overflow material and sprue.
Sprue is the area where molten plastic moves from the nozzle to a place known as entry point. Different channels that meet with the sprue are known as runners. These runners are normally classified under two main categories.
The gate is the area that comes after the runner which leads to the cavity of the part.
Injection molding is a process that is repeatable. This basically means that the part you produce second time will be exactly identical to the first one.

Downside of this process. Advantages of injection molding

It can be costly especially upfront fees used in testing, equipment requirements and design. If you want your parts to be produced in mass them the level of accuracy when it comes to design is high. This can be complicated but let’s leave that to be a story for another day.
Injection molding has its disadvantages which people need to know. The first disadvantage is the fact that the process can be costly. Before you produce any part in injection molding you must be able to get the best design. This process includes prototyping a part either through 3D printing or CNC. After this you must be able to find the best tool that will produce your desired parts in large volume. What follows after this is an extensive process of testing.
The other advantage is the fact that making changes can be extremely difficult especially if they are made out of steel. In some cases it can also be challenging to produce large parts through the process as a single piece. This is mainly because of limitations that injection molding comes with.
Finally, if you need large undercuts then you must be ready to have top design quality in order to avoid extra costs.