Need to understand the complete process of custom plastic parts

Many customers contact us online to order plastic parts, but most of them don’t know much about the plastic processing industry and don’t know how the specific process of making plastic parts works. This has led to some unnecessary communication barriers. Today I am here to briefly sort out the basic process of making plastic parts.

1. Product design and custom plastic mold

Custom plastic parts are the process of custom processing unique plastic products for customers by injection molding manufacturers. It is called a unique product because different industries have different customer needs, and each customer may have a unique product idea. This is the time to cooperate with plastic parts manufacturers and let the injection molding manufacturers redesign the structure and engineering drawings of the products that need to be customized according to their needs.

Many injection molding manufacturers can design and develop some products independently, but most can develop a limited range of products. They tend to focus on only one segment of the plastic processing industry and cannot meet their customers’ needs to the maximum extent. There are also some manufacturers with relatively weak technical strengths. Their business is limited to producing a few products, and their design and R&D capabilities are extremely limited. These two injection molding manufacturers are partners with which customers should never choose to work. They can’t even master the relevant technology well, let alone solve the processing problems of plastic parts for customers.

The design and manufacturing capability of plastic molds are one of the indicators to fully test the core competitiveness of a plastic processing enterprise. Because plastic mold design contains all the core technologies of plastic processing, enterprises must master enough mature technologies to assess customers’ needs from all aspects and provide customers with feasible and cost-effective plastic processing solutions.

In addition, a perfect plastic mold is the most important factor for a company to produce high-quality products. If the plastic mold is not well made at the beginning, it will be troublesome to modify it later, and the products produced by the modified mold are not likely to be of good quality. So the design of plastic products and the manufacture of plastic molds can be used to measure the technical strength of an injection molding manufacturer. They can not only use technology to solve the processing problems of plastic parts but also explain to customers in easy-to-understand language what technology they have used to solve the problems for you. Then the problem is solved.

2. Mould quotation

Plastic product design includes product design and product packaging design. Generally speaking, plastic parts design services manufacturers can give away for free. Some people may wonder if the cost of product design is not rubbed into the final offer by the manufacturer. In fact, for a plastic processing factory with more comprehensive technology, the design work is still relatively easy, and the cost of designing plastic parts is much smaller than plastic molds. And the design work is just an ambush of plastic mold manufacturing. Although there is no design link, to manufacture the mold then still have to do the design drawings first; customers do not have to worry that the manufacturer will charge more for the product design.

The quotation of plastic molds is beyond the understanding of many customers. Generally, when quoting, we need to understand the customer’s product specifications, materials, order quantity, etc., details to determine the approximate price of plastic molds. Why is there no detailed price here? Because the mold of a plastic part must be determined strictly according to the process difficulty of the product and the quantity ordered. The plastic part’s structure determines the plastic mold’s process difficulty, and the customer’s order quantity determines the plastic mold’s number of cavities. Among them, the number of plastic mold cavities is determined according to the customer’s demand and the production efficiency of the production equipment. The manufacturers have only one goal: to finish the batch of work handed over by the customers as soon as possible. So they must go through thorough consideration and strict calculations to give the most accurate quotation to the customer.

The manufacturing cost of plastic molds is usually higher. Still, you don’t have to worry too much about this because you can communicate with the manufacturer and ask for a rebate on the molds cost when the product order reaches a certain quantity. If your order quantity is sufficient, the manufacturer is usually willing to agree to your request. As for the quantity set by the manufacturer, every company is different.

3. Provide customized service for samples.

Customers do not have samples when the processing process, but if the customer can provide physical samples of the relevant products, then the work can be much easier for the plastic products factory, as long as the sample specifications, materials, processes to design drawings, manufacturing molds can be, no need to communicate with customers to understand in detail the customer’s processing needs.

For customers, if you already have a physical sample, you only need the processing plant to copy the original sample or make some changes; it is best to take the sample to the factory and the technical staff interview so that the manufacturer will soon be able to give an accurate quote.

If there is no sample or design drawing, you must communicate with the injection molding manufacturer about the design and specific requirements.

4. Molding Sample

The molding sample is to produce a sample with the manufactured mold to see the effect and quality. If the customer is satisfied and pays in full, the manufacturer removes the mold and moves on to the next production step. If the customer is not satisfied and raises objections, the manufacturer will modify the mold again and try the mold.

5. Mass production and individual product price

Mass production means the plastic mold can be put into production in batches after being approved by the customer. If the number of cavities is properly designed, it will not take many days for the high-speed production equipment to complete a supply.

The single product price is what customers are most concerned about. For existing products in the manufacturer’s inventory or products with ready-made molds, quotations can be made directly for customers. But for the customer service of plastic parts, it isn’t easy to quote the price of individual products on the spot without detailed calculations. This is because the price of an individual product depends on the gram weight, processing difficulty, material, and starting quantity of different products. The price of a custom service item requires multiple considerations to make an accurate quote.

So how do you get the customer a more accurate price for a single product? You need to provide detailed information, such as product specifications, gram weight, order quantity, etc., and online quotes can be relatively accurate. However, plastic parts manufacturers recommend that customers meet with them in person. Manufacturers prefer to spend time and effort visiting customers and chatting with them.

6. Printing and packaging logistics services

Generally, all plastic parts manufacturers can provide simple printing services, and quotes vary depending on the type of colors used, the number of plates made, etc.

General packaging services can be completed by customer needs, such as the specific size of the customer’s warehouse, the environment, the need for special packaging protection, and so on. Customer and manufacturer communication can solve this aspect. Good packaging can protect the goods during the transportation process.

To ensure your schedule, you can ask the manufacturer to give priority to batch supply; that is, when there are not enough products in the customer’s factory, the manufacturer of the plastic part can supply a batch of goods first to supplement to ensure that the customer’s schedule will not be delayed.

The above six articles cover the process of making plastic products, and the details of each link need to be communicated by customers and manufacturers. However, we believe that the general conditions of manufacturing plastic parts and the relevant plastic processing industry specifications are already well known.