Some precautions for plastic molds

1、 Don't just focus on product planning and neglect plastic mold making.
Some users, when developing products or trial producing new products, often focus only on product research and development in the initial stage, neglecting communication with plastic mold manufacturing units. There are two benefits to early contact with mold manufacturers after confirming the product planning plan:
1. It can ensure that the planned product has a good forming process and will not be modified due to the difficulty of machining the parts.
2. The mold maker can make early planning and preparation to prevent hasty and inadequate consideration, which may affect the project schedule.
3. To produce high-quality plastic molds, as long as the supply and demand sides cooperate closely, we can ultimately reduce costs and shorten the cycle.
2、 Don't just look at the price, consider quality, cycle, and service from all aspects.
1. There are many types of molds, which can be roughly divided into ten categories. Select different types of molds for forming based on different requirements such as part information, physical and chemical functions, mechanical strength, dimensional accuracy, surface smoothness, service life, and economy.
2. High precision molds require the use of high-precision CNC machine tools for processing, and there are strict requirements for mold materials and forming processes. CAD/CAE/CAM mold skills are also required for planning and analysis.
3. Some parts require advanced processes such as warm runner, gas assisted molding, and nitrogen cylinder due to special requirements during molding.
4. The manufacturer should have CNC, EDM, wire cutting machine tools and CNC profile milling equipment, high-precision grinding machines, high-precision three coordinate measuring instruments, computer planning and related software, etc.
5. Generally, large stamping molds (such as automotive cover parts molds) need to consider whether the machine tool has edge pressing organization, even edge lubricants, multi station progressive, etc. In addition to stamping tonnage, considerations should also be given to punching times, feeding equipment, machine tools, and mold protection equipment.
6. The production methods and processes of the above-mentioned molds are not possessed and mastered by every enterprise. When selecting a collaborative manufacturer, it is important to understand its processing capabilities, not only based on hardware equipment, but also combined with management level, processing experience, and skill strength.
7. There may be significant differences in quotes from different manufacturers for the same set of molds. You should not pay more than the cost of the mold, nor should you pay less than the cost of the mold. Mold manufacturers, like you, need to achieve reasonable profits in their affairs. Customizing a much lower priced set of molds would be the beginning of the hassle. Users must start from their own requirements and comprehensively evaluate.
3、 Prevent collaboration among multiple parties, and strive for a one-stop production of plastic molds and product processing.
1. With qualified molds (qualified specimens), it is not necessarily possible to produce a batch of qualified products. This is mainly related to the selection of machining tools for parts, forming processes (forming temperature, forming time, etc.), and the essential skills of operators.
2. With good molds, it is also necessary to have good forming and processing. It is best to work together in a one-stop manner and try to prevent collaboration among multiple heads. If the conditions are not met, one party should be selected to take full responsibility, and it must be clearly stated in the contract.