The Injection Molding Planning Process
It’s hard to find a manufactured item nowadays that doesn’t have at least some plastic parts. Unfortunately, all too often during our decades of experience with plastics contract manufacturing in Ontario, we have seen engineers not spending enough time thinking through the most important step in the manufacturing process: the planning.
Getting It Right The First Time
Somewhere at your company you’ve probably seen this sign hanging on someone’s cubicle wall: If you don’t have time to do it right the first time, then when will you have time to fix it? There is a lot of wisdom in that statement. It’s easy to dismiss the time spent on early design with the assumption that you can make adjustments later, but in reality this is false economy in time management.
Fixing an existing system typically requires far more work that doing it right the first time. It’s even worse if the product is already in the hands of your customers. Recalls make companies look bad; accidents and failed equipment make them look worse. Your company’s reputation rides on the quality of that little plastic part. That is why the first step to plastics contract manufacturing in Ontario isn’t design; it’s planning.
Planning Tips
Start by thinking about exactly what is expected from the part. Don’t just think about its function. Think about the environment it will be in. Will you need to take into account UV rays, extreme temperatures or exposure to chemicals? Is this going to be used in a child’s toy or a piece of industrial mining equipment? Does it need to be merely functional or does it need to look pretty as well?
These questions and more will influence the methods used for plastics contract manufacturing in Ontario. They can affect the type of plastic, the manufacturing processes, the physical design of the component and more. If you don’t take time to work out these details then you may end up with an inferior part that could compromise the function of your product or even endanger the user.
You Don’t Have To Do This Alone
If the design process seems overwhelming then take comfort in the fact that you don’t have to work on your own. Rather than trying to solve all of these problems yourself, try consulting with experts in plastics contract manufacturing in Ontario. A design issue that could take you days to resolve can often by solved by a specialist in minutes. They’ve seen these problems before and know how to address them.
Baytech Plastics has been providing plastics contract manufacturing in Ontario since 1946. We are more than simply a manufacturer. We offer a range of services including design, prototyping, resource management and product inspections. We work with your personnel to create a team ideally suited to handle your manufacturing needs. Contact us for more information on our capabilities.