What is Injection Molding?

Injection molding is a manufacturing technique for mass-producing identical plastic parts with good tolerances. In injection molding, polymer pellets are first melted and then injected under pressure into a mold where the liquid plastic cools and solidifies. The materials used in injection molding are thermoplastic polymers that can be colored or filled with other additives.

Almost every plastic part around you is manufactured by injection molding: from car parts to electronic housings to kitchen appliances.

Injection molding is so popular because of its extremely low unit cost when produced in high volumes. Injection molding offers high repeatability and good design flexibility. The main limitation of injection molding usually comes down to economic factors, since the tooling requires a high initial investment. Also, the turnaround time from design to production was slow (at least 4 weeks).