What is multi-color plastic injection molding and its effect in the toy industry
- What is Multi-Color Plastic Injection Molding?
- Impact on the toy industry
The toy industry has been one of the most prolific plastic manufacturing industries over the past few years. With over millions of toys produced, along with a revenue of over billions of dollars on a yearly basis, the toy industry has helped the plastic industry become one of the world’s biggest and most prolific industries.
When it comes to plastic injection molding, China is one of the biggest suppliers of plastic to toy manufacturers around the world, providing both the raw material, along with the manufacturing tools and technology that help create toys of the best quality. This sophisticated manufacturing technology not only produced the best products but also introduced a new method called multi-color plastic injection molding.
This manufacturing method has been one of the most innovative molding methods, and has helped produce today’s generation of quality toys. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about multi-color injection molding.
What is Multi-Color Plastic Injection Molding?
The common process of producing plastic parts and products using an injection molding machine involves injecting one color per part at a time. While this process is still common in a lot of manufacturing plants across the world, this process can be very inefficient, especially for the toy industry, which needs to produce using a multitude of colors for each part.
This is where multi-color plastic injection molding comes into play. The process involves adding another set of plastic pellets to add another color that would be integrated into the same plastic mold. Some of these multi-color plastic injection molding machines can handle at least 2 colors at the same time, with the option to add more colors if needed. Injecting multiple colors into a single mold is a delicate process that requires proper sequencing in order to not mix with the primary color. After the necessary adjustments and the molding process, you will be able to produce a multi-color plastic product efficiently. This process is also more cost-effective, as you would no longer need to produce some parts separately, which can take more time to assemble, and can also cost more.
The technology to create the multi-color plastic injection molding process is one that took years of research and development to accomplish. Eventually, plastic manufacturing companies, which include injection molding from China, came up with their own concepts and specifications that allow them to accomplish the process, and make it fit for mass-production of plastic products. This eventually led to more plastic manufacturing companies to accommodate their needs and create their own set of multi-color injection molding machines.
Impact on the toy industry
Toys are not only one of the most prolific products in the world, but they were also one of the catalysts for innovation in the plastic manufacturing industry. Starting out with simple plastic molds to create products that are easy to produce and distribute, toys eventually became even more complex as the years went on, with more parts and functions that needed to be accommodated.
This also led to innovations in toy design, some of which are required to be molded in a multitude of colors. This process required machines that can inject different colors into various parts, which is a more efficient process compared to painting the parts after being removed from their molds and runners. This efficiency helped toys become easier to produce, while also providing opportunities to craft more diverse and innovative toy designs.
Notable examples of multi-color plastic injection molding can be seen on toys such as plastic bricks, action figures, and even model kits. For the latter, model kits have greatly benefitted from multi-color injection molding, as model kit companies are able to inject multiple colors into a single runner, making the process of assembling a much more convenient experience for the plastic modeler. The same goes for action figures, as the process of giving them the necessary colors can already be done in the molding process itself.
Multi-color plastic injection molding has greatly helped the toy industry into pushing towards innovating their techniques in design and production, eventually leading to better quality products. As the toy industry continues to grow, expect multi-color plastic injection molding technology to play a huge role in shaping the innovations in the toy industry, and continue to become one of the most prolific plastic product producers in the world.
Key Takeaway
The toy industry continues to become one of the largest plastic manufacturing industries in the world, and that is thanks in part to the innovations bought about by multi-color plastic injection molding. The convenience bought about by this technology has helped shape the toy industry into the plastic producing giant that it is today, providing better designed toys, while making the whole production process that much easier. The next time you take a look at some of the latest toy products, you’ll be able to see the elements of multi-injection plastic molding in their design.
