What are some questions to ask before buying a mold in China?
- Can you make a product that can meet my production requirements?
- Can you achieve tight tolerances?
- How many machines do you have?
- Are you working with an experienced and professional team?
- Do you provide prototyping services?
- Do you have high-cavitation molds?
Whether you’re a private individual running a startup or a large industry dependent on OEM plastic injection-molded tools, you need to make sure that you’re partnering with the right molding company in China. There are certain questions to ask before buying a mold in China that can help you identify if you’re collaborating with the right company.
One thing you should prioritize is that you should be able to choose a company that can meet a number of your requirements. Not only will they help in providing you a mold that achieves tight tolerances, but they can also bring you the best outcomes when it comes to operational efficiency, practicality, and high-volume needs.
With all of these in mind, you have to know what you’re looking for in a plastic injection company. Before buying a mold, understand if that company is capable of meeting your production requirements, has the right machinery to perform the job, provides a range of prototyping services, and the like. Continue reading to learn more.
Can You Make A Product That Can Meet Your Production Requirements?
The first question you should ask before you choose a company that can supply you with an injection mold is if they have the capabilities to meet your production volume requirements.
Of course, you’ll get different answers depending on the industry you belong to. If your business is focused on the distribution of consumer goods, such as beverages or packed cosmetics, you need a reliable mold manufacturer that can perform production levels that reach a billion metric tons or more, each year.
Alternatively, if your business is involved in the manufacture of larger equipment, such as automotive parts or heavy machinery, see to it that your mold-maker in China can consistently dedicate their efforts to producing high-quality molds of these products.
Can You Achieve Tight Tolerances?
When you have already conceptualized your mold, you’ll likely have an idea of the dimensions of each part and component. As much as possible, when you have your idea actualized into a plastic injection-molded product, you want the final outcome to be as close to the prototype, or the concept, as possible.
To make sure that you buy a mold that has all of these standards, ask your molding company if they can achieve tight tolerances in their manufacturing processes. Typical injection molding companies usually set a threshold of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) tolerance of +/— 0.005 inches. Likewise, they should also be able to accommodate tighter tolerances, as specified by your molding requirements.
How Many Machines Do You Have?
The quality and type of equipment that your chosen mold manufacturer has, are just as important as their experience in the industry. As such, you have to choose a company that uses different types of equipment at varying capacities.
One of the factors affecting the size of injection molded parts is the platen size. Ask if your company’s machines can support different mold thicknesses, fast injection molding rate, resin variety, and heavy plastic weight.
To know the best machines available for your mold needs, choose a company that houses multiple units of equipment. For example, they may have a single unit for their 2100-TON equipment, but for smaller molds, their facility may also house 8 units of a 150-TON machine, 6 units of a 90-TON machine, and the like.
Are You Working With An Experienced And Professional Team?
Years of experience and professionalism are two other things to look for in your mold supplier. As much as possible, you’ll want to choose a company that has more than a decade of experience behind them. They should have adequate knowledge not just when it comes to injection molding, but also in prototyping and manufacturing of different products. Every tool and equipment used in their production processes should be constantly maintained, updated for new developments, and quality-assured to come up with high-grade injection mold products.
Do You Provide Prototyping Services?
If you’re conceptualizing the next big plastic product in the market, you want to make sure that it functions according to your intentions. This is why many mold-making companies also invest in rapid prototyping, wherein the customer will get a concrete mold of the product, make refinements or modify it to correct any defects.
Ask if your mold manufacturer also conducts rapid prototyping for their injection mold processes. Prototyping is a low-cost and practical alternative compared to tool-making because the materials are relatively available. You can also request your manufacturer to have a similar end-product reverse-engineered to see what you can learn from your competitors in improving your mold design.
Do You Have High-Cavitation Molds?
Although injection molding is a simple process, the lead time may vary on the type of mold. If your business values efficiency, especially in the production of multiple molds in a single-shot, then you need to ask your mold maker if their machines have support for high-cavitation molds.
High-cavitation molds are ideal if you belong to healthcare, biopharmaceutical, food & beverage, or any industry that relies on high-precision production of multiple molds all at once. Ensure that your mold maker can guarantee quality even in single-shot moldings.
Key Takeaway
In this guide, we’ve outlined six questions to ask before buying a mold in China. You have to find out if your mold manufacturer can supply you with high-quality molds at a short turnaround time.
More than just that, they should be implementing all the latest equipment and technology to achieve high-precision products, no matter for low-cavity or high-cavity molds. Finally, with an available prototyping service, your molding company in China can guarantee that the product you’ll end up with is suitable to be distributed to the wider market and end-users.
Looking for a high-quality mold maker in China? Richfields Plastic has answers to all of your questions. Click here to view a list of their products and services. You may also contact them to request a quote or to find more information about mold making.