Go4 is the prime manufacturer of a wide range of plastic molds. We have been serving the construction, medical, food, and other industries with the budget-friendly plastic injection mold cost. Our skilled workers monitor the designing, manufacturing, and delivery process so that you face no inconvenience on our end. Plastic molds manufactured at Go4 Mold are international best-sellers and the clients have written honest reviews about the quality and functioning of our products.
The most important thing whilst buying a plastic mold is the cost. The best cost is the one which suits your pocket and saves you money without affecting the product quality. However, it is somehow difficult for a lay person to calculate the plastic injection mold cost.
This blog tends to unravel the important factors and ways that can interfere with the injection mold price.
What Is Plastic Injection Moulding?
Figure 1: Plastic Injection Moulding Process
Plastic Injection moulding has prevailed in the market for a long time and it is one of the most widely used methods for producing plastic products. It is highly effective in making similar products in large quantities and reduces the chances of error. Plastic molding is a low-cost phenomenon that not only lets you cope with massive orders but also makes high-quality molds.
Injection molding is a quick process and takes tremendous heat and pressure to inject the melted plastic into a mould. The quantity of melted plastic is chosen according to the product’s needs. The most common materials used in injection moulding are thermoplastics. For instance
The cavity in the mold makes the plastic molded product. Therefore, the mold cavity must be given some special treatment to maintain the A-level surface of the product. The mold is let to rest for as long as it takes to solidify properly. Otherwise, if you open the mold quickly, it might get damaged.
How Much Does A Plastic Injection Mold Cost?
Figure 2: Plastic Injection Mould Cost Estimation
The main cost of the plastic injection mold depends upon the mold in which the injection process takes place. The cost of the mold differs from quality to quality and quantity to quantity. You can get a simple mold manufactured by 3D printing for 100 dollars. On the other hand, the cost of a complex mold with a set of quality features and varieties would cost 100k dollars on average.
Injection molding gives you a benefit in a start-up business. The starting costs are high for establishing a new business but with plastic injection molding, you can save your money. This is because the material used in the process of injection molding consists of less-costly thermoplastics. They take less time in manufacturing and are also suitable for high volume production and for producing the same quality.
You must read the following breakdown cost for injection molds before establishing your start-up business. This will get you clear with the idea of the total investment.
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Injection mould cost breakdown
It can be difficult to understand all of the aspects that are required in estimating the cost of plastic injection molds. That’s why we suggest you break down the mold price. This includes the cost estimation per part and then calculating the sum of all the costs per part.
Keep in mind that extra perks to your molds can raise the price as well. If you have enough budget to enhance the features in your injection molds, then you must go for it. Otherwise, it is wise to start your business with a low-cost product.
The plastic injection mold cost breakdown is as follows.
- Cost Per Part: For low volume production, the cost per part is 4$. For a high production rate, the per part reduces to 1.7 dollars.
- Labor Cost: For high production, the labor cost is $1, and 2.5 dollars for the low-scale production.
- Cost of Mold: In the case of molds, the price increases from simple to complex molds. It goes from $100 to $20k respectively.
- Material Cost: As the same material is used for injection molding, its price remains constant in high and low productions. The cost of material is 0.5 dollars per part.
- Total Production Price: The graph of total production cost also rises from lowest to the highest production levels. It is 400 dollars for small production while 170k dollars
Let’s further move toward the factors which are responsible for the fluctuations in the mold price.
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Factors affecting plastic injection mould Price
Although plastic injection molding is a simple and cost-effective process, there are minor and major factors that influence the cost of your plastic molds.
Below are the factors which we think directly interfere with the mold price.
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Design
Design is the very beginning of the mould manufacturing process which determines the simplicity and complexity of your mold. Plastic injection molds are of various types starting from the simpler to the complex ones. If you choose a simple plastic injection mold for your product, the plastic injection mold design cost will be low and vice versa. This is because a simple mold has one cavity that shapes the mold material while a complex mold has a lot of cavities to make the desired product. The simple plastic injection molds cost 1000 Dollars and then increase gradually with the features.
For different shapes of moulds, different vacuum pumps, thimble ejection, or suction pumps are also needed to bring the molded product out of the injection mold. This also contributes to increasing the cost.
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Material
It includes two types of materials.
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Mold material
Injection mold manufacturing material also plays a significant part in changing the plastic injection mold cost. There are different mold materials according to your budget. You must be careful in choosing the mold material because the molten plastic can react with the mold otherwise. Steel and molten plastic when combined are more likely to release gases or may form a chemical reaction. To avoid this, you need to choose the right material of mold for a specific injection molding process.
It isn’t always that a good mold making material is available at high costs only. With the right strategy, you can use the best material at a low price as well. The type of steel used also determines the durability of your mold. If the steel is of low quality, your mold will rust and you’ll have to spend more money to compensate for the loss. On the other hand, if the steel quality is good, your mold can work for years.
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Part Material
The material to be injection molded also determines the cost. For example, if you want to make thermoplastic mold products like PVC and polyvinyl, you’ll find them at a lower cost. However, high-quality liquid crystal materials offer high prices.
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Manufacturing Process
Your plastic injection mold cost also depends upon the manufacturing process of the mold. Usually, the injection molds are prepared with three basic steps.
- The first process is 3D Printing. It is the fastest way of making molds and requires less equipment. It is cost-effective and every industry can afford to have it in their production centers. This process is easy to operate and costs less than $5,000.
- The second process of manufacturing molds for injection molding is EDM. It is an electrical discharge machining technique that uses electrodes to shape the mold. It is highly effective for industrial use and is designed specifically for making complex molds. This system involves more equipment and technology and surely costs more than 3D printing.
- Last but not least process of making molds is through a CNC machining system. It is designed to make complex cavity designs. CNC machines require more space to store and the manufacturing process is more expensive than the above two.
The time a plastic molding machine takes to complete one cycle of the injection molding process determines the price of plastic mold. Time and cost are directly proportional to each other. More time to complete one cycle will take extra energy and it’ll ultimately enhance your expenses.
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Mould Features
Features are added to the molds for efficient working. Following is the list of the features which directly or indirectly enhance your mold price.
- Mold tolerance is necessary for the good working of injection molding but maintaining the excessive tolerance is not only precise but expensive. It is recommended to use the required amount of tolerance, otherwise, your product can get damaged.
- Cooling equipment to solidify the injection-molded material requires extra expenses. Letting the mold cool in a natural environment results in good quality of the product.
- Making complex molds requires more tools, design, and manufacturing. However, keeping the molds simple at your start-up business helps you to reduce the molding fee.
- The shape and structure of mold gates also imply the cost of plastic injection molds. These gates allow molten material to enter the molds and greatly affect the size, dimensions, and time to complete the injection process. The more complex gates you make, the more the price you’ll have to pay.
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Production Volume
Production volume is the core of plastic injection mold cost. There are two types of mold production.
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Low volume
Low Volume production best suits newly established businesses. In low-volume production, simple equipment is used. The design and technology are also kept simple. There is less labour cost and hence the overall plastic injection mold cost is reduced.
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Large volume
Large-volume production is meant to deal with massive orders. They demand high precision, accurate parts, and other tools. A highly-skilled workforce is also required to carry and monitor the process. Hence, the large production directly increases the price of your molds.
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Material Availability
Make sure that you have enough mold manufacturing material available in your stock. This is because you never know when a product may get short and you’ll have to pay an extra amount to get that material. Be in touch with the trusted sellers and buy when they display reasonable mold prices.
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Mold finishing
Mold finishing means the surface of your injection mold. You can give different finishing to your injection molds such as textured, smooth, and any other design you want. Enhancing the surface finish to different designs can raise the plastic injection mold price. It is important to keep your mold surface suitable for your mold product because if the surface is rough, it may affect the molded product. In this situation, you’ll have to invest money again to carry out the process.
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Cooling system
There are two types of cooling systems for your molds; traditional and artificial. The traditional cooling system allows the mold to cool down naturally by taking more time. In acritical cooling, the heat exchangers are used with your plastic injection molds to provide a cool environment. This process is less time-taking but expensive.
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Mould cavities
The more cavities you introduce to your molds, the more complex they become. Complexity is directly proportional to the plastic injection mold cost. Furthermore, the large number of cavities can enhance the chance of error because too many openings can confuse.
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Market Demand
Market demands mean how popular your product is among the manufacturing industries. The heavy production suggests more demand for your product. Since injection molding has been high in the market for a long time, it means that its market demand is also high. The increased market demand can increase or decrease the plastic injection mold cost depending upon the location and other factors.
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Delivery/Shipping Options
The delivery options can also add to the overall mold cost. It also depends upon the type of shipping option you choose. The fast delivery takes more charges than the normal delivery. If you are living overseas, the plastic injection molding cost may increase in that case as well.
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Mould Runners
Two types of mould runners contribute to the pricing of the injection moulds. These are hot and cold runners and are the important parts of the manufacturing of injection molds.
Figure 3: Cold Runner and Hot Runner Injection Molds
Cold Runner: A cold runner takes the melted plastic into the injection mold. After this, the melted plastic is left to rest for as long as it gets cooled. When the molded product is separated from the mold, the runners also come out at the same time and are separated afterward.
One of the disadvantages of cold runner is that it produces a lot of waste. It also takes more time to recycle and reprocess this wasted material. The time it takes to remove the runner from the part also adds to the cycle duration. And all these factors increase the cost.
Hot Runners: The molten plastic is distributed to the mould cavities by heated channels in hot runner designs. The material in the runners is heated in a manifold system that maintains a constant temperature for the plastic, ensuring that the material in the runner is never chilled.
The hot runner system is housed on its plate, allowing the final part to be ejected without any runners attached, reducing waste and reducing the time spent removing the runner from the final part.
The design of this type of runner is usually more complicated than that of cold runners, resulting in greater tooling costs. Hot runners offer significant advantages in terms of cycle durations and waste output
Online cost estimators for injection moulding fee
Online cost estimators are the latest and the most valuable invention of the century. You don’t need to measure the cost by traditional counting ways, rather, you can put the mold dimensions and other asked values in an online cost estimator.
Different industries offer online plastic injection mold cost calculation facilities which are completely free. You can log on to their websites and calculate for as many projects as you want. Following are some online plastic injection mold cost calculation sheet tools that might help you with the calculation.
You can also use some comparison tools for mold specification. This will help you to learn more about the dimensions and enhance your knowledge about which plastic injection mold to choose for your business. By comparing the plastic injection mold costs across different websites, you can also buy from a seller who offers the best prices according to your budget.
Go4 Mould’s injection moulds cost
Go4 Mould is a competitive plastic injection mold manufacturing brand in the market. We make precise and valuable plastic injection molds with a warranty. Our skilled workers go hand in hand with your business and help you grow by providing solutions and answering queries. We also provide the facility of customization. You give us your samples and we will make the same injection molds for you. You can also choose from the designs provided in the product catalog or make changes to them. We will provide you with our best services either way.
Contact us for an instant quote because we provide a reasonable plastic injection mold price. We also give discounts in some months of the year. Get in touch to stay updated regarding the mold costs.
Final words
In a nutshell, the plastic injection mold prices are dependent on the features and specifications you want to add. In other words, you have to pay a price for enjoying the perks of plastic injection molds. Keep equilibrium between your molds features and budget, and keep in mind all the information stated above. It’ll help you not only in the calculation of plastic injection mold cost but also to find the best mold at reasonable prices.
