Two reasons that manufacturers use injection moulding to produce products
Injection moulding is a process which involves using a mould to turn melted plastic into a specific shape. Granulated plastic is fed into an injection moulding machine, where it is then heated up until it starts to melt.
A syringe-like component then injects this melted plastic into the machine's mould chamber, where it is left to cool and harden. When this cooling process is complete, the chamber is opened and the finished, newly-shaped piece of plastic is removed.
Injection moulding is used in many industries, for the mass production of things like food packaging, car parts, computer components and medical products. Here are some of the main reasons why so many manufacturers make use of injection moulding for the production of their goods.
Automation and its associated financial benefits
Having an injection moulding machine in a manufacturing facility allows for the automation of the production process. This, in turn, drastically increases the level of precision with which the facility's products are made, as it eliminates the possibility of human error negatively impacting on the quality of the completed product.
A consistently high level of precision can significantly increase a manufacturing company's profits, as fewer raw materials are wasted as a result of employees' mistakes.
The automation of the production process also saves manufacturing facility's money by reducing their labour costs. Whilst the facility still needs to pay for the maintenance and repair of the injection moulding machine, these expenses are generally far lower than the collective cost of several employees' salaries.
Higher efficiency levels
The entire injection moulding process, from the initial injection to the cooling stage, usually takes just a few seconds (or a minute, at the very most).
Compare this to the following scenario; an employee manually pours melted plastic into a mould, transports the filled mould to a separate cooling machine, waits for the plastic to cool, and then manually removes the hardened product from the mould. Even if the employee performing this task was extremely skilled, this would at least five minutes, if not longer.
As such, it is easy to understand why so many manufacturing companies choose to invest in an injection mould machine. It offers a level of efficiency which even the most proficient of employees could not compete with.
This increase in efficiency means that the manufacturing facility can produce more products, at a faster rate, which will, of course, increase its profitability.
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