12 Important Questions To Ask A Plastic Injection Parts Manufacturer
Picking the right injection molding company for creating quality plastic parts is quite important. If you pick the wrong company, you might end up with defective parts, the wrong material, and late deliveries. But telling the good manufacturers apart from the subpar ones isn’t easy.
Here are some questions you can ask your plastic parts manufacturer to determine their credibility and whether or not the company is capable enough to handle your requirements.
Which Production Process Is Available?
In injection molding, multiple processes are available, such as the traditional process, structural molding, over-molding, and gas-assisted molding. It’s important to know which of these processes your chosen manufacturer offers. You can’t compromise on the production process if your product needs specialized molding to meet industry regulations. It’s important to find a company that can handle your needs.
What Class of Mold Is Ideal for The Annual Volume Requirement?
If you’re planning on creating a long-term production partnership with a plastic manufacturer, then you need to know if their injection molding process can handle your annual requirements. Molds have different classes depending on their features, and for long-term contracts, you need molds that can withstand a large production volume without compromising on quality or quantity. A good manufacturer will guide you properly in choosing the right mold material.
Does The Product Come with A Warranty?
A warranty might be necessary for highly specialized injection molding products that follow certain industry regulations. Getting the finished product approved for industry use will be difficult if your manufacturer doesn’t offer a warranty. If that’s the case, you should always ask the manufacturer about their warranty services beforehand.
Is The Mold Designed in House?
Mold design has a huge impact on the finished quality of plastic products. If there are defects in the mold or it doesn’t have all the required parts, the resin won’t harden properly and ruin the product. Your manufacturer should inform you if the molds are designed in-house or through third-party companies because this can affect the product’s quality or cause defects that may increase production cycles and lead times.
What Is the Design Process?
Design engineers are important for ensuring all the injection molding processes are running smoothly. A good manufacturer will have an in-house design engineer to walk you through the design considerations and processes to create your required goods. The design engineer will handle the product development, design, and production stages to execute all the related processes smoothly.
Is It Possible to Build a Mold for Specific Parts?
Depending on the raw material, injection process, and design considerations, you might require a highly specialized mold. Not all manufacturers support the production of highly specialized parts, so ask your chosen manufacturer about your special considerations before starting product development.
What Material Is Available for Product Development?
Injection molding can be used for different plastics, such as ABS, polystyrene, polyethylene, and much more. Moreover, different resins require different injection molding processes. So always check whether the manufacturer offers injection molding for the resin you wish to work with. If not, ask them about the alternatives they can offer.
Is The Manufacturer QMS Certified?
Quality Management System or QMS is crucial to any industrial manufacturing process. It checks the output, the quality of the finished goods, and the number of defects. All companies have their own QMS to ensure maximum output with minimal defects. Moreover, the companies also have contingency plans in place in case of any major issues. So always ask about the manufacturer’s QMS and contingency plans for your specific product.
Do They Offer New Product Development?
Most injection molding manufacturers don’t offer proper product development services. Their developmental stage mostly includes changing a few product design features to fit their services. But if you require a specialized part, you’ll need adequate product development. So ask your manufacturer what their product development procedures are and how much they support new product development for specialized plastic pieces.
How Is the Customer Service?
A company’s customer service tells a lot about its work culture and processes. If they offer good customer service, you can rest assured that they’ll a good job make your product as perfect as possible. On the other hand, if their customer service isn’t good, you might get poor quality products prone to defects.
What Industry Regulation Can the Manufacturer Meet?
For certain resin products, the production machinery, the raw materials, and the finished goods need to meet regulatory standards. Ask your manufacturer beforehand if their machinery and raw materials meet these standards. Otherwise, the manufacturer might need to modify the production process to meet the required standards. However, not all manufacturers are willing to do this, so consider this when you pick a plastic parts manufacturer.
What Are the Lead Times?
The plastic parts need to be assembled into machinery after being manufactured. But if the manufacturer has a longer lead time, you might not get your products on time. This will not only distort your expected timeline but will also lead to longer production cycles. Longer production cycles are not efficient enough and can lead to additional production costs.
Contact PTMS – A Quality Injection Molding Company for Your Next Order
PTMS is one of the best injection molding companies in China. We have been certified ISO9001-2008 and have been in business for the past 20 years. We offer custom services to our clients by using high-quality raw materials, skilled employees, and top-notch machinery and equipment.
Our services include injection mold design, injection molding, product assembly, die casting and more. We believe in offering the best to our customers, which is why we have a long list of satisfied clienteles. We also offer affordable prices without compromising on quality. Browse our website to learn more about our business and services and get in touch with us today to avail quality injection molding services.