The Rodon Blog - A Focus on Plastic Injection Molding and American Manufacturing

There are four key factors that go into making a high-quality plastic injection molded part: part design, tool building, material selection and manufacturing.

In this article, we will start at the beginning of the process, with the part design.

The process of plastic injection molding is designed to produce precision parts at a low cost.  The part design must be developed to maximize the efficiency inherent in high-volume molding.  With the right design, parts can be made consistently and with quality.  Without a good design, costly processing mistakes can be made.

How do you achieve just the right shade of grey in your plastic part?  It’s all in the masterbatch.  A masterbatch is a concentrated mixture of pigments and/or additives encapsulated during a heat process into a carrier resin*. The resulting product is used to color raw polymer materials and provide other desired characteristics to the final part such as UV light resistance, flame retardants, slip agents and anti-stat agents.

We all know the importance color plays in our lives.  And for manufacturers, getting the color right is an integral part of product quality.   Unlike metal or other base materials, plastics lend themselves to a wide array of colors and additives.  They are used in everything from bottle caps to medical devices.  Each plastic application requires specific properties from the chosen polymer.

The Rodon Group was busy in 2014 providing information to help companies make better decisions about their plastic manufacturing.  With nearly 80 articles on our blog post, we covered a lot of territory.  

So, we thought we would take a moment to highlight our top sellers; the articles that got the greatest response from our readers.

Like anything in life, there are degrees of perfection. This is true in plastic injection molding.  Some molders specialize in lower volume parts that don’t require a high level of detail or precision.  This type of manufacturing may be suitable as some projects don’t require a perfect part based on the application.

Take disposable cutlery for instance.  Because of its “use and toss” status in this world, plastic knives and forks don’t need to maintain a high level of perfection.  They can have a bit of flash around the perimeter, and no one gives it a second thought.

Every plastic part starts in a mold.   Molds are classified into two main types, cold runner and hot runner.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages.   Your plastic injection molder will be able to give you the costs and benefits of using these different systems.  However, by understanding the key differences of these technologies, you can have a more educated discussion on the type of mold that would best fit your project. 

We have all heard about the positive impacts of manufacturing on our economy, but did you know that junior and high-school students are no longer pursuing these well-paid jobs? Well, at The Rodon Group we have put a great deal of effort into getting the word out about STEM education and the great long-term careers this industry provides.

The Rodon Group is proud to announce the release of our latest publication "An Introduction to Plastic Injection Molding."  We developed this eBook with designers, engineers and purchasing specialists in mind.  It is written to provide a basic understanding of plastic injection molding presses, processes and costs.  Our goal is to make our customers more knowledgeable about what goes into making a plastic part.