In our new eBook, “Plastic Injection Molding Solutions for the Food & Beverage Industry,” we’ll walk you through the complexities of manufacturing for this critical industry, covering everything from injection molding to industry regulations. Here, we share a brief preview of what the eBook's full content has to offer.
Benefits of Plastic Injection Molding for Food & Beverage
Plastic injection molding offers an array of benefits for the food and beverage industry. On the design and manufacturing side, some include design freedom, cost-effectiveness, and rapid production cycles. Injection molding offers a high degree of versatility in shape, material, and style allowing for a broad range of potential design directions that manufacturers can customize for their unique needs. Additionally, plastic offers several cost advantages over materials like glass due to its cheaper acquisition cost and lightweight nature suitable for shipping, especially given that injection molding's low error rates will lead to little wasted product. Finally, injection molding allows for rapid production cycles that lead to tight turnarounds, effective iteration, and high repetition available for any size production run.
Once the design and manufacturing of your plastic components are complete, injection molding continues to offer benefits by ensuring durable components that comply with industry-standard regulations. Plastics create strong, rigid parts that will not rot or corrode at any point in your product's journey from the manufacturing plant to the consumer. In addition, the types of plastic that are most compatible with injection molding include food-grade plastic resins, which meet FDA and GMA-SAFE standards for safe consumer use.
Food & Beverage Plastic Injection Molding Case Studies
With over six decades of experience in the injection molding space, our team has worked through some of the toughest challenges in the food and beverage industry. One example that serves as a great case study is our work with one major food and beverage company that wanted to move production of their custom bottle caps back into the United States.
Poor production quality overseas had damaged the company's desired image for the product, but having already made a significant investment in their offshore manufacturers, the team was left with a problem disproportionately larger than their budget. By leveraging pre-existing components from Rodon's previous custom tooling projects, our team was able to create a quick, economical custom manufacturing solution that retained the desired brand identity and fixed quality issues within the company's tight budget.
Design & Material Selection Considerations
Another key topic we discuss in-depth in the eBook is selecting the appropriate materials for the manufacturing process. Material selection is particularly important in the food and beverage industry, where parts must hold perishable products while simultaneously pertaining to consumer health and safety regulations. A few common materials frequently chosen include:
- HDPE
- LDPE
- Polypropylene
- Polystyrene
- Polycarbonate
- Polyethylene terephthalate
Each of these materials creates food-safe, stable products that withstands common contaminants and sources of stress, including UV radiation, heat, and chemical exposure (i.e., ripening food). At the same time, however, manufacturers must also meet common industry standards and government regulations for food safety. These guidelines dictate both the material and the manufacturing environment of the product, and key players include:
- BPA-free construction
- FDA certification
- FMA-safe regulations
- Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) compliance
- Non-toxic guidelines
Finally, food and beverage manufacturers must also consider the manufacturability of their design. Although food comes in all shapes and sizes, efficient parts or containers must conform to certain design limitations. To optimize the cost-effectiveness, repeatability, aesthetic appeal, and error rates of your plastic injection molding design, consider these design elements:
- Wall thickness
- Boss Design
- Rib design
- Corner Transitions
- Gate Placement
- Vent Placement
- Weld Lines
Browse Our New eBook to Learn More About Plastic Injection Molding for Food and Beverage
With so many crucial considerations, a thorough study is key to creating your food and beverage injection molded parts. If you're considering which material to select, how to design for high volumes efficiently, or how to optimize production costs, our new eBook will provide you with all the information you need to make an informed, effective decision. Download your copy today!
To learn more about our offerings, contact a member of our team, or request a quote to get started with our high-quality, onshore plastic injection molding services.
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