3 D Printing VS Plastic Molding Process- Which is Better?
When it comes to manufacturing complex plastic components, 3D printing and plastic injection molding are often used. These technologies are advanced, competitive, and highly-recognized in the plastic parts manufacturing world.
If you are an OEM or
plastic supplier and wonder whether to choose 3D printing or plastic injection molding, you have
come to the right place. In this blog, we will tell you an actual difference
between them.
What is the
plastic injection mold process?
A plastic injection
molding process is required to manufacture complex plastic parts at a large
volume.
This process
manufactures plastic parts by using material like thermoplastic or
polycarbonate. The manufacturer put these materials into a molding machine
where they are melted and heated. After they move into the cavity where they
will solidify, the part is ejected from the machine.
What is
3D printing?
The 3D printing
process is used to produce plastic parts from a three-dimensional digital
model. It is a highly advanced, inexpensive, and fantastic technique to produce
plastic parts rapidly.
It’s an incredible
technique to develop an on-off prototype. If your budget and production are
low, then 3d printing is the best option for you.
However, this
technology is still in a developing state and requires advanced features. But
you can use this technology to produce for low volume production runs.
A Quick
Comparison Between 3D Printing and Plastic Injection Molding
Efficiency: If you need a simple
design based 1-10 plastic parts, then 3d printing tool is an ideal option for
you. If your production rate is high, like ten thousand parts, then injection
molding can do this.
Hence, the efficiency
of producing plastic parts of injection
mold is relatively higher than 3d printing.
Convenient: 3D printing is very
convenient. You can easily design the parts from scratch with this tool. But
large volume prototype production would be easily possible through injection
molding.
Tooling
design:
Tooling design is one
of the most complicated and time-consuming parts of plastic injection molding.
Here 3D printing has taken the opportunity by creating a tool during
prototyping that saves development time.
Cost: Compared to
injection molding, 3D printing cost per product is low. When developing a product,
you need to design the prototype part itself; which is the fast and last
process of 3d printing. Once you design a prototype, you can create identical
products effortlessly. But, in plastic injection
molding Belgium, it is the first step. Next, you need to design an
injection mold tool, which is an expensive process. After that, you need to
order an actual injection mold cycle.
3D
Printing is Best- Suited for-
- Low production units.
- Simple prototype
designing.
- Designs with frequent
changes.
- To make 10 prototypes, it can
take 1 week at least.
Injection
Molding is Best- Suited for-
- High volume production
units.
- This technique usually takes
5-6 weeks to produce 1000 plus plastic parts.
- Parts of any design and
complexity.
Final
Say:
For sure, plastic injection molding Belgium is for the suppliers who need plastic parts in the large volume.
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