Bearing these factors in mind, a small single cavity injection mould costs between $1,000 and $5,000. Larger or more complex moulds can cost $80,000 or more. However, on average, a typical mould costs around $12,000.

Advancements in modern injection moulding machinery mean that they now use between 20 and 50% less energy as compared to ten years ago.

The most cost-effective type of injection moulding is rubber injection moulding, which produces a high yield of durable products. In addition, consistent vulcanisation processes with precise temperature controls can lower costs by reducing waste material.

The most common types of plastic used are high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Polyethylene offers a number of advantages including high ductility levels, good tensile strength, strong impact resistance, resistance to moisture absorption, and recyclability.

The first stage of injection moulding is to create the mould itself. Most moulds are made from metal, usually aluminium or steel, and precision machined to match the features of the product they are to produce.

Below is a cost comparison between Nylon, ABS and Polycarbonate (PC) for a complex injection moulded part. There is also a comparison of how the price and lead time change according to the number of parts ordered.

There are many different types of PPA (or nylons), each of which has its own advantages. Generally-speaking, nylons offer high strength and temperature resistance as well as being chemically resistant, apart from against strong acids and bases. Some nylons are abrasion resistant and offer good hardness and stiffness with good impact strength.

Up-front costs can be high for injection moulding, particularly with regard to tooling. Before you can produce any parts, a prototype part needs to be created. Once this has been completed, a prototype mould tool needs to be created and tested. This all takes time and money to complete and can be a costly process.

The data shows a slightly different trend for a larger, more complex injection moulded part than the simple/smaller one analysed above. There is a saving of 79% going from 500x to 5000x in nylon and a further 12% going up to 50,000x. This shows that there are still substantial cost savings in manufacturing into the high thousands for larger, more complex parts. The price for 500x is comparable to 3D Printing as the tooling cost is a relatively smaller proportion of the unit cost than the small/simple injection moulded part.

When comparing the three materials, the data shows that ABS is the cheapest material to manufacture with, and polycarbonate is the most expensive. The lead time only increases by a few days going from 500x to 50,000x. This is because the bulk of the lead time for an injection moulding project is manufacturing the mould and sampling. Once the mould produces parts to specification, part production is very fast.

The main advantage of injection moulding is being able to scale up production to produce a large number of parts. Once the initial costs of the design and the moulds have been covered, the price of manufacturing is very low. The cost of production drops as more parts are produced.

With over 85,000 commercial plastic material option available and 45 polymer families, there is a wealth of different plastics that can be used for injection moulding. Of these, the polymers can be broadly placed into two groups; thermosets and thermoplastics.

In this article Get It Made simulated the production for two different parts, a very simple small part, and a more complex larger part. You can see how prices vary between different common injection moulding materials and part quantities moulded.

The final disadvantage is that large undercuts require experienced design to avoid and can add even more expense to your project.

Below is a cost comparison between Nylon, ABS and Polycarbonate (PC) for a simple injection moulded part. The table/graph also compares how the number of parts ordered affects the price and lead time.

Commonly known as acetal, this plastic has high hardness, stiffness, strength and toughness. It also has good lubricity and is resistant to hydrocarbons and organic solvents. Good elasticity and slipperiness also provide advantages for some applications.

Separate materials can be combined in one part in a type of injection moulding called a two-shot mould. This technique can be used to add a soft touch to plastic products, add colours to a part or produce items with different performance characteristics.

Request your free injection moulding quote today and one of our engineers will personally review your project within 24 hours. They will then help fine-tune your project to make sure you get the best possible price and lead time for your injection moulding project.

Get It Made was founded in 2011 with a mission to make manufacturing simple. Based in London, UK, Get It Made provides outstanding manufacturing services to companies across the globe.

Injection moulding is used to make a range of widely used products, including common plastic items like bottle tops as well as remote control casings, syringes and more. It is also commonly used for manufacturing larger items such as car body panels.

Choose our CNC Turning services for circular cross sections. We also offer Turn & Mill capabilities for more complex turned parts.

Injection moulding is used for a range of applications where a repeatable manufacturing process is required. This includes manufacturing items such as wire spools, packaging, bottle tops, toys, combs, musical instruments (and components), chairs, small tables, storage containers, mechanical parts, and automotive parts and components.

Tooling is often a key part of the economics in plastic injection moulding, this is because it is a large up-front investment. And this cost needs to be amortised into expected part volume, over a number of years. If injection moulding isn't suitable, it is very possible 3D Printing or CNC Machining could be a better option. Depending on the parts' features, the machining of a complex mould will require more time and expense, increasing the upfront costs of the project. This is the main reason why injection moulding is mainly used for high volumes.

Minimising the cycle time will aid production as will using machines with hot runner moulds and well thought-out tooling. Such small changes and use of hot runner systems can equal production savings for your parts. There will also be cost savings from minimising assembly requirements, especially if you are producing many thousands of even millions of parts.

Injection moulding can be performed with a variety of different materials including metals, glass, elastomers, confections and, most commonly, thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers.

Aluminium extrusion is ideal for both single prototypes and large-scale production, offering bespoke, high-standard, consistent cross-sectional profiles.

Injection moulding is becoming more environmentally friendly as machinery becomes more efficient and materials such as thermosetting polymers are capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and conditions.

3D printing and injection moulding are both techniques for producing plastic parts and components, but each manufacturing process has its own advantages and can be used together as complementary manufacturing methods.

The injection moulding process requires careful design, including the shape and features of the part, the materials for the part and the mould and the properties of the moulding machine. As a result, there are various considerations that need to be taken into account when injection moulding.

PEI (or Ultem) offers high temperature resistance and flame retardancy, along with excellent strength, dimensional stability and chemical resistance.

A dimensionally stable material with high toughness, temperature and heat resistance, PPSU is also resistant to radiation sterilisation, alkalis and weak acids.

The data again indicates that ABS is the most cost-effective to manufacture in out of the three materials, while polycarbonate is the most expensive. With an increase in quantity from 500x to 50,000x, the lead time only increases by a few days. This is primarily because most of the lead time in an injection moulding project is manufacturing the mould and sampling. Once the mould successfully produces parts to the desired specifications, the parts can be produced rapidly.

Injection moulding also produces minimal wastage when compared to traditional manufacturing processes like CNC machining, which cuts away excess materials. Despite this, injection moulding does produce some waste, mainly from the sprue, the runners, the gate locations, and any overflow material that leaks out of the part cavity (also called ‘flash’).

Injection moulding is mainly used where there is a need to manufacture many thousands or millions of identical parts from a mould.

Moulding costs correlate with the number of cavities in a mould. Fewer cavities require less tooling work, which lowers the manufacturing costs to create an injection mould. The complexity of a part’s design also impact the cost, including factors such as surface finishing, tolerance, threads, detailing and the number of undercuts. Added details such as these will increase the cost, as they require more tooling.

Ready to see how much your part costs to manufacture? Request a free Injection moulding quote today, and one of our engineers will review your project within 24 hours.

This inexpensive resin material delivers high impact resistance in certain grades but can be brittle in cold temperatures (in the case of propylene homopolymer). Copolymers offer greater resistance to impact while PP is also wear-resistant, flexible and can provide very high elongation, as well as being resistant to acids and bases.

Injection moulding is a manufacturing process that allows for parts to be produced in large volumes. It works by injecting molten materials into a mould (or ‘mold’ in the United States). It is typically used as a mass production process to manufacture thousands of identical items. Injection moulding materials include metals, glasses, elastomers and confections, although it is most commonly used with thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers.

It is important to determine how many parts you wish to manufacture so as to decide whether injection moulding is the most cost-effective production method.

With many years of experience, sheet metal parts can be a great low-cost option for certain high and low-volume applications.

PMMA, also known as acrylic, provides good optical properties, high gloss and scratch resistance. It also offers low shrinkage and less sink for geometries with thin and think sections.

Injection moulding is a manufacturing process often used to produce high volumes of plastic parts. This manufacturing process starts by creating and machining a mould with precision to form the part’s features. Then molten plastic resin is injected into the metal mould cavity. The plastic moulded parts subsequently cool and are ejected from the mould cavity. If you want to know more about the injection moulding process, read our Injection Moulding Guide.

This strong, impact resistant plastic has low shrinkage and good dimensional stability. A transparent plastic that is available in different optically clear grades, PC can provide a high cosmetic finish and good heat resistance.

Moulds can be made of single or multiple cavities. Multiple cavity moulds can have identical parts in each cavity or can be unique to create parts of different geometries. Aluminium moulds are not best suited to high volume production or parts with narrow dimensional tolerances since they have inferior mechanical properties and can be prone to wear, deformation and damage due to the injection and clamping forces. While steel moulds are more durable they are also more expensive than aluminium moulds.

Although there is some material waste with injection moulding it is less than with many other manufacturing processes. Of course, the exact materials used also have a bearing on the environment in relation to how long they last, if they can come from recycled materials and how they are disposed of. There are also considerations around the carbon footprint of the lifetime of the products that are created, including during manufacture.

If you want to know more about materials options for your injection moulding project, read our article about choosing the right Injection Moulding material.

Our 3D printing solutions cater to personalised needs with a diverse range of materials and colour options, perfect for intricate plastic components and small batches.

This tough, impact-resistant plastic is widely used across industry. With good resistance to acids and bases, ABS also offers low shrinkage rates and high dimensional stability.

Injection moulding can be an expensive process, but there are several ways in which you can reduce mould costs, including:

For Nylon, going from quantity of 500x to 5000x has a 88% total cost per part saving for a simple injection moulded part. For volumes around 500x and below, it can often be cheaper to CNC machine or 3D Print the parts depending on the design. This is because the high tooling costs are spread over a smaller number of parts, making each part more expensive. Going from 5000x to 50,000x sees an additional cost saving of 9%. This demonstrates how increasing the part quantity significantly reduces part cost for smaller volume orders. However, as the order quantity increases, the reduction in unit price becomes less but still significant.

This high temperature, high-performance resin provides heat resistance and flame retardancy, excellent strength and dimensional stability, as well as good chemical resistance.

Optimised for mass production of plastic items, our services in Plastic Injection Moulding are backed by deep expertise and industry-leading knowledge.

Once the mould has been created by the mould-maker, the material for the part is fed into a heated barrel and mixed using a helical shaped screw. Heating bands melt the material in the barrel and the molten metal or molten plastic material is then fed into the mould cavity where it cools and hardens, matching the shape of the mould. The cooling time can be reduced through the use of cooling lines that circulate water or oil from an external temperature controller. Mould tools are mounted on plate moulds (or ‘platens’), which open once the material has solidified so that ejector pins can eject the part from the mould.

The final advantage of injection moulding is that it allows for the production of many identical parts, which allows for part reliability and consistency in high volume production.

Injection moulding is also not ideal for producing large parts as a single piece. This is because of the size limitations of injection mould machines and the mould tools. Items that are too large for an injection moulding machine’s capability need to be created as multiple parts and joined together later.

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a method of creating a three dimensional object layer-by-layer using a computer created design.

It is essential that the design of the injection moulded parts are carefully reviewed before production. Removing unnecessary features from the parts will make the tooling easier to machine. Read our Injection Moulding Design Guide to optimise your parts and get a better price for your project.Â

Minimising the number of parts and simplifying the geometry of your items will make injection moulding easier. In addition, the design of the mould tool is important to prevent defects during production.

Injection moulding has a great many applications for manufacturing, particularly for producing high volume parts. While the tooling and moulding can be expensive, the cost of production once this is completed is low. Providing the ability to produce near-identical parts, injection moulding is used for parts in a variety of material types.

However, once you have the moulding tool, the plastic moulded parts will have a very low unit cost. And the tooling is usually CNC machined from a high quality steel, allowing more than one production run using the same tool, so it will last many years.

In general, injection moulding tooling can cost from £2k to £100k. Costs for moulded parts can range from a few pence to a hundreds of pounds each.

The entry cost for injection moulding manufacture can be high – given the cost of the machinery and the moulds themselves.

Good electrical properties makes PBT ideal for power components as well as automotive applications. The strength ranges from moderate to high depending on glass fill, with unfilled grades being tough and flexible. PBT also shows fuels, oils, fats and many solvents, and it also doesn’t absorb flavours.