Editor's Note: A version of this post was originally published in June 3, 2020. It has been updated to include current trends and statistics.

Our 50,000 square-foot injection molding facility, currently located in Carlsbad CA, has been in business for over 25 years, is home to about 125 employees, and is ISO 13485 and FDA registered. Within this facility we have 2 ISO Class 8 Clean Rooms (7,225 Ft.^2), with white room molding, containing 35 presses (18 to 550 ton) which utilize commodity and specialized resins.

Located in Boyne City, Michigan, LexaMar Corp. employs 400 people. This manufacturer uses rubber and plastic to produce exterior parts for the automotive industry.

Providien has extensive experience in managing the product development cycle and assisting in the process with part design, tool design and build, validation and transitioning to production.

The overmolding process is very similar to insert molding.  In this case, one piece of plastic is injection molded and then another piece of plastic is molded over it.

This Louisville, Kentucky, manufacturer has 300 employees. Jones Plastic & Engineering Co., LLC uses injection molding techniques to produce automotive parts, packaging, electronic components and products for the medical industry.

IndustrySelect provides clients with touch-point data for potential leads, including direct executive contact information and other actionable data among 500,000 companies in the manufacturing and energy sector.

Providien has joined a strategic grouping of industry-leading companies to now offer full turn-key medical device development, from early concept through commercialization, to build, test, and deliver innovative solutions with unparalleled responsiveness, efficiency and speed-to-market.

• 8% of plastic mold manufacturers import raw materials, which is slightly lower than the 11% average across all manufacturers.• 76% of plastic mold makers focus on domestic distribution. This is slightly higher than the 70% of all manufacturers that sell their products on the domestic market.

According to MNI, the century-old data compiler that powers IndustrySelect's industrial database subscription, the plastic injection mold industry is a fairly small and specialized sector with 555 US-based companies. Half of these manufacturers are located in the Midwest.

Providien’s expertise in tool design, process control, and tight tolerance precision molding allows us to be leaders in the field of micro molding.

Today we're taking a quick look at some additional facts on the plastic injection molding industry and exploring the top ten plastic injection companies in the United States.

Located in Saline, Michigan, MMI Engineered Solutions employs 192 people. This manufacturer has an in-house design team and uses injection and blow mold techniques to produce powertrain, exterior and interior parts for the automotive industry.

Plastek Industries, Inc. has locations in four countries. Its Erie, Pennsylvania, headquarters is the largest plastic mold manufacturing facility in the US with 850 employees. They manufacture products like packaging for the beauty and cosmetics industry, food and beverage products, stock packaging options, and pharmaceutical packaging.

As U.S. manufacturers continue to contend with disruptions to the global supply chain, manufacturers are looking to source more supplies at home. One study found that 62% of manufacturers plan to source more supplies domestically in 2021.

Seaway Plastics Engineering, LLC has 151 employees and is located in Port Richey, Florida. This company specializes in engineering and low-volume runs. It creates products for the packaging, defense, medical, transportation and electronics sectors among others.

Providien’s Injection Molding facility has expertise in utilizing integrated automation to control costs and improve quality. Please contact us to discuss your next project and how our automated solutions can help.

Providien is one of the world-leading Medical Injection Molding companies for the healthcare industry. The quality certifications, the investment in technology, and the continuous commitment to exceeding expectations make our experienced medical injection molding expert team an important aspect of your product’s success.

In many cases, Providien Machining & Metals can machine the insert as well. This serves to reduce the cost for our customers while ensuring quality at our ISO 13485 certified facilities.

(a business unit of Carlisle Interconnect Technologies) Providing specialized electrical cabling, molding, assembly, and overseas manufacturing. Carlisle IT

The industrial marketplace IndustryNet continues to see heightened domestic sourcing activity, including greater demand for plastic injection molding services, which reported thousands of searches from industrial buyers interested in plastic injection molding in 2020. Year-over-year category searches on the industrial marketplace IndustryNet were up 27% in 2020, while requests-for-quotes rose 102.1% and catalog downloads increased 21%. This trend reflects the growing number of manufacturers looking for domestic supplies, including plastic injection molding companies.

Providien has vast experience in both insert and overmolding. Our engineering can assist you in making this important decision.

The image below is a good example of an insert moulded part. In this case, the metal part is the insert and the purple plastic handle is molded around the insert.

We maintain a Class 8 cleanroom with over 6,000 square feet of molding and assembly area in our Carlsbad, CA location. Third-party testing and documentation of this cleanroom occurs on a quarterly basis. We strive to maintain this area of our facility above and beyond the minimum standards required for this rating. This area is utilized quite extensively for our medical device and biomedical clientele assembly. Sonic welding, heat sealing, in-process inspection, and final packaging occur in this area for any manufacturing with cleanroom requirements.

A specialized high-density flex circuit design and development company. Providing prototypes in days not months. We take your flex circuit design from inception to production. Microconnex

Providien has extensive experience with many specialized plastic injection molding services, including overmolding and insert molding. Overmolding is the process of combining two or more molded plastic or elastomer parts to make a single finished part.  Providien has extensive experience with medical products in over and insert molding.

Third-party testing and documentation of this cleanroom are performed on a quarterly basis. Providien maintains this area of our medical injection molding facility above and beyond the minimum standards required for this rating.

Our state-of-the-art injection molding facility maintains 12,000 square feet of environmentally controlled white room molding.

This process typically includes a rotary platen or movable core with two injection units and two runner systems allowing the overmolded to be produced in one press.

This emphasis on the domestic market and local suppliers could indicate a potential for expansion on new markets for plastic mold manufacturers.

American Tool & Mold, Inc. produces plastic molds used by other manufacturers. This Clearwater, Florida, company has 180 employees and can create customized molds for a wide range of applications, including multi-cavity molds and precision molds.

This Ironwood, Michigan, manufacturer creates molds for products with precise requirements. Ironwood Plastics, Inc. and its 155 employees use advanced techniques like pressure monitoring, laser scanning and mold flow analysis to create specialized molds.

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Hi-Tech Mold & Engineering, Inc. is located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Its 200 employees work on components for vehicles, appliances, medical devices, and solutions for the aerospace and defense industries.

Providien operates a Class 8 cleanroom with over 6,000 square feet of molding and assembly area in our Carlsbad, CA location.

Plastic injection molding for medical device market has revolutionized the medical industry. Manufacturing medical devices using this technology allows companies to develop medical device products that are lightweight and cost-effective and allows for medical device OEMs to get their products to market in a timely manner.

Our team of industry veterans understands that quality processes lead to quality parts. These processes include but are not limited to:

Meanwhile, the global market for injection molded plastics is expected to reach a value of $473.4 billion by the year 2027. Currently, the industry is valued at $339.3 billion.

The below part is a good example of an overmolded part, with the substrate (white portion) being a PP with the overmolded (green portion) being TPE.

Because gravity aids in the insert molding process, vertical injection molding presses are often utilized. However, horizontal injection molding presses may also be used.

We are a world leader in plastic injection molding for medical applications. We’ve broken down the differences and similarities between the two processes. Our hope is that you can determine which will work best for your product.

Insert molding or overmolding: which is the better process for your unique medical device injection molding application?

Is a research, design and engineering product development company. Helping clients tackle challenging problems with small, nimble, multidisciplinary teams utilizing our user centered development process to guide products from idea to reality. Red Group

Alwin offers design and product development services to create customized solutions. This Clintonville, Wisconsin, manufacturer has 150 employees and also produces commercial towel and napkin dispensers.

The materials may be similar or different and either result in a mechanical or chemical bond.  This may differ from insert molding in which case a mechanical bond is typically created.

There can sometimes be debate as to which of these two processes are preferable. In many ways, these two plastic injection molding processes are very similar.  However, it is important to understand the differences when making this important decision. It is common for manufacturers to research the differences between overmolding vs insert molding. The part design should be optimized early in the design process to reduce the time to market. An optimized design will also aid in the manufacturability of the part.

Insert Molding (or “insert moulding”) is the process of molding plastic around an insert that is placed into the injection mold.

By utilizing our vertically integrated capabilities, quality is tightly controlled within the supply chain in our ISO 13485 and FDA Registered facilities, saving our customers both time & money.

This insert is typically a metal insert but may also be made of plastic.  The insert is placed into the mold by one of two methods:

Providien provides full service in a variety of comprehensive manufacturing solutions to medical device industry leaders including precision machining of metals & plastics, injection molding, thermoforming, Class 7 & Class 8 cleanroom assembly of Class II and Class III medical devices, as well as supply chain management.

Located in North Vernon, Indiana, Decatur Mold, Tool & Engineering, Inc. employs 150 people to produce military aircraft parts, car seats and automotive components.

Providien’s Class 8 cleanroom molds many parts for our medical device assembly.  Many of the parts that are molded here support our finished medical device assembly operation in Tijuana.  Sonic welding, heat sealing, in-process inspection, and final packaging occur in this area for any manufacturing with cleanroom requirements.

Providien performs value-added secondary operations in our state-of-the-art injection molding facility to provide a more complete solution to our customers.

When it comes to medical injection molding manufacturing of medical devices, extreme care must be given to all aspects of the manufacturing process that creates these critical medical instruments. Customers and patients alike depend on products that deliver unrelenting quality and consistency.

As one of the leading medical device injection molding companies, Providien has extensive experience with many specialized plastic injection molding services, including over-molding and micro molding.

CompanyCityState Number of EmployeesPlastek Industries, Inc.EriePA850LexaMar Corp.Boyne CityMI400Jones Plastic & Engineering Co., LLCLouisvilleKY300Hi-Tech Mold & Engineering, Inc.Rochester HillsMI200MMI Engineered SolutionsSalineMI192American Tool & Mold, Inc.ClearwaterFL180Ironwood Plastics, Inc.IronwoodMI155Seaway Plastics Engineering, LLCPort RicheyFL151AlwinClintonvilleWI150Decatur Mold, Tool & Engineering, Inc.North VernonIN150