Anderson Technologies Blog Series 1
Taking a product from concept to completion is complicated work. Anderson Technologies will be your partner in the development of your program from concept and feasibility, through manufacturing and delivery, while providing superior value. Our job is to lead you to a new level of success.
Whether you are new to plastics or have years of experience, this blog is written to guide you and refresh your knowledge of how to be successful in producing plastic components for your products.
Anderson’s Solution to a Client’s Global Challenge
How we helped a client achieve higher levels of success
THE CLIENT’S GOALS
Our client, listed as one of the Top-50 privately held companies in Forbes, was planning to launch a new product that will be […]
Anderson Technologies Adds Industry 4.0 Capabilities
Company Invests in New Injection Molding Equipment
GRAND HAVEN, Mich.– Anderson Technologies of Grand Haven, Michigan has added three new injection molding machines to its fleet of machinery, expanding the company’s capabilities and capacity […]
Injection Part and Mold Design: Everything You Should Know (Well, Almost Everything)
Are you designing a product for injection molding? If so, we have some guidelines that will be helpful as you work through the part and mold design process.
Tips for Ensuring a Moldable Part Design
There are several “rules of the road” when it comes to design a part for the injection molding process. These are not only meant to be beneficial for the mold designer, but to ensure that the mold runs in an optimum way. This will result in greater productivity and efficiencies, and better quality with less scrap/non-conforming parts, which will give you better return on your mold investment and provide high-quality parts to maintain your products’ brand integrity.
Determining the Viability of Design through MFA
Proving the design of your plastic components is a critical step in the mold building process – something that should be done before steel is cut. This can be done by computer aided material flow analysis (MFA). Using the 3D image of the mold design, along with inputting the data points and the characteristics of the plastic material chosen for the component, a molding simulation can be performed showing how the material will flow through the mold given that specific design. If problem areas are encountered, design changes can be made prior to cutting steel – a much more cost-effective and efficient way to make needed changes.
What is a Mold?
Many people, including many those who are new in their manufacturing careers or engineering or purchasing functions who deal with plastic part design and new product development, do not understand what a ‘mold’ is. What is a mold? The first thing to understand is that an injection mold is a complex piece of machinery. The part that is produced by the mold is relatively low-cost compared to the cost of the mold that produces the part, which is something people don’t often understand. “How come the parts are $1.00 each and the mold that produces the parts is $100,000?”