Precision moulding is the process of moulding either silicone or plastic or even metals in a particular design with a very high degree of accuracy and tolerance and in a way that ensures repeatability and consistency in long machine runs. Precision moulding makes use of the latest and more advanced machines such as CNCs to ensure that the prepared product is of the best quality.
Precision moulding includes both Plastic Injection Molding and Metal Injection Moulding. Plastic Injection moulding is a common moulding process that involves melting plastic pellets to make them malleable, which are then injected at pressure into a mould cavity, which fills and solidifies to produce the final product.
Metal Injection Molding is an alternative manufacturing process for small-to-medium-shaped precision components that were previously manufactured by conventional methods at a higher cost. In this process, ultra-fine metal powders are mixed with polymer binders to create a feedstock suitable for injection moulding. Capillary forces between the small particles make the resulting structure very dense with high tensile strength and hardness.
Precision Moulding in Medical Industry
Medical Industry is a specialized industry which requires highly precise components as any imperfection in equipment can put the patient’s life at risk. In medical device manufacturing, a difference of a few millimetres or microns can make the difference between a functional component and a plastic part with a quality assurance failure. Precision moulding is thus often used in the medical industry to manufacture components with precision in micrometres or even less. However, like every other process, precision moulding comes with its own set of challenges.
· High Investment Cost – Medical precision moulding requires a high degree of sterilisation and cleanliness. Thus maintaining factory buildings with clean environments and periodic sanitation are a must for medical equipment manufacturing. Maintaining such clean rooms is significantly more expensive compared with factory buildings in other precision moulding industries such as automotive and drives up the cost of production. Other cost requirements for medical device moulding include equipment for rapid prototyping, automated robotics, and equipment for a vast array of secondary operations.
· High Tooling Costs – Precision moulding requires highly sophisticated tooling. If the production volumes are low, the return on Investment (ROI) can take very long. Additionally, medical injection moulds are more expensive because of the importance of part quality. As medical products require a greater degree of precision than other moulds, the production process requires moulds with a high-quality finish which is more expensive as well. While it’s true that plastic injection moulding can use less expensive tooling with additive manufacturing produced moulds, 3D printed moulds support a more limited number of cycles and may lack the accuracy and precision that’s required.
· Design Challenges – It’s important to design the mould properly and take various variables into consideration during the design and development process such as parting line geometry, gating, venting, and finish. When the two halves of the injection mould open, the injected part needs to eject smoothly otherwise there is a
risk of damage and imperfections in the final product. Any design changes during the late development phase incurs additional time and costs of production.
· Processing Issues – With medical injection moulding there may be various issues arising when the injection mould is processed. Even after properly designing the mould, the final product may not fill perfectly if there are problems in pressure and temperature. A skilled injection mould can address changes in viscosity, but making constant equipment adjustments increases the potential for part quality issues, longer run times, and higher wastage.
How Sanco Helps In Your Precision Molding Process
With the latest technology and state-of-the-art tool rooms, Sanco provides a one-stop solution to all your moulding problems. Precision moulding is the expertise of Sanco which offers a complete manufacturing process from start to finish that ensures quality as well as saves time in production. Sanco maintains a high quality of cleanliness in its tool rooms and its skilled injection moulding team ensures that any imperfections and challenges that arise in the moulding process are taken care of and produces medical moulds which are highly accurate and of the best quality.
