Wednesday, July 1, 2015

What factors effect the cost of an injection mold in China?

When you are looking for an injection mold supplier in China, you may be wondering: “What factors affect the price of the mold? “Or "How to get molds with lower prices in China?”


Of course, we all understand that the price of a product always depends on many factors. And there is no exception for injection mold. A mold can cost from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the most important factors that affect the price of the mold are the complexity of the part that will be produced from the mold, the size and the number of cavities. In addition, we also need to consider more about some other factors such as the injection system (Hot Runner or Cold Runner), geographic location of suppliers, or some other requests...

We are all clear that if a mold has higher levels of complexity, larger size, it will have a higher price for processing than simpler and smaller-sized molds. Besides, thenumber of cavities that you want will also affect the cost of the mold. Multiple cavities, the mold will be larger, and need more materials, or processing will also take more time and fee.


That's not to mention Mold Base Standard that you requeste or mold supplier suggest. If you do not give specific requirements for Mold Base Standard, when you compare the price of the suppliers you should also pay attention to this. Also, type of steel that is used to make the mold also affects the cost. So, if you want a good standard mold, high quality, it is clear that the cost will be higher, which also means that will help you get high quality products, less faulty in the manufacturing process, and the mold life will also be higher.

A feature that cannot be produced from the mold in the straight open and shut direction will require a moving part added to the tool. Some of these moving sections are referred to as sliders, collapsible cores, and unscrewing molds. Each of these moving parts makes the tool bigger or more complicated, of course, that will require more work and ultimately increase the cost.

Using Hot Runner or Cold Runner in Injection system will also affect the price of a mold. Obviously we all know that Hot Runner is different from Cold Runner, and the cost is also different. In many cases, a set of Hot Runner mold typically use lower cost than Cold Runner one.



Another factor that we also need to pay attention to is the surface finish. If the surface finish is not critical then a machined finish may be acceptable — this does not require secondary finishing thus reducing the time and cost to produce the tool. Hand polishing takes time and effort and has to be built into the cost of the tool.

There is a factor that many people do not pay enough attentiont to is the geographic location of mold suppliers in China. Why should we pay any attention to this? First, in China, the average wage in the different regions will vary, and this will affect theLabor cost which is also added into the mold's price. In addition, the transport by sea would help you save costs significantly, so if your supplier is near to shipping ports, the transportation will get easier and less cost.

According to an evaluation, choosing to buy tools manufactured in China will help you save cost up to "40% compared with a typical tool price from Europe or the USA". However, you should also consider the expenses of travelling to the factory to ensure tools are built correctly. Of course, there is another choice for that is to choose third party company, which can help you audit the process and inspect tooling.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions!

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Plastic Injection Mold Making - Automotive Plastic Part Production.

1 comment:

  1. Spot on with this article, I really think this website needs more attention. I'll probably be back to read more, thanks for the info.
    plastic molding china

    ReplyDelete