Low volume manufacturing has many factors that need special consideration when it's time to plan for a new product. Not all methods of manufacturing work for all tasks. There is no standard material to handle all manufacturing projects. You need to crunch numbers and manage a case study to understand the logistics of creating a product in the open market. That's how most workshops get to understand what they need to build the best version of your idea.

Once you have worked out the details regarding all these considerations and analysis, you need to make your choice of materials. The following is just a brief list of some of the most common plastic resins used in the manufacturing industry for low volume manufacturing as well as the use they have:

Acrylics

It's a plastic resin that is similar to Polycarbonates. It can reach astonishing levels of clearness and endure a large number of impacts before even denting. It's famous for being used as a bumper in many vehicles. It's also widely used on touch-based technology such as tablets and smartphones.

Butadiene

A plastic resin that is also known as ABS. It's essentially anti-corrosive plastic created to withstand plenty of chemical agents such as acids. It's often used to line guns, as well as Kevlar armor and many military and camping equipment.

Polycarbonates

Most windows on modern households are created using this material. It can mimic the properties of glass with enough polish treatment. It's also known for being extremely durable. It can also be tampered to withstand strong winds or outside impacts. This material is the best option to create riot control equipment like plastic shields and armor.

Polyethylene

Rapid tooling is also called soft tooling and prototype tooling, but it is means injection mold tooling that lets you easily and cheaply produce components. It is essential to differentiate the idea and the realization as there are several ways of getting the same outcomes.

Theoretically, it is a sort of injection mold tooling, produced fast and with less cost to enable resting and validation of components before you can put your money in the production tooling.

With regards to realization, anything that enables you to apply this process.

The primary reason why industry uses rapid tooling is to test and validate the components in the prototyping stages of developing a new product. Although other types of prototyping like 3D printing, vacuum casting or CNC can be used. However, rapid prototyping is much quicker and cheaper depending on the materials used.

The Process

Rapid tooling is the fastest way of creating a mold. It started in 1990 when engineers studied the plastic injection molding. They found out that they can build molds within an hour instead of weeks.

The process is the best way to prototype a component and produce several hundred plastic parts before doing high-volume production. Thru this process, you can build the insert. It includes the center, cavity, and the side actions of the part.

Regardless of what type of machine you will use, it is possible to get thousands of cycles using only one tool.

There are several types of rapid tooling that you can find in the market. Their advantages may vary depending on several factors like accuracy, consistency, size, materials, and technology. If you are considering this process for your prototype, remember the limitations listed below.

Limitations in Using Rapid Tooling

The Mold Should Be Strong

It should be tough enough to deal with the injection molding process. The machine is being measured by pounds per square inch. It only means that if the mold material is not tough enough, it may not be able to survive. Also, the mold should be able to withstand injections of hot material.

The Mold Should Be Smooth

Aside from being strong, the mold should be smooth enough particularly for the plastic part for easy ejection. Conventional steel machined molds are polished and smoothed for problem-free ejection. The common issue that you may encounter in rapid tooling is material build-up. It reduces the smoothness of the mold.

In this situation, the mold might require more work after it is produced to smoothen the prototype.

The most malleable resin found in the market. It's known for being sturdy, and it's possible to manipulate with nearly every type of tooling depending on the elements used to create the product. Workshops usually use it to achieve desired densities on plastics with uneven molecular weight. Polyethylene is as durable as what it's designed with it. You can see how it's used anywhere, from plastic bags to bottles.

Polyethylene Terephthalate

This resin is well known better as Polyester fiber. It resembles fabric, so it's widely used to manufacture apparel by mixing it with natural materials such as cotton. Polyester is considered the most environmentally-friendly resin out there since it can be recycled.

Polyamide

Polyamide is the scientific name we give to Nylon. This is also a plastic material widely used in unique ways in many industries because it's amazingly flexible and has lasting durability. Nylon is also used to manufacture powerlines, sewing thread, floss, ropes, and many more applications.

Once you have learned the best way to create your brand new product using low volume manufacturing procedures, one of these materials will recommendations will come in handy to make your product cost-effective and give you the chance to compete in the open market!