Importance of Production Planning for New Plastic Injection Molds

How important is production planning when you are designing a new manufacturing mold? It can help you to save on costs by identifying potential red flags or design flaws early in the process, keeping you on budget and on schedule before you go into production.

Low cost SLA prototypes (Stereolithography Prototype) can be used for presenting your product at trade shows; photographed for your literature such as brochures and catalogs; or for presentations to management, clients, or investors. Creating a Stereolithography Prototype SLA prototype is a hands-on step of the production planning process, because it gives you a sneak preview of what you are designing, to help you get an idea of whether it physically looks like the design you have envisioned, and also whether its large-scale production is feasible in a cost-effective method that will leave you with a quality product in the end.  A Stereolithography Prototype (SLA) can compete in cost and time to produce with a 3D printer.

Creating a prototype mold is a low-cost method to test out your design plans and get an early concept of whether you need to make changes to improve the final product. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can skip this step. Though it may be tempting to jump ahead, this is an opportunity for you to save a lot of time, money, and headaches if it turns out that you could improve materials or employ design modifications at this early stage.

Especially when you are designing complex and challenging shapes, it is a good idea to ensure that you test the molds with prototyping, to get a sense of where the potential for errors, defects, or faulty production could pop up along the way. The more issues you can resolve at this stage, the lower your costs will be and the faster you can get your product into the full production phase.

Though not every project may need a prototype mold, it is still good to go through a step-by-step checklist of the production process and consider each factor that could have bearing on the success of your plastic mold. Taking the time now is an invaluable investment in the future. If you want to know more about the pre-production planning process, consult with the experts at Permian Plastics, who will put their knowledge to work for you.