Whilst many companies view low quantities as a nuisance, they represent our staple diet!
LINKING SERIOUS BUYERS TO THE BEST SUPPLIERS
Serving the UK & IE plastics industry
LINKING SERIOUS BUYERS TO THE BEST SUPPLIERS
Serving the UK & IE plastics industry
Whilst many companies view low quantities as a nuisance, they represent our staple diet!
Mould Design is a specialised discipline, comprising product analysis and a detailed knowledge of materials, manufacturing procedures and methods.
For more than 45 years, Hallam Plastics has been providing high quality plastic injection moulding services to blue-chip companies working in the automotive sector.
Traditional manufacturing methods such as injection moulding have been around for decades and remain a solid option for most projects once the market demand and product requirements have all been validated. However, there are times when considering other options can provide some major benefits.
The Challenge: The customer required an injection moulding company capable of producing a complex suite of conventional injection mould tooling for a Safety Handlamp.
Two shot moulding is the ability to produce complex mouldings from two different polymers at the same time during one machine cycle. This opens the door to allow you to create innovative mouldings that can be produced quickly and to a very high quality.
Bringing a new product to market is challenging at the best of times. Generally the more technology involved, the more disciplines, the longer it can take. Hence sorting out the ‘box’ to house the device frequently gets pushed down the list as a “we’ll sort that out later” item!
This is a great process! The range of materials and colours is huge and there is no “abs like’ that we get in 3D Printing, its the real thing. Parts are repeatable and tight tolerance. The only potential downside is the tooling, but this is covered here, with options to suit most requirements.
Injection moulding is a great way to form thermoplastics into a range of shapes. These can be anything from a simple washer to a complicated electrical housing to a wheelie bin or car bumper.
Injection moulding is one of the most popular and versatile methods for mass producing plastic parts, as it has multiple advantages over other methods of plastic moulding.
As the MD of a UK injection moulding specialist, I have always been a strong advocate for the reshoring of moulding work. This has culminated in my participation on a specialist panel on this subject at the recent SMMT International Automotive Summit.
If you are one of the growing number of UK companies looking to bring previously offshored moulding work back into the UK, then this blog should help you to decide the best way to achieve your goal.
Part Design is the key to success and our top tip is “KEEP IT SIMPLE”.
OK, so we aren’t the Plastic Gurus in question (it’s the below handy Infographic), but at PlastikCity we operate both a Help Desk and an Assisted Service facility within our Source a Moulder section, so we have first-hand experience when it comes to ‘pointing people in the right direction’.
By Simon Anderson – MD of LVS Small Plastic Parts
Like most SME’s, the Brexit vote came as a shock to LVS Small Plastic Parts last year. As part of the larger business community, we felt that a status quo would be the best outcome for the manufacturing sector. Our own business being so heavily aligned to the automotive sector helped to reinforce this opinion.
I recently read an article about a 5% increase in productivity achieved at Formula Plastics, just by changing their tool clamping system. It got me thinking about mould change methods available in the market, which I then discussed with suppliers.
We all know that in recent years there has been a ‘buzz’ in the general Manufacturing Sector about more product being sourced from within the UK, but what do the actual numbers tell us?
The aim was to create a major resource for the plastics sector, one place to find everything you needed. From time to time, we need to review how we are doing, so for the purposes of this Blog, I have looked at things from the perspective of a new start company looking to develop an idea for a new `widget’ that just happens to be most easily manufactured in plastic.
Having spent a number of years inspecting worn screw and barrels, I know from experience that people go well beyond ‘a few thou’ of wear before deciding it’s time for a replacement or refurb. A good setter can often work with little more than a stick rattling around in an oversized tube, but there is always a price to pay……
USA manufacturing is booming and riding the crest of the Re-Shoring wave. But I’m fearful we’re losing steam in the UK………
