It can be challenging finding an injection mold supplier that can provide overseas injection molds with competitive pricing, and full-service domestic support. Michiana Global Mold is located in the Mid-West USA, with a partner company in China, offering the best of global sourcing with superior service.
Modular Mold in China offers full service injection mold designs and manufacturing, for a variety of mold types including semi-finished or fully finished molds constructed with the same technical expertise and attention to detail that you will find from our location in the United States. We employ only highly skilled journeyman mold makers and design engineers experienced in constructing custom, precision injection molds. Michiana Global Mold has been supplying various industries, including the demanding Automotive industry since 1952, providing high quality precision tools to customer specifications for decades. We are an ISO Registered injection mold making facility, in both our US and China locations. Our Quality Policy is practiced throughout the organization, providing you with the same level of high precision accuracy from either our US or overseas location. All molds are inspected for conformance from our US location, and all service is from our Indiana location with one main point of contact providing tool status updates throughout the entire scope of the project. Modular Mold’s capabilities include equipment to produce molds accommodating presses up to 3,000 tons, in our more than 40,000 square foot facility. We focus on precision, lead times and high quality by following our processes according to our quality policy adhering to ISO9001:2008 standards. When you need a high quality constructed tool with precision geometric tolerances, you need to call on Michiana Global Mold! We are your one stop shop for precision injection molds whether you need overseas or domestic suppliers, or overseas pricing with domestic support. There is never a problem due to a language barrier, as we manage all communication from our US location, and make regular visits to Modular Mold in China. Let Michiana Global Mold show you how you can have overseas injection molds with domestic service. Download our FREE book on sourcing injection molds from China. Michiana Global Mold is a supplier of superior quality plastic injection molds for various industries including automotive, medical, consumer electronics, and defense for over 50 years. We maintain high customer satisfaction through continual product and process improvement at both our United States and China locations.
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Finding the right injection mold manufacturing company to be a part of your supply chain is a very important decision. Mold making companies that want to be on a preferred vendor list need to have a competitive edge, something that sets them apart from other mold making shops. OEMs today need to choose suppliers that can handle large projects, and delivery quality tools on time, regardless of the complexity.
Michiana Global Mold is an experienced injection mold making facility, supplying high-performing precision molds for over 52 years! We are experienced with complex designs for molding of critical components in various industries, including precision Automotive components. We employ expert mold design engineers, and journeyman mold makers with vast experience in all aspects of custom injection mold design. Michiana Global Mold utilizes the latest in technologically advanced equipment and software, using CAD/CAM software integrated with our milling centers. ISO Registered Mold Making Facility We are an ISO Registered mold making facility, that will partner with you from the beginning. Meticulously following a detailed checklist, we are able to identify any critical areas with precision tolerances that may be affected by mold flow or design. We can even assist with reverse engineering, enhancing your design by alerting you to potential issues prior to cutting steel and working together to obtain the optimum design for your application. We are then able to sample your parts and make any necessary final adjustments to your tool, delivering quality parts, on time. We can construct mold inserts, fully functional molds, mold compositions, over molds for insert molding, and tool adaptations including engineering changes. Contact Michiana Global Mold today to learn how our vast experience, knowledge, and technical capabilities will add value to your supply chain. We partner with our customers from the beginning, providing quality, precision molds for a wide array of applications over various industries. Michiana Global Mold is an ISO Registered injection mold construction supplier, providing quality class steel molds since 1952. A plastic injection mold designer must consider many factors when designing injection molds, including the press the mold will run in. Knowing the press specifications is very important in order for the mold to operate properly, and most efficiently during injection molding production.
Vertical Press Clamping System The orientation of the clamping system is of course a very important consideration, as this determines whether the mold will open horizontally or vertically. A vertical molding press is used in over-molding production, also called insert molding because the molten plastic is molded around an object. An example would be an electrical wiring harness with plastic molded around a portion of it, clamps or even something like knives where the handle is molded around the metal. The insert in a vertical molding press can be either steel or even plastic. A vertical press requires molds for the top and bottom, as a vertical molding press has a rotary table which holds at least two bottom (B) sides of the mold, while the top half (A) half comes down to close on the bottom half molding the part. There is usually one top half, and at least two or more bottom sides to the mold, so that when the A side is molding the part on the back of the table, another B side is in front of an operator or a robot loading an insert into the open mold. Once molded, a robot or operator can unload the over-molded part from the mold, prior to loading new inserts into it. Constructing molds for a vertical molding press is quite different than for a horizontal molding press, even though the concept is the same. Horizontal Molding Press The most common type of injection molding operation is in a horizontal press, requiring an A side and B side, closing together on a horizontal plane to mold the parts. When the horizontal mold opens for ejection, parts usually fall into a bin below or are grabbed by a robot and taken to an inspection area. Most horizontal molding operations do not require an operator at the press, as the vertical over-molding jobs do without automated equipment. Horizontal molding presses are very efficient and non-labor intensive, with a top-quality high-performing injection mold, a horizontal molding operation can run for hours in a lights out environment. Regardless of whether the mold is for a vertical or horizontal press, the placement of water fittings and hoses is of the utmost importance in designing the tool. The clamping pressure and press tonnage are also very relevant specifications, in order for the mold designer to calculate the pressure of the molding operation while also considering the material chosen and how it will flow into critical areas. Michiana Global Mold has decades of experience designing tools for various plastic injection molding environments, meeting tight tolerances with high performing, precision custom injection molds. Download a FREE copy of our book “Design Considerations for Different Molds” for more information. Michiana Global Mold has decades of experience designing and building precision custom injection molds for various industries. Contact us today to speak with one of our knowledgeable engineers for a FREE design consultation on your mold building requirements. We can custom design molds for your applications, regardless of your molding environment. There are many advantages gained with using an ISO Registered mold making facility for construction of your injection molds. Plastic injection mold making shops are expected to meet just in time delivery deadlines with tight tolerances within specifications. Today’s injection mold making industry leaves no room for error as mold making shops must utilize modern technology with experience and in-depth knowledge of the injection mold making process in order to satisfy the stringent requirements of OEMs today.
The Internationally recognized quality standards of ISO9001, ISO/TS16949 and AS9100 set common parameters for various industries around the globe to measure their performance in either their service or product with a uniform set of standards. Any supplier to the Automotive industry should be registered to ISO standards. In some cases, proving compliance may be adequate for a 3rd tier supplier, although most 1st and 2nd tier suppliers must be registered to either ISO or ISO/TS. This gives Automotive suppliers around the globe the same set of standards to adhere to, making the job of the Automotive Quality Engineer from one of the top Automakers a little easier to compare vendors. In order to stay in the preferred vendor status, an injection molding shop and even the injection mold making shops must not only be registered to ISO standards, they had better be practicing their Quality Policy and performing continual improvement projects in order to stay competitive. Mold making facilities meticulously follow detailed checklists ensuring that all issues are recognized and address prior to cutting steel. ISO Registered mold making shops that follow Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) reveal any critical issues with mold construction such as critical fill areas to tight geometric areas, the need for CAM action, lifters or specialty ejection systems. Identifying these critical issues ahead of time is crucial to fulfilling a tight deadline with a quality mold. Michiana Global Mold is a global supplier of high quality injection molds, registered to ISO 9001:2015 and implementing our Quality Policy throughout the organization. We have been satisfying the stringent requirements of the Automotive industry with high-quality, custom, precision injection molds for over 52 years. Contact us today to see how we can assist you with your injection mold building needs. When an injection mold designer begins a development of the mold design, they must be aware of the environment in which the mold will run. This includes the size and type of press the mold will run in, the material used for molding, and any auxiliary equipment used for automation as the location of tie bars and cooling lines must not interfere with setting and running the mold.
Vacuum Conveying System A vacuum conveying system is an automated way to get the material into the press, with the right suction and force. Vacuum conveying systems suck the material while still in pellet from the gaylord or drum into the hopper of the press, providing a steady flow of material for continuous production. Vacuum conveying systems pull in a steady flow of material, and control the amount of material in flow to the press, and are also helpful with controlling the moisture content in the material. Sprue Pickers Aid Automation Sprue pickers are robotic arms that reach into the press and grab the runner when the mold ejects, instantly separating from it the parts which can then fall into a bucket or onto a conveyor belt. Some robotic sprue pickers reach in and pick up the runner then drop it either into a separate bin, or directly into a grinder where it can be ground up and reused as regrind material. Process Monitoring Injection molders use process monitoring systems to constantly monitor the press settings such as temperature and pressure, alerting an operator if the job begins to run out of specification. Some monitoring systems also provide material resource planning functions, tracking job due dates and material inventory for scheduling of jobs. All of the additional auxiliary equipment must function properly and work in conjunction with the mold when it opens and closes and operates on the tie bar. Michiana Global Mold has vast experience designing and manufacturing molds adhering to customer specifications and each unique environment. Contact us today for a FREE design consultation and to learn how we can assist. Production injection molds are used to mass produce plastic injection molded parts. Injection molding is the producing of specially designed plastic parts by injecting with pressure and clamp force, plastic in a molten state into cavities carved out in a steel mold where the plastic will harden and set to the shape of the mold, thus producing the part.
Injection mold makers sometimes produce a prototype tool to test out a part design and function prior to manufacturing full production requirements. Production molds are used for long term production requirements. A prototype tool is used only for short runs to produce sample parts for testing and will not support full production. With proper planning and mold design, a custom mold maker will design and manufacture a production mold that will meet all product specifications and geometric dimensions. Some of these dimensions must be met with the tightest of tolerances as close as .001”, or about the width of a human hair. Carving out the cavities of a steel mold to produce a plastic part within these tight tolerances is no easy task, especially when taking into consideration the properties of the thermoplastic resin including cooling and shrink rate, which can have a great effect on the final dimensions of the part after solidifying. If a change is required of a production mold, skilled mold makers can perform what is called an “engineering change” to alter a dimension or tolerance within a part. If the change is feasible just by altering some dimensions in the steel, mold makers can simply adjust some dimensions in the current tool and avoid the need of constructing a new mold altogether. Skilled and experienced mold makers will utilize advanced quality product planning procedures to ensure that the constructed production mold will produce parts to spec the first time, planning ahead for critical fill areas and ensuring parts to print. Michiana Global Mold is an experienced full-service tool and die shop, constructing high performing injection molds with quality steel. We are an ISO registered mold making facility, applying our strict quality policies in all processes. Contact us today for a FREE design consultation and to see how we can assist with your next injection mold production requirements. Prototype injection molds provide a chance to perfect the design of a molded product, prior to constructing a full size multi-cavity tool. This can be well worth the extra time and expense to make a smooth launch of mass production requirements.
A prototype mold is a very inexpensive method of testing out a new part design for proper functioning. Prototypes are usually constructed with less expensive material such as non-hardened steel or P20, or even aluminum, as the purpose is to mold sample lots of parts, not full production volume. A prototype mold usually has just one cavity, and this can be an easy to way to make sure a part will work as expected, before manufacturing a large multi-cavity tool. One part is all that is needed to verify the part’s dimensions and geometric tolerances. A prototype mold is used in industries where new model parts are always changing such as the Automotive industry. In some cases, new parts are used in existing assemblies, changing a design slightly but still using some existing components. In this case the new parts would have to be tested within the existing assemblies to ensure proper function. Prototypes give automotive design engineers a chance to try out a new part, and alter it if need be, to work properly with other new or existing components. Prototype Mold Advantages In addition to the flexibility to try out new part designs to verify part function, the biggest advantage of prototype tools is the low cost. Made with the less sturdy and less expensive material, a prototype tool cannot support production, it can however provide enough shots to produce sample parts for testing purposes. This is a very worthwhile investment, however, especially if you are uncertain about how the geometric design on one part will fit with your existing application, or if you just want to test part properties prior to building a production mold. With the low cost of prototype tools, it could be a very advantageous place to start here if you have any questions about a new part function. A prototype is also advantageous if the part is molded with a new resin, or a resin that the engineer is not familiar or experienced with. Since all thermoplastic resins contain varying properties for shrink rate, strength and durability, some prototypes are constructed to test the strength of a molded part in different materials allowing engineers to test out different resins. Michiana Global Mold has vast experience constructing prototype tools to customer specifications, giving you a quick turn-around time on sample parts for your testing purposes. We employ skilled design engineers and journeyman mold makers all with in-depth knowledge of prototype mold construction, and properties of varying resins. Michiana Global Mold has vast experience assisting engineers and designers to achieve their dimensional goals with design assistance and Prototype Mold Construction. Contact us today for a free design consultation and to see how we can assist you with your project development goals. The most common type of polymer used in injection molding is thermoplastic resins. There are many different types of resins with various properties to meet part specifications for functionality. When designing injection molds, the engineer must take into consideration all properties of the resin specified for the produce including adhesion, elasticity, resistance to high temperatures, shrink rate, resistance to corrosives, and desired finish whether matte or polished.
The cooling and shrink rate are of the utmost importance, as some parts with a high shrink rate will need the cavity designed accordingly so the finished product will cool and shrink within specifications. Cooling rate is also important for ejection, as the resin must completely solidify prior to mold ejection. When an injection molded part has a critical functionality, mold flow analysis may be helpful in determining resin flow into tight geometric areas. Mold flow analysis clearly shows with computer aided simulation how the resin will flow as determined from its properties. Predicting how thermoplastic resin will flow in the mold and cavities prior to cutting steel can be a valuable tool in avoiding costly mistakes. Conducting the proper advanced quality planning with mold flow analysis can greatly improve lead times. Most journeyman mold makers will already possess the knowledge of hos particular resins flow just from experience. A skilled design engineer with experience in manufacturing molds will have the knowledge to design the tool to produce a part to print specifications, with the chosen resin properties playing a huge role in tool design. At Michiana Global Mold, we have been providing high quality precision molds for over 60 years, possessing more than 500 years of combined experience. Our staff of highly skilled design engineers and journeymen mold makers are the best in the business with vast experience in various thermoplastic resins. Contact Michiana Global Mold today to speak with one of our skilled and experienced mold designers to learn how we can assist you with your injection mold requirement. We are an ISO9001:2015 Registered mold making company with vast experience constructing custom, precision injection molds for various industries. Quick response and flexibility are required of tool and die makers today. Mold makers must continually strive to reduce production time while still ensuring a high level of quality, and all while providing cost reductions. With tight margins and high demand for quick turn-around, tool and die makers may be searching for the best manufacturing method to remain competitive.
Using an EDM machine (electrical discharge machine) along with a high-speed milling machine may provide assistance with on-time delivery. Certain manufacturing needs in a tool and die shop may require differing manufacturing methods. The design engineer should be aware of all available manufacturing technologies. Mold Manufacturing Products Require Differing Technologies Injection molds and diecast molds, forging dies, and deep drawing dies are the three main products of tool and die making. Deep drawing dies mean that the metal blank is drawn into a forming die with a punch. The drawing is considered to be deep drawing when the depth of the drawn part is greater than the part diameter. They all possess their own constraints regarding applicable technologies for mold production. Deep drawing dies have flat structures and materials that are best manufactured with milling. When producing forging dies, EDM is widely used due to the strength of materials used in production. Complete machining with milling is possible, however, with low depth and large concave radii. Milling diecast and injection molds is challenging due to ribs or webs, and small radii. Developing the combination of EDM and milling is necessary for economical mold production meeting tight tolerances. Utilizing the benefits of all production methods gives designers and mold manufactures options in mold manufacturing. Other considerations in deciding between EDM or HSM are high speed milling, the geometric constraints, and surface quality or subsurface damage of a tool. Of the utmost importance is the effect on the surface from either EDM or HSM, as related to the part specifications. Some parts may require a surface conducive to adhesion from certain coatings or lacquers, and the finish of the tool plays an important role in the surface finish of the molded part. Employing skilled design engineers and journeyman mold makers, we have the experience to utilize the latest technology with a full line up of modern EDM and high-speed milling centers. This gives the most benefit to our customers in providing the most efficient, and cost effect mold manufacturing, with high quality tools and on time delivery. Michiana Global Mold is an experienced mold designer and manufacturer, supplying high performing precision injection molds since 1952. We are an ISO registered mold shop, adhering all processes to our strict quality policy, ensuring total customer satisfaction. Michiana Global Mold is experienced in all aspects of tool and die making, including injection molds and brass forging dies. Contact us today for a free design consultation, and learn how to save up to 40% on your next injection mold requirements. Looking for an offshore injection mold supplier can be a daunting task, without the right domestic guidance and support. There are several aspects of sourcing your injection molds overseas that require a mold supplier with an overseas presence.
Michiana Global Mold is an experienced mold making facility with an offshore presence, offering complete assistance with sourcing your injection molds overseas, taking the guesswork out of all of the typical roadblocks to successful outsourcing. Michiana Global Mold has been manufacturing precision complex injection molds since 1952, we are experienced and knowledgeable about all necessary factors in mold making. We apply this extensive knowledge to all mold building projects, including any offshore molding. No Language Barrier Since Michiana Global Mold has a partner company in China, Modular Molds, we completely alleviate any potential miscommunication due to a language barrier. When we source your tool builds to our China location, you will receive the same service as our domestic tool builds with one local point of contact providing all local support. ISO Registered Offshore Mold Maker Modular Molds in China is registered to ISO9001:2008, following the same strict quality standards as our US location. We use only qualified German and North American Steel, manufacturing quality high performance injection molds. Full Service Offshore Mold Making Our mold making facility in China is a full-service injection mold making facility, offering partial and full-size mold design and construction. Our capabilities provide you with fully finished or semi-finished molds, manufactured with precision and the same attention to detail provided from our domestic location. If you need offshore mold making with domestic service and support, contact your one stop mold shop, Michiana Global Mold. All molds are inspected and tested for complete conformance to customer specification from our domestic location in Indiana prior to shipment. Modular Mold in China is a modern, large capacity mold making facility of more than 40,000 square feet with capacity to accommodate presses up to 3,000 tons. Let Michiana Global Mold save you 40% on your injection molded products with our superior offshore molding facility. Michiana Global Mold is a superior quality plastic injection mold supplier for various industries including automotive, medical, consumer electronics, and defense. We maintain high customer satisfaction through continual product and process improvement at both our United States and China locations. |
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