If your company requires plastic injection molding services to manufacture your plastic products, one of the first things to decide on is where you’ll make your molds — here, in the U.S., or overseas? And when we consider overseas manufacturers, one of the primary players is, of course, China.
Many companies find their options boil down to U.S. vs. China mold-making services. If you are in the same boat, you may be wondering which option will be more efficient and help you create the product you’re envisioning. Here are a few questions you should ask to help you find out which is the best choice for your project:
Both countries have the skill, education, and materials to make quality molds. But, in recent decades, an issue called “Quality Fade” has cropped up when dealing with Chinese-based injection mold manufacturers. Quality Fade is when Chinese manufacturers gradually reduce the quality of their products, to slowly increase their profit margins. While not all businesses follow this unscrupulous practice, if you decide to employ a Chinese manufacturer, you run the risk of this happening to you.
On the other hand, U.S. mold manufacturers tend to be more consistent in quality. Most manufacturers like to create your mold designs from high-quality grades of steel, which are durable and have less need for repair or reworking. Plus, these companies tend to have a better understanding of American designs and demands. These qualities combined mean that a U.S. -based mold maker has a better chance at meeting your quality standards consistently, even for long production runs.
The mold-making services you choose — regardless of where it is based — should be experienced in the types of molds you need to be made. This experience is essential, as their engineers and designers are more likely to know the best practices when it comes to creating your mold.
You should also check if their molds are made in-house, or if the company purchases them from a different manufacturer. In-house services are critical in assuring quality control over tooling and can make necessary adjustments and repairs promptly. If you work with a U.S.-based service, then such mold adjustments will be easier to make.
Your company will benefit from engineering support — without it, you could end up misusing a mold, or throwing away a repairable mold without knowing any better. Mold-making companies based in China can offer great engineering support, but vetting these companies may be difficult due to language and cultural barriers. Additionally, these engineers may be trained and certified in different ways, which you may not be familiar with. Finding out about the support and other services that a molding company in the U.S. offers is much easier, as these hurdles are less likely.
The more intricate and complicated your products are, the more intricate and complicated your mold will be. You need to confirm whether your prospective partners will be able to handle the designs you require.
Some companies specialize in making simpler molds for mass production. Others may have handled even more complex designs before, thus are more suited to handling this type of mold design. Always ask for portfolios or examples of their finished product so that you can see firsthand what these companies are capable of.
That being said, U.S. mold manufacturers have easier access to high-quality materials and have more strict safety and quality control standards. This allows them to create intricate yet high-quality molds.
Language barriers are hard to overcome — it is one of the most common and most influential issues that come with utilizing services from overseas companies. Miscommunication can compromise final product quality.
It is worth noting that translators are needed when working with foreign companies. Otherwise, you may find yourself struggling to have clear and effective communication between you and your Chinese mold maker. Compounding on that is the differences in culture, which includes cultural sensitivities. All in all, these differences increase the risk of communication errors, which is not ideal.
Communication is, of course, much easier when working with a mold maker from your home country. There are fewer cultural differences and no language barrier. Plus, communication can be done much quicker, as time differences aren’t an issue — even if your mold maker is located on the opposite side of the country from you.
Visiting your mold maker’s facility is important — even in the vetting process, you’ll want to know how organized and efficient their production floor is, as this is an indicator of quality. Afterward, you may need to visit their facility one or more times for the duration of your project.
While some companies will be able to send their teams or representatives overseas to do these visits, it is always a lengthy and costly trip. Consider if traveling to and from a Chinese mold maker’s facility is doable for you. Each trip may take up to two weeks to accommodate production, tryouts, sampling, and adjustments to the mold. If not, you may have to shoulder molds that don’t quite meet your specifications.
It’s important to note that U.S. mold-making services aren’t automatically better than Chinese mold-making services — as, in any industry, there are poor and high-quality manufacturers. In general, even for high-quality services, Chinese companies tend to offer more cost-savings for their services upfront.
However, the turnaround times, shipping costs, and unpredictable logistics of having your molds made overseas can rack up unexpectedly. And, as we mentioned earlier, there is also the added cost of traveling to and from their facilities for quality assurance. Thus, Chinese manufacturing often comes with lots of hidden costs.
When debating between U.S. vs China mold-making services, consider these questions. All of the above elements should be in place for you to receive services and molds that meet your standards and allow you to make quality plastic products.
At Richfields, we specialize in mold-making services and have years of experience from our clients all over the world and from various industries. We know that reliable, premium services are what you’re looking for — so if you have any questions about our process, quality control, and additional services, send us a message here. Our team will be happy to answer them and help you create any product you envision.
What are some questions to ask before buying a mold in China?
Can you make a product that can meet my production requirements?
Can you achieve tight tolerances?
How many machines do you have?
Are you working with an experienced and professional team?
Do you provide prototyping services?
Do you have high-cavitation molds?
Whether you’re a private individual running a startup or a large industry dependent on OEM plastic injection-molded tools, you need to make sure that you’re partnering with the right molding company in China. There are certain questions to ask before buying a mold in China that can help you identify if you’re collaborating with the right company.
One thing you should prioritize is that you should be able to choose a company that can meet a number of your requirements. Not only will they help in providing you a mold that achieves tight tolerances, but they can also bring you the best outcomes when it comes to operational efficiency, practicality, and high-volume needs.
With all of these in mind, you have to know what you’re looking for in a plastic injection company. Before buying a mold, understand if that company is capable of meeting your production requirements, has the right machinery to perform the job, provides a range of prototyping services, and the like. Continue reading to learn more.
The first question you should ask before you choose a company that can supply you with an injection mold is if they have the capabilities to meet your production volume requirements.
Of course, you’ll get different answers depending on the industry you belong to. If your business is focused on the distribution of consumer goods, such as beverages or packed cosmetics, you need a reliable mold manufacturer that can perform production levels that reach a billion metric tons or more, each year.
Alternatively, if your business is involved in the manufacture of larger equipment, such as automotive parts or heavy machinery, see to it that your mold-maker in China can consistently dedicate their efforts to producing high-quality molds of these products.
When you have already conceptualized your mold, you’ll likely have an idea of the dimensions of each part and component. As much as possible, when you have your idea actualized into a plastic injection-molded product, you want the final outcome to be as close to the prototype, or the concept, as possible.
To make sure that you buy a mold that has all of these standards, ask your molding company if they can achieve tight tolerances in their manufacturing processes. Typical injection molding companies usually set a threshold of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) tolerance of +/— 0.005 inches. Likewise, they should also be able to accommodate tighter tolerances, as specified by your molding requirements.
The quality and type of equipment that your chosen mold manufacturer has, are just as important as their experience in the industry. As such, you have to choose a company that uses different types of equipment at varying capacities.
One of the factors affecting the size of injection molded parts is the platen size. Ask if your company’s machines can support different mold thicknesses, fast injection molding rate, resin variety, and heavy plastic weight.
To know the best machines available for your mold needs, choose a company that houses multiple units of equipment. For example, they may have a single unit for their 2100-TON equipment, but for smaller molds, their facility may also house 8 units of a 150-TON machine, 6 units of a 90-TON machine, and the like.
Years of experience and professionalism are two other things to look for in your mold supplier. As much as possible, you’ll want to choose a company that has more than a decade of experience behind them. They should have adequate knowledge not just when it comes to injection molding, but also in prototyping and manufacturing of different products. Every tool and equipment used in their production processes should be constantly maintained, updated for new developments, and quality-assured to come up with high-grade injection mold products.
If you’re conceptualizing the next big plastic product in the market, you want to make sure that it functions according to your intentions. This is why many mold-making companies also invest in rapid prototyping, wherein the customer will get a concrete mold of the product, make refinements or modify it to correct any defects.
Ask if your mold manufacturer also conducts rapid prototyping for their injection mold processes. Prototyping is a low-cost and practical alternative compared to tool-making because the materials are relatively available. You can also request your manufacturer to have a similar end-product reverse-engineered to see what you can learn from your competitors in improving your mold design.
Although injection molding is a simple process, the lead time may vary on the type of mold. If your business values efficiency, especially in the production of multiple molds in a single-shot, then you need to ask your mold maker if their machines have support for high-cavitation molds.
High-cavitation molds are ideal if you belong to healthcare, biopharmaceutical, food & beverage, or any industry that relies on high-precision production of multiple molds all at once. Ensure that your mold maker can guarantee quality even in single-shot moldings.
In this guide, we’ve outlined six questions to ask before buying a mold in China. You have to find out if your mold manufacturer can supply you with high-quality molds at a short turnaround time.
More than just that, they should be implementing all the latest equipment and technology to achieve high-precision products, no matter for low-cavity or high-cavity molds. Finally, with an available prototyping service, your molding company in China can guarantee that the product you’ll end up with is suitable to be distributed to the wider market and end-users.
Looking for a high-quality mold maker in China? Richfields Plastic has answers to all of your questions. Click here to view a list of their products and services. You may also contact them to request a quote or to find more information about mold making.
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