Use this guide to identify 6 critical elements for New Product Development (NPD) success when considering a new approved injection molder.

1. The ROI of Improved Project Flow:
How Injection Molders Impact Outcomes

2. Injection molders earn their spot on your approved vendor list. Relying on
them is critical, but sometimes too comfortable. Ask yourself, does your
molder:
• Adhere to a structured process?
• Deliver timely, quality parts?
• Provide a true value-add partnership?
Introduction

3. It may be time to consider working with an off-list, full-service injection
molder that rigorously follows an established process to provide consistent
outcomes that provide a positive ROI.
Let’s look at the 6 steps a customer-centric, full-service injection molder
takes to optimize the molding process and your returns.
Introduction

4. Step 1: Design Feasibility Review

5. An experienced injection molder starts at the
beginning, asking the fundamental question:
Can the design be produced?
Step 1: Design Feasibility Review

6. To get the answer, they systematically dissect your design as follows:
• Compare desired tolerance to industry standards and prior
experienced with similar parts
• Verify material selection for compatibility and performance
• Review part design for “moldability,” principally as it relates to:
o Wall thickness uniformity
o Adequate draft for pushing parts from molds
o Undercut management using tools that relieve trapping
Step 1: Design Feasibility Review

7. Step 2: DfM + Moldfilling Analysis

8. A complete Design for Manufacturability
(DfM) study including moldfilling analysis
is the 2nd critical phase of design review.
Complex software programs assist the
injection molder in moldfilling analysis and
provide a prediction of production quality.
Step 2: DfM + Moldfilling Analysis

9. On-screen, 3-D design simulation allows for:
• Visualization of how a material will fill the mold, and any
challenges that may arise like trapped air, or misaligned
flow fronts
• Quality prediction of mechanical properties using color-
coded outputs that identify part quality and potential
failure mechanisms
• Warp/shrink study to determine how parts react after
ejection.
• Design adjustments based on analysis results, using
iterative cycles until both the customer and molder are
satisfied.
Step 2: Moldfilling Analysis

10. Step 3: Mold Design and Build

11. After identifying toolmakers appropriate
for the specific application and carefully
selecting one capable of complex tooling
design and execution, the injection
molder remains engaged in the process.
Step 3: Mold Design and Build

12. The molder:
• Provides explicit design direction to toolmaker, including:
o “Steel-safe” dimensions
o Gate location
o Cooling
o Strategic insert location and/or material
o Ejection design
o Surface finish
• Reviews and approves mold design
• Shares mold design details with end customer
Step 3: Mold Design and Build

13. The molder:
• Confirms print accuracy at the project onset, meaning:
o The customer and molder use equivalent methods to measure dimensions
o Inspection report data is reviewed and applied to verify critical part dimensions
in the mold
o Irrelevant or redundant dimensions are eliminated from the print and noted by
mutual agreement
• Collaboratively monitors mold build through weekly updates and physical
inspections to ensure specifications are met
Step 3: Mold Design and Build

14. Step 4: Establish Scientific Molding Process

15. An injection molder experienced in mold design and
process optimization employs scientific
methodologies that take the injection molding
process to a much higher level of precision.
Scientific molding ensures repeatability in
production, and Design of Experiments (DOE) — a
specific exercise of the scientific molding process —
saves costs in the long run by establishing an
optimized molding process that allows for
identification and correction of tooling problems
prior to production.
Step 4: Establish Scientific Molding Process

16. A certified master molder leverages scientific molding and DOE
to develop the optimal production process that incorporates:
• RJG pressure-sensing technologies
• The molding machine intended for production
• Electronic data storage that saves the process for all
subsequent qualification and production runs to ensure
repeatability and plastic part reliability
Step 4: Establish Scientific Molding Process

17. Step 5: Adjust Mold Steel & Qualify Part

18. Once the mold is received from the toolmaker and
the optimal process has been determined, the
injection molder conducts a first run of the part to
determine whether the produced product meets
specs.
It’s important that the molder has testing and
measuring methods to do this.
Step 5: Adjust Mold Steel & Qualify Part

19. Measuring first-off parts using agreed upon methods and comparing results to desired
dimensions reveals if tool adjustments are necessary and informs next steps that generally
include:
• Adjusting the tool to compensate for the actual activity (i.e., cutting or adding steel to
get the plastic part to print specification)
o Few molders are capable of doing this in-house but those that can, like Kaysun,
will provide further process efficiencies and cost savings.
• Sampling mold in production press utilizing optimized process
The above steps are applied in iterative cycles until parts are in specification.
Step 5: Adjust Mold Steel & Qualify Part

20. Part qualification:
• Molder will prepare and submit a qualification package
• Serves as a documented paper trail should quality/performance issues
arise, or an in-house review is conducted
• Once customer approves, production will run
Step 5: Adjust Mold Steel & Qualify Part

21. Step 6: Maintain

22. An optimized process created in partnership with a full-
service injection molder skilled in scientific molding offers
several advantages:
• An electronically stored and controlled molding process
that ensures qualification and consistency across all
production runs
• In-mold pressure sensors provide real-time feedback to
machine controllers so risk is systematically mitigated
before it causes costly problems or setbacks
• A control plan that measures and stores critical capability
data on an ongoing basis
• Specialized customer service to maintain and add value to
the molder-customer relationship
Step 6: Maintain

23. With the right injection molding partner in place, you have the expert input necessary to
optimize the molding process and your project flow—which translates to
considerable time and cost savings through:
• Consolidation of molder capabilities, functions and vendor base for your current project
and beyond
• Familiarization of project process flow that gives your engineering teams confidence in
project expectations, testing, qualification and results
• Streamlined, repeatable production that prevents costly modifications or inspection
delays that could add 6 to 8 weeks to a project timeline and negate your ROI
Conclusion

24. Kaysun is the preferred injection molding partner for a
number of industry leaders in the fields of medical,
automotive, industrial/consumer and military/defense
manufacturing.
Contact us today to see how our experience,
capabilities and willingness to serve you can ensure
better results and boost your ROI. We look forward to
helping you!
1-800-852-9786
www.kaysun.com follow us on