Injection molding uses an injection molding machine made up of three sections: the injection unit, the clamping unit, and the mold or tooling. Such machines are large, expensive, and require expert operators.

During the injection molding process, plastic material in the form of small pellets or granules is fed into a large hopper. The machine moves the pellets from the hopper to a heated barrel, where they melt down into a liquid. Within the barrel, a reciprocating screw — which functions as a kind of plunger — pushes the molten plastic towards the check valve. When enough material is ready to be injected, high pressures are applied, and the material is forced into the mold through a network of channels called sprues and runners. The plastic solidifies, taking the shape of the mold cavity, and is then ejected from the mold with the aid of ejector pins. The process then repeats, with cycle times ranging from a few seconds to upwards of a minute.

When ordering custom injection molding parts from 3ERP, we will first review your design and send a quotation. When quantities and pricing have been agreed, we will quickly fabricate the tooling and, if required, send a sample molding before starting production.