Let the jokes begin: plastic injection molders are “high” on hemp bioplastic… They don’t want any byproducts of the crop to go to “pot” … they would like to “smoke” their competition by transitioning away from non-sustainable, un-“green” polymers to sustainable, very-green hemp bioplastic. But this is no joke: many plastic injection molders think bioplastics,…
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Consumers can get very, very attached to the packaging of their favorite products, and nowhere as intensely as beverages. Trifle with the material, color or label at your own risk, marketing experts say. So when the makers of Snapple decided to move to plastic bottles from glass, there was tremendous trepidation at Dr. Pepper Snapple…
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Let’s cut to the chase… here are the “Big Five”: Part design. Material. Mold design. Construction. Molding machine. Those are the five most vital factors in the plastic injection molding process, according to experts. They all have to be optimized vis-a’-vis each other, or you can run into big problems. In many cases, these experts…
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You don’t normally associate the words “tariffs” and “plastic packaging” but that’s exactly what many US plastic injection molding companies want President Trump to do in order to retaliate against China’s aggressive intellectual theft and government subsidies of their home-grown plastics companies. In fact, Pactiv LLC, one of the biggest U.S. plastics companies, is making…
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Almonds taste great in cakes, breads, cereal, candy bars, even liquors. Now there’s research going on that call for a plastics recipe which includes the tasty nut as filler. Well, not the almond itself; more specifically, its shell. Almond shells enhance the strength of plastic more than most conventional materials and are being tested as…
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We take it for granted in our industry: molten plastic cools and crystallizes into some preordained shape in a mold under a predetermined pressure in a process called plastic injection molding. If only it were that easy. The story begins with melted or “molten” plastics. All these polymer molecules look relatively the same at the…
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Plastic injection molding, as a process, has many parameters but none so important as the right design. Design is particularly important for rapid plastic injection molding, (RIM) where speed is of the essence, as is quality. This post is a top-level examination of many of the vital design considerations that must be taken into account…
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Plastic injection molding companies throughout the region are licking their lips at the news of Foxconn’s decision to build a massive new manufacturing facility in Kenosha, WI. The reason is simple: the new plant will require equally massive amounts of plastic digital device cases, TV housings and other plastic items to support their operation. Because…
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Too good to be true, you say? Believe it: the latest production monitoring systems are increasingly internet-based (usually wi-fi) and can be installed by even the most non-techie executive. The goal? Saving money, of course, by utilizing real-time data from the plastic injection molding process, then turning around and making that process more efficient. And…
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As summer ends and fall approaches, university students prepare to return to leaf-littered lawns. How many students are on track for a career in plastic injection molding? If you are an engineering major, an industrial designer, engineer, computer software programmers, and yes, even the student who wants to earn extra money selling Tupperware or Mary…
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