5 Software Tools To Estimate The Production Economics In Injection Moulding

Hello and welcome to this blog post on 5 tools to estimate production economics in injection moulding.  A series production of an injection moulding business may comprise thousands of produced parts monthly. Therefore, optimizing costs per piece can substantially impact the business financial outcome. Based upon literature research [1] and my own experience, I have compiled 5 injection moulding software tools to improve your production economics.

1. Injection Molding Cycle Time Estimator:

It is mainly used to estimate the time of an injection moulding cycle, which in turn will support a better production planning.

Features: The estimation takes into consideration the resin type. Furthermore, it allows a machine to set override for temperatures. For cooling, two types of estimation methods are available: centerline and average cooling of the wall. It has an error checking included and an easy Windows Forms interface. The software is freeware.

Source

2. ProMax-One™ Plastic Part Cost Estimator by InjectNet:

This program calculates the total cost per part offering a cost breakdown where individual cost positions are detailed.

Features: The following boundary conditions are used: material, labour, mould cost, machinery, maintenance, cavity information and general project information (timeframe, etc.). This software is in its freeware version more complete than the Injection Molding Cycle Time Estimator from 1).

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3. CostMate® by UL Prospector

CostMate® is part of UL Prospector plastics search engine.

Features: It can accurately estimate the cost of producing an injection moulded part and it considers costs associated to shipping as well as packing.  Additionally, it can generate a report of material price, machine, secondary costs, profit and total quote. Its basic version is free.

Source

4. DFM Concurrent Costing® by Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc.

This software is mainly intended for the design of the part stage.  

Features: You can import your part geometry and you can customize the cost estimate inputs. Furthermore, you can import variables from your own injection moulding machine. Geometry calculations can be done within the program too. You can compare alternative production processes and materials for manufacturing your desired part. This is a commercial paid software.

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5. CalcMaster® by Schoenberg & Partners

This commercial software is a cost estimator and a good design assistant too.

Features: CalcMaster® estimates the most economical number of cavities for your mould. Furthermore, it is able to take the all over project hours cost (design and manufacturing) into account.

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Bonus: Injection molding cost estimator by Custompart

The injection molding cost estimator by Custompart is a handy tool which is free and web-based allowing you to quickly assess your production metrics. 

Try it out here

Overarching, the commercial software solutions, DFM Concurrent Costing and CalcMaster, are most comprehensive regarding decision making on the final part costs. Nevertheless, ProMax-One™ can be a good choice to start with before investing into a commercial software package. It offers already the calculation of several parameters such as cavity data, project timeframe and material data.

Enjoy trying out some of the programs and thanks for reading!

Greetings,

Herwig Juster

Interested in my monthly blog posts – then subscribe here and receive my high performance polymers knowledge matrix.

New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog – check out the start here section

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Literature:

[1] M.A. Selles, Analysis and review of different tools to calculate the production economics in injection molding, The 7th International Conference Interdisciplinarity in Engineering (INTER-ENG 2013)

High performance polymers used in children buggies

Weight reduction to save energy and costs has been and will continue to be a constant topic of interest in the aircraft and automotive industries. In this regard, much has been done toward replacement of metals especially the heaviest ones by lighter materials still able to fulfill application demands. Nevertheless, there are other industries where metal replacement and consequent weight reduction can also make life easier especially when you have children. I am talking about children buggies. Most buggies have between 8.5 kg and 10 kg. Heaviest ones may range from 12 kg to 17 kg in total weight (frame plus seat). The weight is a result of using aluminum, which is already among the lightest metal materials (2700 kg/m³). Furthermore, it is naturally resistant to corrosion. Is it still possible to make buggies lighter while keeping their current application suitability? Yes, by using high performance polymers.

Following, I will present you a commercial example of the company Quinny that won the 2014 Red Dot ‘Best of the Best’ Award for their 5 kg Yezz buggy [1,2].

5 kg Yezz buggy using PARA frames [1,2]

Why is it only 5 kg heavy and still a high-end performer?

The frame of the buggy is made of several frame parts using the high performance polymer, polyarylamide, commonly known as PARA (or MXD6), reinforced with glass fibers (50 wt%) [3]. The weight reduction is achieved by the reduced density of PARA, 1600 kg/m³. The high-end performance comparable to metal is achieved by the aromatic amide macromolecular structure of PARA, which provides this polymer with inherent high stiffness and strength. For instances, the tensile modulus of PARA can reach values up to 23 GPa at 20°C.

In terms of processing, a major added value of PARA is that it can be loaded up to 60%wt with glass fibers for reinforcement purposes [4] without this to be noticed in the moulded part. The latter will still exhibit a smooth surface with no evidence of contained glass fibers. Such surface allows excellent painting and/or metallization. Additionally, PARA has good flow properties at melting temperatures, which allow the moulding of parts as thin as 0.5 mm. For these reasons, PARA can be a suitable material when complex parts requiring high stiffness in combination with superior surface quality are needed. Accordingly, premium automotive interiors could be of interest.

Next time when you’re are looking for a buggy keep in mind that there are lightweight solutions to make travelling activities with your children easier.

Thanks for reading!
Greetings,
Herwig Juster


New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog – check out the start here section.


Literature:
[1] http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/interiors-and-lifestyle-awards/quinny-yezz-best-lightweight-buggy-design-junior-design-awards-2014-highly-commended/18838.html
[2] http://www.quinny.com/stroller-buggy/reviews/quinny-yezz-red-dot-award/
[3] http://www.quinny.de/de-de/kinderwagen-buggy/yezz-air/
[4] https://www.solvay.com/en/markets-and-products/featured-products/ixef.html

How to Calculate the Residence Time in Plastics Injection Moulding [incl. online calculation tool]

The term residence time in injection moulding operations refers to the time that a plastic pellet takes from entering the injection moulding barrel until entering the injection mould. It relates to the amount of polymer material present in the cylinder of the injection unit, the shot weight and the total cycle time. Often, residence time is also referred to as Hold-Up Time (HUT).

Melting of plastics for processing is usually attained by bringing the plastics over a certain temperature, i.e., glass transition temperature for amorphous thermoplastic polymers and glass transition temperature as well as crystalline melting temperature for semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymers. For both types of thermoplastics longer than necessary heat exposure, especially in the presence of oxygen (air), may induce chemical degradation. Therefore, the residence time in injection moulding at polymer-sensitive melt temperatures needs to be optimal. In this context, residence time is especially important for polymers such as, for example, PVC, POM, ABS, PBT and PET.

Melt temperatures have to be chosen in a way that the material’s thermal stability during processing is ensured [1, 2]. Guidance about optimal residence time and residence time for different polymers is given by material manufacturers in processing and design guides.  In practice, tools for accurately calculating the melt residence time depending on the utilized machine and processing conditions are usually not available. This prevents processing engineers from making quick process assessments. For this reason, I have created an online tool to calculate the residence time of your injection moulding operation. This can be used online or downloaded. The calculation is based on the formula below [3].

Formula for calculating the residence time in injection moulding

Here, number 8 represents the volume of the molten polymer in the barrel. This is the ratio between flight height and screw length, which for most injection moulding machines is approximately 8. Part A gives the number of shots in the barrel and Part B represents the cycle time to produce the part.

Finally, keeping the residence time at an optimum level will help you keeping materials’ degradation to a minimum and, consequently, the mechanical properties of your final moulded part to a maximum.



Successful residence time injection molding calculation  and thanks for reading!

Till next time!

Greetings, 

Herwig Juster

Interested to talk with me about your polymer material selection, sustainability, and part design needs - here you can contact me 

Interested in my monthly blog posts – then subscribe here and receive my high performance polymers knowledge matrix.

New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog – check out the start here section

My YouTube channel

My personal website


Literature

[1] http://www.solvay.com/en/binaries/Sulfones-Quick-Molding-Guide_EN-227546.pdf

[2] GE Plastics - Injection Moulding Guide

[3] Christoph Jaroschek - Spritzgießen für Praktiker
  [4] https://www.wittmann-group.com/sites/default/files/2021-05/wiba_prnews_plasticizing-screws-article-series-part2_04-2020_en.pdf

 

Polymeric Materials for Automotive Applications - Why Plastics in Cars matter [Infographic]

In the past 40 years plastic materials incrementally found their way into automobiles. The applications using polymeric materials and composites indicate further growth in the future  as well [1]. The utilization of plastics supports weight reduction and fuel economy. However, this is not the only reason plastics are used. The design freedom associated to plastics allows new approaches in the design of parts and lead to increased innovation such as the integration of different parts and material combinations. Additionally, plastic parts show minimum corrosion when compared with metals which improve vehicle lifetime. Last but not least, plastics enhance vehicle safety, comfort and  and are recyclable as well. 

The overall numbers are quite impressive: the average global plastic amount used in cars is 100 kg. A range of different polymers is applied to ensure functions such as low fuel consumption, appearance and freedom in design. Fuel usage, for example, can be reduced by 5% to 7% when the car weight is reduced by 10% [2].  And this is realized by polymeric applications. 

Now enough of the features and benefits. To give you an entertaining view on this topic, I created an infographic which you can find below. It will uncover which plastics are used for which parts in the car. I hope you can recognize some of the parts when entering your car next time. 

Enjoy and till next time!

You can find all of my infographics also here at slideshare.

Thanks for reading!
Best regards,

Herwig 

Interested in my monthly blog posts – then subscribe here and receive my high performance polymers knowledge matrix.

New to my Find Out About Plastics Blog - check out the start here section

🎤My Polymer Expert Talks Podcast

📹My YouTube channel

📚 My Polymer Material Selection book 

My personal website

My dedicated site for Polymer Material Selection

Literature:

[1] https://www.plasticstoday.com/automotive-and-mobility/future-automotive-rides-on-engineering-plastics/66937117456977
[2] A. Patil: An overview of Polymeric Materials for Automotive Applications, Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 3807-3815