Precision Molds for Complex Part Designs

Injection mold designers must use careful consideration when designing a mold for a complex part design.   Intricate plastic injection molded parts may contain several critical areas that must be carefully designed to meet part specifications.  Parts that contain a very thin wall, for example, would be a critical fill area.  It takes expertise in mold design to fill a part completely without any overfill or under fill while still maintaining the integrity of such a thin critical dimension.

Critical areas should be identified on the part print, and throughout the entire mold design phase.  Sophisticated CAD/CAM software is used to develop a viable tool design given all part design specifications and other exterior design considerations such as the specified material and press size.  With a superior design software program like Unigraphics or SolidWorks, mold designers can develop the entire mold construction phase and test critical areas with computer simulation software.  This advanced quality planning phase is crucial to constructing precision molds to customer specification, and within the established lead time.

The part print will also contain specific information such as the resin used and the surface finish or texture required of the final part.  Any restrictions on knit or parting lines must be identified for proper gating.   It takes an experienced mold designer to implement a successful tool design and construction of a precision mold for injection molded parts with a complex design.

Download our FREE Book on Design Considerations for Different Molds, and contact us today to learn about our discount and rebate programs.  

Michiana Global Mold is an experienced injection mold design and construction company, supplying precision tools to various industries since 1964.  We are an ISO registered mold shop, satisfying the strict requirements of the Automotive industry with high quality complex molds.  Contact us today to speak with one of our knowledgeable engineers for a FREE design consultation.  

Custom Injection Mold Supplier Partners with OEMs

Finding the right injection mold manufacturing company to be a part of your supply chain is a very important decision.  Mold making companies that want to be on a preferred vendor list need to have a competitive edge, something that sets them apart from other mold making shops.   OEMs today need to choose suppliers that can handle large projects, and delivery quality tools on time, regardless of the complexity.  

Michiana Global Mold is an experienced injection mold making facility, supplying high-performing precision molds for over 52 years!  We are experienced with complex designs for molding of critical components in various industries, including precision Automotive components.  

We employ expert mold design engineers, and journeyman mold makers with vast experience in all aspects of custom injection mold design.   Michiana Global Mold utilizes the latest in technologically advanced equipment and software, using CAD/CAM software integrated with our milling centers.   

ISO Registered Mold Making Facility

We are an ISO Registered mold making facility, that will partner with you from the beginning.   Meticulously following a detailed checklist, we are able to identify any critical areas with precision tolerances that may be affected by mold flow or design.  We can even assist with reverse engineering, enhancing your design by alerting you to potential issues prior to cutting steel and working together to obtain the optimum design for your application.  

We are then able to sample your parts and make any necessary final adjustments to your tool, delivering quality parts, on time.  We can construct mold inserts, fully functional molds, mold compositions, over molds for insert molding, and tool adaptations including engineering changes.  

Contact Michiana Global Mold today to learn how our vast experience, knowledge, and technical capabilities will add value to your supply chain.  We partner with our customers from the beginning, providing quality, precision molds for a wide array of applications over various industries.  Michiana Global Mold is an ISO Registered injection mold construction supplier, providing quality class  steel molds since 1952.  

Custom Plastic Injection Mold Making

A custom plastic injection mold maker has expertise with designing a plastic injection mold to manufacture a unique plastic part.  Custom injection mold making is used in several industries, especially those requiring new parts with new model releases such as the Automotive Industry.

When new projects require complex parts that fit into existing assemblies, or critical components used in interior automotive parts, you need a precision custom plastic injection mold making company.  At Michiana Global Mold, no part is too complex.  We excel at designing and manufacturing precision, tight tolerance, custom designed molds for critical components.  Our specialty is providing quality precision tools for complex, custom parts.  

Michiana Global Mold employs highly skilled designers and engineers, utilizing the latest technology to design the perfect tool for your complex part requirements.   Using Unigraphics software, we can create 2D and 3D models of the optimum design, quickly identifying critical dimensional areas prior to cutting steel.

Our designers and journeyman mold makers have vast experience designing complex tooling, even molds that require cam action or customized ejection systems.   Your custom injection mold will be designed to run in your press, and within your unique environment.   We’ll take your water lines and mounting plate into consideration for optimum placement, avoiding any future discrepancies with a smooth-running mold.

Full Service Injection Mold Making Supplier

Michiana Global Mold is a full-service injection mold making company, with over 600 years of combined experience.   Our knowledge, expertise with mold making, and vast resources give us the opportunity to provide the best value to our customers.  

We have a partnership with Modular Mold Solutions, located in China, giving us the ability to source tools overseas while still providing the same quality that you expect from a superior domestic mold making supplier.   

Both of our locations, in China and here in the US, are registered to ISO9001, following a strict quality policy in all processes.   We practice continual improvement on a regular basis, passing savings onto our customers with improved efficiencies and consistent quality.  

 

Michiana Global Mold is a full-service injection mold making company, providing high performance plastic and rubber molds to a multitude of industries including automotive, consumer products and electronics since 1964.  Contact us today to learn about our  free design consultation  and multi-tool discount for high volume projects.  

Injection Mold Making Technology

Injection molding is the mass producing of plastic parts with a steel mold, an injection mold, designed with cavities to mold the desired part.  Injection molding uses thermoplastic resins, also called polymers, typically in a raw pellet form, that melt and flow into the cavities in the mold, forming the part, then it is ejected once it hardens.  The time that it takes for the mold to close, plastic to flow into the mold, the polymer to set and eject upon mold opening is called the cycle time.  Injection molders are always looking for ways to increase the cycle time, as time is money and when you can mold a part faster, you can mold more per hour, per day and per week.  

A skilled injections mold maker will have the knowledge to design the mold with the most appropriate attributes to reap the best cycle time while still delivering the desired part to the customer specification.  Michiana Global Mold is accustomed to constructing complex, precision injection molds within +/- .001”, which is about the thickness of a human hair.  

Injection Mold Making Equipment

Injection mold makers are well familiar with the precision equipment used to carve out steel cavities, forming a perfect plastic part.   Computer aided design, and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) equipment is a key tool for designing a perfect tool.  The designers at Michiana Global Mold use Unigraphics CAD/CAM software to design the mold fit for producing a desired part.  This alerts the mold maker and the injection molder to any critical areas such as thin walls or a critical dimensional tolerance that must be met, prior to cutting steel.  

Milling machines, conventional EDM and wire EDM machines are a necessary tool, along with high speed CNC machines, drill presses and grinders.   Michiana Global mold, located in Mishawaka, Indiana with an offshore mold making facility in China, utilizes all of these mold making equipment tools, and more.  We have over 50 years of experience constructing complex tooling for demanding industries such as the Automotive industry where 0 ppm (parts per million) defects is the norm.  The key to a quality plastic injection molded part, is a quality injection mold.  

No one understands this better than Michiana Global Mold, your one stop shop for mold making and tooling services.  We do everything from constructing insert cavities and prototypes to full service high volume precision production tools.

Michiana Global Mold is Registered to ISO9001:2015, delivering custom injection molds to a wide array of industries demanding high volume long lasting performance with the best available pricing.  We offer rebates on multi-tool programs and discounts with offshore molding options.

Contact us today for a FREE design consultation, and to see how Michiana Global will provide value added services in your supply chain.

How a Prototype Mold Can Benefit Your Project

When engineers are designing new models of mass produced parts, you want to know if your new design will function as it should in the assembled product.  One way to verify your new part design is with a Prototype mold.

A Prototype mold can be constructed for less money than a full size standard mold to verify the functionality of the desired part.  Prototype molds are typically constructed with a less expensive material such as aluminum, non-hardened steel or P20, and usually contain just one cavity rather than multiple cavities, as only one part is needed to verify dimensions and part function.

This is advantageous in many industries such as the Automotive industry, where new model year automobiles combine new parts with current parts on the same vehicle.  In some designs, not all parts are updated or replaced yet all parts in any particular assembly must function perfectly together. A Prototype tool will give you the flexibility to test out and alter if need be, a newly designed part that will function to your specifications.  

Advantages of Prototype Molds

Since Prototype tools are constructed with less expensive, and less sturdy steel, it can only be used to produce short lots for testing purposes.  The material would not hold up for any large or standard production runs.  

This can still be a very worthwhile investment, however, especially if you are uncertain as to how the dimensions on one part will fit with your application, or if you just want to test it out prior to building the production mold.  Since the Prototype tools is quite economical, it could be advantageous to start here if you have any questions about a new project.

Michiana Global Mold has the resources, the experience and the experts on staff to build your Prototype tool to your specifications, allowing you to test your products prior to investing in standard mold bases.

Michiana Global Mold has vast experience helping engineers and designers achieve their geometrical and dimensional goals with design assistance and Prototype Mold Construction.  Contact Michiana Global Mold today to see how we can assist you with your project development goals.  

Mold Maker for Consumer Products

Consumer products is a very broad industry, encompassing everything from appliances, electronic components, household goods and toys to more complex products used in automotive and aerospace functions.  No matter the purpose, all injection molded consumer products must first begin with a quality built injection mold produced with quality steel.  

As design engineers are aware, a quality part begins with a quality tool.  When designing a critical consumer product, involving an experienced mold builder early in the design phase of your project can reap big benefits in time saved developing superior products.  An experienced mold designer can utilize CAD/CAM software and simulation designs alerting a product development engineer of critical areas that may succumb to underfill or breakage.  

Michiana Global Mold is experienced with manufacturing precision tools for numerous consumer product applications including electronics, high end business furniture, skylight frames, appliance parts and assemblies and critical automotive parts.   We have vast experience producing plastic and rubber molds of any variation including:

• Cold Runner Molds
• Hot Runner Molds
• Insert Molds
• Collapsible Core Molds
• Unscrewing Molds
• Stack Molds
• Shuttle Molds
• High-volume Production Molds
• Prototype Molds

Our skilled and experienced staff include expert designers with decades of experience designing complex, precision tools utilizing the latest in technological advancements with Unigraphics software, and mold flow analysis when required.   Our journeyman mold makers contribute to our more than 600 years of combined experience providing you with expert mold construction no matter the type or complexity of the tool.

We can provide you with early design consultation, expert mold construction and product sampling.  Tool status reports are provided upon request keeping your project on schedule.  Michiana Global Mold is a valuable addition to any supply chain, providing high performance, quality tools on time, and to your specification.

Michiana Global Mold has been producing high performance plastic and rubber molds used in a multitude of industries including consumer products, electronics and automotive since 1964. Contact us today to learn about our multi-tool discount and for a free design consultation.  

Experienced Brass Forging Die Maker

Brass and copper forgings are used in several industries, providing parts with consistently accurate dimensions with high density.  Many industries such as plumbing, marine, transportation, automotive, aerospace, medical, lawn and garden, heating and cooling, and architectural utilize brass and copper forged parts for various applications, providing long lasting durable strength.  

As a forging company supplying these specialized industries, you need a Brass Forging Die Maker that you can rely upon.  At Michiana Global Mold, we are a full-service machine shop and currently produce several brass forging dies to specification, and in a timely manner.

We have the expertise required to construct forging dies to meet your specific tolerances, including tight precision tolerances required for critical applications.   We can construct forging dies with heat treated polished finished, ready for single or multiple part runs.

If your part design changes, we can perform engineering changes to alter a part slightly, perhaps on one side that would require engineering changes to one half of the mold.  Our CNC machinery is top of the line and utilizes the latest technological advancements, giving us the ability to produce your dies in a very cost effective manner, providing the best value for your investment.

We can take your design, or assist you with creating the design required for your purposes with reverse engineering.  Our highly skilled staff includes veteran mold designers and engineers with decades of experience constructing forging dies and injection molds.  We utilize the latest in technological advancements, CAD/CAM Software with integrated programming at our milling centers.  

Our forging dies are inspected per our own strict quality policy.  As an ISO9001:2015 Registered Mold and Machine Shop, we will provide you with quality molds, to your specification and on time.  

Our experience coupled with our highly skilled staff ensures that you receive the best value for your investment.  Contact Michiana Global Mold today for top quality brass and copper forging dies, from an experience mold supplier.  

Globally Sourced Injection Molds with Domestic Support

Are you looking for an injection mold supplier that can provide globally sourced injection molds, at a competitive price, and still provide domestic support?  Look no further!  Michiana Global Mold is located in the heart of the Midwest, employing skilled journeyman moldmakers and technical design engineers providing quality precision tools since 1952.

We also have a facility in China, Modular Mold, offering full service injection mold design and construction.  Modular Mold in China is ISO Registered, as well as our domestic location in Indiana.  With Modular Mold in our China location, we have the ability to provide you with fully finished or semi-finished molds, with the same technical expertise, attention to detail and precision that you will find from our location in the United States.  

When you need overseas pricing on injection molds, with domestic service and support, you need a supplier like Michiana Global Mold.  We manage your project from our Indiana location, providing you with one main point of contact to assist you the entire way throughout the scope of your project.  All tools are inspected and tested for 100% accurate precision dimensions and conformance to your requirements, prior to shipment.

Modular Mold is over 40,000 square feet, with capabilities to produce molds to accommodate presses up to 3,000 tons.  By following our quality policy and adhering to all requirements of ISO9001:2008, we focus on quality, precision, and lead times.  

If you need a quality constructed tool with tight geometric tolerances used for precision injection molding applications, you need to call on Michiana Global Mold!  We are your one stop shop for quality injection molds whether you need domestic or overseas suppliers, we provide top notch customer support.  You will never experience problems due to a language barrier as we handle all communication and make regular visits to our China location.

Let us show you how you can save up to 40% on your injection molded products by using our experience and resources for your next injection mold construction needs. For more information on our China location, see our recent blog “Domestic Service with Benefits of Mold Makers in China”.

Michiana Global Mold is a supplier of superior quality plastic injection molds for various industries including automotive, medical, consumer electronics, and defense for over 50 years.   We maintain high customer satisfaction through continual product and process improvement at both our United States and China locations.   

Precision Custom Mold Makers

The first step to molding custom precision plastic parts is beginning with a quality precision mold.  A precision mold maker has experience crafting a mold based on the blueprint of the desired molded part.  

At Michiana Global Mold, our extensive experience gives us a great advantage over other mold shops as we have the expertise and the equipment to design even the most complicated of molds, producing your desired part to print specifications.  We have over 500 years of combined experience with just our moldmakers and design engineers!  Our extensive knowledge provides added value to your supply chain, giving you a speedy return on your investment.  

Precision custom mold makers differ from other mold shops in that we understand the importance of tight tolerances within +/- .001, thinner than the width of a human hair.  We utilize the latest in technology with our CAD/CAM software integrated with our machinery and equipment.  We provide an extensive evaluation of the desired part, creating intricate tool designs involving cams and lifters when required, or even custom ejection plates.

We can construct a prototype mold for initial sample parts, and we can even sample them for you, assuring you of correct and accurate dimensions.  We conduct Advanced Product Quality and Planning (APQP) to alert of critical dimensions, prior to cutting steel.  We have the capabilities to produce any variation of the mold that you may require, including:

• Standard Mold
• Hot-Runner Mold
• Hot-to-Cold Mold
• Shutter Mold (also referred to as an Insert mold for the over-molding process)
• Three-Plate Molds
• Prototype Molds

Contact Michiana Global mold today and speak with one of our expert engineers to learn how we can assist you with your injection mold making requirements.  We can handle multi-tool requirements and save you a considerable amount of money with discounts and rebates. Michiana Global Mold has the expertise, experience and equipment to meet your demands for custom precision molded products, within specification and on time.  

Top 5 Benefits of ISO Certification

An Overview of the Benefits of ISO9001

There are many benefits of ISO certification, a globally recognized and accepted set of quality standards applicable to companies in various industries.   Conforming to ISO9001:2015 provides many benefits to manufacturers in all industries including plastic and steel production for automotive, consumer electronics and military and defense.

 Businesses that provide design work such as injection mold makers have additional standards and responsibility to their customers, and the supply chain to which they contribute.  Producing quality product, on time, and within customer specifications is key to providing exemplary customer service.   ISO standards prompt companies to detail and audit all systems in their business, implementing corrective actions when those processes are not meeting their goals, applied to all processes, not just manufacturing.

Conforming to ISO standards also means that you have a written plan, detailing needed resources and expected goals for all business processes including business strategy and planning, sales and marketing, production, quality, and customer service.  ISO 9001:2015 puts added emphasis on risk management and leadership engagement, all necessary components of successful, globally competitive businesses.

Here are the Top 5 Benefits of ISO Certification

1.    All Processes are Identified, and Audited for Effectiveness

Processes includes the required resources needed to attain a specified goal.  Each process has an owner, a person responsible for successfully attaining specified goals.   The process owner determines the best way to measure the effectiveness of a process, and implements corrective actions when necessary. 

2.  Contributes to Goal-Oriented Teamwork  

Process owners must utilize human capital as a resource, creating one goal-oriented team.  Each team member should be aware of the company’s quality policy, and know how their role in the organization contributes to the overall business goals.  

3. Improved Efficiency Produces Improved Profits  

Improving efficiency always equates to an improved bottom line.  Time is money, and continual improvement projects like Value Stream Mapping can improve efficiencies and profits for any business process.   

4.  Utilizes Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) business improvement process.   

·         Plan – Establish your objectives and a plan to achieve them 

·         Do - Execute your plan with a structured framework 

·         Check - Audit results against your objectives  

·         Act - Make corrections and improvements. 

The PDCA system Can be applied to any process and is utilized throughout the entire ISO process. 

5.  ISO Certification Focuses on One End Result – Total Customer Satisfaction

Conformance to each and every standard ultimately leads back to total customer satisfaction.  Why does a business do what they do?  Customer Satisfaction is required for any business to survive, let alone thrive and grow.  With focus always on customer satisfaction, one of the major benefits of ISO Certification is that the business has the framework to keep current customers delighted and grow with referrals by providing continued exceptional customer service. 

Michiana Global Mold is Registered to ISO 9001:2015, implementing our Quality Policy throughout the organization with top down management involvement.  We have been top-quality, custom precision injection mold makers for over 52 years.  Contact us today to see how we can assist you with your injection mold building needs.   

History of Plastic Injection Mold Making

History of Plastic Injection Mold Making

Plastic Injection Mold Making has been around since the late 1800’s when a man named John Wesley Hyatt first invented a way to inject celluloid into a mold to make billiard balls.  In 1872, John and his brother improved the process and patented the first injection molding machine, which was quite primitive by today’s standards but the concept of injecting plastic through a heated cylinder into a mold was born.  Plastic injection molded parts grew in popularity during the 1940’s as World War II created a huge demand for mass-produced, inexpensive products.

In 1946, James Hendry built the first screw injection molding machine, revolutionizing the industry.  Plastic Injection Molding has evolved over the years and today this manufacturing process supplies products for all industries including consumer, toys, plumbing, packaging, construction, automotive, aerospace and medical. 

Part Design

As mentioned above, a wide variety of parts are made out of plastic and more and more parts that are currently made of another material are moving to plastic as a more economical option without jeopardizing part functionality.  For example, law enforcement and military agencies use plastic bullets for target practice, gun parts that were historically made of metal are now being molded in plastic.

Plastic has the rare ability to take the shape and form of almost anything you want it to be.  Parts can be molded with glass filled nylons for added durability.  Some plastic parts are used in engine and braking systems in automobiles and can withstand extreme temperatures.  Some plastic injection molded parts feel more like rubber and are used in a variety of items.  Plastic can be colored to mold in any color desired, UV protection can be added to avoid color distortion.  Very complex moving interior parts with several precise geometric designs are usually manufactured with plastic injection molding. 

Tool Design

Once a molder has the part design, the next phase is to design the tool that can produce the part.  A mold built for mass production should always be built with class A hardened steel, but some prototypes are made of less durable steel as they are interim molds.  A reputable plastic injection mold maker will help guide their customer to choose the best type of mold for the job.  In some cases, just one cavity can be completed in a full size mold to be used as a prototype, allowing time to perfect the process prior to building all cavities in a multi-cavity mold.  Michiana Global Mold uses only Class A steel for the majority of their tool builds.

Michiana Global Mold’s engineering mold designers and tool makers can help to guide the customer throughout the mold build phase.  Using CAD software along with decades of experience, Michiana Global Mold knows the best way to tackle even the most complex of tool designs, specializing in injection molds for the automotive industry. 

Horizontal and Vertical Plastic Injection Molds

The majority of injection molding machines are horizontal, which means the mold opens and closes on a horizontal path.  Molten plastic is injected into the mold along the horizontal path through a heated barrel and screw.  When the mold opens and the parts eject, gravity assists with the parts falling out of the mold to the staging location.  These presses can often run without an operator once the mold is set and the process is running smoothly.  These are less labor intensive than vertical molding machines, which usually require an operator or a robotic arm.

Vertical presses are used to mold plastic around an insert of another type of material, usually steel or another hardened part.  This process is referred to as overmolding, or insert molding.  In this type of press, the mold open and closes on a vertical path, allowing the operator to reach in and grab the parts out of the cavities, and load inserts in cavities to prepare for the next overmold cycle. 

Michiana Global Mold. is a plastic injection mold maker with extensive experience in both horizontal and vertical molding.  With a wide selection of state-of-the-art milling centers, we’ve got what it takes to construct quality complex molds, on time and in budget. 

Michiana Global Mold has been in the plastic injection mold making business since the 1962, and employs a cross functional staff with extensive knowledge in part design, tool design, and the molding process regardless of the type of mold, resin, or press needed.  Contact Michiana Global Mold today to see how we can reduce your plastic injection molded project costs.