Plastics & Injection Molding Manufacturer Blog

Last month, in our article “How to Get Your Injection Molded Parts On-Time and Keep Your Production Lines Running,” we addressed the lead times and production concerns around the resin industries and what Ferriot is doing to help our customers weather the storm. We will continue to update you on this evolving issue.  

Plastics processors all over the country are seeing severe resin shortages and staggering price increases. Every indication is that this issue will continue through June.  What caused this? What resins have been impacted? How will this impact the resin market in the coming months? What should OEMs with plastic components in their products be doing now?  

When reviewing projects with your injection molder, remember to discuss what value-added or secondary services they provide beyond molding your parts. Consider selecting one company that can handle all of your custom injection molding, painting and decorating needs. Using an injection molder with comprehensive services that include painting and decoration capabilities saves time and lowers your cost.

Two-color pad printing machine 

You’ve probably heard that a picture’s worth a thousand words. However, according to George Popov, quality supervisor at Ferriot, a picture’s actually worth a million numbers — at least in the world of custom injection molding part inspection.

The reason for injection molding delays is that resins – the materials that your plastic parts are made from – are in short supply. With lead times for resins increasing and their cost going up, it’s only natural that your injection molded parts will face the same challenges.

When it comes to new technology, what makes it a success? The platform? The interface? The added features? No, in fact, it’s all about the talented people involved with implementation.

The year 2020 has been a tough one, especially for manufacturing. Duelargely to the COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturing industry saw a decline of nearly 23 percent in 2020. The simultaneous shock and demand from shutdowns, the financial crisis, and increased workplace regulations have created the perfect storm for what’s likely to be the worst hit to manufacturing we’ve seen in decades.

If there’s one thing that every manufacturer knows, it’s the value of a good operator. Operators are champions of production, driving the performance, efficiency, and reliability of your plant processes.

Unfortunately, great operators are often wasted on repetitious manufacturing processes, where most of their time is spent on mundane tasks instead of work that requires more “brainpower” and finesse. On those monotonous tasks, if operators are being forced to act like a machine doing the same thing over and over again, why not get an actual machine to do it?

In Part 1 of our discussion of the importance of TQM to the injection molding process, we introduced George Popov, our Quality Supervisor, and provided you with a behind-the-scenes look at what George and the Ferriot Quality Team are doing to implement and improve TQM on a daily basis.

In Part 2, George and I discuss a new technology acquisition, the AICON smartScan Structured Blue Light Scanner, and how it is helping Ferriot meet and exceed quality goals.

Total Quality Management is critical to everything we do for our customers. At the end of the day, the goal is production readiness. Injection molded parts must be optimized for functionality, production consistency and ease of manufacturing. TQM includes everything from start to finish, from mold qualification to production quality. 

A practical way to provide design flexibility - A smart way to reduce cost

Gas assist injection molding (GAIM) is an enhanced injection molding process often applied for complex parts, large parts and parts requiring an attractive, cosmetic finish.  The types of parts benefiting most from this process include:

• large panels
• enclosures
• handles
• doors and bezels
• tube or rod shaped parts