Engineering Support
Before the tool design is even complete, our engineers work with your engineers and staff to review the part design for possible material savings, cycle time savings, and quality improvement. We advocate and apply Society for Plastics Industry (SPI) guidelines and standards for Mold Classes, Mold finish, Cosmetic Inspection, and Dimensional Tolerances.
We also provide you with options and recommendations for selecting tool-builders to quote your project. Guttenberg Industries is fortunate to have a half-dozen local and regional tool shops that are quality providers of molds. In addition, for the past 10 years, Guttenberg has provided the opportunity for our customers to use our hand-picked offshore partners to build their injection molds.
Product Development Lead Time
Time to market is critical today. The quicker you can get your product into the market the quicker you can begin earning returns on your investments. At Guttenberg Industries we understand this and continually strive to help you minimize this duration. Rapid prototype services are used where appropriate and quick turn-around tooling is often available upon request. Please let us know if this is something that you are interested in pursuing.
Solid Model CAD
At Guttenberg Industries, we use SolidWorks and SpaceClaim 3D Solid Model CAD systems. Below are the most commonly used file formats, although more are available.
Please send 2D documentation in one of the following formats:
- .dxf
- .dwg
- .iges (Title block exploded into entities)
Please send 3D CAD files using one of the following formats:
- Native SolidWorks or SpaceClaim
- .stl (typically used in the quoting phase, and cannot be used in mold construction)
- .x_t (used for mold construction)
- .stp (used for mold construction)
- .igs (used for mold construction)
Material Selection
Designing injection molded plastic parts can be complex and confusing. The task of designing in any material is already quite complex, but with injection molded plastic that complexity is compounded further due to the nature of plastics and the molding process. Guttenberg Industries has built a solid reputation within the injection molding industry for our ability to conquer the toughest jobs in plastic.
In many instances, the first decision that needs to be determined is which material to use. Thanks to technology, there are literally hundreds of materials and blends that may work for your project. However, when designing a plastic part, material selection is critical. There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a material, such as strength, hardness, impact resistance, heat resistance, chemical resistance, and cost.
Find out more about Material Selection in our Top 10 Design Tips for Plastic Injection Molded Parts.
Design Tolerances
Tolerance guidelines are expressed as a base (minimum) tolerance plus added tolerance based on linear inch of a given product feature, and represent typical variation from part to part once molded. By means of example, a two-inch feature on a product molded from ABS will likely consume a tolerance of +/- .005 inches while the same feature on a part molded from Polypropylene might consume a tolerance of +/- .007 inches.
Click here to access our Top 10 Design Tips for Plastic Injection Molded Parts, complete with Material Options and Tolerances.
Project Costs
Consider the Total Cost of Ownership ? Not Just Price.
When designing injection molded plastic products, there are two types of cost to consider. The first is the piece part cost. This is the amount of money you will pay the injection molder for each piece you have them mold. The second type of cost is tooling cost.
Unfortunately, not all customers fully consider this trade-off relationship when finalizing their purchase decision. In many cases, the customer is focused heavily on piece price and ends up buying a more expensive tool than is necessary, ultimately paying too much once the tool price is factored in. In other cases, the customer focuses heavily on getting an inexpensive tool and builds a single cavity tool to save money in the short-term but costs more over time.
Click here for our Top 10 Design Tips for Plastic Injection Molded Parts. Be sure to check out Tip #9 - Cost Comparisons on page 8!