How to Cut Mould Tool Cost

Mould Tools are the most expensive part of any new plastic product. So how do you get the cost down ?

1. Simplify your part design.

One way of doing that is to eliminate the need for withdrawing parts. If your product has undercuts, or any other reason why the tool needs a withdrawing part, check out your options for changing the product design, which the simplifies the mould tool design. This may mean that you need to have a secondary operation on the product to assemble it, but with shorter runs the cost-saving on the tool could far outweigh the added cost per part of a secondary operation. Parts with screwthread are a good example – have a look here to see threaded mouldings being made, with both a manual removal tool and fully automated tool in action.

2. Buy an insert-only mould tool

Most components of an injection mould tool can be bought off the shelf. Only the centre part, the core & cavity, determines what your end product looks and functions like. It is possible to buy only a core & cavity inserts, to be placed in a standard bolster. This saves a fair bit of cost, but you should be aware that you only own the insert and you may need to pay an extra setup fee every time the tool is run. Therefore, insert only mould tools are best for shorter run products.

3. Change the mould tool material

Steel mould tools are the best. However, for very short runs of simple products, aluminium tools may well be perfectly adequate. And for medium runs, an aluminium alloy tool can probably do the job. Some polymers are not suited to aluminium tools though, as aluminium doesn't get as hot as steel. So be careful and make sure you get the right advice !

Toolcraft can help with all these methods and will consider all of these options before giving you a quote. To help us, make sure you give us all the essential information when asking us for a quote. Our How to Get an Accurate Mould Tool & Moulding Quote factsheet will help.