China Manufacturing Decoded

How to Reduce Injection Molding Costs Without Sacrificing Quality & Reliability

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Adrian and Paul break down why molding costs “balloon” (over-tight tolerances and cosmetic overkill) and then walk through three practical levers to cut costs safely: smarter tooling design & DFM (wall thickness, draft, gates, material choice), good tooling decisions (steel grades like P20 vs H13, cavity count, hot vs cold runners), and production/process tweaks (machine tonnage matching, sensible regrind use, SPC/sensors, in-tool de-gating). They finish with some tooling-costs myth-busting (cheap tools, mirror finishes, family molds).

 

Episode Sections:

  • 00:00 Intro & today’s topic

  • 01:58 Why costs balloon: tolerances & cosmetics 

  • 06:52 Lever #1 — Design & DFM (wall thicknesses, material choice) 

  • 14:40 Lever #2 — Tooling decisions (steel grades, cavities) 

  • 22:44 Lever #3 — Processing & production setup 

  • 27:35 Myth-busting: cheap tools, mirror finishes, family molds 

  • 31:23 Recap & where the biggest savings really are

     

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    • Plastic Playbook: Choosing The Right Polymer [Podcast]
    • Mold Tooling Ownership: The term Chinese suppliers push for will shock you!
    • The Conundrum of Investing in Tooling Before a Final Prototype

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