Medical device manufacturers have to comply with several regulations and standards when they are building a product. Injection molding is one of the methods in which this can achieve. There are many reasons that make injection molding a popular choice for these companies, including the ability to mass customize and control costs.
Injection molding is a vital and very realistic process for medical device manufacturers. Here’s why.
Accurate Dimensional Tolerances
Medical device manufacturers must consider several critical factors when choosing medical injection molding. For example, accurate dimensional tolerances are important to ensure that parts fit together properly. In addition, the right material type needs to be chosen in order to achieve the desired level of performance. Here are some factors that should be considered before deciding on an injection molding process.
Medical devices need to meet strict dimensional tolerances in order to function properly inside the human body. If these dimensions are off by even a tiny amount, the device could malfunction or even cause harm. Injection molding allows manufacturers to create parts with very fine tolerances that ensure they will fit correctly once they get into a finished product.
Prototyping Capabilities
When designing a new product, it’s important to have a prototype available so you can test it before investing in expensive tooling. The cost and time required to make one-off or small batches of prototypes can vary depending on the type of material and whether these need to be custom colors or materials. Injection molding services can help your team design and produce plastic prototypes that closely resemble the final product with minimal investment on your part.
Variety of Material Choices
The wide variety of materials available for injection molding allows you to create medical devices that fit your specific needs. For example, you can use different types of plastics, such as PE (polyethylene) or ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), depending on the needs of your product. You can also add colorants or other additives to make your product unique.
Versatility
One of the main reasons why injection molding is so important in the medical device industry is because it provides manufacturers with incredible versatility. The process allows manufacturers to create nearly any type of part imaginable — from simple pieces like screws and bolts to complex parts like surgical instruments, implants and pumps. Manufacturers no longer need to rely on other processes such as milling or machining when they can create their parts using injection molding.
Efficiency
The entire process from start to finish is with automation, meaning that there are no human errors or mistakes involved during production. This results in consistent quality across every product produced by your company, which makes it easier for customers to shop for what they need confidently knowing that each item will be exactly like the last one.
Mass Production
Injection molding is a form of mass production, so it’s ideal for when you need to make large quantities of the same product. For example, if you’re designing a new medical device and want to manufacture 10,000 of them for clinical trials or for sale, injection molding will be your best option.
Durability
Injection molded parts are extremely durable and resistant to wear and tear as well as corrosion by chemicals like oil or water. This makes them ideal for use in the medical industry where they’ll often be exposed to harsh conditions such as extreme heat or high humidity which could damage other types of parts such as plastic ones or metal ones made from stainless steel which can corrode over time due to exposure to these conditions over time (especially if they’re not properly cleaned after use).
Final
Injection molding is an important process for any business that produces a mass-produced product. So, what does that have to do with medical device manufacturers? A lot, actually. Manufacturing these products requires a delicate balance of making sure your mold can accommodate the necessary features of your product, combined with the specific properties of various manufacturing processes. Injection molding is just one part of the mix, and it’s an important part; but if you’re not considering it, you could be missing out on cost savings and other benefits.
We hope this article has given you some ideas and shown you how easy it can be to get help with injection molding. Injection molding is not just for big budget companies, but rather it’s something that everyone can enjoy the benefits of if they make the right decisions.