At Dorchase, we use the latest design for manufacturability (DFM) techniques to ensure that your parts are optimized for manufacturing – and to help control production costs and boost your profitability. Learn more about design for manufacturability below, and see why it’s so important in an injection molding partner.
Critical Elements Of Design Optimization
There are a number of different elements that must be considered when it comes to injection molding design for manufacturability. Here are a few of the things that you may need to consider when developing your component with Dorchase.
Material Considerations
Plastic resin must be chosen that can withstand the required temperatures, resist chemical degradation, meet governmental and industrial standards for heat resistance, produce the desired gloss and finish, be easy to assemble, and be easily available at a reasonable cost. We will work closely with you to choose the right plastic resin for your application.
Mold Shrinkage
Shrinkage of up to 20‰ by volume is not uncommon in the plastic injection molding process, and must be accounted for when designing for manufacturability.
Gate Location
The gates of your injection mold are very important for ensuring that your resin flows properly. These are the small parts of the mold that direct resin flow to distribute it throughout the part. Dorchase will assist you in choosing the proper gate type and placement to create a viable, high-quality, reliable part.
Inclusion Of Ribs
Including ribs in a thin component’s walls can help reinforce its thickness. Rib thickness is usually recommended to be between 50-70% of relative part thickness.
Ejector Pin Locations
Ejector pin locations help determine how the mold ejects the finished part, and allow the mold to close and be refilled.
Wall Thickness
Consistent wall thickness is an important part of designing for manufacturing when it comes to injection molding. If your wall thickness is consistent, many part defects can be avoided. If the mold is not properly built, plastic may not flow through it consistently, causing thick and thin areas, and defects like voids in the plastic or sinking defects. We can assist in designing proper molds and using features like rounded corners to guarantee proper part filling.
Part Lines
Determining the location of parting lines is an important step. A highly-obvious part line may require further milling and refining, which will add to complexity and part production cost.
Radius
The radius of a component is an important consideration for manufacturing. As a rule, it’s recommended that the thickness of the part at a corner should be somewhere in the range of 0.9x to 1.2x the overall thickness of the part.
Draft Angles
Your draft angle should be between 1° and 2°. This is the taper on the vertical walls of the part, and is essential for ejecting the component properly.
By optimizing each of these elements – and more – Dorchase can assist your company in building better components.
Why do we need Design For Manufacturability?
Choosing design for manufacturability has a number of unique benefits. Here are just a few of them.
● Reduce your overall time to market with more efficient, cost-effective production
● Eliminate the need for component reworking
● Improve overall design efficiency of your components
● Assist in rapid prototyping
● Reduce overall number of parts used for your component or product
● Better cost control for higher profitability
● Simplified process which is easier to automate
● Easier to accurately assemble the product and streamline the process
● Ensure proper tolerances for manufactured parts
● Proper QA standards help reduce manufacturing costs
Essentially, DFM allows you to create a product that provides better overall performance at a lower overall cost. By making just a few basic changes to your prototype, Dorchase can save you time and money and enhance profitability using design for manufacturability principles.