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The Protomold Process
At Protomold we have automated the process of designing and manufacturing moulds based on customer supplied 3-D CAD part models. Due to this automation, we typically cut the lead time for the initial parts to one-third of conventional methods. Cost saving varies with the number of parts being produced, but Rapid Injection Moulding may also have a substantial cost advantage in runs of thousands of parts.
What do you give up? Actually, very little. Protomold produces quality moulds using advanced aluminium alloys and precise, high-speed CNC machining. Parts can be moulded in almost any engineering grade resin.
What's the catch? Not much. Protomold supports an ever-increasing degree of part size and complexity such as many types of undercuts, tall/thin ribs or bosses, off-axis features and more. See our Design Guide for examples.
What's the first step?
Check out the "Step by Step" description of how to work with Protomold. Even if you don't need any parts right now, just give our ProtoQuote® system a try and you'll be impressed with the ability to interactively select the number of cavities, surface finish, type of resin and delivery schedule. Every time you make a change, the price automatically updates. This built-in "what if" analysis is like 1000s of quotes in one!
Can't believe it?
We hear it all the time... "nobody can consistently ship real injection moulded parts in a few days". If you're a skeptic, that's ok! Just read through what our customers are saying about our service. Better yet – give us a try for yourself.
The Protomold Rapid Injection Moulding process gives design engineers a fast and affordable way to get real injection moulded parts in prototype or low-volume quantities. We work with advanced aluminium alloys and high-speed CNC machining. Our process features an unprecedented degree of standardization and automation, which is how we deliver injection moulded parts faster, and more economically than anyone else in the world.
This allows us to support prototyping, bridge tooling or low-volume production requirements of our customers as noted below.
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Prototyping. Rapid prototyping processes are ok for testing form and fit, but FDM, SLA and the others are no substitute for testing with real injection moulded parts. With Protomold, you can get prototype injection moulded parts for as little as £995 and shipped as fast as the next business day (for a premium). Just what you need for function testing before going to production.
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Bridge Tooling. When your production tooling won't be ready for another 3 or 4 months, it's great to have a way to make those 100, 1000 or 10,000 parts for pilot production or market testing. When you "Prototype with Protomold," your bridge tooling is ready to go with no additional cost or delay.
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Production. If your volume requirements don't justify expensive steel production tooling, Protomold can supply production parts to meet your full requirements. Multicavity aluminium moulds can be very cost effective, and upon request Protomold can guarantee the tools for the life of your project.
So from an overall market perspective we see Rapid Injection Moulding as in between Rapid Prototyping and Conventional Injection moulding as illustrated in the figure below.
Also, read the technical paper "Plastics Product and Process Design Strategies" by David Kazmer, Ruchi Karania and Christoph Roser (.doc, 1.0mb), an analytical comparison of various manufacturing processes that support the development of new plastic products.
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