• Iconic Injection Molders – Bay Area

    On July 7, 2010

    Plastic Injection Molding for the Medical, Biotech and Hightech industries. For 39 years Quashnick Tool Corporation has developed custom plastics for the who’s who of technology companies in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Knowing what’s at stake when it comes to developing and maintaining quality plastic injection molds and the parts produced is the secret to their continued success. They realize that when companies begin new designs of molded materials, significant corporate R&D, engineering, manufacturing, administrative and support...

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  • Medical Tooling Problem Solving – Injection Molding Challenges Resolved

    On July 11, 2010

    What is your approach to resolving medical tooling and molding problems? Answer: It must be discerned whether the problem is with the materials or the molding before heading towards a resolution. For example, if there is a problem with a plastic part that is due to flash, then it is considered a tooling issue. However, if it is a material that is degraded (i.e. cracking or breaking) in the process of obtaining the parts, then it is a plastic materials problem. In addition, providing examples of the product or specific examples of where the failure...

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  • Mold Transfer is a Specialty Task Requiring Expertise

    On July 11, 2010

    How do you move tools from overseas or execute mold transfers? Answer: When transferring molds from overseas, the best practice is to find a facility that has an in-house tooling capability. It is important the facility is able to accomplish large-scale repairs on molds. Therefore, the skills required for execution are available within the company itself. Since the company receiving the tools or the mold transfer is highly trained, the tools are sent there to be taken apart and examined. This step in the transfer process allows the...

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  • Multi-Shot Injection Molding – Over molding Multiple Materials

    On July 11, 2010

    What is involved in overmolding and multi-shot molding? Answer: Overmolding as a two-shot process has been done for many years and continues to expand within the industry. Currently, a significant number of materials can be combined together during production to achieve this effect. One important element of two-shot molding is the two materials must be compatible with each other and designed to overmold. Otherwise, the product doesn’t hold up during the procedure. A lot of the materials that are designed for overmolding may not...

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  • Engineering New Injection Molded Plastic Products – Development

    On July 11, 2010

    How does involving your mold-maker early in the process impact your engineering and development of new plastic products? Answer: The mold-makers involved in the trade of high-quality tooling must have several years of experience. The majority of mold-makers go through apprenticeship and training programs sponsored by the state. Not only have they received state certification, they have trained on the production floor. By observing the production staff, mold-makers gain an understanding of the process and the end result of the types...

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  • Medical Molding Production – High Speed Manufacturing

    On July 11, 2010

    How do you achieve high-speed production of complex parts? Answer: The key component is an understanding of the volumes required. If the volumes are a million pieces per year, sometimes a four-cavity mold is needed or a high-quality tool. For high-speed or high-volume production, using high-quality tools is important. The tools should hold up with very little maintenance in this process. Given a million pieces per year, a four-cavity small part is appropriate. To reduce the price of the parts as much a possible, hot-runner systems...

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  • Mold Design Best Practices – New Products

    On July 11, 2010

    What are the best practices in new product mold design? Answer: After product development has been secured and generation of plastic parts has begun, the best practice is to have those plastic parts designed by an expert. Generally, this would be a trained plastics engineer specializing in the various aspects of the process: tooling, molding, and plastics. The engineer reviews the product line to confirm the plastic parts are moldable, the material used is appropriate, and the types of machines required. The results of the engineer’s...

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  • FDA – Quality Plastic Parts Manufacturing

    On July 11, 2010

    How would you describe value-added quality tracking for FDA requirements in the manufacturing of plastic parts? Answer: The quality system is useful for more than just the parts that are manufactured for the FDA. Parameters are tracked for molds and materials in order to go back in time as necessary to determine the root cause of a later problem that may develop with a particular part. Important elements to track include injection pressures, processing temperatures and hold times, material and its drying time, the lot of the material...

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