Plastic is the most used material in industrial design nowadays. Its durability, lightness and flexibility are great advantages for applying to various products like housewares, 3C products and vehicles components. Among the forming methods of plastic like vacuum forming, blow molding, etc., injection molding is commonly used for its high efficiency, low cost for mass production and wide range of usage.

Injection molding must sounds unfamiliar to most of the people. Here is how it works. Heated and mixed materials will be melted into flowing liquid, and then being forced into a closed mold through the sprue with high pressure. The mold is composed by two molds which are a cavity mold and a core mold respectively. Cooled materials are solidified and shaped by the molds like a boiled egg in its shell, then being removed by ejector pins which attached to the ejector plate behind the core mold.

Simple as it seems, the variations of materials, molds design and produce can be very complicated, which contains plenty of professional techniques and practical experience. Molds, mostly made of metal, are carved, milled or etched to meet the needs of the parts. As the key factor of injection molding, the molds must be designed and made with accuracy to reduce defect rate.

Since making a mold is both time and budget consuming, not only molds maker but also product designers has to know how injection molding works. ODIIST considers the usage of the parts, the process of tooling, and the budget to come up with the most appropriate design for the product.

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