You might be planning a new product and wondering: How quickly can I get plastic injection molding parts produced? This is a vital question if you’re juggling deadlines, budgets, and customer expectations. After all, nobody wants to miss a crucial market window due to slow production.

Quick Answer: The total time to manufacture plastic injection molding parts varies, but you can generally expect:

1. Tool design and mold creation: 4–12 weeks
2. Initial test runs: 1–2 weeks
3. Production runs: minutes to hours per batch
4. Post-processing/inspection: a few days
5. Delivery lead times: 1–2 weeks

In the rest of this article, we’ll break down each stage, explain common bottlenecks, and offer tips for speeding up the process without sacrificing quality.

Accelerate Production with Plastic Injection Molding Parts

Manufacturing plastic injection molding parts doesn’t happen overnight. It starts with mold design, which can take several weeks. Then, you proceed to tool fabrication, test shots, and eventually full production. Each step affects the total timeline. By understanding these stages, you’ll know how to plan your projects effectively.

Mold Design 

Professional engineers create detailed CAD drawings of your part, factoring in shrink rates and gate locations. A robust design prevents issues later. This step usually takes multiple iterations as your team and the toolmaker refines geometry, features, and final tolerances.

Mold Fabrication 

Toolmakers use CNC machines and EDM processes to shape the steel mold. Precision is crucial, as any flaw can ruin parts. This phase often becomes the bottleneck, especially if the mold is complex. Anticipate minor delays for re-checking critical dimensions.

Sample Testing 

Once the mold is ready, a run of test shots validates everything. Technicians check for warping, short shots, or sink marks. If problems arise, they tweak the mold or injection parameters. This extra time ensures your parts meet design requirements before full-scale production.

Understanding The Tooling Phase

Tooling, or mold creation, is usually the longest portion of the injection molding timeline. Machining steel (or aluminum) blocks into a precise mold isn’t trivial. For complex shapes, expect advanced milling, electrode creation (for EDM), and possibly multiple mold components.

Why It’s Long

• High-precision machining steps to form cavities
• Tool steels are tough, requiring slower cutting speeds
• Complex multi-cavity molds involve many surfaces and channels
• Final polishing and texturing for cosmetic surfaces

If your design changes mid-tooling, it adds rework. That’s why thoroughly verifying your 3D model before tooling is essential. Once the mold is done, the actual production of plastic injection molding parts goes relatively fast.

Injection Molding Setup And Trial Runs

After the mold arrives at the molding facility, technicians mount it onto an injection molding machine. They configure injection pressures, temperatures, and cooling times. Then, they run sample shots to check part quality. This stage can take a few days or up to two weeks if multiple adjustments are required.

Dialing In Parameters

Each type of plastic (ABS, PP, nylon, etc.) demands specific melt temps and injection speeds. The tool’s cooling lines also matter: a uniform flow ensures consistent part properties. If warping or short shots appear, the team refines the settings.

Final Approval

Once test samples match the specifications, you’re almost ready for mass production. Some businesses request a final “golden sample” set before green-lighting the full order. That adds minimal time but ensures no unpleasant surprises in large batch runs.

Common Injection Pressing Cycles:

• Small, simple parts can mold in 10–15 seconds
• Larger, complex parts might need 1–2 minutes per cycle
• Each cycle typically produces multiple parts if the mold is multi-cavity

Production Run Speed

The production itself is often the fastest stage. Modern machines can spit out plastic injection molding parts at a rapid rate, sometimes thousands per day, depending on part size and mold cavity count. However, keep in mind a few real-world variables:

• Number of cavities in the mold
• Cooling time required
• Machine tonnage and availability
• Material flow rate

If you require 10,000 parts, that might only take a few days once everything’s dialed in. But if you need a million units, you could be looking at weeks, especially if you only have one mold or one machine. Additional machines or multi-cavity molds can drastically speed throughput.

Post-Processing Steps

After the parts come out of the machine, some might need trimming, assembly, or surface finishing. While many plastic injection molding parts feature automated ejection and minimal flash, you may still have to:

1. Clip off gate remnants or sprues
2. Run parts through a quick quality inspection
3. Perform secondary operations like pad printing or ultrasonic welding

Time Considerations

• A small part with a simple geometry might need virtually no finishing.
• Large or complex parts might require manual trimming or multi-step finishing.
• Automated finishing lines can reduce labor, but these solutions aren’t always cost-effective for smaller runs.

Danger: Don’t underestimate post-processing. While each part might only need a few seconds, thousands of parts can add hours—or days—to your total timeline.

Read More: Precision Plastic Injection Molding

Common Timeline Examples

Below is a simple table illustrating average times for different project complexities:

These ranges aren’t set in stone, but they can guide your scheduling. Rushing any step may lead to errors or mold rework.

Conclusion

So, how long does it take to manufacture plastic injection molding parts? Typically, mold creation remains the biggest factor, often spanning several weeks. After that, initial test shots might take another week or two. Full-scale production can be extremely fast—just days for thousands of units—followed by any finishing, packaging, and shipping. Summed together, you can expect anywhere from 6 weeks for simple parts to several months for highly complex molds.

In short, the timeline for plastic injection molding parts depends on mold complexity, testing iterations, production scale, and shipping. By planning your design carefully, picking the right partners, and optimizing post-processing, you’ll create a realistic schedule and avoid costly delays.

FAQ

1. Can I skip sample testing to save time?

It’s not advisable. Sample shots reveal design or mold flaws. Skipping them may lead to entire runs of defective parts.

2. How fast can short-run aluminum tooling be made?

Sometimes in 2–4 weeks, depending on complexity. Aluminum is easier to machine but less durable for high-volume production.

3. Will a multi-cavity mold always reduce production time?

Generally, yes, because each cycle produces more parts. However, multi-cavity molds take longer to manufacture and cost more upfront.