New Year, New Part?
Discover how advanced molding and extrusion technologies can streamline production, enhance sustainability, and take your ideas to the next level.
Are you starting a new project in 2025? Pexco, a leading North American plastics solution provider, delivers cutting-edge production methods and deep expertise in engineering and material technologies.
Recent advancements in injection molding and extrusion technologies have greatly enhanced efficiency, sustainability, and material performance.
Injection Molding
- How it works: This process involves injecting molten plastic material under high pressure into a mold cavity, where it cools and solidifies to form the desired shape.
- Benefits: Injection molding is used to produce intricate and complex parts with high precision and repeatability.
Micro Molding
- How it works: Micro molding creates extremely small plastic parts with high precision. It typically involves specialized injection molding machines and molds with intricate details.
- Benefits: It allows for the production of tiny, complex parts used in industries like medical devices, electronics, and automotive components.
Engineered Extrusion
- How it works: Structural plastic extrusions are designed and engineered to provide strength and support while functioning as a structure’s load-bearing element.
- Benefits: Used within many different industries, structural plastic extrusions can withstand some of the harshest environments and most demanding applications.
Profile Extrusion & Co-Extrusion
- How it works: Extrusion is a method that makes continuous shapes out of plastics. Co-extrusion is the process of pressing two or more materials through the same mold to produce a single piece.
- Benefits: Use of different materials gives the product unique characteristics like stiffness, heat sealability and impermeability. It reduces the number of steps and expense by combining multi-layer production in one single extrusion process.
Multi-Material and Multi-Component Molding
(Over Molding and Insert Molding)
- How it works: In these processes, multiple materials are combined in a single molding cycle. Over molding involves placing a substrate (like metal or plastic) into a mold and then injecting a second material over it, while insert molding involves placing a pre-formed part into a mold before injection.
- Benefits: Allows the production of parts with varied textures, colors, and functional properties (e.g., combining rigid and flexible materials in one part), improving product design and functionality.
Gas-Assisted Injection Molding
- How it works: In this method, a gas (usually nitrogen) is injected into the plastic material during the molding process, creating hollow cores inside parts.
- Benefits: Reduces part weight, minimizes material usage, improves cycle times, and allows for more intricate shapes and designs without sacrificing strength.
Hybrid Molding
(Combination of Different Techniques)
- How it works: Structural plastic extrusions are designed and engineered to provide strength and support while functioning as a structure’s load-bearing element.
- Benefits: Used within many different industries, structural plastic extrusions can withstand some of the harshest environments and most demanding applications.
Smart Molding with Sensors and Automation
- How it works: The integration of sensors in injection molding machines allows for real-time monitoring of variables such as temperature, pressure, and material flow. Automated systems adjust these parameters to optimize the molding process and reduce defects.
- Benefits: Increased process control, better quality assurance, reduced waste, and enhanced predictive maintenance.
Hot Runner System and Direct Gating Technology
- How it works: Pexco developed a hot runner system in which polymers are injected directly into the part mold, eliminating the need for runners. This system was designed to minimize the shear forces inherent in the injection molding process.
- Benefits: Reduces per part cost by eliminating runner waste and reducing material use, particularly important when using high-performance and expensive materials like fluoropolymers (FEP, PFA, PVDF) and PEEK.
3D Mold Texturing and Surface Engineering
- How it works: With advanced tools like laser engraving and chemical etching, molders can now apply micro-textures to molds that enhance the surface finish of the parts.
- Benefits: Improved aesthetic quality, reduced mold wear, and the ability to create parts with specific tactile or functional characteristics (e.g., scratch-resistant surfaces).
Look to Pexco for your new projects in 2025.
Pexco specializes in new product design and development and has a staff of experts to assist you with your project. Contact our team of experts today to discuss your requirements and discover how we can assist you with your next project.