Knowledge Hub
17/01/2024
How Much Does an Injection Mould Tool Cost?
At RP Technologies, one of the most common questions we’re asked is ‘how much will my injection mould tool cost?’
We often get asked this question very early on in our discussions with customers, sometimes even before we’ve even had the opportunity to review the 3D CAD design.
For all injection mould tooling, the cost differs per tool. There is no standard cost for a tool. The cost is based upon the requirements of a particular tool. Each tool is built to produce injection mouldings of different types, all of which have different final applications. Therefore, it is natural that each will be designed differently to achieve these objectives.
Costings are based on several different variables that must be factored into the quotation process by the manufacturer. Let’s examine some of these variables in more detail….
What Influences the Cost of an Injection Mould Tool?
Design Complexity – parts with complex geometries will usually require tooling that is more challenging and time consuming to produce. Consequently, these tools will likely cost more.
Finish – some tools require specialist cosmetic finishes, customisation or polishing. These finishes will take time and will need to be applied through the use of skilled manual labour.
Cavities – the number of cavities may affect the cost of the injection mould tool. For tools with fewer cavities, the cost may be less because they will require less work compared to tools with multiple cavity features.
Type of Metal Used – aluminium tooling is a less expensive method than steel tooling, but still offers many of the same benefits.
Time – the time needed to produce the tool will also impact upon its cost. Tools that are highly complex with many contours may take longer to produce than more simple tools.
Labour – these types of complex tooling usually require more pairs of skilled hands to complete, which has an impact on customer cost due to the increased labour required.
Family Tooling – considerable savings can be achieved with family tooling, as different parts can be injection moulded from the same tool, instead of having to manufacture a new tool per component.
Capabilities of Manufacturer – vertically integrated manufacturers with secondary services, such as toolmakers with injection moulding capabilities, may be less expensive for customers than single source suppliers.
Undercuts – parts with undercuts will be more expensive to produce.
Material Choice – whilst not affecting the build of the tool itself, the material choice may affect the overall project cost, as some grades of plastic will be more expensive than others.
Value-Added Operations – secondary operations such as insert moulding and overmoulding may also result in a higher overall project cost than a standard tooling/moulding project.
Other Factors to Consider
It must be remembered when assessing the cost of injection mould tooling that one of the advantages of this method is that, unlike 3D printing, thousands of components can be produced from a single tool. This makes tooling a more cost-effective option for production volume projects – low, medium, or high – where the cost-per-unit can be quite reasonable.
It is also worth remembering that each tool will be guaranteed for a minimum number of parts. Some low-medium volume tools can achieve tens or even hundreds of thousands of parts. With a little maintenance over time, tooling can be subject to repeat production cycles. This means that these tools can produce repeatable parts over many years, making the investment worthwhile in the long term if sustained production is required.
In the main, injection mould tools which have tight tolerances, multiple cavities, and longer production lives may take longer to build and require more of an upfront capital investment.
As with most things, if the tooling is produced to a high quality in the first instance, it will be more likely to stand the test of time and require less maintenance than low quality tooling.
The RP Difference
At RP Technologies, we store all our manufactured tooling at a secure facility at no extra cost to our customers. We also maintain the tools for free, if required. In addition, each of our tools is guaranteed to produce a minimum number of parts, so our customers know at the start of the toolmaking process how many total parts each tool will achieve in its lifetime.
Many of our tools have ended up producing a much greater volume of parts than they have originally been guaranteed for. This is due to the quality of the tooling process and the care that we take when manufacturing our tooling.
All our production is carried out at our purpose-built 25,000 sq. ft. production facility in the West Midlands. We do not outsource. We like to manage the process ourselves so we can ensure that our very high standards of manufacturing are being met with every new project we take on.
If you have a need for injection mould tooling and you’re looking for a reliable and expert UK manufacturing partner, please get in touch with us today. You can either call us on +44 (0) 121 550 5868, or you can email us at info@rptechnologies.co.uk.
