Prototype Molding – A Reliable and Easy Path Towards Manufacturing

Prototype molding is a crucial part of product design and engineering. Traditionally, product manufacturers required huge budgets in order to afford prototyping in China. Today, thanks to more advanced prototyping technologies and methodologies, prototyping is a more accessible service that enables product designers and manufacturers to test their product concepts out without having to settle for unreliable makeshift models to save resources and prove their design concept, its feasibility, as well as its market value. In the past, creating a prototype required many of the same processes, tooling, setup, and in turn, cost as producing the final product, which made prototyping a prohibitive venture, especially for smaller scale businesses. Prototype molding offers an easier, faster, and much cheaper path toward manufacturing.

There are many ways to create prototype molds, depending on the type of design being created as well as the volume being produced. MUD or master unit die molding involves the use of standard injection molding frames along with custom made inserts, which work to define the shape of the mold’s internal cavity, which forms the shape of the eventual part. These inserts can be made using electric discharge machines or, perhaps, CNC machines, depending on what the mold insert’s material requirements are. Executing unusually high cycle repetitions or working with complex parts and/or fine surfaces, MUD molds is the best prototype molding path to choose.

Aluminum mold tooling, on the other hand, are great when anticipating multiple adjustments on designs or product dimensions. This is because aluminum molds make it easy to execute potential changes on product design as the development process progresses. Aluminum prototype molding is an excellent tooling option as it makes use of an extremely efficient heat conductor that heats up and cools down easily, which is ideal for a cyclical process such as injection molding. Aluminum, however, is a much softer material than steel, which makes the latter a better choice for when doing larger scale production runs.