Why prototype is important to the mold verification

Prototype making is an importation step of the product design and processing injection mold, it provide an proof of the feasibility for the designing and a physic sample for the mold designing and injection mold manufacturing. So most of the designer would like to make a prototype to verify their design before the project starts.

Let me introduce the application of the prototype in mold making area in China.

1. Verify the designing of outlook of the product: Can make the designer’s idea into the physical sample through the certain material, color and surface. It will provide a more directly sight-seeing of the new product. And it will be easier for the further discussion of the injection mold design, evaluation and revision.
2. Verify the structure of the design: Prototype can verify if the structure is applied as the designer initial designing idea. And it can be assembled to check the reasonability of the structure and if it is easy to operate & etc.
3. Lower the risk of the development: We can find out the irrationally of the designing and revise before the mold starts, so it can save the modification cost and time after plastic injection mold manufacturing.
4. Get a quick finished sample for promoting: It will take less than a week to manufacture the prototype, so many plastic injection mold company would like to display their idea to the customer with the prototype to get the actual order. If the product is not available for the market, they can make a quick decision to move on or turn to another project.

Following is a failed project without prototype verification. What we called failed only means the plastic injection mold is not approved within 3 mold trials.

We have one of the customers who are from United Kingdom, export injection mold project without any production in China. The DFM and 3D mold making do not have any dissenting opinion but T1 sample.

The drawing has been revised for 3 times and the finish date was delayed from December to end of February because of continues modification. When we found their revision is quite different with the initial design when T1 trial, we persuaded the customer to make a prototype to verify their design but they wouldn’t want to.

Finally, this project cost 30% more than our quotation because of the total 11 modifications in the three versions of the drawings.

The continuous modification may affect the steel mold strength, especially welding steel onto the mold. So if not a must, we won’t suggest to modify the mold with welding material.

The prototype can verify the design without modification of the injection molds, this is not only the economic method for the customer but also can help to guarantee the project schedule. For such a good way, why don’t you do that?