Design For Manufacturing (DFM) Considerations For Medical Mold Manufacturers
Medical injection molds must meet stringent industry standards to ensure patients and end-users are not exposed to excessive risks. This includes ensuring the molded plastic is safe for use in harsh environments such as heat, corrosive chemicals, and vibrations.
Injection molding involves heating solid thermoplastics to a molten state, injecting them into a medical-grade steel mold, and allowing the material to cool and form into the desired product shape. Learn how to partner with the right medical mold manufacturer.
Design for Manufacture (DFM)
DFM involves designing products with manufacturing considerations in mind, resulting in improved product quality and lower production costs. This design process focuses on simplifying designs, standardizing components, optimizing for the selected manufacturing process, and eliminating unnecessary features and materials. In addition, it includes testing and inspection procedures to ensure compliance with quality standards. DFM is vital to the success of any business that relies on high rates of production and efficiency, allowing them to meet customer demand with less time and resources.
DfM can help reduce production costs by optimizing product dimensions, weight, tooling, scrap reduction, labor costs, overheads, and other elements that directly impact the cost of manufacturing. By considering these factors early in the design process, DfM can create a competitive advantage by lowering costs and speeding up time-to-market.
In addition, DfM enables companies to make better use of their medical mold manufacturer facilities and equipment by creating more efficient assembly processes. This can be done by reducing assembly steps, streamlining workflows, and using standardized parts and tools.
DfM involves the collaboration of multiple teams and experts, including design engineers, manufacturing engineers, cost estimators, and continuous improvement (CI) teams. Each team has its own responsibilities and contributes to the overall success of the project. A good DfM process requires effective communication and collaboration to minimize delays and ensure that the product meets quality standards.
Material Selection
When designing a medical device, it is important to consider the environment and use conditions in which the device will be operating. For example, if the device is going to be exposed to high heat and chemicals, it is essential that the plastic material is resistant to these conditions. This will ensure that the device can withstand sterilization and cleaning procedures. Additionally, the plastic material should be durable enough to withstand frequent use and handling.
Another factor to consider when selecting a plastic is its availability. It is important to find a molder that can provide the medical device industry with a wide range of materials in order to meet the needs of various applications. For example, a medical mold manufacturer should be able to produce parts using materials such as polycarbonate, thermoplastic elastomer, and ABS. In addition, the medical plastic injection molding producer should also be able to offer materials that are both UL 94 V0 flame-rated and FDA approved.
As the medical industry continues to evolve, the demand for precision in medical plastic molding has become more crucial than ever. This is especially true when it comes to creating medical devices, which are required to meet strict standards in terms of functionality, safety, and durability. Injection molding can be used to create a variety of medical devices, such as disposable pipette tips, which are vital for precise liquid handling in laboratory settings. Injection molding is also a common method for producing medical devices that are made from single-use plastic, reducing the risk of cross-contamination and bacterial transmission.
Design for Injection Molding (DfIM)
When creating medical plastic devices and components, it’s imperative that every aspect of the process meets stringent regulatory requirements. These standards are non-negotiable, and injection molding is a great choice because it can produce large volumes of products without sacrificing quality or uniformity.
Injection molding also offers several finishing options, which can make a product more functional and appealing. For example, injection molding can incorporate decoration techniques that add color or patterns. It can also be used to increase mechanical properties such as shock and vibration resistance, sound dampening, electrical insulation, improved chemical/UV resistance, or effective oxygen and moisture barrier protection.
Additionally, the injection molding process generates less material waste compared to other manufacturing methods. This cuts production costs and aligns with the growing emphasis on sustainability and environmentally responsible manufacturing practices.
Medical device components and products must be durable enough to withstand the rigors of daily use. They must be resistant to drops, excessive vibration, harsh environments, and force, while meeting strict regulatory requirements. Injection molding allows manufacturers to choose biocompatible materials, which ensures patient safety and makes the components more sterilizable.
Injection molding can be combined with other processing technologies, such as overmolding medical mold and insert molding, to create complex medical devices that can perform multiple functions in one piece of equipment. This can reduce the number of separate parts and streamline supply chains for the device’s manufacturing, assembly, and distribution.
Wall Thickness
Wall thickness is a key factor in determining the strength, durability, and aesthetic quality of a 3D printed part. A 3D printer uses a nozzle to “print” the walls of a model, and if the walls are too thin or too thick, they may not function as intended. Wall thickness is particularly important for flexible and rubber-like materials, as it prevents the material from becoming too stiff.
To determine the optimal wall thickness for your plastic part, you can use a number of tools and techniques. One of the most useful is the double-wall technique, which involves inserting the probe or sensor between two parallel walls to assess the material’s thickness. This method can be especially useful when direct access to the surface of the material is not possible.
Injection molded parts with inconsistent wall thicknesses are more likely to have defects such as sinkholes, warping, and short shots, which can reduce the quality of the finished part and increase rejection rates. To avoid these issues, you should design your plastic part with uniform wall thicknesses in CAD. This will help you save on raw materials, improve the overall quality of your molded part, and reduce production time.