FAQ

The process of injection molding is quite simple yet very complex at the same time. First raw material is placed in the hopper and then introduced to a reciprocating screw. A steel barrel that is enveloped in heater bands typically made of ceramic surrounds the screw. Between the heater bands and the shear heat provided by the screw the plastic is melted. Once melted or plasticized the plastic is injected at very high pressure and velocity into the mold.

For test marketing purposes inexpensive proto-type molds can be produced for as little a few thousand dollars. These molds are not intended for long-term production. Proto type molds are generally used to produce a few thousand parts for fit, function and performance testing. They can also be used for market research before making the investment in a production mold. A mold like the one pictured left can cost as much as $24,000. The more complex the product is generally the more expensive the mold will be. A mold such as the one below can cost up to $500,000 or more. It is very important that the volume of product you need to produce warrants the high cost of production mold investment.

Typically constructed of high carbon steel the mold is the most expensive component of bringing a plastic part to fruition. The mold is a geometric negative of the plastic part to be produced. Where there is steel there is no plastic and visa versa. Molds are produced to extremely small tolerances. Most molds are precision machined to within .0005”. The mold to the right is a simple single cavity mold to produce a plastic cup.

ATM is ISO 9000 certified. For more on our Quality standards please click here.

In most cases products are shipped FOB our dock to any location in the world.

As a full service supplier to the Injection molding industry ATM is capable of all of the following: • Contract manufacturing • Sub assembly • Custom packaging • Rapid prototyping • FDA approved manufacturing processes • Metrology

Material selection is one of the most critical parts of the design process. The environment the product will function in determines the proper material choice in most cases. Some materials are inexpensive, less than $1 per pound while specialty grade materials can be over $30/lb. The ATM design and engineering team will be happy to help you make the proper material selection for your product. Our team of experts has hundreds of years of collective experience to assist you in development and design. Please click the link to learn more. Free consultation

This largely depends on the complexity of the project. Simple single component products that are fully designed and tested can get to production within a matter of a few months. Typically a mid range mold requires approximately 12-14 weeks to construct. Once the mold is complete it only takes a couple of weeks to test and provide functional samples to the customer. Proto type molds are much quicker usually only 2-4 weeks to produce and a week to provide samples for functional testing.

With the engineering staff at ATM you can rest assured you will have the highest quality of advise available in the industry today. We at ATM are very proud of our exemplary customer service whether it is material selection assistance or full cradle to grave engineering guidance ATM is there to help you and your project succeed.

One of the most challenging problems for people with great ideas is finding the money to bring them to life. There are many ways ATM can help. We can help connect you with capital investment groups or in very rare cases work out a financing program for you if the project holds enough promise of a return on the investment. So lets talk about it is we cannot help directly we will try to help you find an investor or point you in the right direction.

As mentioned above ATM is a FULL service provider to the injection molding industry. Our parent company is one of the most respected mold building and engineering firms in the entire southeastern United States. Between the molding facility and the tooling facility ATM can help take your project forward with absolute guaranteed professionalism.