How to estimate the plastic injection cost? What are the factors that affect the price of a plastic product? Is there a way to evaluate the price? In fact, cost estimation is not that difficult and complicated. As long as all the production items of plastic products are well organized, the needs are pre-evaluated in each item, and it replies the need of the overall functionality and the cost, the cost can be roughly reduced. This article sorts out the factors that may affect the cost of plastic injection molding. From molds, raw materials, labor cost, process, assembly, and packaging, here are the 5 cost factors sharing as following.
 

Cost 1: Plastic mold/tooling cost

The cost of plastic injection molds is similar to that of a car's brand level. Higher performance and complexity of the car, the cost is getting higher. Same to the mold. The complexity and precision of mold will affect the price. The cost of the mold is mainly based on size, complexity, material, and  quantity. Different mold cavities, tolerance requirements and origin will also affect the cost. See as following. 
 

Number of mold cavity 

The number of mold cavity is also the key point. It will increase the complexity and precision of mold when the mold comes with more cavities, and the mold cost will be even more than twice when increasing the cavities. If the product structure is simple and the quantity is small, it can be made with one mold and one cavity and the price is cheaper; if the quantity is large, it can be made with one mold and multiple cavities. Although the mold cost is relatively higher, the higher production efficiency can reduce the unit price of the product. , Tell your need to the manufacturer. The professional mold manufacturers will calculate the most suitable mold cavity number and  save costs for you.
 

Tolerance requirements

Tolerance requirements are related to the precision of the mold, plus or minus 0.05mm and plus or minus 0.5mm will be different in the cost of mold development. If the precision of the product does not affect the use and product quality, please take the lowest level to ask the estimation from the professional injection machine manufacturer, in this way, the cost of plastic injection mold can be reduced!
 

Cost 2: Raw material fee

Plastic raw material is one of the key costs of plastic injection. Compared with other cost, the cost of raw material will fluctuate with the market. According to the function and use requirements of the product, if it is a plastic material with strong strength and chemical resistance, the price will be higher. The prices of these 4 common plastic material PP, PA, PC, ABS, the price gape will be more than two times. The price of PA is the most expensive, followed by PC, then ABS, and finally PP.
 

Cost 3: Plastic injection molding cost

The tonnage of plastic injection machine, number of mold cavity, and injection time, they all affect the cost. The number of mold cavity is closely related to the cost of injection molding. The production cycle of one mold with one cavity and one mold with multiple cavities are much different, which will directly affect the injection cost. When the number of mold cavity is more, the production efficiency will be higher, the injection cost is lower, and the unit price of the product is lower, but relatively the mold cost is higher; when the number of mold cavity is less, the production efficiency will be lower, and the injection cost will be higher. The unit price of the product is high, but it can save a lot of cost on the mold. Take well evaluation in the product development process if you want to save costs.
〈Extended reading: What are injection molding machines? What are the types? 〉
 

Cost 4: Surface treatment charge

Surface treatment can not only decorate the appearance, but also improve the texture, such as printing, bronzing, spray painting, electroplating, etc. If you want to change the appearance, you can choose printing or bronzing, and process the color, pattern, logo, glossy line and other parts to change the product image; To enhance the texture, you can choose to spray paint to improve the roughness and improve the product streamline and touch; if you want to increase the functionality, you can add functions such as hardening, anti-fingerprint, and anti-scratch to electroplating. To reduce the cost of plastic injection, it is best to take raw materials for dyeing or texture and reduce process as too much repeated painting and printing will increase processing costs and reduce yield rate.
 

Cost 5: Assembly and packaging costs

If the plastic injection design is too complicated, the assembly time will be longer and the labor cost will increase, which will increase the overall cost. The assembly cost is a cost that is easy to be forgotten. It is recommended to buy an injection molding machine in the design. You need to well calculate and communicate before buying the injection molding machine. 
 

Conclusion

The 5 main costs that affect plastic injection products are shared above. The initial product design of plastic injection is the key to determining plastic products. Plastic injection is a complicated manufacturing process. There are many factors to consider. Each item has closly connection.  Under the cost, it is not easy and possible to have everything. It is important to evaluate the real need. If you have a long-term customer with a large needs of plastic parts, we suggest that you can directly purchase a high-precision plastic injection machine, which can avoid a large amount of plastic injection outsourcing charge, make injection products more flexible, and greatly increase the number of orders. For the long-term operation, it is cost-effective to amortize the cost of  injection machine and it is a good way to reduce the cost of injection! We are a professional injection molding machine manufacturer with rich manufacturing experience. Our plastic injection machine interface is simple and easy to understand, easy to operate, stable, and convenient to maintain. Our service is focused on stable quality, good communication, excellent credit.  We have  experts for after-sales service and warranty!  Feel free to contact us if you have and demand.
〈Extended reading: How to choose the injection machine? 8 key points let you choose the right injection molding machine! 〉