Injection Molding Vs. 3D Printing——Which One Should You Choose?

Which One Should You Choose: Injection Molding or 3D Printing

Before starting any project, it is essential to know which manufacturing technique is more appropriate for the project. Several factors influence the selection of the best process or method, so it is critical to select a manufacturing technique that is highly adapted and an industry standard.

Manufacturing plastic parts is a fruitful business that employs a few manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing (additive manufacturing) and injection molding. You need to choose the most suitable approach to prolong the service life and improve the quality of your part.

You can recognize the best technique by reviewing vital factors, such as time, volume, budget, precision, etc.

In this article, let's help you choose the most appropriate manufacturing technique by sharing some essential details.

Choosing Between Injection Molding and 3D Printing

Injection molding and 3D Printing are the most widely used techniques in the plastic parts manufacturing industry. However, they are dissimilar and suitable for different sorts of projects.

The selection of the manufacturing approach depends mainly on your specific requirements. Injecting molten material into the mold may look more professional, but additive manufacturing is becoming an excellent alternative for different reasons. 3D Printing is known for creating parts with precision, while injection molding also has its unique benefits.

Both techniques can assist you with your production and quick prototyping process. The two manufacturing techniques have unique advantages, respectively, so you need to decide which approach suits your project the most.

Differentiating 3D Printing and Injection Molding

If we talk about the conventional manufacturing technique, it must be injection molding. In the injection molding process, you first inject a material into the cavity of the mold. Then the molten material shapes the part in the mold. After the material cools down, it takes the final solid part shape. The material you use should be high-quality.

On the other hand, 3D printing or additive manufacturing is how you manufacture parts by adding the material layer after layer. The most significant advantage of additive manufacturing is that you don’t need to produce a mold to manufacture the part. You need one 3D file, and that’s it. Several 3D printing materials and technologies are available nowadays, making the entire process fast and straightforward.

（1）Injection Molding

Injection molding is a manufacturing technique that requires special equipment, and you need specific machines for molding plastics and other materials. Such machines consist of different mechanical units like injection ram, heating unit, material hopper, etc. So the cost of this way might be a little high. Moreover, there are also limitations in prototyping possibilities with this technique. For instance, it will be very costly if you try to make multiple iterations for recreating your molds.

Injection molds are generally made of steel. Therefore, it becomes a complex task to modify the components and may not adapt to the prototype development. However, it is a perfect manufacturing technique for producing large-volume parts. It would be way beneficial if you require high-volume part production and could afford the extra high costs associated with extended needed turnaround time and tooling.

（2）3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing

You can use additive manufacturing in several ways. The possible choices are 3D printers, including FDM printers and bigger printers. You can use an FDM printer to achieve a three-dimensional printing filament. Invest in bigger or professional printers, like SLS or 3D printers, for more significant projects. However, buying your own bigger printer would cost you more as it is very expensive.

Alternatively, you can outsource your 3D printing tasks to a provider. It will save you a lot of money while still fulfilling your manufacturing needs. Additive manufacturing is fast and becoming more and more popular.

Comparing Benefits

Injection Molding:

When your business requires more significant parts production, there can’t be anything better than Injection molding. This technology is still perfect and precise in terms of repeatability. You can also choose an array of materials with this technique. Each material can have hundreds of variations, leading to various properties. There are endless possibilities and properties for material cost, flexibility, and weight.

This method is perfectly suitable for producing parts in large volumes. Apart from that, it is also the best choice when you need detailed features on the part. Adding details to the parts is straightforward with this technique. The extra benefits include enhanced strength and the use of fillers in molds.

3D Printing:

Additive manufacturing also has several unique advantages. For that, it has become a great competitor of conventional manufacturing techniques.

First, making several iterations quickly without extra costs makes this technique superior to other techniques. There was a time when this technique was known as a quick prototyping technique. And today, it is recognized as the most reliable manufacturing technique globally.

Nonetheless, prototyping easily and quickly is still one of the critical advantages of this technique. With 3D Printing, you can print the project for testing purposes and create modifications using the CAD software. Therefore, you can make as many changes as required to make a perfect final design of your project. The flexibility in making modifications several times makes this technique cost-efficient and time-efficient.

Another advantage of 3D Printing over other techniques is that it evades the chances of material waste. You need just the exact material required for manufacturing in additive manufacturing. This will help you eliminate the risks of several inventory issues and costs.

Conclusion

Both injection molding and 3D printing are highly adapted techniques in the parts manufacturing industry.

3D printing is the best when you need to iterate the part design repeatedly to make necessary modifications.

However, injection molding is suitable for high-volume production goals and when the part detail is of utmost importance. It also supports almost unlimited materials for molding purposes.

In conclusion, both techniques have unique benefits and are appropriate for different types of projects. Therefore, you should choose the manufacturing technique as per your project requirements.