Manufacturing injection-molded parts at scale

Injection moulding has many benefits, including precision, quality of consistency and the opportunity to use a wide range of resins. However, one of its biggest benefits has to be the ability to manufacture at scale, with a high product output rate and a faster production speed when compared with other methods.

Being able to deliver at scale is key at a time when post-Covid-19, some supply chains have been fractured. Research shows that “increasing construction spending, particularly in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa is expected to drive product demand.”

Demand in the global market for injection moulded components is projected to grow from $125.95 billion in 2021 to $169.81 billion by 2026. This shows that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are relying on their suppliers to deliver on time and in ever larger quantities.

How can suppliers achieve this? And how can OEMs be confident in their suppliers?

Essentra Components is operationally built to deliver high scale customer orders that are tailored to their needs with their global footprint and over one billion parts in stock.

Large tooling, a well-controlled process and continued investment in the best machinery is also key to their high position in the market. This position means they now produce millions of plastic components every day. However, they also prioritise their commitments to high customer service, sustainability and product quality. This article will explain exactly how they manage to balance these priorities at scale.

How many parts does Essentra Components produce? 

The injection moulding manufacturing process is highly efficient. However, it also requires a high degree of accuracy and knowledge to get right, with many controls and parameters that need to be in place for it to work effectively.

To produce the 3.5 to 4 million components in our Kidlington site every day through injection moulding, Essentra Component's specialist team has to use its experience and expertise in areas such as tool design, thermoplastic selection and process parameters.

The team’s high level of knowledge and training, alongside state-of-the-art machinery, is what enables the team to produce 100 million high-quality and accurate components per week globally.

This includes a catalogue of over 45,000 products, all of which require different types of moulds, thermoplastics and parameters within the injection moulding process. Essentra Components also maintains a stock of over one billion parts in their warehouses, which enables customers to access samples and catalogue products quickly and easily.

Using this knowledge and training to maintain the high quality of their components is a key priority for Essentra Components and their customers.

How does Essentra Components maintain high quality at scale? 

In order to maintain their high-quality standards, Essentra Components puts quality controls in place in line with ISO9001 guidelines. These internationally recognised standards monitor the repeatability of parts and ensure that each of the individual components produced matches exact tolerances and quality standards.

These checks are a standardised part of the process and ensure that the team can meet tight component tolerances. These tolerances aren’t just important markers of product quality but are key to maintaining top-quality aesthetics and functionality for customer designers and engineers.

Essentra Component's plastic parts also meet IATF 16949 standards which are recognised levels of quality within the automotive industry.

Essentra Components also continuously monitors and gathers feedback from customers to ensure they’re happy with the standard of its products. By keeping tight controls over the manufacturing process of injection moulding and performing standardised quality checks on our products, Essentra Components is able to produce millions of high-quality injection moulded products every day.

How does Essentra Components balance sustainability and scale?

As a plastics manufacturer, sustainability is a high priority for Essentra Components and their customers. That’s why they prioritise sustainable action and policies wherever possible.

To ensure they produce components sustainably at scale, they’ve made a variety of process changes and corporate commitments, including:

• Becoming a signatory of the European Commission’s CPA. This means they’re dedicated to increasing their use of post-consumer recycled plastic and helping to boost the European recycled plastics market to 10 million tonnes by 2025. One part of this recycling involves reprocessing excess plastic into the injection moulding process, so nothing gets wasted unnecessarily.
• Setting ambitious environmental targets, including a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025, making direct operations carbon neutral by 2040 and ensuring that all sites will be Zero Waste To Landfill certified by 2030.
• Working to develop more sustainable alternatives, such as more easily recyclable or compostable plastic materials. Investing in research and development into these products to ensure they are less impactful on the environment, without sacrificing their performance.
• Rolling out energy efficient LED lighting, site insulation and ongoing energy reduction and conservation measures as well as exploring innovative, energy-efficient projects and investing in all-electric and hybrid presses.

By making these strong environmental commitments and reducing the impact of their processes, Essentra Components aims to lead the industry in sustainable, scalable component production.

How does the Essentra Components customer service team support this high-scale delivery? 

Essentra Components supports over 80,000 different customers with their products. This is delivered in 29 countries across four continents through our 14 manufacturing facilities, 34 distribution centres and 40 sales and service locations.

By giving team members the knowledge and training they need, Essentra Components ensures they understand the importance of scalability and quality to customers. 

To ensure they can support the delivery of millions of components to customers, the Essentra Components service team works hard to produce a hassle-free service. One key element to this service is having a thorough knowledge of every product. The service team has on-hand training to ensure they have all the information they need to answer any questions about the thousands of available catalogue products

Equipping the team with the latest technologies is also key to its success. The Essentra Components website doesn’t just have one of the widest ranges of components online (45,000) but offers advice and digital tools to give customers the advice and information they need. This includes the opportunity for CAD downloads and to order free samples.

Industry 4.0 technologies, such as predictive maintenance and IIoT (industrial internet of things), are proving useful in manufacturing. Better digital connectivity allows for improved communications between manufacturing bases, customer service teams and ultimately, customers.

By combining the expertise of an injection moulding manufacturer and the knowledge of a high scale distributor, Essentra Components continuously delivers millions of high-quality, accurate products to customers every day.