YOUR GUIDE TO

INJECTION
MOLDING
PRODUCTION
For any engineering
project, countless hours go
into 3D modeling,
prototyping, and refining
your design. The final step
is to turn that model into
injection molded parts, but
that’s a complex process in
and of itself.

Where do you start? And how long will it take

to get from the initial design to receiving
your first molded parts?

First, watch this video that breaks down the

basics of the injection molding production
process, then read on for a more detailed
answer to those questions.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 1

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION

Table of Contents

SECTION 1
 SECTION 5


03 Planning Production Timelines 18 Final Preparations

SECTION 2
 SECTION 6


06 Mold Design 20 Moving to Production

SECTION 3
 SECTION 7


11 Sourcing Materials 23 Key Takeaways

SECTION 4

15 Machining the Mold

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 2

SECTION 1
Planning Production
Timelines .xlsx
When choosing a partner to make your tooling and planning your production timeline, there
are plenty of potential pitfalls along the way. For example, many factories only start the clock
after mold designs and DFM (design for manufacturing) reports are approved.

In this ebook, we’ll walk you through the injection molding production process and discuss the
methods we use to save time and avoid those potential pitfalls.

Download the Fictiv

And, to help you layout your timeline, you can use this included Gantt chart, which has Injection Molding 

example timelines and a blank template you can use for future projects.
Gantt Chart

YO U R G U I D E T O I N J E C T I O N M O L D I N G P R O D U C T I O N 3
PLANNING PRODUCTION TIMELINES

Using the Gantt Chart

For our example, we’re going to be tooling the sample part shown below. The overall part size is 95.520 x 55.541 x 16.500 mm, made of a general-purpose PC/ABS plastic that is
black and has a matte SPI-B1 finish. The tooling will be made from P20 steel, with a cold runner and automatic side action. We can complete this tooling within 12 days.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 4

PLANNING PRODUCTION TIMELINES

Using the Gantt Chart

Our Gantt chart illustrates how Fictiv can make

T1 parts in 12 days. For comparison, we have

included a second chart of the timeline for a

more traditional tooling process (which takes

twice as long) and a third chart with a 15-day

timeline required for more complex parts.

Project name
Now, let’s get into the process steps that let

Fictiv achieve a 12-day lead time for most

Start date
injection molded parts.

0 1 2 3 4

DFM

Mold 3D

Design
Mold 2D

CNC

Core/Cavity

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 5

SECTION 2
Mold Design
Injection molding production is complicated because not only do you have to design your
part, but you also have to design and make the mold itself before part production can begin.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 6

MOLD DESIGN
Industry Standard Method
Generally, when a customer wants injection
molded parts, they submit their design, get a
quote, and complete a purchase order. Only then
do they receive DFM and mold designs for review.
However, these mold designs are complex and
difficult to interpret and evaluate unless you’re an
injection molding expert.

This tooling design and approval stage is where

the most time can be lost.

Often, design engineers are moved onto other

$ Warning

projects once the purchase order is released,

Submit design Quote + PO DFM Readjust design
which leaves limited resources to make
corrections should there be issues or concerns.
Also, if necessary changes surface late in the
design process, there may be limited flexibility to
make them because of other associated parts in
the assembly.

YO U R G U I D E TO I N J E C T I O N M O L D I N G P R O D U C T I O N 7
MOLD DESIGN
Starting with DFM Feedback Makes Molds Faster

Because of these potential delays, it’s critical to

get DFM approval and finalize design files before
the sale. Instead of sending the mold drawings,
our tooling experts produce a DFM report to
identify potential manufacturability issues and to
highlight the most important aspects of the part,
like draft angle and wall thickness.

By providing the DFM presale we can work on 


the tooling directly when the order is released,

$
and necessary changes can be made before parts 

Warning
are molded.

Submit design DFM Readjust design Quote + PO

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 8

MOLD DESIGN

Mold Layout and Material Prep

The initial phase of mold design involves laying

out the part and deciding how it will be oriented
when it’s being molded. This layout provides
useful information about mold size and the
corresponding steel block required to create 

the tooling.

Knowing the size of the steel block is especially

critical because we can order and ship the steel
before the design of the tool is finished. This
method saves time compared to the many tooling
factories that wait for the design to be finalized
before ordering the tooling steel.

Once the steel arrives, initial work starts to

prepare the steel for machining. The steel blocks
need to be faced off so that all edges are
perpendicular to each other and have a smooth
surface to begin machining. This can take 2-3
days and is required before CNC machining can
begin. Our manufacturing partners buy steel that
is ready to machine, which is more expensive but
shaves days off your lead time.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 9

MOLD DESIGN
Finalizing Designs and Component Materials
Meanwhile, the next phase of mold design fleshes Once the part design is confirmed, CNC
out details, finalizes the design of the core and programming begins. A CAM (computer-aided
cavity, and builds a complete BOM (bill of manufacturing) program is used to develop the
materials) with all of the small parts and other G-code used to machine the mold parts. This
components needed to assemble the mold. After milling process takes about two days and can
creating a 3D CAD model of the mold, (in one or begin once the DFM is approved and 3D CAD
two days depending on the size and complexity of modeling begins.

the part) the 2D drawing is completed in another Also, cooling lines and ejector pin holes can be
day or two.
drilled while the CNC programming is completed.

By working on different aspects of the mold in

parallel, the mold creation process becomes a
good deal more efficient — by 5 or 6 days — when
compared to a more linear approach.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 10

SECTION 3
Sourcing MATERIALS
As the mold design is being finalized and the CNC programming is in progress, we can start
preparing other materials. At this point, if you’re working with Fictiv, the steel for the core and
cavity inserts for the mold base are already on order and typically arrive two days later.

YO U R G U I D E T O I N J E C T I O N M O L D I N G P R O D U C T I O N 11
SOURCING MATERIALS

Core, Cavity, and EDM

In this step, it’s a good idea to spend a little extra

to get core and cavity inserts that are the exact

sizes you need because it saves time that would

otherwise be spent grinding them down to get

the right fit. Those sorts of adjustments can take

days — days you can’t afford when your

development cycle is on a tight deadline.

Once the CNC programming is done, it’s time to

order the copper material for any EDM (electrical

discharge machining) required by the design. This

copper will be used to make the electrodes for

sinker EDM.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 12

SOURCING MATERIALS
Mold Base
The next material to prepare is the mold base. A
mold base encloses the core and cavity parts of
the mold itself and helps absorb the pressure
from the injection process. The mold base is often
made of a softer steel than the core and cavity
because it’s cheaper than the harder steel used
for those inserts.

And while we’re on the subject of mold bases,

let’s talk about the interchangeable sort. Mold
bases are often made in standard sizes that can
hold a number of different mold cores and
cavities. If you have a mold base available that
was used for other projects, then you don’t need
to spend the time or labor to make a new one.
Some minor adjustments to that existing base
may be needed, but overall, using an
interchangeable base saves you a lot of time.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 13

SOURCING MATERIALS
Plastic and Final Mold Components
To finish off your mold materials list, you’ll 

need to get all of the required off-the-shelf
components — like screws, nuts, and bolts — plus
anything else that’s on the BOM and hasn’t been
obtained yet. This is also the time to order your
plastic. Our partners stock general-purpose
grades of plastic that are most often used and
obtain other plastics from approved suppliers 

as needed.

If the material you need is a specialty grade, we

can get it for you. However, specialty-grade
plastics can take longer to procure and are not
always available. Additionally, it takes longer for
specialty plastic material to arrive than it does for
us to machine the mold. So, it’s critical to
determine early on if you’re going to use a
specialty grade of plastic and consider ordering it
before the part designs are finalized and the
tooling order is released.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 14

SECTION 4
Machining the Mold
Once the material arrives, it’s time to start machining the mold.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 15

MACHINING THE MOLD

Machining Methods

Some manufacturers use less accurate (and

therefore less expensive) machines to do rough

machining before moving the inserts to a high-

precision machine. However, in recent years CNC

machines have become more precise and less

expensive, which has largely eliminated the cost

savings from using different machines to do

rough and finishing cuts.

Our manufacturing partners combine the rough

and finish machining into one step and do both

on the same machine, so they can make the

cavity, core, and lifter/sliders in only a few days —

and machining for our sample part takes less than

one day.

If EDM is required, copper blocks are also

machined at the same time as the steel to ensure

the EDM electrodes are available immediately to

complete the mold. This method, combined with

our project managers overseeing the schedule,

avoids time typically lost from the steel sitting in a

machining queue.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 16

MACHINING THE MOLD
Electrical Discharge Machining
After CNC machining the finer details into the
mold components, the final touches are made to
the geometry. This requires EDM to achieve
certain geometries that cannot be created with 

a CNC mill. For example, wire EDM is used to 

cut gear teeth with sharp internal corners and 

square holes.

Then the cavity, core, lifters, sliders, and inserts go

through the sinker EDM process using the
machined copper electrodes. Sinker EDM creates
super fine details like text or internal features that
are difficult or impossible to make with a CNC
machine. For our part, the cavity does not require
as much EDM as the core side, so once finished,
the cavity side can move directly to polishing to
save time while the core machining continues.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 17

SECTION 5
Final preparations
Once the mold cavity, core, and other parts have been machined, it’s time to move onto the
final steps, so we can actually make some parts!

YO U R G U I D E T O I N J E C T I O N M O L D I N G P R O D U C T I O N 18
FINAL PREPARATIONS

Final Steps

Fit Check Finish Assembly

First, a fit check is in order. The two halves of the After confirming that all the pieces fit well, the Finally, it’s time to assemble the mold and bring
mold — the core and cavity — are brought next step is to give the mold the right finish. This together the mold core and cavity, sliders, lifters,
together to make sure they line up perfectly. 
 often means polishing it to a specified level of or inserts, with the nuts and bolts to connect it all.
Any misalignment could result in flash or 
 smoothness, or adding different textures when Assembly is usually done in the same 24 hours as
parting line mismatch. At the same time, some required. Whether or not the end goal is a the precision grinding, mold fitting, and polishing.
precision grinding is done on the mold parts to polished surface finish, some polishing is always Typically, our partners do fitting by day and
ensure that everything fits and meets the tight 
 required to remove machining marks and provide polishing by night.
tolerances required.
a smooth surface upon which to add textures.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 19

SECTION 6
moving to production
Now, it’s time to shoot some plastic!

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 20

MOVING TO PRODUCTION
T0 Parts

The first parts made with a mold are called T0

parts, and they show how the mold and all of the
press parameters are working. T0 parts are
inspected for quality and indicate if any final
adjustments to the mold or modifications in the
press parameters are needed. For a small part,
these tooling adjustments can be done in one
day, while dialing in the mold for medium or
larger parts takes two days.

Source: PCBWay

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 21

MOVING TO PRODUCTION

T1 Parts

The next parts to be shot are the T1 parts, which

are usually the first parts to be shared with the
customer. Once the mold is loaded in the press,
quality engineers continually monitor the process
to ensure it’s delivering the quality you need.

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 22

SECTION 7
Key Takeaways

YO U R G U I D E T O I N J E C T I O N M O L D I N G P R O D U C T I O N 23
YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION

Key Takeaways

Hopefully, this ebook has given you a better understanding of the many steps that go into creating a mold to make your injection molded parts. Using our Gantt chart template,
you can craft an efficient production plan for your next injection molding project, and for the fastest lead time, remember 3 key strategies:

Warning

Warping Risk
Status

No Risks Detected

Get design for Work on different mold Use interchangeable 


manufacturability (DFM) elements in parallel mold bases
feedback as early as possible

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 24

YOUR GUIDE TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION

Key Takeaways

You can maximize your efficiency by working with Fictiv’s expert quality engineers and agile manufacturing partners.

1 Upload
It’s easy. Just create an account, select Injection Molding, and drag and drop
your CAD file to upload your design.
V1 injection_mold.STEP

2 Configure
Development stage

Design validation
Secondary Process
Next, give us your project requirements, including your T1 sample delivery date,
development stage, and tooling preferences. Then choose your color, material,
Bridge production Printing

Production Painting

Laser etching
finish, secondary operations, and quantity.
Ultrasonic welding

Inserts heat staking

3 Checkout and Track

Color, Material, Finish
Injection Molding

Material
Technical drawing ABS (30% glass fiber reinforced)

Attach drawing Finish From there, you checkout, and your parts are molded and finished, fast. And you
get updates every step of the way as your parts are produced — giving you time
MT10045

Color
Pantone 5415 C back to focus on design instead of managing your supply chain.

YO U R G U I D E TO INJECTION MOLDING PRODUCTION 25

BUILD THE FUTURE
fictiv.com