Manufacturing Techniques

What does Manufacturing Techniques refer to?

Plastic products are moulded from resins / raw material into a finished product form by generally utilising one of the following methods:

Injection Moulding - Is the process of making custom plastic parts by injecting molten plastic material at high pressure into a metal mould, or tool. Just like other forms of plastic moulding, after the molten plastic is injected into the mould, the mould is cooled and opened to reveal a solid plastic part that is not hollow.

Injection moulding is commonly used for making very high volume custom plastic parts. Large injection moulding machines can mould Pallet Bins and Pallets. Medium sized machines make crates and pails while smaller machines can produce very precise plastic parts for components. In addition, there are many types of plastic resins and additives that can be used in the injection moulding process, increasing its flexibility for designers and engineers.

​Injection moulds, which are usually made from steel or aluminum, carry a hefty cost. However, the cost per part is very economical if you need several thousand parts per year.

Blow Moulding - This is the method of making hollow, thin-walled, custom plastic parts where annual volumes are high. It is primarily used for making products with a uniform wall thickness and where the shape is important.

Blow moulding machines heat up plastic and inject air blowing up the hot plastic like a balloon. The plastic is blown into a mould and as it expands, it presses against the walls of the mold taking its shape. After the plastic “balloon” fills the mould, it is cooled and hardened, and the part is ejected. The whole process usually takes less than two minutes.

The blow moulding method produces our Jar, Bottle, Jerry Can, Drum, and IBC product ranges. Blow moulding is fast and economical with the mould itself costing less than an injection moulding tool.  Deflash stations are also required to expediently detach the excess plastic away from the end product within the manufacturing process.

Rotational Moulding - Also called Rotomoulding, is a manufacturing process for producing large hollow parts and products by placing a powder or liquid resin into a metal mould and rotating it in an oven until the resin coats the inside of the mold. The constant rotation of the mold creates centrifugal force forming even-walled products. Once the mould cools, the hardened plastic is removed from the mould and can be a finished product, or a component that requires additional fitments to be completed.

Very little material is wasted during the process, and excess material is often re-used, making it economical and environmentally friendly.

Rotational molding is commonly used to make large hollow plastic products like bulk containers and pallet bins, storage tanks, car parts, marine buoys, pet houses, recycling bins, road cones, kayak hulls, and playgrounds

Tooling costs are lower with rotational molds than injection or blow molds. The results are lower start-up costs and cost-effective production runs even when producing as few as 25 items at a time.


Extrusion Moulding - Similar to injection moulding except that a long continuous shape is produced. Another difference in extrusion moulding is that the process uses a “die” and not a “mould.”

Extruded parts are made by squeezing hot raw material through a custom die. While other forms of moulding use extrusion to get the plastic resins into a mould, this process extrudes the melted plastic directly into a die. The die shape, not a mould, determines the shape of the final product.

Parts made from extrusion have a fixed cross-sectional profile. Examples of extruded products include PVC piping, straws, and hoses. The parts do not need to be round but they need to have the same shape along the length of the part.

The cost of extrusion molding is relatively low compared to other moulding processes because of the simplicity of the die and the machines themselves.