If you have a plastic product you need produced, IFP’s injection moulding process turns your ideas into reality.

What is injection moulding and how can it help your business?

The process of turning pieces of plastics into a product is made simple by technology and machinery.

Firstly, a mould is created. This is what the plastic is injected into. The mould generally splits into two, so that the internal plastic piece is easily extracted afterwards.

Plastic pellets are fed via a hopper into the injection moulding machine. At IFP, we process plastics 2, 3 and 5. These feed through the injection barrel, which is a long thin cylinder. Inside, there’s a large hydraulic screw which winds forward, pushing the pellets ahead further up the barrel. The pellets are heated in two ways. The barrel is heated from the outside, and the screw widens as it moves forward, pushing the pellets closer together and increasing the friction, causing heat and melting.

When enough pressure has built up from the now-melted pellets, the nozzle at the end opens up and the mould, which has been attached to the nozzle, is injected with the melted plastic. This is called a ‘shot’. You can have a one or two shot process. The two-shot process is when two separate materials are made into one part, either to add multiple colours to a product or to add a soft touch to knobs.

The mould cools, and then it can be opened, and the plastic object can be removed.

What can you make from plastic moulding?

You can make almost anything from injection moulding. Plastic chairs, food containers, bottle caps—basically, anything that you need a high volume of and that can be made from a mould. Best results are achieved when the design is a thin walled cylinder, a cubic shape, or complex item such as an electronic housing.

Injection moulding is a high production method with a low cost, making it ideal for many industries. The process has a low labour cost, little to no scrap/ leftover material, and no need to have any further processes to the part after the moulding process.

Injection moulding is perfect for food packaging because it uses virgin plastic to create a completely food-safe product.

How does IFP combine this with in-mould labelling?

Our process has the added bonus of in-mould labels. These are durable labels that are applied during the manufacturing process. They create a seamless, durable, and cost-effective label that wraps around the whole container and the lid.

There are huge benefits to in-mould labelling. There is only one process to do both things, creating an easy one-step process instead of two, saving you time and money.

Then, the label always looks great. Heat, refrigeration and even freezing doesn’t damage it. No smudges, no warping, no seams and even spilling oil on it doesn’t damage it.

What is IFP’s custom plastic process?

We have a simple four-step process that is dedicated to creating top quality food grade packaging.

The first step in our process is to sit with you and assess what you need. We’ll create your design and quote for the production. Using your vision for the product and using our experience and knowledge, we can design packaging that makes your product stand out- but is also highly functional.

Step two is the in-mould label manufacture. We suggest getting a designer to compose you a label, and we can apply this to your container. Remember, your product has two seconds to make an impact when on the shelf- make those two seconds count with an amazing design.

Step three is the creating the containers and applying the label as per the process outlined above. We have strict quality controls and are HACCP certified so you know your containers are food safe and meet all legal requirements.

The final step is simply packaging your products up in a HACCP certified manner and distributing these to you, our happy customer.

We have a range of options for you, so get in touch to find out how we can help you to produce the perfect packaging that you’ve been looking for. Find out if our fast and cost-effective injection moulding process is right for you.