What’s the difference & which one is right for you?
One of the first and most critical decisions in the development of a new plastic product is determining how many parts you need to produce — and how quickly. That count determines the course of your entire manufacturing plan, from tooling investment to per-part cost. Injection moulding can be as easy as a quick prototype run of a flexible number of parts, or as involved as a long-term production programme requiring a large investment.
In this blog post, we are going to explore the difference between these two injection moulding processes and which one to choose for different projects. We hope that you will gain this understanding of how these two approaches differ when making the right choice for your project.
What Is low-volume plastic injection moulding?
Low-volume injection moulding is generally considered to be anything from a few dozen up to several thousand parts. Made from single cavity tools, making one part per cycle. It’s used for prototyping, market testing or short production runs of limited-edition products.
Setup and tooling costs are usually high in injection moulding, so traditional manufacturers are often unable to provide low volume services cost-effectively. However, today rapid tooling, modular mould bases and aluminium tooling mean low volume production can be done quickly and at a reasonable cost.
Low-volume injection moulding functions as an intermediate stage between prototyping and full-scale manufacturing processes. Through this process manufacturers can test designs and improve part performance before making substantial tooling investments.
Common uses for low-volume moulding are:
- Prototypes and functional testing
- Bridge tooling
- Speciality or niche products
- Short-life-cycle parts
Because low-volume production allows for design iterations, it’s ideal for industries where innovation moves quickly — such as medical devices, electronics, or consumer technology. Low volume moulding can also be used in validation processes should higher volume moulding be required.
What Is high-volume plastic injection moulding?
The most important distinction of high-volume injection moulding is the scale of output. After the design and tooling are completely proven, runs may consist of anything from tens of thousands to millions of parts per year Frequently made from multi cavity tooling, making may parts per cycle.
The initial cost of a precision steel mould tool is higher, but the cost per part goes down dramatically as the cavitation increases. Robust tooling designed for the longest life, advanced automation and close process control are all required to ensure fast throughput and consistently high quality.
High-volume mouldings are often run using automated production cells and quality inspection systems, to achieve a continuous output with the highest levels of accuracy and repeatability.
Benefits of automated high-volume plastic injection moulding:
- Lowest cost per-part at scale
- Consistent quality across large batch sizes, using automated inspection systems
- High levels of production efficiency
- Automated handling and assembly options available
- Best suited to well-established products with consistent demand
High-volume moulding is the most cost-effective method when your product is fully validated and demand is forecast. .
Summary of differences between low- and high-volume plastic injection moulding
| Factor | Low-Volume | High-Volume |
| Tooling Material | Aluminium | Hardened steel |
| Tooling Cost | Lower upfront cost | Higher upfront cost |
| Lead Time | Faster setup, ideal for quick runs | Longer setup, optimised for longevity |
| Per-Part Cost | Higher | Lower |
| Production Quantity | Dozens to a few thousand | Tens of thousands to millions |
| Flexibility | Easier to modify or iterate | Tool changes costly, less flexible |
| Best For | Prototyping, bridge runs, small batches | Mature products, steady demand |
Your decision between low-volume and high-volume injection moulding will depend on your development stage, budget and predicted demand. Many businesses use both – low-volume runs for development and validation, then high-volume once everything is finalised.
Finding the right fit for your project
The volume and cost of the various production strategies are important considerations, but there are other factors to consider when determining which production strategy is the best fit.
Your business objectives must influence your decision when choosing production strategies.
If you are launching a new product or entering a new market, you want the flexibility and speed of low-volume moulding. This way you can iterate on your design and respond to customer feedback quickly with low risk through prototyping before making a large investment.
Conversely, if you have an established design and ongoing demand, high-volume moulding has unrivalled economies. It’s the natural progression for long-term growth and market stability.
Validation also plays a key part in the decision, if the requirements for validation are stringent then high volume moulding maybe more suitable to recover the costs incurred. Contrastingly if there aren’t enough resources available to you to complete a complex validation then low volume moulding can be more suitable. However medical, safety critical or similar devices will have much more stringent validation requirements in comparison to cosmetic or retail products. This is regardless of if the volumes are substantial or small volumes.
A reliable plastic injection moulder offers guidance throughout the manufacturing process beginning with design for manufacture (DFM) and material selection and continuing through tooling, prototyping and production. Your production process can achieve efficiency and repeatability across all scales from five prototypes to one million parts annually through a customised solution.
Today’s quick-evolving markets require efficient scalability as a winning proposition. The injection moulding production stages of low-volume and high-volume function as separate yet successive parts of a product’s lifecycle. Selecting a manufacturer that performs both functions allows businesses to maintain production flexibility while having better oversight and assurance across all manufacturing stages.
Low volume to high volume injection moulding: we do It all at OGM
Our ongoing investment in state-of-the-art injection moulding and robotic automation technologies allows us to have the flexibility and capability to meet any production need – from low volume and micro precision parts to large format mouldings and complete production runs.
We have a large variety of high-performance moulding machines ranging from 35t to 1100t from top manufacturers like Krauss Maffei and Arburg. This enables us to offer a flexible service. Triple-shot moulding, over-moulding and cleanroom production are just some of the possibilities available to you when partnering with OGM to deliver your small to large scale production needs.
Our facilities are equipped with completely automated in-process assembly, inspection and packaging systems. Quality and efficiency are assured, whether you are producing hundreds or millions of parts.
OGM can assist you in choosing the most appropriate injection moulding solution whether you are prototyping a new concept or are ready for high volume production. Discuss your project with our team – we’ll help you balance cost, speed and quality to deliver your product fast and dependably.