Rapid Tooling
Quality, Speed,
and Flexibility
Are you developing a new product that needs to get to market – fast? Fathom offers a quick-turn injection molding service that can provide you with a limited quantity of sample parts in as little as two weeks.
Fathom’s rapid injection molding tools are ideal for any manufacturer who needs several hundred sample parts fast while waiting for bridge or production tools to be built. It’s also an affordable solution for building a limited quantity of prototype parts. Once the design is finalized, you can move to a production tool that is designed to produce higher part volumes.
What is a Rapid Injection Molding Tool?
Rapid mold tooling is built using only CNC machining. More precise machining methods, like wire EDM cutting, are not utilized. This limits mold features but reduces build time and cost. These “starter” tools are built from tool steel and are mounted to MUD (master unit die) frames to save money and speed production.
Not all parts are good candidates for rapid molding. That’s why our quoting process includes a process review, to determine the machinability of the mold. If it can be produced using only CNC machining, it’s a candidate for rapid molding. If additional machining work is required for the mold, it will be quoted as a bridge or production tool.
Here’s a helpful comparison of our rapid injection molding tooling and how it compares to Fathom’s other two types of overseas injection molding offerings:
Rapid Tooling | Bridge Tooling | Production Tooling | |
| Tooling & Sample Parts | 2 weeks | 4-5 weeks | 6-8 weeks |
| Est. Tool Life | 600 shots | 50,000 shots | 500,000 shots |
| Remarks | MUD base; part size and tolerance limitations | P20 steel; tighter tolerances | Lifetime warranty; SPI tolerances and finishes |
What is a Master Unit Die?
Fathom’s rapid injection molding tools are built on a master unit die (MUD) base. What is this system and how does it make our rapid injection molding tools more cost-effective?
This interchangeable mold base system combines a modular, reusable frame and interchangeable A and B insert plates – the machined core and cavity inserts that make up the mold tool.
This approach saves money because we only need to build the rapid injection molding tooling – not the frame used to mount it in the injection molding press. That speeds tool builds and accelerates build times. It’s also ideally suited to the type of short-run, high-mix manufacturing that is typical of rapid tooling.
Please note: When you order a rapid injection molding tool from Fathom, you own the tool itself but not the MUD frame. That may limit your ability to move the tool to another injection molder. But most of our customers don’t mind this arrangement, because the tool is only the first step in their journey. Most of them will quickly move to a bridge or production tool after they have validated their first batch of parts with a rapid tool.
How Can Fathom’s Injection Molding Services Benefit Your Project?
Accelerate Your Time to Market // Thanks to our rapid injection molding service, we can deliver the first samples in as little as two weeks – which means you can bring your new products to market faster.
Simplify Your Supply Chain // As your single point of contact for both international and domestic injection molding, we reduce complexity and help you mitigate risk.
Control Costs Without Sacrificing Quality // Unlike many contract manufacturers, we can provide you with a total landed cost for your injection molded parts. That enables you to make better-informed decisions about sourcing your prototype and production parts.
Scale With Confidence // You can start with affordable rapid tooling to validate your new product idea and begin functional testing and pre-production verification. As demand for it grows, you can shift to domestic production using export tools and eventually U.S.-built tools. Fathom can scale with you, from prototype through production.
Expert Engineering Support // Unlike simple click-to-quote services, Fathom gives you access to a real engineering team with decades of combined experience. They can uncover subtle manufacturability issues that algorithms tend to miss.
Injection Molding Options to Match Your Product Development Needs
International // Starting with our rapid injection molding service, we offer a full range of international injection molding options. You will also get personalized support from our experienced project engineers, who will manage your project from prototype to production and assist you with tariff mitigation.
Domestic // Fathom’s McHenry, IL facility can help you with your U.S. injection molding needs. It utilizes state-of-the-art mold-making technologies to provide you with high-quality plastic injection mold design, precision mold making and close-tolerance injection molding for your projects.
Hybrid // This option provides the best of both worlds: Affordable, high-quality tooling produced overseas with U.S. part production. It’s ideal for companies that need to scale up part production and want to reshore their parts to do so. This combination of domestic and international plastic injection molding solutions enables you to compare them side-by-side to determine the best fit for each of your projects.
Why Choose Fathom for Your Rapid Injection Molding Needs?
Rapid injection molding is a key step on your path to production.
It’s a low-cost opportunity to validate your part design and accelerate your product launch. What you learn can help you take better-informed steps toward bridge and production tooling. Fathom is with you every step of the way. Whether you need 100 parts or 10,000, our domestic and international injection molding capabilities can scale with your requirements.
Additional Resources
