Fathom Manufacturing //
U.S.-Based Plastic Injection Molding
- Optimize Your Part & Tool Designs for Manufacturability
- Tool Production & Injection Molding Under One Roof
- Simplify Your Supply Chain with U.S.-Based Injection Molding
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Cost-Effective Plastic Injection Molding Options
Comprehensive Solutions – From Prototype to Production
Precision Mold Making & Plastic Injection Molding Services for Prototypes & Production Parts
Fathom provides high-quality plastic injection mold design, precision mold making and injection molding services for prototypes and production parts. We work closely with our customers to find the most cost-effective and efficient solution to produce their parts.
When you need small or complex parts, you need a partner that can help you design tooling, select materials and develop processes for the best results. Fathom’s U.S.-based plastic injection molding operation can help. We specialize in the precision molding of complex parts for prototyping and production. We work closely with our customers to find the most cost-effective and efficient solution to make their parts.
Injection Molding & Tooling // Get A Quote
Logistics
Skip all the logistical challenges of off-shore production. If you’re short on time, you can worry about one less thing.
U.S.-Based & Certified
Complete molding facility, including 35 ton to 600 ton press, three bi-injected presses, and ISO 9001:2015 certification.
On-Site Trialing
Fathom’s U.S.-based injection molding enables on-site trials to ensure your project specifications are up to your expectations.
Advanced Mold Making Technologies
We offer 3D-printed injection molding tools (including design, simulation, and production) and automated EDM cells.
How Does Plastic Injection
Molding Work?
Plastic injection molding is one of the most affordable ways to make parts at scale. This popular process uses hardened steel or aluminum tools to form molten plastic into precise shapes. It produces the exact same part hundreds or thousands of times.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1 // Design Analysis
The project starts with a CAD drawing of your part. An engineer performs a design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis to determine if it can be produced as designed. Often, this process uncovers issues that need to be fixed, such as:
- Inadequate draft (the vertical walls of the part need to be slightly angled so the part can be ejected from the tool without damage)
- Thick-to-thin wall transitions (which can cause surface defects)
- Poorly-designed bosses (which can cause sink marks)
We’ll also provide advice on material selection and a plastic injection molding process that will deliver the best results for your project.
Step 2 // Tool Design & Construction
Once we have finalized the part design, we build a tool out of hardened steel. It consists of two halves. When they are joined together, they form a cavity in the shape of your part. It includes gates, which is where molten plastic enters the tool. It also contains cooling channels, which quickly cool the part while it’s still in the mold.
Often, injection molders rely on outside firms to build tools for their customers’ parts. This can cause delays, especially if your tool requires modifications. Fathom’s McHenry, IL plastic injection molding facility builds prototype and production tools on-site using automated machining. This enables fast turnaround times and helps reduce tooling costs. It can also do tool repairs. That helps reduce downtime during production.
Plastic injection molding requires a significant up-front investment for tooling. But once a part is in production, you can amortize the tooling cost over thousands of parts.
Step 3 // Tool Qualification
Once a tool is set up to run on a press, the molder first does a qualification or trial run. In other words, the press produces a limited number of parts. They are sent to the customer for review. If there are issues with part quality, the customer and molder will work together to fix them. This process continues until the customer approves the part for production.
The ability to tweak a tool’s design on-site simplifies qualification. It eliminates the need to ship it to an outside toolmaker for modifications. That can save a lot of time and money.
Step 4 // Injection Molding Production
During the injection molding process, plastic resin pellets are heated to their melting point. The press injects the molten resin into the mold via the gates. The press uses powerful electric motors or hydraulic pumps to hold the two halves of the tool together, to counteract the force of the resin trying to push them apart. The part is then quickly cooled. Finally, the two halves of the tool move apart and pins push the completed part out of the mold cavity. This plastic injection molding process is repeated hundreds of times per day.
High-Quality Tooling for
Prototype & Production Parts
Fathom brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to tool design and production:
- Tight-tolerance tools
- Complex geometries
- Multi-cavity molds
- Overmolding
- And much more
We’ve been helping customers solve their tooling and plastic injection molding challenges for over 40 years. We’re experienced problem-solvers. We’ll work closely with you to develop the most cost-effective and efficient solutions for your needs.
We do all our tool building in-house, enabling us to quickly respond to customer needs and fix production issues fast. We use state-of-the-art machine tooling and automation to produce high-quality tools at a reasonable cost. We can also use Fathom’s Hartland, WI facility to 3D print steel tool parts such as conformal cooling cores for our tool builds.
Because we also do plastic injection molding in the same facility, tool qualification is greatly simplified. We also do tool repairs in-house, minimizing downtime and helping to keep your parts in production.
Prototype Tooling Is One of Our Specialties
We’ll work closely with you to define your requirements, so we can design tooling to meet your prototyping needs.
Some molders build inexpensive aluminum tools for their customers’ prototype parts. We don’t believe that’s the right approach. Aluminum tools don’t hold up well and tend to get damaged easily. Also, customers often want to push them into production, far beyond what they were designed to do. That can lead to part quality problems and excessive tool wear..
The Fathom Solution for Long-Lasting Prototype Tools // We build all our tooling using hardened steel, even for prototype parts. That enables us to easily move your parts from prototyping and sampling into production. It also enables us to deliver the consistent part quality you expect.
We also offer master unit die (MUD) tooling, which can simplify certain types of tool builds. MUD tooling is often used to produce prototype parts faster.
Production Tooling
Cycle time is one of the most critical factors when planning a new plastic injection molding process. Why? Because it has a direct impact on your per-part cost. Production tools need to process, cool and eject parts quickly. There are many factors to consider when trying to achieve optimum cycle times.
We have decades of experience that help us to design the most efficient tool configuration for the geometry of your parts and the quantity you need us to produce.
We also have deep expertise in designing gating and cooling systems for injection molding production. That helps ensure that your tools will work well and your parts will be defect-free.
We do a variety of specialty molding, too, including:
Multi-Cavity Molding // We can mold multiple parts in a single tool, depending on their size. This is especially valuable if you need a lot of small parts.
MUD Molding // Master unit die (MUD) tools use interchangeable tools that sit in a frame and can be swapped in a matter of minutes. They’re often used to speed the development of prototype parts. They also enable affordable short-run production of customized parts.
Overmolding // A part is first molded using rigid plastic. A softer material is then molded over the top of it so that the finished part is easier and more comfortable to hold. Overmolding is done in a single tool using an automated two-step bi-molding process.
Insert Molding // A metal part, such as a threaded component that will accept a screw, is placed into the tool. Plastic is then molded around it. Inserts are often used in parts that will become part of a larger assembly.
Free Expert DfM Guidance
on Every Submitted Quote
Engineer and Project Management Access
Every Step of the Way
Fathom will review your quote and alert you of any potential issues that need to be discussed. We’ll also let you know about any problem areas that need to be redesigned, like a necessary draft angle for ejection, or a thick wall that may cause a sink mark.
Our role in this process is to serve as an advisor to you. You’re not obligated to make the changes we recommend to the part or your tool design. But your project will go more smoothly if you do. You are always in control!
Project Examples
Example //
16 Cavity Class 102 Production Tool
This tool is used for medium to high production in upwards of one million parts. Typical delivery time on this type of tool is 7-8 weeks.
Example //
8 Cavity Class 101 Hot Runner Production Tool
This tool utilizes optimum cooling, hot runner, and runs extremely fast cycles. Typical delivery time on this type of tool is 7-8 weeks.
Materials
Fathom’s U.S. plastic injection molding operation has experience with hundreds of types materials. We also have deep knowledge of how to process them effectively. Most customer projects use these classes of materials:
- Polypropylene
- Polycarbonate
- ABS
- Engineering-grade thermoplastics
- PEEK
- Glass-filled nylon
- Polyoxymethylene (Delrin)
- Nylon (reinforced and unreinforced)
Post Processing
Fathom’s U.S. plastic injection molding operation offers several options for post-processing of injection-molded parts:
- Labeling
- Pad printing
- Assembly
- Packaging
Real Customers.
Real Results.
“They are on the leading edge of technology in reducing lead time and cost by utilizing not only the latest technology of equipment available to them, but also in constantly reviewing their internal procedures to reduce time, reduce manufacturing costs and improve the quality of the tools being delivered to the customer.”
Dieter Lay, Arrow Development Group, LLC
Why Choose Fathom’s U.S. Plastic Injection Molding?
Simplify Your Supply Chain // The biggest reason to have your parts injection molded in the U.S. is simplified logistics. Overseas supply chain issues like pandemics, material shortages, shipping disruptions or political instability won’t affect you.
In-House Engineering and Design // Our state-of-the-art machine tools and automation improve the quality of our tooling and reduce its cost. With over 40 years of tool-building expertise, we provide a big advantage in tool quality and engineering compared to stand-alone machine shops. We also repair and maintain our customers’ tools.
In-House Tool-Building // We have invested in state-of-the-art machine tools and automation to improve the quality of our mold tooling and reduce its cost. With over 40 years of tool-building experience, Fathom provides a significant advantage in tool quality and engineering expertise. We also repair and maintain tooling for our customers.
Improved Quality Control // Choosing U.S. production of your parts gives you greater control over the quality of your tooling and part production. We can resolve any issues fast. No language barriers or time differences to get in the way.
Talk to an Expert
Fathom’s U.S. plastic injection molding is done at our state-of-the-art facility in McHenry, IL. Contact us today!
