29 Sep Solving Complex Design Challenges with the Quantum Plastics Engineering Team
Complex injection molded products create unique design challenges that need to be addressed long before plastic hits the mold, or before the steel is even cut. To that end, Quantum Plastics isn’t just an injection molder, but an engineering resource for our customers. Typically, when we collaborate in design and development, we have three major goals in mind:
- Ensure the design can be produced efficiently while meeting the specified quality standards. Depending on the project, that may mean designing for manufacturability, optimizing part geometry and tolerances, simplifying the design wherever possible to improve repeatability or reduce costs, etc.
- Select the best material for the application at hand. If there are multiple material options, we make sure the chosen material will hold the required tolerances and features, meet the specified functional performance requirements, work reliably in the end application, etc. Of course, other important considerations include material cost and current availability. Our experts keep all of this in mind.
- Streamline the production process. From placing gates, parting lines, and ejector pins where they won’t hurt cosmetics or function, to planning out future product runs and delivery schedules, our engineering team works in step with your team to streamline our production process and, consequently, your project.
Beyond those general engineering advantages we bring to your project, every industry has its own failure modes and design challenges to work around. Doing so is one of Quantum Plastics’ strong suits. On that note, we put together a specific case study, along with some of the more general challenges we commonly see in the industries we serve and products we manufacture.
Six Industries, One Engineering Team: We Help Solve Real Design Problems
- 80+ combined years in automotive manufacturing, IATF 16949:2016 certified quality management system.
- Ample experience in many other industries including appliance parts, consumer plastics and industrial products.
- Presses ranging from 30 to 3,000 tons.
- Five full-scale plastic molding divisions:
Case Study: Precision Automotive Injection Molded Parts
A recent automotive project serves as a perfect example of the value Quantum Plastics brings to the table through our engineering and design collaboration. In this case, the product was a body control module (BCM) consisting of two separate molded parts: a cover and a housing. Seems simple enough. However, these were geometrically complex parts requiring precise tolerances, before being shipped nearly 2,000 miles. Naturally, they needed to arrive in the same quality that they came out of the mold. Each component had its own design challenge:
- The cover was prone to wall bow and warpage.
- The housing design incorporated many fine details prone to damage.
The solution wasn’t so simple after all. Quantum Plastics’ engineering team traveled to Europe to meet directly with the customer and brainstorm ideas. We essentially had two competing goals: we needed packaging optimized to protect part quality, while at the same time designed to maximize quantity for freight cost.
Engineering a Better Product Design to Ship
In this case, some clever design changes could protect part quality and save substantial costs throughout the future shipping program.
The cover: The engineers arrived at a small design change to the lip, along with the addition of self-stacking tabs. This aided in keeping the walls straight. Since the bottom cover didn’t have anything to support it, Quantum Plastics built a low cost spacer tool and molded it out of zero value regrind. That ensured every part would be shipped with virtually no warpage.
The housing: With the same requirements, our engineering team suggested small alignment ribs be added to the outside of the part. This approach added an insignificant amount of weight to the part, but the box was designed to match the nested parts shape, and a foam layer was added to protect the top layer. Simple, yet much more robust protection for shipping.
The mold: Moving onto the actual manufacturing process, Quantum Plastics developed custom end-of-arm tooling, built with “part detect” to protect the mold. We developed a lean production process using robotics to pick and stack parts on a conveyor, reducing labor costs.
Other Industries We Serve:
Appliance Parts
Quantum Plastics often manufactures molded appliance parts that demand premium aesthetic qualities, designed to survive daily use for extended periods.
Common products:
- Refrigerator handles and drawer assemblies
- Ice maker components
- Acrylic decorated trim and face parts
- Roller and slide assemblies
The design challenges:
- Class-A cosmetic surfaces on parts that are also structural.
- Sink, flow lines, and gate vestige are especially important.
- Acrylic can be unforgiving: stress cracking, clarity retention, scratch resistance.
- Drawer and roller assemblies that must hold tolerance through thousands of open/close cycles.
- Color and gloss matching across multiple parts molded on different presses.
- Annual model-year revisions, potentially updating a part without scrapping the whole tool.
Consumer Products
Quantum Plastics serves as a contract manufacturer for a wide range of consumer products. These are products that likewise require sturdy designs combined with premium aesthetics, as the market demands.
Common products:
- Coolers and outdoor drinkware
- Food storage containers and lids
- Water coolers and dispenser components
- Housewares and branded consumer goods
The design challenges:
- Standing out in a crowded market: color, texture, and shape can be competitive features.
- Leak-tight seals on lids and closures without adding cost per part.
- Balancing wall thickness for drop durability against material cost at consumer volumes.
- Brand-quality decoration: paint adhesion, pad print registration, silk screen durability through dishwasher and UV exposure.
Industrial Parts and Equipment
Within the industrial equipment sector, Quantum Plastics serves as a reliable supplier of critical components that are often vital for our customers’ operations.
Common products:
- Device housings and equipment enclosures
- Water purification components
- Air purification components
The design challenges:
- Large, thin-wall enclosures that must stay flat: warp control and rib design are crucial.
- Chemical, heat, and UV resistance selection in harsh service environments.
- Water-contact parts and the certification burden that comes with them (NSF).
- Using recycled or filled resins without giving up dimensional stability or strength.
- Low-to-mid volume runs where tooling amortization is the real design constraint.
Plastic Packaging Manufacturing
Quantum Plastics is also a leading contract manufacturer in the packaging product space. While the products may seem simple, they nevertheless can come with complex design challenges.
Common products:
- Tamper-evident containers and closures
- Child-resistant jars and caps
- Closures with living hinges
- Dosing caps and vials
- Food service containers and lids
The design challenges:
- Living hinges that must survive hundreds of thousands of cycles.
- Child-resistant mechanisms that still pass senior-friendly usability.
- Tamper-evident bridges that break cleanly every time, on every cavity.
- Cycle time and cavitation math: a tenth of a second multiplied by millions of parts.
- Dimensional consistency across high-cavitation tools so caps and containers always mate.
- Food-contact compliance and audit readiness (NSF, Kosher, AIB International).
Recreation and Utility Vehicles: Big Parts, Rough Service
Branching out from our automotive manufacturing roots, we regularly work with recreational vehicle (RV) makers, as well as in utility and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) programs.
Common products:
- ATV and snowmobile hoods, bodies, and fenders
- Under-hood functional components
- Guards, panels, and utility vehicle trim
The design challenges:
- Big cosmetic panels: warp, sink, and flatness must be maintained across large surfaces.
- Impact and low-temperature toughness for snowmobile and off-road service.
- UV and weathering resistance on exterior painted or molded-in-color surfaces.
- Vibration, heat, and fastener pull-out on mounted panels.
- Matching commodity resin cost targets against highly engineered, filled material performance.
Put Our Engineering Expertise to Work for Your Program
The best time to solve molding, material, automation, and shipping challenges is before tooling is finalized.
Quantum Plastics works alongside customers to turn complex injection molded part designs into efficient, repeatable production programs while protecting part quality from the press to final delivery.