Injection moulding pricing explained
How a Injection moulding price is assembled, setting by setting, with a worked example priced by the engine itself.
These are the settings that decide how the work is priced, as opposed to the machine that does it or the material it is made from. They are stored with the configuration.
Every one of them shows up in the breakdown when it affects a price, so if a number surprises you, the answer is on the screen.
A worked example
These numbers were computed by the pricing engine against the shipped Budgetary injection moulding configuration - the one you get if you start from the template. They are regenerated whenever the engine changes, so they cannot drift away from what your own console would show for the same part.
| Line | 500 parts | 5,000 parts |
|---|---|---|
| Material | €140.56 | €1264.48 |
| Production | €14279.44 | €25791.14 |
| Discounts | - | −€255.62 |
| Total, incl. shipping and VAT | €17189.55 | €31921.75 |
Note how the price per part falls with quantity: a batch shares what is done once - a set-up, a program, a whole build on a powder process, the tool in moulding. That is where the quantity break comes from. It is not a discount you are giving away; it is your cost structure, passed on.
Every setting on this page
These are in the same order as the editor, with the same help text. Each one has an anchor, and the ? beside a field in your console links straight to it - so if you are reading this because you clicked one, the setting you were looking at is highlighted.
Tool: hours, steel & cavities
Mould materials offeredsteel_classesbasic
The mould materials a buyer may choose, the first being the default: what the tool is cut from, how long it lasts and how much slower it is to make than your reference steel.
Price: Toolroom hours are multiplied by the hour factor and the block's mass is charged at the mould-steel price; a quantity past the tool life needs a second tool.
Typical: P20 1.0 / 300 000 · aluminium 0.65 / 50 000 · H13 1.45 / 1 000 000.
Ididyou must set this
Buyer seeslabelyou must set this
What they getnote
Toolroom hourshour_factoryou must set this
Tool lifelife_shotsyou must set this
Densitydensity_g_cm3you must set this
Cavity counts offeredcavity_optionsbasic
How many parts one shot makes; the buyer chooses among these, the first is the default.
Price: More cavities cost more toolroom hours and a bigger press, and divide the cycle time between more parts.
Typical: 1 / 2 / 4.
Toolroom hours per tooltool_base_hbasiccalibratable
Hours every tool takes whatever the part: design, fitting the mould base, gating, cooling circuits, assembly and try-out.
Price: Charged once per tool at your toolmaking rate, so it is most of the price of a small simple tool.
Typical: 40-80 h.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Toolroom hours per cm²tool_h_per_cm2basiccalibratable
Hours to cut and finish core and cavity per cm² of the part's projected area, per cavity.
Price: The part's size is the main driver of the tool price.
Typical: 0.5-1.5 h/cm².
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Toolroom hours per cm of depthtool_h_per_cm_depth
Hours per cm of part depth along the opening direction, per cavity: deeper cores need more machining and EDM.
Price: Deep parts cost more to tool than flat ones of the same outline.
Typical: 1-4 h/cm.
Toolroom hours per side actiontool_h_per_side_actioncalibratable
Hours to make one slide or lifter for an undercut, per cavity.
Price: Each side action adds a slide, which is one of the most expensive parts of a tool.
Typical: 15-40 h.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Toolroom hours per extra cavitytool_h_per_extra_cavity
Hours for each cavity beyond the first: balancing the runner and matching the cavities to each other.
Price: Added on top of the per-area hours, which already count each cavity.
Typical: 10-25 h.
Undercut that needs a side actionundercut_area_mm2
Area no opening direction reaches above which one more side action is assumed.
Price: A small unreachable area is usually a modelling artefact; above this it is a slide you have to make.
Typical: 20-50 mm².
Hot-runner toolshot_runner
Whether your tools feed the cavities through a hot runner instead of a cold runner.
Price: No runner material to scrap or degate, but more toolroom hours and bought-in hot-runner parts per drop.
Typical: Off for budgetary tools.
Hot-runner hours per drophot_runner_h_per_drop
Toolroom hours to fit one hot-runner drop (one per cavity).
Price: Only charged on hot-runner tools.
Typical: 8-20 h.
Mould block & press fit
Steel around the cavitiesmould_wall_mm
Steel left between the cavities and the edge of the mould block on every side.
Price: A thicker wall makes a heavier block, more steel and possibly a bigger press.
Typical: 40-60 mm.
Steel between cavitiescavity_gap_mm
Steel between neighbouring cavities, room for the runner and cooling.
Price: Widens multi-cavity blocks.
Typical: 25-40 mm.
Block width per side actionslide_allowance_mm
Extra width of the block for each slide and its locking wedge.
Price: Side actions make the block, and so the steel, bigger.
Typical: 50-80 mm.
Stack height beyond the partmould_stack_mm
Height of the mould beyond the part's depth: clamping plates, support plates, ejector housing.
Price: Part of the block's mass, and checked against the press's largest mould height.
Typical: 150-250 mm.
Block fillblock_fill_pct
Share of the block's outer envelope that is actually metal; the ejector housing is hollow.
Price: Scales the mould steel charged.
Typical: 70-80 %.
Clamp-force marginclamp_safety_pct
Margin added to the computed clamp force before a press is accepted.
Price: A larger margin pushes parts onto bigger presses with higher hourly rates.
Typical: 10-20 %.
Moulding, set-up & sampling
Cooling-time calibrationcooling_factor_pctcalibratable
Your measured cooling times relative to the textbook formula.
Price: Cooling is most of the cycle, so this scales press time and the piece price almost one for one.
Typical: 100 %.
This is one of the numbers the calibration tool can fit from jobs you have already run, so you do not have to guess it.
Longest run per set-upmax_run_shots
The most shots you run on one set-up; larger quantities are split into several runs.
Price: Each run pays a mould change and a purge.
Typical: 50 000-200 000 shots.
Purge shots per set-uppurge_shots
Shots made and scrapped at each set-up before the parts are good.
Price: Material thrown away once per run.
Typical: 10-50.
Operator tendingtending_pct
Share of press time an operator spends at the press.
Price: Adds operator time to every part; one operator usually minds several presses.
Typical: 10-33 %.
Degating and packing per partdegate_pack_s
Cutting the part off the runner, checking it and packing it.
Price: Operator time on every part.
Typical: 2-6 s.
Design review per linedfm_review_min
An engineer checking the part for draft, walls and gating before the tool is designed.
Price: Charged once per line.
Typical: 30-120 min.
T1 sampling per tooltrial_h
Press time and a technician to prove a new tool out and make the first samples.
Price: Charged once per tool.
Typical: 2-6 h.
Sampling shots per tooltrial_shots
Shots made during sampling and scrapped.
Price: Material charged once per tool.
Typical: 30-100.
Wall variation warning abovemax_wall_ratio
Median wall over thinnest wall above which the part is warned about uneven walls.
Price: No direct price effect: uneven walls cool unevenly, warp and sink.
Typical: 2.5-3.