pcb assembler + injection molding

Ron,

For PCB assembly try

For injection molding try Impact Analysis ( I think) Garry Isberg at 416 967-7783 or 416 543-0402

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

Your quantity does not support the making of a unique housing, even if the mold was a cheap plastic one. I suggest you find one off-the shelf that is close to what you need; it will be a lot less expensive. PCB assembly houses are all over the US (and Canada as well), and likely there is at least one within an hour or so from where yoy live or your facility; look in the yellow pages for them. Picking ahouse nearby means you can keep a close watch as well as get faster turn-around (been there, done that).

The cost of a decent set of steel injecton molds for a housing assembly generally starts in the mid-to-high five figures. Offshore suppliers can cut the cost by perhaps 30-50% without much loss in quality, but beware very low quotes. If the tool is poorly designed it might have any or all of a whole series of cosmetic and structural defects (flow lines, weak spots in knit lines, splay, etc. etc.) and still be considered (by them) to be acceptable. Some suppliers will attempt to quote you low on MUD inserts and lock you into to using them for part production at whatever price they want, because you don't really own the tool.

Maybe, but perhaps not if it limits the market. Certainly 5K units/year is enough in some cases, although injection molding doesn't really start to shine until you get over 100K pieces total production.

Generally you're looking at several suppliers- a part designer to design a moldable housing (with features, style and knowledge of 'rules' to follow to assure manufacturability), a mold designer to design the molds themselves, given your parameters (SPI mold class and so on), and a company to actually run the molds themselves (typically a "custom injection molder"). It's almost an analagous process to hardware circuit design, but with the additional step of tool design.

Yes, it's certainly easier to start with a local supplier.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

If you don't require wide temperature range, high stiffness, or transparency, you can get started with single cavity molds cut from aluminum rather than steel and choose a material that does not promote mold wear. Examples include ABS and styrene. This can bring tooling costs down to the $10K range. There are many companies that now specialize in prototype and short run tooling of this type. The most well-known in N America is Protomold. However, they charge very high prices for the parts after hooking you in with their low tooling bid. Some of their competitors are geared more toward charging somewhat more for tooling and dramatically less for the parts. I've had good luck with ProtoCAM. If you can generate solid models of your housing parts, it's incredibly easy to get competitive quotes on the web. Paul Mathews

Keep in mind that with a cheap mold you'll also likely be severely restricted in the type of side action (if any) that is possible, which is a serious design constraint. Almost all consumer product molds have some kind of side action in most or all of the component parts.

Material selection should also take into account suitability for regulatory approvals, if required, such as UL, CSA and NSF.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

The Journey is the reward"

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Certainly true that slide/cam adds cost, but you can still get going for less than $10K for many relatively complex parts. The important point is that tooling is less expensive when it's not made from hardened steel. There are many compatible UL V0-rated materials, including ABS polycarbonate mixes, that are highly moldable and gentle on soft tooling. In many cases, you can count on 100K pieces or so before you have to refurb the mold. Most of the rapid proto slash limited production houses now offer at least 1 side action for very little extra tooling $. Paul Mathews

You give no idea of the complexity/technology level of either the 'tronics assembly or the molding. Making certain assumptions about both at 5K pa it would be more economical to use a custom molding than a proprietry housing. China and India are your friends here but you *must* have a proven design, properly documented with tool and manufacturing drawings, production test criteria etc so that an Asian contractor can understand what you want. Sourcing from Asia is comfortable provided you have a fully 'professional' approach and will, I suspect, be surprisingly competative for you