PLASTIC INJECTION MOULDING UNITS
Costing Injection Moulding Jobs by Machine Hour, Not by Guess
An OEM sends an RFQ for a moulded part with a drawing, a monthly volume and a request for a tool quote. You have two machines free and a resin price that moved last week. The buyer wants an answer in two days, and three other vendors have been asked too.
On our side: costing by cycle time and machine hour, pricing tool and part separately, resin and regrind control, sensible machine loading, and payment follow-up. Supervisors get formats and coaching. Mould design and polymer choice belong to your toolmaker and engineers.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01Part price is set from resin weight and a rough machine rate, while cycle time, cavity count, regrind and rejection change the real cost.
- 02Tools are made by outside toolmakers and paid for by the customer or the unit, and ownership, storage and maintenance cost are rarely written down.
- 03Machines run on whichever job is pending, and mould changeovers take hours that nobody records or charges for.
- 04Resin prices move with the market, and customers hold fixed part rates for months, so the unit absorbs the swings.
- 05OEM customers pay on long terms and raise debit notes for rejections found months later, with little proof either way.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A cost per part sheet using cycle time, cavities, shot weight, resin price, regrind share and rejection rate
- 02Machine hour rate for each tonnage, covering power, operator, maintenance, depreciation and floor space
- 03A tool register with owner, cost, shots made, last maintenance and storage place
- 04Resin and masterbatch stock plus a price-change clause or review date in customer rates
- 05Changeover time per mould and how it is recovered in pricing
- 06Rejection log by defect, machine, shift and mould
- 07Customer debit notes and their supporting inspection records
- 08Machine loading plan for the week with spare capacity shown
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Take your highest volume part and record the actual cycle time, shot weight and rejections over one shift. Recompute the cost per part and compare with the rate you quote. Share the gap with your supervisor.
- Hypothetical example: a part takes 28 seconds per shot with two cavities. A machine hour costing ₹900 gives about ₹3.50 of machine cost per part, before resin and rejections. Check that your price covers this.
- List every mould in your shop and write who owns it, where it is kept and when it was last serviced. Mark any with no written owner. Resolve those with the customers.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A costing template that prices part and tool separately for each RFQ
- A tool register with ownership and maintenance schedule
- A weekly machine loading and rejection report in one page
- A customer rate review routine tied to resin price movement
Not the right fit when: Skip this for now if the real problem is a mould defect, a material failure or a design change the customer must approve. Technical specialists come first there.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
