Plastic Injection Mold - Cycle Time vs. Price

Cycle Time vs Price

A mold is not always a mold. Let’s take a hypothetical scenario.

Plastic Injection Mold A: $130,000
Plastic Injection Mold B: $180,000

Identical parts, identical cavities
8 cavity mold with yearly projections of 1,000,000 parts

Cycle Time Plastic Injection Mold A: 40 seconds
Cycle Time Plastic Injection Mold B: 30 seconds

Plastic Injection Mold A produces parts at a cost of 24.7 cents
Plastic Injection Mold B produces parts at a cost of 23.7 cents
$10,000 savings per year

Due to Plastic Injection Mold A having a cycle time of 40 seconds, it means Plastic Injection Mold A has to run 348 hours per year longer than Plastic Injection Mold B. if part profit is $90 per hour press time, the lost opportunity for that press/ mold is $31,328!

If the plastic injection mold breaks down during any time for 7 operating days, the loss is $15,120!

ROI Summary

Plastic Injection Mold A:
One time savings of $50,000 upon purchase

Plastic Injection Mold B:
Part savings every year $10,000 or an ROI of 20%
Ability for press to mold other parts $31,328 (ROI 62%)
Plastic Injection Mold A breaks down for 7 operating days $15,120 (ROI 30%)

So, the only question is if you have a breakdown in any given year. If so, collectively the ROI in spending the extra $50,000 up front is 112%! Only 82% if there is no breakdown in that year. Either way the obvious choice is Plastic Injection Mold B.