Time to read: 4 min
Why Consumer Goods Companies Choose Fictiv for Injection Molding
From sporting goods and electronics to product packaging and in-store displays, plastic is used in a wide array of consumer goods applications. But regardless of the shape, size or complexity of the consumer good that’s being manufactured, the challenge is still the same — getting a high-quality product on shelves fast to meet consumer demand and beat out competitor brands.
Due to its ability to quickly and cost effectively produce high volumes, injection molding has long been the popular manufacturing method of choice for most plastic consumer products. The final step in product production, injection molding is a method that heats and injects plastic material under pressure into a closed metal mold. The molten plastic is then cooled until it hardens into the desired shape, such as a television remote or plastic drinkware.
While there are many injection molding manufacturing options for consumer product brands to choose from, not all can deliver fully customized products at the speed needed to stay competitive in an already highly competitive market. That’s why many consumer product companies turn to Fictiv for custom, fast-to-market injection molding.
Speed to Market without the Tradeoffs
Fast is never fast enough in the race to get a first-of-its-kind product in stores before a competitor. But not all manufacturers are capable of faster manufacturing without tradeoffs in quality and cost — two factors that are also extremely important to consumer product companies. That’s why choosing the right manufacturing partner is key.
Fictiv’s technical expertise can speed up the design, development and production of consumer goods to help brands go from prototype to finished product in as little as 10 days. It begins with analyzing your part design plans and providing Design for Manufacturability (DFM) feedback. DFM allows you to remedy design issues earlier in the process to avoid costly roadblocks and pick up efficiencies along the way — which is key for ensuring speed to market. Fictiv will also help you figure out the best way to manufacture your product to meet the required go-to-market launch date.
Meeting Brand and Consumer Standards
In the consumer goods industry, the final product often needs to deliver on brand promises at the risk of the brand’s reputation and growth. As a result, aesthetics and product performance are both top priorities.
Products from iconic brands or branded packaging typically need to be produced in a specific color. Surface finishes and textures may also be required to create a tactile experience for the end consumer. To help produce the most aesthetically ideal product, Fictiv offers custom color matching as well as custom texture and surface finishing services without impact to lead times.
In terms of performance, many consumer electronics or products with electric components are required to meet specific UL flame ratings before they can be sold in stores. To help create products that meet UL ratings and other requirements, Fictiv provides a large range of high-performance injection molding materials, including engineering-grade plastics, thermoplastics and specialty plastics. This allows you to achieve a wide variety of performance properties like flame resistance, UV resistance, lighter weights and more — all in one part.
In all cases, Fictiv allows you to achieve the aesthetics and product performance you require in the timeframe you need.
Producing Complex Parts and Shapes
If you take a quick look down any toy or electronics aisle at any big box store, you’ll probably notice more than a few intricately shaped products. Combining computer-aided design with quality injection mold tools, injection molding makes it possible to develop parts with intricate details and achieve complex geometries in a very repeatable fashion.
To help ensure repeatability and the delivery of the highest quality products, Fictiv offers a wide range of injection mold manufacturing options with rigorous quality management systems and inspection protocols in place. Additionally, one of Fictiv’s Quality Engineers will conduct quality assessments of your products and deliver transparent inspection documentation to ensure all standards are being met.
Accelerated Design-to-Market Product Development Solutions
Injection molding and end-production aren’t the only areas where Fictiv can help drive efficiencies. For consumer goods companies in need of a rapid prototyping solution in the early design stages of product development, Fictiv offers custom and scalable 3D printing solutions.
- Iterate quickly on early-stage designs with 3D printed parts delivered as fast as 24 hours.
- Get high-quality precision prototypes to test functional builds.
- Get your product to market faster with production-quality custom parts manufactured on demand, no expensive tooling required.
And because Fictiv offers a complete ecosystem of digital manufacturing solutions, you get the added benefit of sourcing all your manufacturing needs — from prototype to production — from one partner. Take Brooklyn-based oral care company, quip, for example. Wanting to bring design innovation to the electric toothbrush market, they worked with Fictiv to rapidly iterate on their toothbrush designs using 3D printing. As they progressed into production, quip worked with Fictiv to get injection molding tools online quickly in order to fulfill rapidly increasing customer demand.
A Network of Manufacturing Possibilities
Thanks to a diverse and carefully selected network of manufacturing partners across the globe, Fictiv is fully equipped to offer numerous types of injection molding services and high process quality for consumer goods applications. Manufacturing partners are thoroughly vetted by Fictiv and are required to complete rigorous testing. In addition, Fictiv continuously manages them and monitors their performance.\
Simplifying the Injection Molding Process
From design to final production, Fictiv takes the guesswork out of the injection molding manufacturing process. The Fictiv team will work closely with your company to help design and fabricate high-quality parts as soon as you need them while meeting your exact specifications and delivering cost efficiencies.
Request Your Free Quote
If you’re ready to join the 2,500+ companies who use Fictiv for high-quality parts, visit fictiv.com/signup to request a free quote.
