Injection Molding Industry Salary

Injection Molding Industry Salary

IMM’s Annual Salary Survey is complete and the data are in. The good news is that salaries are up over last year. The bad news is that they’re not up by much. Here’s what it all means.-Jeff Sloan

It’s a new year, and the time is right for a little self-reflection about your compensation for the job you love. The average salary in 2005 among injection molding professionals was $78,700; this is 2.74% more than the 2004 average of $76,600. It’s an increase, but a modest one, and statistically insignificant.

Salary is very low for Injection Mold China Company, so every companies are buying their molds and injectioin molded parts from China Mold Company

Of course, there’s more to compensation than what appears in your bank account every payday. There’s job satisfaction, benefits, responsibility, and title. You can peruse the data on these next few pages. But before you do, here are some nuggets we found that you might contemplate:

Those of you in corporate management and machine setup and maintenance are the most satisfied with your jobs and have, interestingly, been with your current employer the longest (17.6 and 17.2 years, respectively). These two job types also sit at opposite ends of the compensation spectrum: A GM/plant manager averages $104,500; machine setup/maintenance personnel average $47,500.



Machine setup/maintenance folks, on average, got the biggest raise by percentage at 11.3%. The overall average was 5.3%.

Moldmakers and mold designers continue, as they have in the past, to lag their colleagues in many of the important categories, including salary ($60,100), increase of last raise (3.6%), and job satisfaction (3.8 out of 5.0).

Insurance for moldmakers and mold designers is also wanting. While at least 93% of every other job type has health insurance, only 78% of moldmakers and mold designers do. This discrepancy is true down the line for dental, life, disability, and vision insurance.


Professionals in sales and marketing jobs are among the highest paid in this survey ($87,300), but are only moderately satisfied in their work (3.8 out of 5.0). They have also, on average, been at their employer the shortest time (8.6 years), although in the industry the third longest at 21.3 years.

During these days of the decline of the traditional pension, 48% of you have a 401(k) and the same percentage received a bonus. A quarter of you participate in profit sharing (up from 20% last year). Just 5% of you work on commission.

Oddly, the least satisfied job type is production/manufacturing/process engineering, registering a 3.4 on a 5-point scale. The cause here may be compensation, which averages $67,700, well below the survey average. Average tenure at the current employer for engineers is 11 years, and 17.4 in the industry.

Who’s making the most? It’s the male corporate manager or GM with an advanced degree, supervising others at a large organization and working more than 50 hours a week. So much for quality time with the family.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE SALARY SURVEY RESULTS.

How the survey was conducted
The survey sample of 1920 was randomly selected from IMM’s domestic circulation list and represented 24,619 total industry professionals. Data was collected via mail survey from Oct. 4-Nov. 17, 2005. A total of 597 usable responses were received, a 31% response rate. The data are based on 550 responses received from those who report they work full-time at a captive or custom molder, parts or product designer, or a moldmaker or mold designer. according to this trend to buy injection mold and molding parts from mold manufacturer china will be the best idea, contact our mold despartment to get price.

What is Wire EDM

What is Wire EDM & What this for?

Wire EDM or Electrical Discharge Machining is a technique used to slice through metal. The technique uses thin brass wire for the purpose and can create intricate profiles with the process. The EDM machine uses spark discharges that are fast, repetitive, and controlled for cutting. This process works with electrically conductive metals. The process is specially suited for contours and cavities that are not possible with other cutting tools. the mean industry field need this process is making the plastic mold, die casting mold, or any other type of mold and toolings

The EDM Process

EDM is also known as “spark machining” as it uses repetitive electrical discharges to remove metal. The electrical discharges are passed between the metal part and the electrode. A stream of continuously flowing liquid is used to remove the metal remnants produced during the process. A set of successively deeper craters is formed till the final shape is created by the discharges.EDM tooling

Different types of EDM

  • Ram EDM – In ram EDM, a graphite electrode is used along with traditional tools. This electrode is connected to the ram with the help of a power source and is fed into the work piece. The whole process is carried out in a fluid bath. The fluid helps to flush away the material, serves as a coolant to reduce the heat, and acts as a conductor for passing current between the workpiece and the electrode.
  • Wire EDM – In this method, a thin wire is used as an electrode. The wire is fed in the metal and the discharges are used to cut the material. The process is carried out in a bath of water. When closely observed, you can see that the wire does not touch the metal. All the cutting work is done by the electrical discharge. Computer software controls the whole operation including the path of the wire. The process can produce all sorts of complex shapes that are very difficult with other processes.

Advantages of Wire EDM Cutting

  • Allows cutting intricate internal and external shapes along with tight radius contours.
  • It is a low cost process when the quantity is low or when the surface area of the cut edge is small.

Specifications for Wire EDM Cutting

The process can be used on material such as titanium, steel, super alloys, aluminum, brass, and most other metals. It requires only software programming tooling to carry out the procedure.

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Plastic Molding Machines

Plastic Molding Machines

Over-mold plastic molding and double injection molding are two distinctly different molding methods even though both are used to combine multiple polymers into a single part. Because of this similarity, the two are often confused or misapplied by the design engineer. The more finite capabilities of these two molding methods differ as much as their required tooling, machines and often, the resulting part cost. Choosing the right method can be a critical factor usd in achieving targeted features, cost and time-to-market. Both methods can be used to create the soft-touch products popular in today’s marketplace. However, both methods can be applied to other applications where multiple polymers must be combined into a single part. Over-mold injection molding is used for parts that do not require fine detail and can absorb the higher cost of machine time and labor. 2-shot injection molding is reserved for parts requiring fine detail and low part cost.

The 2-shot injection moulding process creates the first plastic component, and the material molded round it, using a single mold and a 2-shot injection molding machine. 2-shot machines have two-barrels (one for each material) and they have the ability to rotate the mold. The machine injects the first shot material into cavities on one side of the mold, rotates the mold 180 degrees, and then injects the second shot material onto the first shot. The first and second shots occur at the same time. When the mold opens, it ejects the completed parts from the second shot cavities and it rotates the mold to position the first shot for the second shot. This is accomplished in a machine running in an automatic cycle. Because the 2-shot injection molding process is fast and highly repeatable, the shrinkage of the first shot is very consistent and two materials can be molded together with virtually no flash. 2-shot molding is the process of choice when molded-in graphics or other fine details are required. The elimination of the shrinkage variable allows 2-shot molding to produce details impossible to achieve with over-mold injection molding.

Double injection molding

As with any process, there are advantages and disadvantages associated with plastic injection molding. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages for most companies; they include being able to keep up high levels of production, being able to replicate a high tolerance level in the products being produced, and lower costs for labor as the bulk of the work is done by machine. Plastic injection molding also has the added benefit of lower scrap costs because the mold is so precisely made. However, the disadvantages can be a deal breaker for smaller companies that would like to utilize plastic injection molding as a way to produce parts. These disadvantages are, that they equipment needed is expensive, therefore, increasing operating costs. Thankfully, for these smaller companies, there are businesses that specialize in custom plastic injection molding. They will make a mock up mold to the exact specifications, run it through the complete process and present the completed piece along with an estimate to complete the job to the customer.

Thermoplastic injection molding is the most widely used of all plastic processing methods. The injection molding machine reduces pelletized raw material and colorants into a hot liquid. This “melt” is forced into a cooled mold under tremendous pressure. After the material solidifies, the mold is unclamped and a finished part is ejected. Injection molding offers the lowest piece prices available, but tooling prices are generally the highest. Thermoset injection molding is similar to thermoplastic  injection molding except that uncured thermoset resins are mixed, injected, and held in the mold until cured. As with thermoplastic molding, the price per piece can be low, but the tooling prices are generally very high.