Blog
Star Rapid’s blog aims to share our hard earned knowledge on manufacturing and product development. We hope these articles help you to optimize your product design and better understand the world of rapid prototyping, rapid tooling, 3D printing and low-volume manufacturing.
The Ultimate Guide To Design for Manufacturing
Join us for a comprehensive overview of design for manufacturing, or DFM. It’s a term that’s often used but rarely explained, so today we’re going to explore the details and show why it’s so important for getting the most out of product development. What is...
Surface Textures For Plastic Injection Molding
The surface texture of a plastic part influences much more than how it looks and feels. Surfaces can affect mechanical performance, chemical interactions, electrical resistance or conductivity, friction, corrosion resistance, and many other factors. How are these...
How To Use DFM To Improve Plastic Injection Molding
We’ve written elsewhere about the importance of design for manufacturing (DFM) analysis in manufacturing. No matter the size of the project, we always recommend using DFM discipline to save time and money while preserving quality. A complete DFM review covers all...
Understanding multi-cavity designs for injection molding efficiency
There are three general categories of plastic injection mold tools that product designers can consider when making finished parts. They each have advantages, largely depending on the intended volumes. Let’s take a closer look at which type might be best for your...
Manufacturing Tooling Design Fundamentals
There are many types of specialized tools used in manufacturing to make every imaginable kind of product, from shoes to submarines and everything in between. Because their variety and application are so broad, we’d like to focus our attention on forming tools, and...
A Complete Guide to Overmolding vs Insert Molding
In this article, we discuss insert molding and overmolding, the advantages of each, and the applications they’re best suited for. We hope these manufacturing insights, along with useful design tips, will help you get great results on your next plastic injection...
Rapid Prototyping With Polyurethane Vacuum Casting
Many plastic injection molding projects start off by first making a series of rapid prototypes. These are used to further refine the look and feel of the part, to test its functionality, and to improve the design before investing in steel injection mold tools.In this...
Manufacturing Cycle Times and How To Improve Them
Every business has a vested interest in carefully monitoring its productivity, especially in a manufacturing environment where repetitive tasks can be standardized and optimized. The most common metrics used for this purpose are manufacturing cycle times, lead times,...
