Custom Plastic Products Manufacturer Answers FAQs
Are you overwhelmed by questions about creating plastic products or components for your business? Gary Wiid of Pioneer Plastics, a custom plastic products manufacturer, has answers.
Let's help you find the right manufacturer to make your dream a reality. Here are frequently asked questions about creating custom plastic products.
What Are The Methods For Manufacturing Plastic Products In South Africa?
Several methods of plastic product manufacturing exist. It's important to understand if your chosen provider specialises in injection, blow, extrusion, or rotational moulding. Each method has its merits.
At Pioneer Plastics, we use rotational moulding, which involves heating and rotating a mould to evenly distribute plastic material. It is the preferred method for manufacturing products with complex geometries, such as tanks, containers, bins, and playground equipment.
People choose rotational mounding when they need seamless, water-tight, durable structures that are resistant to wear and tear.
What Type Of Plastic Is Used (And Which Is Best For My Product)?
This is a great question, as your product may have specific requirements—such as safety and regulatory standards.
We use Polyethylene Plastic (PE) for its many positive attributes:
- Chemical resistance
- Corrosion resistance
- UV resistance
- Electrical insulation properties
- Medical grade (doesn't fade, doesn't retain dangerous bacteria, and can withstand harsh cleaning agents)
- High-strength (durable and impact-resistant)
- Lightweight
- Cost-effective
- Recyclable
Polypropylene (PP) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are other popular plastics. PP is versatile and is most often used in food packaging. PVC is also chemical—and corrosion-resistant and has insulation properties, making it suitable for pipes, flooring, and electrical insulation.
What Does it Cost to Manufacture a Custom Plastic Product?
There is no standard answer to this question because the cost is influenced by several factors, such as:
- Design: The complexity of the design and if the design is supplied or design services are required.
- The mould complexity and size: moulds can cost anything from R20 000 to over a million to produce
- Cost of materials: PE can cost up to R150 per KG, depending on the application.
- Product finishes such as hinges or seals for lids, etc.
Other factors that will influence the price are:
- Prototyping
- Batch size required
- Shipping
For cost control, we strongly recommend a supplier who can offer design, finishes and shipping in-house. We love helping visionaries bring their creations to life, so feel free to contact Pioneer Plastics at any time at sales@pioneerplastics.co.za.
Is There A Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) For Custom Rotational Moulding?
Each custom product needs a mould that makes up the bulk of the manufacturing cost. There is no minimum quantity per se, but the client paying for the mould would likely order high quantities to justify the spend from their side.
How Can I Make the Costs for Custom Plastic Products Worthwhile
We at Pioneer Plastics will keep your mould safely in our warehouse so that you can replace recurring orders to get the maximum runs from your mould. Some moulds have run over 10,000 cycles and remain in good condition.
What Maintenance Do You Offer?
We have an in-house mould shop and maintenance team who inspect and repair the moulds as and when needed.
How Do I Protect My Intellectual Property (IP) On My Custom Product?
All custom moulds belong to the client. We keep the designs confidential and will not allow another customer to use them, nor will we sell the product to the public.
We have assisted some clients with selling their products via our channels, but at the client's price, with complete transparency throughout the process.
What is the Quality Assurance on my Custom Products?
Pioneer Plastics is ISO 9001: 2015 Certified. We have been SMETA Responsible Sourcing Certified to supply products to the likes of Coca Cola as well as the Walmart group. Pioneer Plastics is also the first company in South Africa to be certified for the ARMSA tank standard (SANS 1738:2017)
What After-Sales Support Does Pioneer Plastics Offer?
We consider you a part of the Pioneer Plastics family for life. Our team is available for any follow-up questions and support you may need. As mentioned, we will keep your designs and moulds secure. Storage includes routine maintenance and repairs.
What Is The Plastic Manufacturing Process?
In a nutshell, the process begins by pouring powdered polyethylene into a closed, hollow mould. This mould is heated and rotated slowly on both vertical and horizontal axes, causing the polyethene to melt and evenly coat the mould's interior. The precision of this process ensures uniform wall thickness throughout the product. Once cooled, the result is a seamless, hollow item with a continuous surface, unlike injection-moulded products, which often have visible seams where two halves are joined.
Learn more here at our Custom Plastic Moulding Solutions page or watch this quick explainer video: https://youtu.be/2vpY2CHVF_M.
Partner with Pioneer Plastics to bring your ideas to life!