How to Purchase Used High-Quality Injection Molding Equipment (Infographic)
Guest blog by Premier Plastics Systems
One of the primary pieces of equipment that most plastic manufacturing companies purchase is the injection molding machine, also known as an injection process. For beginners, this machine is used to manufacture plastic products by the injection molding process, and is composed of two major components: the injection unit and the clamping unit.
It’s a critical investment for most manufacturers, and as such, thorough planning is essential to ensure that the investment will be maximized. Because this machine doesn’t come cheap, however, not many companies can afford to buy a brand-new unit. That is why some manufacturers opt to buy a second-hand unit instead.
Selecting the right and quality used injection molding machine is not always a straightforward task. One should be cautious of vendors that offer a machine that looks like new when in fact it is already defective. This can cost a business a huge amount of money due to defective outputs and disruption in operations.
On the flip side, there are still vendors that offer used injection molding machines that can still function fairly well. Though it may only be a second-hand unit, used injection molding equipment, when bought from a reputable vendor, can perform its job long enough to provide an ROI in a reasonable amount of time.
To guide you in buying a used high-quality injection molding equipment, here are the key takeaways from the visual guide below:
1. Know the difference between a used and refurbished unit. A refurbished unit has been fixed, cleaned, and readied for long life, while used equipment is more of a gamble.
2. Research. Remember that a used machine is priced lower than brand-new units and that they tend to have some problems like loose parts or faulty components. Knowing the parts that need to be replaced will give you an idea how easily you can find a spare part and how much would it cost you.
3. Decide where to buy. You can either go to manufacturer’s representatives – those that take used machines for trade-ins – or buy and sell vendors which can be easily found on the web.
To know more about this, check this infographic from Premier Plastics Systems.