The popularity of micro molding as an all-round alternative to traditional machining processes has grown exponentially. This trend regarding the technique’s popularity was justified recently with the publishing of a report titled Polymer and Thermoplastic Micro Molding Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 – 2019. The report detailed the wide use of micromolding to create solution driven products for various industries.
The Story so Far
In 2012, the micromolding market reached the worth of $308.0 million. With the continuing demand for small sized and precisely formed plastic components, the micromolding market is now expected to exceed $763.6 million by 2019.
A number of industries are set to benefit from this growth. One industry in particular is the automotive sector. This is one of the biggest industries that utilize micro molding to create components such as connectors, micro switches, and airbag sensors. The expectations are that the automotive industry will grow at an estimated CAGR of nearly 14 percent between 2013 and 2019.
Why Micromolding
Micromolding is chosen by the automotive sector as an alternative to traditional machining processes due to its various benefits:
• Ability to create products that weigh less than 100mg
• Faster molding cycle
• Reduction in overall molding cycle time
• Higher quality of finished products
• Immense savings in terms of materials, energy, and investments
Another reason is the fast development of microfluidics technology. This reason is also one of the main driving factors that propel the growth of the micromolding market in the automotive industry.
So What Does the Future Hold?
The development of microfluidics technology and the aforementioned benefits of micromolding have attracted a larger number of automotive manufacturers to choose micromolding for product manufacturing. The desire of auto manufacturers to get quality parts using cost-effective molding processes will boost the demand for micromolding over machining processes for product manufacturing.
