Plastic Injection molding is a 20^th century product with roots going back thousands of years. The earliest “molding” was making adobe bricks from a form, in effect pressing the material together, using a catalyst such as water to emulsify and unify the material, and then using heat from the sun to harden the resulting product. Each brick came out the same size using the mold and thus made for uniform construction.

Today’s plastic parts use feed-stock pellets of plastic that include dyes for coloration, and often include fibers to provide strength, resilience and durability. The pellets are fed into the machine, heated to a liquid form, and then injected (pressed) into a mold. When the product cools and sets into the molded part shape it is removed from the mold, and the part is inspected for uniformity. In this way each part, whether the run is 100 or 100 million, meets specifications.

Plastics and rubber products today are a $200 Billion industry with manufacturing in every corner of the globe. The industry includes injection molding, as well as sheet plastics and extrusions. The industry is now expanding into composites that include some “plastics” but also fiberglass, carbon fiber and other exotic blends with specific engineered capabilities.

In the 1967 movie “The Graduate”, Dustin Hoffman in the starring role, is pulled aside at his graduation party by a well-meaning friend of the family and is given this career advice, “I only have one word to tell you, plastics.” Since the mid 60’s the industry has experienced phenomenal growth, and considerable challenges. One of the principal components in today’s plastics are hydrocarbons, which flow from the oil refining process. The oil price shocks in the mid seventies and later, have had a profound effect on the pricing of materials and end products.

Bioplastics is a growing new technology could add explosive growth to the industry. Using bioplastic resins some products such as plastic bags can be derived from plant based sources, and are bio-degradable so the product will eventually dissolve into its component parts in a landfill. At present some feedstock is recycled materials, though in some applications the customer requires “virgin” material for the product.

Uses for plastics continues to grow. Its durability, light weight, ease of manufacture and ability to be molded into complex shapes makes it ideal for uses in aircraft, automobiles, and other consumer products. Its use is increasing in new home construction with plastic extruded pipe replacing copper, and new types of insulation and structural applications. New research in plastic-based transistors and organic light emitting displays are being used in new ways including electronic billboards, HDTV and flexible laptop computers. Because transistors made from plastics are cheaper and easier to manufacture this research has exciting implications for future growth in the industry.