Part cost estimation in injection moulding

Abstract

The part cost optimization is one of the major problems in plastics industry. The designers must take into account a lot of aspects regarding the functional role of the part, the mechanical loads, and least but not last, the part cost. The part cost depends on the mould cost, the equipment operation cost and the material cost. The paper presents a methodology to estimate the part cost, focusing on the equipment operation cost. In addition, a spreadsheet is provided in order to estimate the equipment operation cost.