Post Moulding Processes Used By The Plastic Manufacturing Companies

Plastics contain polymer as the main ingredient and can be easily moulded into solid objects. The blow moulding and injection moulding processes are used to manufacture products. Once the products are made there are various post moulding processes followed to make them ready for the market.

The post moulding processes are done for industry and decorative reasons. The different processes used by plastic manufacturing company in UAE are ultrasonic welding, mould painting, screen printing, hot stamping/hot foiling and chrome plating. 

Post moulding processes
Different processes are used to make the plastic products ready are:

Ultrasonic welding
This is an industrial process in which high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are applied to the moulded pieces held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld. It is commonly used for joining plastics and dissimilar materials. There is no need to use other methods that are not required to bind the parts like nails, bolts, adhesive and soldering material.

Mould painting
The different techniques used by plastic manufacturers are spray painting, powder coating, silk screening, stamping and in-mould painting.  

In spray painting, a device is used to spray coat material through the air onto a surface. Automated or handheld spray guns can be used.

In powder coating, a free-flowing dry powder is applied as a coating. First, the coating is applied electrostatically then it is cured under ultraviolet light or heat.

In silk screening, a mesh is used to transfer the dye or ink onto a surface leaving the areas that are blocked. At a time only one colour can be printed and it can be used to add details like text, images and logos. Traditionally silk was used in the process.

In stamping, a dye is placed in the stamping press and when the press is moved down the press closes and performs the stamping operation.

In-mould painting is used to decorate plastic surfaces with colour. A carrier film is placed inside the open mould and it carries dried paint layers that are transferred to the plastic parts.

Screen printing
In this, a mesh is used to transfer the dye or the ink to a surface. A squeegee is used to fill the open mesh apertures with ink/dye across the screen. Synthetic threads are used in the screen printing process.

Hot stamping/Hot foiling
In this, pre-dried ink or foils are transferred to a surface at high temperatures. Foils are multi-coloured coatings that are transferred to the surface of a product. Robotic control can be used to speed up the process.

Chrome plating
This plating is aesthetically pleasing, durable and very corrosive resistant. The process involves electroplating a thin layer of Chromium onto an object. It is easy to clean and helps to increase the hardness of a surface.