Transparent plastic parts companies stress highly equipped facilities

Suppliers ensure processes from mold design and making to finished parts inspection are handled in-house.

China manufacturers of transparent plastic parts emphasize improved customization and precision. Most invest not only in production and testing equipment but also in tooling facilities to strengthen in-house capability.

Interviewed suppliers in this report have workshops for mold making, which employ CNC machining centers and lathes, EDMs, and milling, grinding, drilling and wire-cutting machines. PTS Mould Fabrication Co. Ltd boasts an annual production capacity of 800 sets of molds and Fit Precision Mold Co. Ltd between 150 and 220, while Dongguan MID Mould Industrial Ltd can turn out 25 to 30 sets on average per month. In 2015, the third's output reached 350 sets.

Injection molding is still the most popular method used in making transparent plastic parts. Dongguan MID has 16 injection molding machines with tonnage of 50 to 250, while those of Fit Precision are in the 80 to 230-ton range.

For QC at various stages of production, local companies employ X-ray detectors, three-coordinate measuring machines, hardness and abrasion testers, and other instruments.

With such equipment, China manufacturers have been able to tighten mold tolerance to 0.001mm from 0.005mm. In finished parts, they realize tolerances of 0.01 to 0.05mm. Fit Precision can achieve 0.005mm mold tolerance and 0.01mm in parts. PTS can reach 0.01mm in products.

For materials, companies are open to diverse sources. They usually tap into the local supply but can obtain inputs from Germany, the US and Japan, depending on buyers' requirements.

Makers are confident the line will continue to grow in coming years as the material is expected to replace glass in more applications. Transparent plastic parts find wide use in optical products such as lenses and covers in lighting and solar power systems. This is in addition to the home appliances, automotive, electronics, industrial, medical, aerospace and military sectors. From this broad base, companies expect an increase in sales value of about 5 percent in 2017.

China has more than 10,000 makers of plastic parts, and almost all can turn out transparent types. In general, the category accounts for less than 20 percent of yield. At Dongguan Davantech Co. Ltd, the share is between 20 and 30 percent, while it is about 20 percent in PTS.

In January to August 2016, China's production reached nearly 50 million tons. In the previous year, the total hit 75.6 million tons.

The main manufacturing hubs are in the provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hubei, Henan and Jiangsu.