Why Partner with FMS for Mold Design?
FMS Mold Design combines decades of profound engineering expertise with state-of-the-art CAD technology to deliver high-precision tooling solutions. Supported by advanced data conversion tools and high-speed connectivity, our technical infrastructure makes global communication effortless and highly secure.
Real-Time Collaborative Engineering
We have redefined remote collaboration. Through our cloud-connected design workflows, your team can engage in real-time design reviews with our engineers at any time. We function precisely like an internal extension of your own design department—a high-touch approach that drives exceptional client satisfaction worldwide.
FMS Mold Design Team delivers high-value, high-precision engineering solutions by seamlessly combining technical expertise with cost-effective execution. Our comprehensive services include mold feasibility studies, complete mold design and detailing, plastic part design and development, and advanced solid modeling.
Our Expertise & Capacity
The FMS engineering team consists of 10 dedicated designers, each bringing a minimum of 15 years of hands-on experience in mold design, manufacturing, and injection molding. All team members possess robust CAD/CAM/CAE competencies.
Our Design Director, David Zhang, leverages nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong academic background in engineering. He possesses a profound understanding of European and American mold design and manufacturing standards (HASCO, DME, etc.). This deep integration of “real-world” manufacturing knowledge ensures every design we deliver is fully optimized for production, reducing lead times and costly modifications.
A Collaborative Partnership
We operate as a seamless extension of our clients’ internal engineering teams. Thanks to our diverse portfolio and decades of cross-industry experience, we adapt quickly to unique project requirements. We work closely with your engineers to deliver reliable, high-quality designs that strictly align with your standard operating procedures.
Value-Added Services
At FMS, our engineering team goes beyond standard mold design to deliver comprehensive, end-to-end technical support. Leveraging our deep industry expertise, we act as an extension of your team to provide specialized value-added services that optimize your production and fill internal capability gaps.
Our extended capabilities include:
Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Mold Feasibility Studies / Offshore Mold Design and Third-Party Design Verification / On-Demand Engineering Resources (Additional Design Capacity)
Component Optimization Support (Assistance with Part Design) / Reverse Engineering
Design for manufacture /Mold Feasibility Studies / Designs for Off Shore Mold/Checking Designs / Additional Design Capacity /Assistance with Part Designs / Reverse Engineering
Product Scope: Armed with a rich legacy in industrial design, our team delivers high-impact solutions across highly regulated and complex sectors. Our cross-industry footprint spans Medical Devices, Aerospace, Robotics, and Automotive, as well as Consumer Electronics, Smart Home Appliances, Workplace Technologies, and Commercial Toys. We seamlessly translate specialized technical requirements into market-ready product excellence.
Design & Engineering Flexibility
Every manufacturer operates on a unique ecosystem integrating mold design with production. At FMS, our engineering team seamlessly bridges design with advanced manufacturing methodologies. We provide fully customizable deliverables, ranging from 2D component drawings and CAD formats to precise 3D surfaces and comprehensive solid CAD data. Whether your project requires only a 2D assembly for rapid quoting or full solid CAD files with detailed hardware, cooling channels, and lifters, we adapt to your workflow. With robust data translation capabilities, we ensure seamless format compatibility—delivering exactly what you need, how you need it.
Mold Design & Engineering Process
Robust mold design is the foundational element of a product’s manufacturing success. By engaging with our engineering team early in the design cycle, we help you optimize part geometry, mitigate manufacturing risks, and reduce overall tooling costs.
We understand that early-stage designs involve highly sensitive proprietary information. We treat your Intellectual Property (IP) with the strictest confidentiality, and we are fully prepared to execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) before reviewing your concepts. Mutual trust is the cornerstone of our engineering partnerships.
Phase 1: RFQ & Initial Feasibility Assessment
To provide an accurate initial quotation and perform a preliminary Design for Manufacturing (DFM) review, we require the following baseline data:
• Product Geometry: Part drawings, 3D concept models, rough sketches, or physical prototypes.
• Application Environment: Product specifications, including mechanical performance requirements and operating conditions.
• Resin Specification: Intended base material (if predetermined).
• Production Volume: Estimated Annual Usage (EAU) and target production batch sizes to determine the appropriate tooling class (e.g., SPI Class 101 vs. Class 103).
During this phase, our engineering team collaborates with you to evaluate the part design for manufacturability, identifying opportunities to optimize cycle times, eliminate cosmetic defects, and minimize initial tooling investments.
Phase 2: Tooling Design & Engineering Validation
Upon successful acceptance of the quotation and project award, we require a comprehensive data package to initiate the formal mold design process:
• 2D Engineering Drawings: Fully dimensioned prints in .DWG or .DXF format.
• 3D CAD Data: Native CAD files or universal formats (.STEP, .IGES, or .X_T Parasolid).
• Material & Esthetics: Final confirmation of the raw material resin, grade, and color (Pantone/RAL or texture requirements).
• Critical-to-Quality (CTQ) Dimensions: A maximum of 5 key inspection measurements for quality control tracking.
• Project Governance: Designated primary engineering and commercial contacts for technical queries and milestone updates.
How We Execute Mold Design
Our process begins by gathering all necessary project data to provide an accurate initial quotation. We then perform a comprehensive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) review to optimize the part for production and identify potential cost savings. Following this, we generate a detailed Mold Design Specification (MDS). This guide outlines all critical requirements, including tool specifications, design standards, steel types, standard components, resin selection, shrinkage allowances, and processing parameters.
This specification guide is shared across our design, project management, and production engineering teams to ensure absolute consistency from concept to final manufacturing. Throughout production, we enforce a strict quality control workflow to maintain seamless data integrity between our 3D design models and CNC programming.
Our Stage-Gate Mold Design Process:
1. Mold Specification & Requirement Definition
2. Preliminary Tool Schematic & Concept Layout
3. Schematic Review & Customer Approval
4. Full 3D CAD Design
5. Detailed 2D Engineering Drawings & Manufacturing Documentation
Injection molding isn’t a simple process, and as many of us know, it can sometimes take quite a bit of trial and error to get your injection molding designs just right. And while every new design requires several iterations between initial conception and production, there are several things you can do now to increase the chances of your design becoming a successful product.
A good mold design team starts by assessing customer requirements and developing an internal design plan plus a customer specification. A standardized approach aligned with regulatory and validation testing requirements makes it easier for the device manufacturer’s product development team and the molding supplier’s team to understand what resource gaps need to be addressed at the beginning of the process.
One of the challenges that must be overcome when mold design and molding are done in separate silos, is the fact the teams that exclusively design molds are often not expert in manufacturing. Achieving optimum manufacturability often requires tight tolerances and precise timing of raw material entry, along with molded product exit. When the teams are integrated, these issues are addressed earlier in the process. If manufacturability issues are not addressed until after the tool is fabricated, making necessary adjustments adds time to the design cycle and significant cost.
As a mold designer, you use computer-aided design (CAD) software to create plastic molds for manufacturing processes. Your job duties include designing molds, using CAD software and programs like Pro-E, Unigraphics Drawing, Solidworks, and AutoCAD, and visiting manufacturing facilities to make sure your mold designs work correctly. You can fulfill the majority of your responsibilities in the office, but a good mold designer frequents the manufacturing floor to inspect their product. The qualifications to start a career as a mold designer are an associate degree in plastics engineering technology or tool and manufacturing technology, and five to eight years of experience in the field. You need excellent problem-solving skills for this job as well.
There are many different ways to create texture in injection molded projects. Some manufacturers choose to add texture after the injection molding process has been completed, but it’s possible to create a textured product with a specialized mold. Etched or milled molds are effective at creating a textured product. By incorporating texture into your mold design, you can save time and money that would otherwise be spent on secondary texture processes.
A good design must be practical. The mold maker must be able to produce the components in a logical, orderly manner to make money. Often, close tolerance dimensions are specified when a much looser tolerance could have easily done the job.
Take an ejector pin plate, for example. Everyone knows that the thickness is basically irrelevant, but usually the dimension given is a close tolerance size. An experienced toolmaker will just ignore the tolerance and proceed, but nowadays, with the specialization of tasks in the shop, a less skilled operator would waste precious time holding an unreasonable tolerance.
Injection mold design is complex and allows no room for error. Investing in a quality training tool, such as the Injection Mold Design Tutorial makes sense for everyone in the design department.
Whether you are a veteran designer or novice, there is always more to learn. Parting lines, water lines, gates, runners, shut-offs, lifters, slides, venting, textures, manufacturablility, shrinkage, fit
The design must be clear in it’s function. It is maddening for a plastic injection mold maker to spend hours deciphering what the designer means. Information that is assumed or omitted can delay the construction by days and cause unnecessary errors. Why should a toolmaker spend time looking up information that was right in front of the designer at one time?
It is always much easier to include notes or details that show what is required than to search it out later on. Once the design is in process, and the information is available, why not simply give the mold maker the same information? For example, a 3D drawing can visually clarify many questions.
Without extensive knowledge of injection molding and the intricacies of mold design, it’s difficult to optimize the design of your components. Working with an engineer who specializes in injection molding is the best way to achieve molds and components that have all of the qualities you want. Look for a reputable engineer who can provide you with comprehensive services and answer any questions you have about the injection molding process
Reducing wall thickness can save you money and streamline the injection molding process, but going too thin might leave you with a part that’s weak or unsuitable for its intended purpose. Factor in shrinkage and create designs with wall thickness that will result in the most successful part possible.