CustomPartNet
·
July 20, 2026
·
Updated July 20, 2026
Finding the right supplier starts with matching the requirements of your parts to their actual capabilities. Material experience, tooling capacity, and quality certifications are all important factors to consider. And so is location too, since it affects shipping costs, how quickly you can get parts, and the ease of site visits or inspections. For industrial components that need to perform under repeated mechanical stress, it also helps to review sample parts before committing. A sample part is a much better way than spec sheets to learn about a supplier’s ability to achieve a certain surface finish, tolerance, or cycle time. Browse our supplier network on the right to compare qualified suppliers, review sample parts, and request quotes.
Injection molding is the leading process for producing high volume plastic parts because it can create thousands or millions of nearly identical parts.
Plastic pellets are loaded into a hopper and fed into a heated barrel, where a rotating screw carries the material forward while friction and heat slowly melt it into a homogenous molten state.
Once enough material has built up in front of the screw, the screw pushes forward like a ram and forces the melt through the nozzle, past the sprue, and into the mold cavity. The mold stays clamped shut under pressure while the plastic fills the cavity completely and begins to cool.
Once the part has solidified enough to hold its shape, the screw retracts, and the clamping unit opens the mold. Ejector pins in the mold push the finished part free, where it moves onwards in the assembly line. The mold then closes again and the cycle restarts, often in under a minute.
The result is a part with consistent dimensions, fine surface detail, and isotropic mechanical properties.
POM, commonly known by trade names like Delrin, is a go-to material for industrial and mechanical parts because it offers:
Low friction and excellent wear resistance
High stiffness and strength for a thermoplastic
Outstanding fatigue and creep resistance
Dimensional stability across a wide temperature range
Good chemical and moisture resistance
Smooth, self-lubricating surfaces that reduce the need for added lubricants
Reliable performance in repetitive mechanical motion
POM's low shrinkage and fast crystallization make it a fairly predictable material to mold, but tooling still has to account for its specific behavior.
Tooling costs are primarily driven by:
Part size and wall thickness
Number of cavities
Feature complexity, including snap-fits and threaded features
Required tolerances and surface finish
Production volume
The mold for industrial POM components often call for:
Precise gate placement to mold thin-walled sections reliably
Proper draft angles to release parts cleanly given POM's stiffness
Wear-resistant mold steel, as POM's crystalline structure can be abrasive to the mold across long production runs
Hot runner systems for high-volume parts where scrap reduction matters
Tight tolerances so that the part can mate with metal components
POM injection molding is widely used across Wisconsin's industrial and machinery manufacturing base to produce:
Gears and gear housings
Bushings and bearings
Cams and cam followers
Rollers and conveyor components
Valve bodies and fittings
Pump housings and impellers
Fasteners and clips
Slide guides and linear motion components
Agricultural and off-highway equipment parts
Precision mechanical assemblies
Wisconsin's long history in heavy equipment, machinery, and precision manufacturing gives it a deep base of suppliers experienced in molding demanding technical parts like these.
POM combines high stiffness with low friction and strong fatigue resistance, which makes it well suited to parts that move against other components repeatedly, like gears, bearings, and rollers. It also holds tight tolerances better than many other thermoplastics.
Tooling costs typically fall between $5,000 and $80,000 or more, depending on part complexity, cavity count, and required tolerances. Per-part pricing depends on part weight, cycle time, and annual volume.
Because of its low shrinkage, POM can often hold tolerances as tight as ±0.003" to ±0.015", though this depends on part geometry, wall thickness, and tooling quality. Confirm achievable tolerances with your supplier during quoting.
Yes. POM can release formaldehyde gas if overheated, so processors need well-ventilated equipment and controlled barrel temperatures. Working with an experienced supplier reduces the risk of degradation or surface defects.
Yes. POM has a good resistance to a variety of liquids like fuels, solvents, and other industrial chemicals. This is part of why it holds up well in many industrial applications, including pumps or valves.
Yes. Many Wisconsin injection molders offer design-for-manufacturing feedback, prototype tooling, pilot runs, and full production, along with secondary operations like machining or assembly for complex components.
Injection molding is most cost-effective at medium-to-high volumes, since tooling costs get spread across more parts. Programs typically range from a few thousand parts to well into the millions for high-turnover mechanical components.
Get competitive quotes from Wisconsin injection molding suppliers experienced with POM and other engineering-grade plastics. Upload a CAD file, drawing, or part concept and get matched with qualified suppliers for your project.
Get Quotes Now → or Register for a Free Account → to discover new suppliers, build shortlists, and manage RFQs.