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Injection moulding · through partners

Injection moulding, from prototype to production parts

FabraForma manages plastic injection moulding from its studio in Powai, Mumbai: design and prototypes in-house, tooling and moulding through vetted partners.

When your quantity outgrows 3D printing, we take the same design into a mould. You deal with one team from the first printed prototype to the thousandth moulded part.

What we can take to moulding

Design for moulding

Draft angles, even wall thickness, ribs, bosses, gate and parting-line placement, reviewed before any steel is cut. This is done in-house.

Printed prototypes first

Every design is proven as FDM or SLA prints in our studio before tooling, so the mould is built around a part you have already tested.

Aluminium prototype tooling

Faster and cheaper to cut than steel. Suits validation batches and short runs of hundreds to low thousands of parts.

Steel production tooling

For long runs of tens of thousands of parts and up. It takes longer to build and costs more, and it lasts far longer.

Insert moulding and overmoulding

Brass inserts moulded in, or a soft-touch TPE grip moulded over a rigid part.

Bridge production

While the mould is being made, we print or cast the first units in-house so you can start selling or testing.

What it can look like

From printed prototype to moulded part

How a part moves from printed prototypes to moulded production.

The same handheld housing three ways on an office meeting table: a white FDM print with layer lines, a smooth grey SLA print and a glossy navy moulded part
One design, from print to moulded partThe same housing as an FDM print, an SLA print and a partner-moulded part, so the mould is built around a design already tested.
Tray of identical glossy black injection-moulded clips in rows on a packing table, one clip beside its grey 3D-printed prototype
Moulded parts checked before they shipPartner-moulded clips are checked against the approved printed prototype before they reach you.

How to tell whether you need a mould yet

Moulding wins on price per part, but only once the mould is paid for. Where it starts to win depends on the part, the material and the quantity.

  • Under a few hundred parts:
    3D printing or silicone moulding and PU casting is usually cheaper and much faster, with no tooling cost at all.
  • Hundreds to a few thousand:
    The grey zone. We quote both routes side by side: bulk printing on our fleet, and an aluminium mould through a partner.
  • Thousands and up, with a stable design:
    An injection mould usually pays for itself. Steel if the run is long, aluminium if the design may still change.
  • Design still changing?
    Keep printing. A mould is expensive to modify, and a printed part can change overnight.

How the partner route works

Moulding runs through vetted partners

FabraForma does not run injection moulding machines in-house. We design the part, prove it with printed prototypes, then place the tooling and moulding with partners we have vetted, and inspect the parts before they reach you.

  • One point of contact: FabraForma scopes the job, runs the partner and checks the parts
  • The partner route is labelled in your quote, never passed off as in-house work
  • Design, 3D printed prototypes and finishing stay in our Powai studio

See Capabilities for exactly what runs in-house and what goes to partners.

Questions buyers ask

Do you do injection moulding in-house?
No. Design, prototypes and bridge runs are in-house in Powai. Tooling and moulding are done by vetted partners that FabraForma manages, and your quote says so.
What is the minimum order for injection moulding?
There is no fixed minimum, but the mould is a fixed cost, so small quantities are usually cheaper printed or cast. We quote both so you can compare.
How long does a mould take?
Aluminium prototype tooling is typically a few weeks; hardened steel production tooling takes longer. We confirm the timeline in the quote, and can print bridge parts while you wait.
Who owns the mould?
When you pay for the tooling, the mould is yours. We state ownership and storage terms in writing in the quote.

Moving a part to moulding?

Send the CAD and your yearly quantity. We'll tell you honestly whether moulding pays yet.

Get a moulding quote