Injection molding materials at Fecision get selected by what the part has to do, not from one default resin: carry current, hold a dielectric under thermal cycling, take structural load, or seal against water to an IP rating.
Start before the mold is cut
Material choice determines more than whether a part is strong enough. It sets the balance between mechanical performance, appearance, production cost, and how long the part lasts in the field. The wrong resin for the job shows up as warping, brittleness, or dimensional drift — problems that are expensive to trace back to a material decision once a mold is already cut and a production run is underway. Getting it right starts with weighing the same handful of factors any molded part gets evaluated against, regardless of industry or application.
Strength, stiffness, and impact resistance determine whether a part survives its intended use. The common mistake here is using a lower-strength or brittle material on a load-bearing feature because it molds more easily or costs less, which shows up later as cracking or premature failure under real-world stress rather than in a lab test.
Parts exposed to solvents, oils, moisture, or UV light need a resin that resists degradation rather than swelling, yellowing, or turning brittle over time. A material specified without accounting for its actual operating environment (outdoor UV exposure, repeated contact with cleaning chemicals, high humidity) tends to fail on the shelf or in the field.
A material has to hold its shape and mechanical properties across whatever temperature range the part sees in use, not just at room temperature. High-temperature environments call for engineering resins with a higher heat deflection point; cold environments call for materials that don't turn brittle at low temperatures.
Reinforced resins in particular don't shrink uniformly, so the shrinkage rate needs to get locked in consideration of data like wall thickness or glass-fiber content during DFM.
Gloss level, colorability, and transparency vary significantly by resin family, and surface appearance affects both brand perception and functional issues like light transmission or glare.
Materials headed for medical, electronics, or food-contact applications need to meet the relevant standard before a mold gets cut, not after.
Browse by performance tier
Commodity plastics are the workhorses of the injection molding industry — low-cost resins produced at massive scale, easy to process, and suitable for the vast majority of consumer, packaging, and general industrial parts. They offer good (not extreme) mechanical, thermal, and chemical performance, with continuous service temperatures generally below 80–100°C.
ABS
PP
HDPE
LDPE
PS
PVC
PMMA
PET
PETG
ASA
Engineering plastics bridge the gap between commodity resins and high-performance polymers. They offer meaningfully higher mechanical strength, heat resistance (typically 100–150°C continuous), fatigue endurance, and dimensional stability — at 2–5× the cost of commodity grades. This is the tier where metal replacement begins, and where glass-fiber reinforcement becomes common. And this tier carries the highest commercial volume in automotive, electrical, and industrial markets.
PA6 / PA66
PA12
PA-GF
POM
PC
PBT
PBT-GF
PPO / PPE
PPA
High-performance plastics occupy the premium tier — specialty resins engineered for continuous service at 150–260°C, aggressive chemical exposure, and regulatory-critical environments (medical implants, aerospace, semiconductor). Resin costs are 10–100× commodity grades, and processing requires high-temperature equipment and tight process control.
PEEK
PEI
PPS
PPSU
LCP
This tier covers soft, flexible materials — from rubber-like thermoplastic elastomers to thermoset silicone. They deliver sealing, cushioning, grip, and biocompatibility, and are central to medical, automotive sealing, and consumer soft-touch products. Overmolding TPE/TPU onto rigid substrates (PC, ABS, PA) is one of the highest-demand applications in this category.
TPU
TPE
TPV
LSR
A fast-moving tier covering sustainability-driven bio-polymers and optical/electrical specialty grades. Demand here is growing from two directions: regulatory pressure for compostable/recyclable materials, and technology demand for optical-grade and ESD-safe components. These materials often require dedicated process windows (e.g. PLA’s narrow thermal range) or specialized molding environments (optical-grade cleanliness).
PLA
COC / COP
Core molding experience
From validation to production
Validation-stage prototypes don't always run on the final production resin. 3D printed parts use light-curing resin, nylon, PLA, or ABS; CNC prototypes add PC, PEEK, or POM. Trial-production runs on rapid tooling switch to the customer's specified production material — or a documented equivalent — so the material behavior carries forward correctly once the design reaches a production mold.
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