Custom plastic enclosures are some of the most manufactured components for contract manufacturers like Port Erie Plastics. While they are commonly seen on facility floors, not every manufacturing program is the same. 

Enclosures cover a lot of ground in numerous industries. Electronics, industrial, construction, appliances, agriculture, automotive, and consumer products all rely on plastic enclosures for various needs. 

Port Erie Plastics focuses in on custom plastic enclosures for electronics and industrial equipment by highlighting key parts of a manufacturing program. 

Identifying Project and Component Requirements 

Custom plastic enclosures – even with electronics and industrial equipment – covers a large range of potential applications. While there might be similarities among applications, the differences are large enough to warrant clear-cut project and component requirements to be identified. 

Typically, with an electronic or industrial application, enclosures are going to be mounted so consider the mounting method into both design and material selection. This could include mere wall mounts, DIN rail, panels, machine frame, handheld, or a portable enclosure. From there, a combination of environmental exposure and compliance/regulation needs should be weighed. Factors such as dust, UV exposure, rain, washdown, chemicals, vibration, and temperature cycling serve as the chief environmental conditions to weight. For compliance or regulation matters, this could be anything from flammability rating and ingress protection to electrical clearances. Be sure to check any industry-specific requirements as well. 

A final item to identify are production volume amounts. Injection molding supports the manufacturing of high-volume programs with parts in the millions throughout a given mold life expectancy.  

Material Selection Considerations 

The largest consideration to make for material selection in custom plastic enclosures is weighing all of the trade offs among impact strength, heat resistance, chemical exposure, UV durability, electrical performance, appearance, and of course, costs. 

In general, OEMs and supplier programs select ABS for cost-effective electronic housings that are primarily indoors. PC is chosen for mostly outdoor applications both electronically and industrially because of its impact resistance, heat performance, and transparency which promotes safety. However, a blended mix of these two materials combines the best of their properties. 

Design for Manufacturability 

Custom plastic enclosures work best when DFM practices are the driving point during pre-manufacturing engineering. As these enclosures are largely created through injection molding, it’s critical to ensure that there is consistent wall thickness throughout the enclosure. When wall thickness isn’t consistent, it can lead to potential defects such as uneven cooling, sink marks, warpage, and even longer cycle times which increases lead times, and subsequently, costs. 

Best practices for DFM in custom plastic enclosures includes using ribs to increase stiffness while maintaining uniform wall thickness, adding draft for easier ejection from the mold, avoiding too thick boss bases, utilizing snap-fits only where repeated assembly has been considered, and parting lines, gate locations, and ejector-pin locations are planned early. 

Partner with Port Erie Plastics for Your Custom Plastic Enclosures 

Port Erie Plastics is the turnkey plastic fabrication manufacturer that OEMs and supplier programs across the United States have trust since 1953. Our Harborcreek, Pennsylvania, facility, is where our injection molding, plastic extrusion, and structural foam molding operations all take place. 

Backed by knowledgeable engineers, skilled machine operations, and seasoned executive leadership, our team’s combined talent and experience are the driving force for many successful manufacturing programs. 

Above all, we pride ourselves on delivering high-quality manufacturing solutions. Port Erie Plastics remains ISO 9001 certified and through numerous in-house quality measures, we assure our customers that their components are ready for service once they leave our facility. 

Ready to begin a custom plastic enclosure program for an electronic or industrial application? Contact our team today.