From the lavatory to the landing gear, every part of an aircraft is important and accounted for. The aerospace industry is highly regulated and extremely technical, so materials used throughout this industry demand reliability, high performance, and cost-effectiveness. Aerospace & defense injection molding is essential in meeting the challenges of these industries. Whether a high performance or commodity-grade polymer is needed, at Ensinger Precision Components, we have an approved polymer and processes that can be part of the solution.

Finish Your Parts Correctly: Advanced manufacturing processes are often required to get the part or subassembly to the stage needed by the end user.

Examining Every Aspect of Aerospace & Defense Injection Molding

Pellet to Part

Developing an application for the aerospace & defense industry can be complex and time-sensitive. Taking an application from concept to functioning final product could take years. The product timeline is never seamless, but we provide an advantage over many competitors by being a one-stop shop. From small-scale production to full-scale, large-volume production runs, Ensinger has the knowledge, equipment, and process capabilities to take your part from a concept to first-off prototypes to full-volume production — all in one place, offering accurate solutions in a timely manner.

Another benefit of being a one-stop shop is we offer customized solutions. Instead of providing production needs based on what we can offer, we provide production needs based on what your application demands. Whether that is prototyping or production volume, we will offer the right solution. With this, we provide solutions that cost-effectively offer greater accuracy and reliability. We have access to all Ensinger divisions, which provides us with additional problem-solving tools. With this flexibility, we can reduce the cost and product-to-market timeline while improving the quality and precision of a product.

In any industry, having a strong, secure supply chain can be a huge advantage. During the rollout of a new product, some companies miss due dates and face other issues almost daily. Since we maintain control over a project from pellet to part, we offer shorter product development timelines, a fast transition from prototypes to production parts, and visibility throughout the process. Unnecessary delays and product deformities create a pause in the product timeline costing valuable time and money. Through our NPI process and thorough quality checks, deadlines are met and product timeline schedules are kept on track. When you choose us as your one-stop shop for your aerospace & defense injection molding, you can be assured those issues will not occur.

FAR Compliant Material

Aircraft interior applications must comply with specific fire regulations. Our aerospace product portfolio offers a wide range of high-performance materials that meet the requirements for flame resistance, smoke generation, and toxicity.

From industrial to high-performance polymers, our materials vary in thermal and mechanical properties, helping solve a variety of problems. We have materials to address the unique demands applications may face in the aerospace industry, i.e., radiation exposure, low outgassing, UV resistance, and high vibration. In addition, we have tested several high-performance materials to Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). All of these materials pass at 3mm thickness. Our products provide new possibilities and opportunities for design improvements throughout the aerospace industry.

Reducing Weight, Increasing Performance

Fuel efficiency is one of the most important considerations when designing an aircraft. The price and environmental impact of fuel have forced aerospace engineers to reconsider how they build. One of the main ways companies can decrease their fuel use and maximize their profits is through weight reduction.

Using high performance plastics as alternatives to materials like steel and aluminum increases fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions while still assuring safety. The weight of most plastics is about 1/7th that of steel and about half that of aluminum and titanium. It is essential to understand that, in many cases, decreasing the weight of the material will not sacrifice strength or performance when the right high performance plastic is used. Reducing weight means using less fuel, thus lowering costs.

Product life cycles are also important, and increasing the lifetime of an application has many advantages. When an application’s lifetime ends, companies are forced to expend valuable resources to replace them. This increases costs and time spent on repairs. Using plastic can produce applications with longer life spans, thus reducing the time and money spent making replacements. Another benefit is the recyclability of plastic. Plastic solutions offer better recyclability when compared to metals, further proving Ensinger’s material solutions to be a more sustainable and safer solution for the aerospace industry.

Global Presence

Controlling our processes from raw material to finished parts gives us greater control of the quality and process parameters at each process step. This reduces the challenges that every new project and redesign faces. We have years of experience supporting several primary aerospace companies and tier 1 suppliers, helping make complex application ideas into real solutions. As an EN9100/AS9100 certified company, we are committed to providing the highest quality aerospace solutions and customer care.

Critical Components Require Tight Tolerances: Material selection, part complexity, tooling, and more all impact the tight tolerances possible for plastic components.

Ensinger Precision Components: Solution Focused

Thermoplastics play an important role in aerospace & defense injection molding, but because of this industry’s unique difficulties, choosing the right partner is crucial to efficient and effective product development and supply chain.

Our value goes well beyond high-performance materials. Manufacturing versatility, quality assurance, and years of industry experience all combine to create a complete solutions provider. We are the ideal partner to ensure a cost-effective, reliable solution to your aerospace challenges.

Connect with us today to get started with your aerospace & defense project.