Jiafuh Metal and Plastics is a manufacturer who designs and produces moulds for plastic components out of a range of materials including Aluminum, Mild Steel and hardened “tool” Steel. They also manufacture plastic enclosures for electronic products, amongst other things, via plastic injection moulding. In this tour, SOE explores the Shenzhen based factory of Jiafuh, led by General Manager Jimmy Hsu. The tour members are surprised by the many different tool making processes, including a processes known as Spark Erosion or EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining), Surface Grinding, Wire-Cut EDM, CNC Milling and more. The group also appreciated that a great deal of hand skills were still employed to measure (metrology), surface finishing and polishing the moulds known as “tools”, in readiness for injection moulding manufacturing.

The group then witnessed the tools in use, and watched on as hundreds of plastic enclosures, for brand name clients, were being produced in the injection moulding part of the factory. Jiafuh has many injection moulding machines and can cater for high volume production. They also offer a range of electroplating and vapor deposition surfacing options, to reproduce metallic finishes on plastic components. For our group, it was really valuable to see why injection moulding tools are so expensive and understand how they can be extremely economical when it comes to manufacturing at scale. Every designer should understand these processes.