How It's Made - PLANTOPIA

Plantopia Hanging Baskets are quality, durable plastic flower pots made from recycled plastic resins right outside of Chicago. Made using the injection molding process by G.A.I.M. Engineering - family-owned company manufacturing since 1989, Plantopia goes through a multitude of steps before being released into the market - either to a retailer or wholesaler, direct to consumer or to a grower.

The most important part of a plastic product is the tooling or mold as its called. Created from a block of steel by one of our local U.S. vendors, it goes through a rigorous creation process using a variety of high-tech and high-quality machines and tools to develop and create the final tool. All this is done after taking an idea or concept, creating blueprints and prototypes before finally being produced. This could take 6 or more weeks to finally have a tool ready to sample before production begins.





Once the tool is made, sampled and enhanced for production, it's time to make some parts! Pictured to the right is a lot of recycled resin used to eventually make a Plantopia flower pot. The resin we use is fed through what is essentially a vacuum tube which loads it into the injection molding machine (left). This puts the plastic resin into the machine automatically to increase production efficiency.



Plastic injection molding is basically the same process used to make popsicles - albeit at much different temperatures. To make yummy popsicles, add some flavored sugar water into some sort of plastic mold and put into the freezer. Allow it to freeze and voila! - an easy way to make a special treat. Molding plastic is similar. In this case, the injection molding machine heats up the plastic - usually over 400 degrees or more depending on the type of plastic - until it's a liquid. It is shot into the steel mold to take the shape of the part and then cools. Once cooled, the mold opens and releases the part. That's it. The whole process of injection molding a part can typically take anywhere from 20 seconds to 90 seconds depending on the part and resin being used.

"That's it," you ask. Well, not quite. Our next blog post will explain what happens after the parts are taken from the machine and put into the next phase. Check back here to see the completed process of how a Plantopia Hanging Basket is made! Post your questions or comments below.