In plastics engineering, as in most engineering disciplines,
the economics of a product plays an important role. The cost
of a plastic product is measured in different ways, and the
absolute cost of a plastic material is difficult to ascertain.
Cost is often measured in price per pound of material, or price
per unit volume of material. In many cases however, it is important
for a product to meet certain specifications, and cost could
then be measured in price per unit of a property. Price with
respect to the process is often important, as some materials
need to be processed at very high temperatures, increasing the
amount of cooling time a part needs. In a large production run
cooling time is very expensive. Some plastics are manufactured
from re-cycled materials but their use in engineering tends
to be limited because the consistency of formulation and their
physical properties tend to be less consistent.
