Molds are various types of molds and tools used in industrial production to obtain the desired products through injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, die casting or forging, smelting, stamping and other methods. In short, a mold is a tool used to shape objects. This tool is composed of various parts, and different molds are made up of different parts. It mainly achieves the processing of the shape of the item through the change of the physical state of the formed material. It is known as the "Mother of Industry".

A tool that turns billets into parts with specific shapes and sizes under the action of external forces. It is widely used in the forming processing of blanking, die forging, cold heading, extrusion, powder metallurgy parts pressing, pressure casting, as well as the compression or injection molding of engineering plastics, rubber, ceramics and other products. The die has a specific contour or inner cavity shape. By applying a contour shape with a cutting edge, the blank can be separated (blanking) along the contour line shape. The application of the inner cavity shape can enable the blank to obtain the corresponding three-dimensional shape. A mold generally consists of two parts: the moving mold and the fixed mold (or the punch and the die), which can be separated or combined. When separating, remove the workpiece; when closing, inject the blank into the mold cavity to form. Molds are precision tools with complex shapes, bearing the expansion force of billets. They have high requirements for structural strength, rigidity, surface hardness, surface roughness and processing accuracy. The development level of mold production is one of the important indicators of the level of mechanical manufacturing.

There are many types of molds. According to the processing objects and processing techniques, they can be classified as follows: ① Molds for processing metals. ② Molds for processing non-metallic materials and powder metallurgy. Including plastic molds (such as injection molds, compression molds and extrusion molds, etc.), rubber molds and powder metallurgy molds, etc. According to structural characteristics, dies can be further classified into flat blanking dies and cavity dies with space. Molds are generally produced in single pieces and small batches.

In addition to the mold itself, it also requires a mold base, mold frame, mold core, and a device for ejecting the workpiece, etc. These components are generally made into universal types. Mold enterprises need to grow and become more specialized. They should determine their product and market positioning based on market demand and conditions such as technology, funds, and equipment. These practices are particularly worth learning from and emulating for small mold enterprises, who should focus their efforts on gradually forming their own technological and product advantages. Therefore, China's mold enterprises must actively strive to draw on the experience of these advanced foreign enterprises so as to achieve better development in the future.