When it comes to producing rubber products, many different manufacturing processes exist. Each method has its own pros and cons that make it the ideal choice for manufacturing certain types of products. Knowing a little about each process can help in understanding cost implications and tradeoffs.

• Extrusion: This method begins with an unvulcanized (uncured) rubber compound being fed into an extruder. Once it is inside the extruder, it gets carried to a dye, which is a specialized manufacturing tool used to shape the rubber. Once the compound reaches the dye, the pressure from the process forces it through the opening of the extruder. Then, the extruded product will need to be vulcanized, or cured. It is important to note that any rubber compound must have a "cure package" already blended into the compound prior to vulcanization. Extrusion manufacturing has the advantage of being able to produce products in high volumes at a lower production cost. Most extruded products typically have a continuous cross section so some of the common rubber products produced from extrusion include cords, tubing, and gaskets.

• Compression molding: In this method, a rubber compound is formed into a blank (preform of uncured rubber). The blank then gets placed into a mold cavity to be shaped. The heating time is slow, which results in a long curing time - the heating can vary from three minutes for thin parts to several hours for thicker parts. Some advantages of this method include being suitable for rubber compounds with large surface areas and the ability to be used for rubber compounds with high viscosity and poor flow properties. On the down side, the process is time consuming with a low production rate. Some common products made with compression molding include seals, o-rings, electrical insulators, and silicone wrist bands.

• Transfer molding: In transfer molding, the process starts with a blank being loaded into a mold's pot, which is then pushed by a plunger and distributed into several cavities. In this beginning stage, pre-heating takes place in the rubber, forcing the rubber to flow through channels. This pre-heating reduces the curing time and allows the rubber to flow easier and fill mold cavities efficiently. However, the molds can be more complicated and expensive.

• Injection molding: This method can allow for the quickest production times for high volume part manufacturing. Rubber is fed into a screw which is used to pre-heat the rubber and inject it into a mold's cavities. With no rubber preforms being required, this method is typically the most cost-effective when manufacturing rubber products on a large scale. However, tooling and molds can be quite expensive when using injection molding but this can be offset by better production efficiency.

• Calendering: This method works by forcing softened rubber between counter-rotating rollers. Rollers compact the material and the overall thickness of the product is determined by the gap distance between cylinders, which can be adjusted for varying product thicknesses. Once the material passes through cooling rollers, it can be vulcanized. This process works best to produce sheets or films of rubber. Benefits of calendering include control over product thickness and the ability to produce parts thinner and wider than with the extrusion. However, calendering can have high operating costs compared to other processes.