Engineering Plastic is a term given to a group of plastics that offer performance advantages and benefits to industry or individuals in some form of engineering application. There are many engineering plastics available that have a massive range of properties and are suitable for almost limitless applications. Some of the advantages that engineering plastic can offer include reduced material and machining costs, lighter weight, improved wear resistance, shock and impact resistance to name a few. Although there are many engineering plastics, there are still developments and advances in technology are further expanding the range and capabilities of engineering plastic as a whole. Most engineering plastics are available in either sheet, rod or tube, and to help customers further save money, manufacturers produce material that ranges from thicknesses such as 1mm thick up to and sometimes greater than 100mm thick. Rod can range from as small as 4mm and includes sizes up to 600mm diameter. Engineering plastic manufacturers also help by producing a huge range and variety of thicknesses and diameters to reduce waste and reduce machining time to a minimum.

One important characteristic of most engineering plastics is that the majority of the materials are made oversize, which means that manufacturers allow a small allowance for engineers to finish machine to an accurate size removing any potential surface imperfections. Another important development of engineering plastic science is that of fillers or performance improvers, these generally are to improve wear resistance and to lower friction resistance, these can include molybdenum disulphide and special grade oil.

Trade names are another factor within the engineering plastic industry. Manufacturers can often add their own individual name to particular materials to try and gain exclusivity, some of these plastics are indeed unique but in the majority of cases, trade names are applied to regular plastics and very often the same engineering plastic can end up with numerous trade names.