The development history of MIM Technology

      The metal injection molding can be traced back to the powder injection molding of ceramic spark plugs beginning in 1920s, and the powder injection molding was mainly focused on the ceramic injection molding in the next few decades. Until 1979, the metal injection molding products of Parmatech company, which was formed by Wiech et al., won two awards, and then Wiech and Rivers were patented. Powder injection molding began to turn to metal injection molding. After Parmatech company transferred several of their patents, MIM company built up one after another. In 1980, Wiech established Witec company. In 1982, Brunswick company entered MIM industry and acquired Witec company, and then gradually registered Omark industry, Remington military products and Rocky dental subsidiary company. In 1986, Nippon Seison of Japan introduced the Wiech process. In 1990, Israel Metalor2000 company Parmatech introduced the Wiech technology and established the MIM production line. After nearly twenty years of development, the global MIM product market value in 2003 reached about US $1 billion. By geographical division, the United States accounted for 55%, followed by Europe and Japan. At present, there are more than 500 companies worldwide engaged in the production and sales of metal injection molding products, as well as about 40 MIM powder suppliers and 20 MIM feed suppliers. According to statistics, the forming capacity of the global MIM industry has exceeded 700 injection molding machines, 500 furnaces and 300 mixers. Marko Maetzig detailed analysis of the situation in Europe. There are 120 companies and 30 research institutes in Europe for MIM, with 250 injection molding machines and 1100 tons of feed for a year. 38% of European MIM companies come from the traditional ceramic industry, 27% from the plastic industry, 8% from the traditional powder metallurgy and metal cutting industries, 5% from the foundry industry and 14% for new companies. Japan now has 20~30 MIM companies, and the MIM market in Japan has shown a steady upward trend in recent years. Although there was a decrease in 2001 compared with 2000, overall sales volume showed a steady growth trend.


MIM has gone through a road of rapid development. Although MIM is attracting more and more attention, its industrial scale is still weaker than traditional processing technology and has great potential for development. The new MIM industry also needs to develop a series of efforts to develop industrial standards, accelerate industrialization, improve the quality of practitioners, research and development equipment, and strive for customers. With the continuous improvement of the technology, the superiority of metal injection molding technology is gradually showing, which will be accepted by more and more industries and customers, and the market share is also increasing rapidly. Because of the huge potential of the market, many venture capital also began to get involved in the MIM industry. It is foreseeable that MIM will develop into one of the most promising parts manufacturing technologies in twenty-first Century.