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  • Cost of a MIM piece

Cost of a MIM piece

by Ecrimesa Group / Friday, 17 September 2021 / Published in MIM

The most important factors in setting a cost for a MIM part are:

1.- Material 

The MIM process does not have such an important variety of materials as other metal forming technologies. In the case of the Ecrimesa Group they are materials with commercial catalytic debanding.

The list of materials we can offer are:

  • Material Types Table

The type of material has an important influence on the cost of the parts for two main reasons:

  • Price of the material, which is more expensive in stainless steels (316L-174PH) than in carbon steels (42CrMo4-FN08), around 30%. In relation to the price of the materials, they are 10-15 times more expensive than the material coming from bar or ingot to melt.
  • Sintering process, that must be at a slower rate in stainless steels, and in hydrogen atmosphere compared to carbon steels that are normally sintered in nitrogen atmosphere and with a sintering rate 30-40 % higher.

2.- Size and configuration of the part

The size is important, as it influences the weight mentioned above, as well as the sintering capacity, since the parts are processed in molybdenum trays of size 200*200 and the greater the number of parts that can be processed per box, the better the cost of this process, both in continuous furnace and in batch furnace. 

According to our records, the optimum sizes of MIM parts are between 0.5 grms and 40 grms, although we have parts above 150 grms that, due to their configuration and the machining savings obtained, are profitable compared to other technologies.

On the other hand, and no less important, is the design of the part in order to adapt it to the limitations of the technology, to avoid secondary operations such as machining and to reduce its costs. 

Comparison of dimension / tolerance between MIMECRISA and EPMA
Minimum thickness – 0.7 mm 
Roughness – Ra0.8Ra1.2 

It is very important that the parts are not designed with sharp edges, and that they have as many radii as possible to facilitate the injection of the material, to avoid segregation during injection and to prevent cracks from appearing after the sintering process. 

Likewise, they must have space for the placement of the injection point and homogeneous walls for a correct injection of the material (since it must be taken into account that steel powder will be injected with the difficulty that this entails since it is not an easy material to inject). 

Comparison of different injection cases
Comparative table of injection methods

Designing the part with adequate areas for the part, to settle during the debanding/sintering process, also has a very important influence on the cost, since in case of not having flat support faces it forces to use special sintering supports, reducing the load on the furnaces and therefore not maximizing the cost advantage.

Finally, for carbon or low alloy steel parts that require heat treatments, it is of special importance to establish adequate placements for the performance of these heat treatments in order to avoid deformations during the heat treatments, or cracks generated by the heat treatment on the part. The Ecrimesa Group has its own facilities for heat treatments and adapts them to the requirements of the parts in order to maximize the cost and quality of the part. 

Making a comparison between MIM and Microfusion of a potential part:

MIM / Microfusion comparison
MIM / Microfusion Comparison

Design Microfusion

Detailed design of Microfusion
Design Microfusion

For an annual consumption of 45,000 pieces/year the cost study would be:

MICROFUSIONMIMECRISA
PIECE1 €0,94 €
MACHINING0,54 €NO
MACHINING TOOL1.800 €NO
MOLD6.500 €16.000 €
Microfusion design measures

Estimating the amortization of the tooling on the first 45,000 pieces, the result would be:

MICROFUSIONMIM
1,72 €1,29 €
Cost comparison: Microfusion and MIM

To learn more about this technology at Ecrimesa Group:

Go to Metal Injection Moulding

What you can read next

Medical Industry applications of Investment Casting and MIM
The Defense Sector in relation to Metal Injection Molding
Metal injection molding outlook for 2022 in Europe

Proyecto de Innovaciones de Industria 4.0 en Mimecrisa 2021” Cofinanciado por la Consejería de Innovación, Industria, Turismo y Comercio (Gob. Cantabria) y el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER El objetivo general del proyecto es avanzar en la transformación digital de MIMECRISA mediante la aplicación de un conjunto de nuevas tecnologías que afectarán a toda la cadena de valor del proceso (para la optimización de su control y mejora continua) al producto (gracias a la reducción de errores y predicción de defectos mediante ML) y al modelo de negocio (facilitando la relación con proveedores/clientes).

La empresa Electro Crisol Metal, S.A. ha sido beneficiaria dentro del programa de SODERCAN SA: "Subvenciones en respuesta a las consecuencias económicas de la guerra de UCRANIA."
De acuerdo con lo dispuesto en el artículo 28.6 la Ley de Cantabria 1/2018, de 21 de marzo, de Transparencia de la Actividad Pública, se publica la siguiente comunicación de retribuciones.

La empresa Mimecri, S.A. ha sido beneficiaria dentro del programa de SODERCAN SA: "Subvenciones en respuesta a las consecuencias económicas de la guerra de UCRANIA."
De acuerdo con lo dispuesto en el artículo 28.6 la Ley de Cantabria 1/2018, de 21 de marzo, de Transparencia de la Actividad Pública, se publica la siguiente comunicación de retribuciones.

La empresa Mecanizados Cantabria, S.L. ha sido beneficiaria dentro del programa de SODERCAN SA: "Subvenciones en respuesta a las consecuencias económicas de la guerra de UCRANIA."
De acuerdo con lo dispuesto en el artículo 28.6 la Ley de Cantabria 1/2018, de 21 de marzo, de Transparencia de la Actividad Pública, se publica la siguiente comunicación de retribuciones.

Flag of Europe

Unión Europea

Proyecto Cofinanciado por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional
Programa Operativo FEDER de Cantabria 2014-2020

"Una manera de hacer Europa"

Ecrimesa isotipo blanco

Avda. Parayas 32 ES-39011 Santander. España

Tel.: (+34) 942 334 511
ecrimesa@ecrimesa.es

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