Compare µ-MIM^® with other manufacturing methods

Machining is a representative process for high-precision machining, but it is not suitable for mass production of small and complex components due to the long machining time per part and low material yield.

In general, the MIM process has lower accuracy than machining, but our μ-MIM® technologoy has the same accuracy as machining. It can also be used to produce complex designs such as undercuts and integration of multiple parts, eliminating assembly steps. With μ-MIM®, the material yield is 100%.

Both stamping and MIM are good at mass production, however, from the view of design freedom and tolerance, MIM has advantage.

μ-MIM is capable to mass produce the design of thin wall, which stamping cannot achieve, under-cut, less than a millimeter fine structure.

Die casting is a casting process in which molten metal is injected into the mould.

There is great freedom of design, but material selection is limited to metals with low melting points, such as Al and Zn. In addition, shrinkage cannot be avoided, so mechanical properties are poor. µ-MIM® gives you the same level of design freedom with better mechanical properties.

Lost wax casting is a sand casting process in which the master foam, which is made of wax, is converted into metal using a sand mould.

This process allows a high degree of design freedom and a wide range of materials. However, the use of the sand mould means that many additional processing steps are required. In addition, post-processing is inevitable, making it difficult to produce thin-walled design parts. Mass production of thin-walled parts is a strength of μ-MIM®.

Compaction powder metallurgy is the best known powder metallurgy process.

This process is well suited for mass production. It can also be used to process metals with high melting points or metals that are difficult to machine. However, only large metal powders can be used in this process, which means that the density and roughness are low. This results in poor mechanical properties and low design flexibility. μ-MIM® enables high density, smooth surface finish and high design flexibility for mass production of components.

Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D metal printing, produces parts by layering metal powder on top of each other according to 3D design data. This method can be used to produce any design.

However, there are significant differences in mechanical strength in the vertical and horizontal directions in the stacked layer. In addition, the surface roughness is poor. On the other hand, no mould is required, so the lead time for prototyping is short. Therefore, AM is ideal for small batch production and MIM for mass production.