Value-added part consolidation with MIM

Complexity demands precision

Designing more complex geometries into a part is often a necessary and innovative way to solve a problem. However, it cannot come at the cost of reduced performance. After all, performance is non-negotiable. When producing highly complex or intricate components, you need consistently reliable performance during production.

Choosing the wrong production methods for complex parts could add costly secondary processes—deburring or chamfering on a stamped part, for instance, or assembling two dissimilar parts for one product—and introduce additional variation.

In the production process, some of the highest cost drivers are associated with secondary operations and manual assembly. Ultimately, both processes require more labour and potentially more manufacturers, and each of these factors adds cost.

That is where metal injection moulding comes in. MIM makes it possible to integrate and consolidate several components into a single, net-shape moulded part—reducing the need to work with several manufacturers and decreasing processing and assembly costs. MIM makes this possible without compromising performance.

Part consolidation

Complexity demands precision, and historically it has gone hand in hand with added cost. However, with MIM, you can achieve the complexity you require without an automatic price increase. The cost of MIM parts remains largely constant regardless of complexity, which translates to a higher upfront tooling cost that leads to savings later.

Typically, when designing a component with several disparate parts, cost is hidden in the secondary operations, an extended supply chain and tooling maintenance. When several separate parts are tooled, the need for assembly introduces additional providers into the supply chain. When production processes are outsourced, the handover creates greater potential for part variation and defects. The additional stop in the supply chain also adds time, delaying delivery to market.

In addition to requiring secondary assembly, each individual part would require its own mould cavity, which increases costs both with the initial purchase of several moulds and later when the tooling wears down and needs to be replaced.

Consolidation and cost savings without compromising performance

While the decision to consolidate parts introduces an array of benefits, it can also mean greater complexity. That is where design engineers traditionally have to weigh the trade-offs: on one hand, part consolidation can save weight, costs and time; increase strength and performance; and even streamline the supply chain. On the other, when using materials and processes that mismatch critical factors such as thermal expansion, joints and adhesives, the resulting part could be compromised.

It does not have to be this way. When parts are consolidated with MIM, the component is stronger and more cost-effective. In fact, it is produced even closer to the original design intent than the assembly.

 When parts are consolidated with MIM, the component is stronger and more cost-effective.

 MIM can incorporate many traditionally machined features into one net-shape moulded part from a single mould cavity. Features may include internal and external threads, intersecting diameters, knurling and customer-specific branding—all with the ability to scale economically as demand for your product increases. Since MIM can successfully consolidate into one moulded part, each part can be sourced entirely in-house.

While MIM tooling has a higher initial price than our competitors who machine wrought stock, machine investment castings and machine conventional permanent mouldings, MIM part cost remains constant with additional complexity and moulded features.

This means traditional design limitations are removed, and the number of parts that must be purchased, tracked and managed through inventory is reduced—as are the trade-offs.

MIM adds value across your entire supply chain. You will not just see ROI on the part itself, but throughout the whole value stream. With increased speed to market, guaranteed precision and high-performing parts, you will see the benefits of MIM from the start to the finish of your production process.