OptiMIM's strength lies in its ability to deliver precision MIM solutions that meet the diverse needs of both industrial and consumer product industries, delivering high-quality parts with exceptional performance and reliability. 

OptiMIM's strength lies in its ability to deliver precision MIM solutions that meet the diverse needs of both commercial and industrial parts industries, delivering high-quality parts with exceptional performance and reliability.

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Commercial & Industrial Parts

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MIM produces industrial and consumer product components with minimal machining requirements, reducing manufacturing time, costs, and waste.

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MIM can be used with a wide range of metal powders, allowing for the production of parts with various properties, such as strength, corrosion resistance, and magnetic permeability.

Material Versatility

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MIM provides excellent consistency and repeatability, ensuring that parts are produced to precise specifications

Consistency and Repeatability

MIM allows for complex designs with intricate features, undercuts, and thin sections that would be difficult or impossible to produce using other manufacturing methods.

Design Flexibility

Commercial & Industrial Parts Leaders Choose OptiMIM To Help Achieve Key Goals

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Industry Leading Certifications

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<h2>Get your free copy of our MIM Design Guide</h2>Learn about <a href="/metal-injection-molding/process" target="_self">metal injection molding (MIM)</a>, and discover design freedom from the traditional constraints of trying to mold stainless steel, nickel iron, copper, titanium, and other metals in <a href="/additional-capabilities/engineering" target="_self">part designs</a>.Download a free copy of the MIM Design Guide to learn:<ul><li>The characteristics of the ideal candidates for MIM</li><li>How complexity and cost stack up vs machined parts</li><li>Which limitations of traditional metalworking can be avoided</li><li>The “clean slate” approach to MIM design</li></ul>Fill out the form to get a free copy of the 66-page MIM Design Guide.

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Download this design guide to discover best practices for maximizing performance, manufacturability, and material choice in MIM components.

MIM Design Guide | OptiMIM Whitepaper

Download our free 66-page MIM Design Guide to discover the design freedom of metal injection molding and learn how to overcome traditional metalworking limitations with your part designs. 

MIM Design Guide

<h2>Is Metal Injection Molding Right for Your Project?</h2>With numerous metalworking solutions available, engineers often ask, "What is MIM and when is it the right choice?"Metal injection molding combines the technologies of thermoplastic injection molding and powder metallurgy to produce complex shaped, high density, high-performance metal parts. But when does MIM deliver the most ROI compared to other processes?  Sign up for the on-demand webinar, What’s a Good Fit for MIM, to discover the characteristics that make a component a good candidate for the MIM process.&nbsp;The webinar covers:<ul><li><a href="/additional-capabilities/engineering" target="_self">MIM design capabilities</a> and part criteria</li><li>Getting the most value from the <a href="/metal-injection-molding/process" target="_self">MIM process</a></li><li>Where <a href="/metal-injection-molding/benefits" target="_self">MIM saves cost</a></li><li>And more!</li></ul>Fill out the form to access the webinar on-demand.

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Understand what component geometries, materials, and tolerances make a project an ideal candidate for precision metal injection molding at OptiMIM

What's a Good Fit for MIM? | OptiMIM Webinar

This on-demand webinar explores when to choose Metal Injection Molding (MIM) over other metalworking solutions, covering MIM's design capabilities, cost-saving potential, and optimal applications. 

What's a Good Fit for MIM?

The metal injection molding process involves four steps: compounding, molding, debinding, and sintering. Feedstock, the end result of compounding, is essential to the entire MIM process. Selecting the right powder mixture ensures the best possible part is manufactured.<h2>What Is Metal Injection Molding Feedstock?</h2>Metal Injection Molding utilizes a blend of metal powders combined with a plastic and wax binder. This mixture, known as feedstock, forms the foundation of the final part. OptiMIM takes pride in mixing its own feedstock, allowing for a <a href="/materials/metal-selector-tool" target="_self">diverse selection of metals</a> for customer use.Customers can choose from a variety of metal mixtures. Some common feedstocks include NiFe, 316SS, 420SS, 17-4SS, 4140, titanium, and copper. OptiMIM also offers custom powder blends to achieve specific mechanical properties, high-temperature resistance, and weight requirements.<h3>Manufacturing the MIM Powder</h3>Metal powder is typically manufactured in two ways: water atomization and gas atomization. Water atomization involves pouring molten metal through a nozzle and spraying it with water jets to create metal droplets. These droplets are then quenched with water and collected at the bottom of a tank. The rapid cooling results in rough and irregularly shaped particles with better "brown part" strength and consistency during sintering, but also leads to higher oxidization and oxygen levels.Gas atomization is similar, but uses an inert gas instead of water to atomize the molten metal into fine droplets. These droplets cool as they fall in an atomizing tower, resulting in spherical particles with a high level of cleanliness, better powder distribution, and superior oxygen and carbon control. However, this process can lead to poor "brown part" strength and sintering issues like sag and drag.After atomization, the particles are separated and classified by size, typically ranging from 4 to 25 microns for MIM applications. Screening and air classification are two common methods. Screening utilizes various sized screens to separate particles, while air separators use a rising column of air to sort heavier, denser particles from finer ones. Smaller particles generally cost more, though some manufacturers have refined their processes to produce them at higher yields.  To ensure accurate particle size distribution, a particle size analyzer is used for quality checks.Mix sheets guide the combination of metal powders, wax, and plastic binders in specific ratios to achieve proper shrinkage. These ingredients are mixed, blended, and processed through a twin-screw extruder to create feedstock pellets.Part Three of this series will focus on&nbsp;compounding.&nbsp;Any questions regarding feedstock?&nbsp;Contact our team of engineers for more information.Other articles in the series:<ul><li><a href="/resources/article/mim-series-part-1">MIM Series Part 1</a></li><li><a href="/resources/article/mim-series-part-3-compounding">MIM Series Part 3 – Compounding</a></li><li><a href="/resources/article/mim-series-part-4-molding">MIM Series Part 4 – Molding</a></li><li><a href="/resources/article/mim-series-part-5-debinding">MIM Series Part 5 - Debinding</a></li><li><a href="/resources/article/mim-process-series-part-6-sintering">MIM Series Part 6 - Sintering</a></li></ul>

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Examine how carefully engineered feedstock determines the flowability, molding success, and ultimate strength of finished MIM components.

MIM Series Part 2: Feedstock | OptiMIM Article

Metal injection molding (MIM) uses a feedstock of metal powder mixed with a binder, which is crucial for producing quality parts and can be created through water or gas atomization. 

Commercial & Industrial Parts

Commercial & Industrial Parts Leaders Choose OptiMIM To Help Achieve Key Goals

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Material Versatility

Consistency and Repeatability

Design Flexibility

A Look At
Commercial & Industrial Parts Applications

Industry Leading Certifications

BEYOND THE BASICS

Elevate Your Knowledge About Metal Injection Molding for Commercial & Industrial Parts

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Article

Global Reach, Custom Solutions

Interested in starting your MIM journey?

Commercial & Industrial Parts

Commercial & Industrial Parts Leaders Choose OptiMIM To Help Achieve Key Goals

Near-Net-Shape

Material Versatility

Consistency and Repeatability

Design Flexibility

A Look AtCommercial & Industrial Parts Applications

Industry Leading Certifications

BEYOND THE BASICS

Elevate Your Knowledge About Metal Injection Molding for Commercial & Industrial Parts

White Paper

Webinar

Article

Global Reach, Custom Solutions

Interested in starting your MIM journey?

A Look At
Commercial & Industrial Parts Applications