The market for metal injection molding (MIM) is bounding ahead at a 14%/yr pace, according to a new report, “Metal and Ceramic Injection Molding,” from BCC Research (Wellesley, MA), with the total market for MIM parts to reach $2.7 billion by 2014. That’s a far cry from the many billions spent on molded thermoplastic parts, but the growth rate is bound to grab the attention of some plastics processors keen to tap into a related but swifter-developing market.
Plus, say some who have worked in both markets, it’s easier, at least on the business side. Dan Tasseff, for instance, now is director of sales and marketing at FloMet LLC (DeLand, FL), one of North America’s largest MIM processors with 19 molding machines, 17 of them from Milacron (Cincinnati, OH). Intereviewed at the Plastec Midwest trade show in Rosemont, IL in late September, he recalled his days in sales at a thermoplastics molder as much more difficult, with customers almost exclusively focused on lowest piece part cost. In MIM, he said, the lack of competitors, and a further lack of those with sufficient capacity for large projects, means molders have a better chance of earning a nice profit on the work they do—-albeit often very complex work, such as the child’s braces (for straightening teeth) he had on display at that trade show.
Also at that event was Frank Yu, sales manager at Eversun Technology Co. Ltd., a MIM and thermoplastics processor with a new mega-customer in apparel supplier Levi Strauss, which tapped Everson to start this year molding the as-yet metal stamped buttons for its jeans. Although based in Qingdao, China, he says higher costs for shipping have not affected his business; in fact, he says, parts are always sent by airfreight. “Industrial designers are increasingly choosing MIM (over metal stamping or other processes) as they learn more about it,” he said. The processor also counts tool manufacturer Black & Decker among its large MIM customers. ¹
¹Matt Defosse, Dec 01, 2008 Plastics Today
