-K. Gopalakrishnan
We hear and read a lot about injection molding as a technology being used to manufacture parts from thermoplastics material. Not much is known about Metal Injection Molding (MIM), and even among those who know about this, the general impression is that this technology is too expensive and that there are very few manufacturers in the world, mostly in the US and Europe, who can provide such solutions. To clear the air and to know more about MIM, I met Mr. Ajeet Khare, Managing Director of Indo-US MIM Tec, the world’s leading manufacturer of MIM components.
Indo US MIM Tec Pvt. Ltd. is a Bangalore-based company specializing in Metal Injection Molded parts. Mr. Krishna Chivukula, an NRI based out of the US, started this company and was instrumental in bringing this technology into India. MIM as a technology is just 15 to 20 years old worldwide. So, in a sense this technology is very recent.
“By 2010 we want to be a global leader for MIM parts”, says Mr. Ajeet Khare, Managing Director of the company. This is the vision he set for the company way back in 2001 when he joined. From a turnover of Rs. 4 crores in 2001, Indo US MIM ended the financial year 2007-08 with turnover of Rs. 120 crores. Out of the total turnover 90% of the business comes from exports and the balance 10% comes from the domestic market.
Mr. Khare says: “We manufacture those products which cannot be manufactured by another technology. Indo-US MIM has a unique ability to mold components of highly complex geometries. This ensures that our customers’ requirements – both small and large – can be met with quality and speed. Also, our capability to offer the best of world-class technology at competitive prices, provides a significant advantage to our customers all over the world”.
Technology
The Metal Injection Molding manufacturing process uses fine metal powder as the raw stock, which is sourced from various manufacturers. This is then thoroughly blended under compounding, where it mixes with thermoplastic binders into a feedstock. This feedstock is injection molded to form green parts, which is then taken to the debinding stage where the partial binders are removed. The net shape of the component is ready after the last stage of sintering process, wherein there is inter- particle diffusion taking place in a controlled atmosphere.
As mentioned earlier, the technology is fairly recent and globally there are not many large scale manufacturers providing this technology. The reason being, its high on investment and the initial development cost is also on the higher, given the need to prepare the basic mold for manufacturing the product. All this meant longer lead time for product development. Indo-US MIM identified an opportunity, and changed the way it approached the business. The company provided total end-to-end solutions right from conceptualizing, designing, to the manufacturing of complex precision components and sub-assemblies. All the necessary infrastructure has been created in-house and as a result, in some cases, the development time reduced from 20 weeks to 8 weeks, enabling customer to realize significant reduction in cost.
Clients
Indo US MIM Tec caters to a vast segment of clients manufacturing about 650 components under its domain catering to electronics & peripherals industry, auto industry, firearm industry, consumer industry, telecom industry, surgical instruments and implants units. Some of the major OEMs include Nokia, Motorola, Cummins, Honeywell, Caterpillar, etc.
In the automotive segment the company supplies to global auto majors like Mercedes Benz and to component manufacturers like Honeywell, Cummins and Caterpillar. In India, the company supplies gear box components for Tata Motors and is in discussions with the latter for supplying a few critical parts for Nano.
“Research and Development is an ongoing process for us and is a must in our business. The focus is on how we bring out new components and materials, shorten time and improve yield, resulting in more output. We are constantly trying to improvise the products, production process, fast and flexible, and produce millions of parts per year. Further, the technology guarantees superior surface finish and shape integrity. We attempted to improve in this aspect of Research and Development, and are far ahead than others. We have a very young team of engineers who are no less than anyone else in the world. We have over 400 people working in both plants put together”, adds Mr. Khare.
MIM, as a technology, is clearly an alternative to forged and machined parts. When parts are forged and machined, it induces a lot of stress on the part. The advantage of MIM technology is that MIM parts hardly have any stress at the stage of manufacturing and ensures longer work life than machined components. There is also a possibility of experimenting with metal composition. This means that if a client wants more hardness or softness, it can be done accordingly by changing the input material composition. Typically for components which need to be machined, you cannot make it very hard as you cannot machine it. In this process, you have the flexibility to offer different compositions based on the customer requirement.
Indo US MIM currently has two manufacturing facilities located on the outskirts of Bangalore city. Both the plants are certified to ISO 9001:2000 and to ISO/TS 16949:2002. The company has so far invested over Rs. 100 crores since inception.
