Company visit: PIM International, Vol.3 No. 2 June 2009, pages 43-46, 1402 words

Author: Mr Xiao Yulin, PM Consultant, China

102# Building 6, Xiangquncun, Diamond Road, Zhuzhou, 412000 Hunan, China

Zhuzhou Luke’s Metal Powder Product Co. Ltd is a leading Chinese producer of MIM tungsten alloy and cemented carbide products. Mr Xiao Yulin* recently visited the company on behalf of PIM International and we report on an operation that is enjoying consistently high levels of sales growth to international markets.

Introduction

Zhuzhou, in China’s Hunan province, is an industrial city of more than 3.80 million people where metallurgy, machinery manufacturing and chemical industries dominate.

The city also can be rightly regarded as being at the heart of hardmetal and heavy alloy production in China with Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group, one of the world’s largest hardmetal plants, being situated there. Zhuzhou’s High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, established by the State Council in 1992, has stimulated both domestic and foreign investment. Advanced materials technology was one of several specialist areas identified for development at the time. 

Zhuzhou Luke’s Metal Powder Product Co. Ltd is one of the city’s newest producers, having been established in 2001 as a joint venture with Hong Kong’s Zhuzhou Jun Ding Company. Metal injection moulding production was planned to be at the centre of operations from the outset.

The company is now one of China’s leading manufacturers of heavy alloy and hardmetal MIM products and its production facility covers approximately 18,000m2 and employs more than 260 people.

Powder injection molding in China

China’s metal and ceramic injection moulding producers have made significant technological advances in recent years, with improvements in process and quality control leading to the rapid growth of both domestic and international markets.......

* Author
Yulin Xiao is a retired Professor Level Senior Engineer who enjoyed a distinguished career at Zhuzhou Cemented Carbide Group Corporation, Zhuzhou, China. He is author of three Chinese language books on steel bonded carbides and has published around 50 technical papers within China and internationally. He has been awarded the Special Government Allowance of Chinese State Council.

Further sections of this article include:

- The growth of MIM at Zhuzhou Luke’s
- Markets and products
- Sales, marketing and research
- Future prospects

Figures and Tables:

Fig. 1 Mr Xiao Yulin (left) with Mr Gao Kejun (right), General Manager at Luke’s Metal Powder Product Co. Ltd
Fig. 2 Injection moulding at Zhuzhou Luke’s
Fig. 3 Injection moulding at Zhuzhou Luke’s
Fig. 4 Preparations for the debinding of small MIM products on a base of aluminium oxide powder
Fig. 5 Furnaces in operation at Zhuzhou Luke’s
Fig. 6 One of three vacuum furnaces at Zhuzhou Luke’s
Fig. 7 Optical inspection of MIM parts
Fig. 8 Tungsten balls ready for dispatch
Fig. 9 Metal injection moulded tungsten balls made by Zhuzhou Luke’s
Fig. 10 Various types of metal injection moulded tungsten alloy fishing weights, up to 50mm in length
Fig. 11 Various metal injection moulded tungsten alloy products manufactured by Zhuzhou Luke’s