Company visit: PIM International, Vol.1 No. 1 March 2007, pages 45-47, 1714 words

Author: Nick Williams, PIM International, Shrewsbury, UK

Introduction

Morgan Advanced Ceramics, a division of Morgan Crucible Company plc, sees a bright future for ceramic injection moulded (CIM) parts. Powder Injection Moulding International recently visited the company’s multi-million pound CIM facility in Stourport, UK.

Company history

Morgan Advanced Ceramics located in the central England town of Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, is a division of The Morgan Crucible Company plc. In 2006 the parent company celebrated two important anniversaries – 150 years of continuous trading since the Morgan brothers first started producing crucibles in Battersea, London in 1856, and 60 years being listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company has recently gone through significant restructuring of its nine business units that existed in 2003. Three of these business units have been merged to become the Carbon division, a further two have become the Technical Ceramics division and the Thermal Ceramics and Crucibles businesses report as the Insulating Ceramics division.

In 2004, the Automotive & Consumer business was sold, and the sale of the Magnetics division was completed in December 2005. Morgan Crucible’s three divisions reported global annual sales of around £750 million in 2005. Around £150 million of sales was for technical ceramics making Morgan one of the world’s leading companies in this sector with manufacturing facilities located in Europe, North America and Asia.

Included in the Morgan Advance Ceramics (MAC) business are the multi-million pound ceramic injection moulding facilities in Stourport, and metal injection moulded (MIM) part production which is located at Alberox Products, New Bedford, Mass., USA. Alberox Products became part of the Morgan Crucible company in 1989. PIM International’s focus on this occasion was the Stourport CIM facility.

Further sections of this article include:

- Advanced ceramic manufacturing at Stourport
- Investment in ceramic injection moulding
- Powders and feedstock
- Mould design and injection moulding
- Markets and applications
- CIM printhead scores notable success
- Improving CIM awareness

Figures and Tables:

Fig. 1 The CIM facilities of Morgan Advanced Ceramics are located in Stourport-on-Severn, UK

Fig. 2 Typical high volume CIM components produced by Morgan Advanced Ceramics at their UK facility

Fig. 3 An alumina ceramic injection moulded printhead manufactured by Morgan for HP