Company visit: PIM International, Vol.4 No. 2 June 2010, pages 21-29, 4690 words

Author: Nick Williams, PIM International, Shrewsbury, UK

                                                 

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In the not too distant future Parmatech will be celebrating 40 years of powder injection moulding, a fact that may come as a surprise to many who believed that PIM was a far more recent technological innovation.

Nick Williams, Editor of Powder Injection Moulding International, recently visited the company which is widely accepted to be the first commercial producer of MIM parts, now located in the picturesque surrounds of California’s Sonoma Valley.

Introduction 

Parmatech Corporation’s story goes right back to the very first days of powder injection moulding (PIM). With its name created from the words PARticulate MAterials TECHnology, Parmatech was founded in San Rafael, California, in 1973 by four entrepreneurs, Karl Zueger, Peter Roth, Ray Millet and Ray Wiech, specifically to develop and commercialise PIM [1]. Nearly 40 years after the first trial parts were processed the company still remains a key member of North America’s PIM community and is one of the most frequently honoured recipients of the Metal Powder Industry Federation’s (MPIF) industry awards for product innovation.

The birth of a new technology

The story of Parmatech’s early history is, in essence, the story of MIM. Prior to Parmatech’s formation, Karl Zueger had established a small company in 1968 in San Rafael, California, called Small Precision Tools to produce tungsten carbide tools used to bond fine wires (0.001 inch in diameter) to printed circuit boards. It was during this time that Zueger met Ray Wiech. Wiech was investigating ceramic injection moulding at Cer Plas, a small company based in Huntington Beach, with his business partner Ray Millet [2]. Zueger saw an opportunity for Wiech’s process to be used for the production of ceramic capillaries for the booming semiconductor industry and the decision to jointly develop the technology through a new company, Parmatech, was taken.....

Further sections of this article include

- Progressing from ceramic to metal
- MIM goes global: licensing Parmatech’s technology
- Parmatech today
- Materials and feedstock
- Manufacturing facilities
- ERP system helps maximise manufacturing efficiency
- Parmatech’s approach to developing parts with customers
- Markets
- Proform acquisition brings much needed capacity increase
- Outlook and opportunities

Special inset feature:
Parmatech’s industry awards mirror the growth of an industry

In 1979 Parmatech won its first two MPIF awards, bringing much needed awareness and credibility to MIM technology. These were the first of many awards that Parmatech has received. Seen together, these parts illustrate well how MIM technology has, over time, been accepted by an ever-expanding range of end-user markets.

Photographs and descriptions of the following parts are included:

1979 Airliner flap screw seal
1983 Rocket burner system
1989 Guitar pistol and saddle lever
1990 Solenoid assembly
1991 Air bag sensor insert assembly
1992 Disk drive pivot hub
1993 Wire crimper components
1994 Read/write latch arm for disk drives
1995 Disk drive magnetic latching post
1999 Shower safety valve
2002 Motorola cell phone hinge
2004 Laparoscopic jaw assembly
2008 Articulation Gear
2009 Handgun Housing Block 

Figures and Tables:

Fig. 1  Parmatech’s main manufacturing and development facility in Petaluma, Sonoma County, California

Fig. 2  View of a line of Arburg injection moulding machines with robotic handling systems

Fig. 3  Japanese Nissei injection moulding machines. In the foreground trays of green parts stacked prior to solvent debinding

Fig. 4  Two green components being placed on trays in an automated production cell at Parmatech

Fig. 5  Solvent debinding tanks

Fig. 6  Thermal debinding furnaces, with stacked parts ready for sintering in the foreground

Fig. 7  A pair of Abar Ipsen vacuum sintering furnaces (left), with additional thermal debinding furnaces (right)

Fig. 8  An Elnik debinding and sintering furnace at Parmatech

Fig. 9 A MIM-420 stainless steel trigger component

Fig. 10  MIM-17-4 surgical jaws for minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures, featuring multiple intersecting cores and shutoffs

Fig. 11 A helix shaped component for industrial magnetic application manufactured from HyMu80TM alloy

Fig. 12 A MIM-2700 alloy firearm component featuring an internally moulded thread

Fig. 13  A 304L component with external moulded thread for routing of communication fiber bundles

Fig. 14  A MIM-17-4 part weighing 200g for an industrial application, shown next to a penny and a MIM orthodontic bracket weighing <1g. These parts illustrate well the size range capable with MIM