AMS increases capacity for Metal Injection Moulded Ti parts production in Australia, targets US market
Advanced Metallurgical Solutions (AMS), the only Australian manufacturer of Metal Injection Moulded (MIM) components and sintered metallic membrane, has announced that an additional 100 tonne automated injection moulding machine and an additional vacuum/hydrogen sintering furnace, as well as ancillary equipment, will be brought online in the first quarter of 2015. The investments have been made as part of the formation of a dedicated titanium manufacturing division. Bringing the equipment online will increase the company’s average weekly capacity in titanium by 24,000 MIM components or 150 m² of metallic membrane.
Craig Erskine, Director of Development at AMS, told PIM International, “We see an increasing trend towards using titanium components thanks to the efficiencies of the advanced manufacturing techniques we use. Complex parts can be made quickly with high consistency, high strength, tight tolerances and almost no waste. These efficiencies bring the cost of titanium components down several fold, making them competitive with components made of inferior materials using traditional methods.”
A dedicated titanium injection moulding division opens new opportunities for customers requiring production runs smaller than the minimum 1,000 to 4,000 parts required by many MIM manufacturers, stated Erskine. “Pooling groups of similar components allows much of the variable cost to be spread over several smaller runs, bringing the component cost of runs of 50-100 components in line with the cost of much larger runs. Once the 3D printed or machined prototyping phase for a component is complete, AMS can offer substantial savings in both low and high volumes.”
“This opportunity should also be of interest to potential small and medium run customers in the USA,” explained Erskine, “since there is no customs duty for titanium goods imported into America from Australia and no language barrier either. These factors help make switching to titanium MIM with us easier and more economical.”
AMS also manufactures MIM components from stainless steels and superalloys. The company works together with Australian universities to push the boundaries in filtration technology and component manufacturing.
