From powder to part – Osram offers vertically integrated PIM production
Osram, based in Munich, Germany, is a leading global manufacturer of lighting products with a history dating back more than 100 years. The company reported that sales revenue in the first quarter of its current financial year starting October 2015 increased by 6% from a year earlier to €1.48 billion.
However, the continuing decline in demand for traditional lamps and associated products saw the company embark on an innovation and growth initiative last November to exploit the potential offered by semiconductor based lighting technologies.
Following the carve-out of the general lighting lamps business, the company will focus on three main strategic pillars in the future: LED components, specialty lighting, and luminaires, solutions and electronic components.
OSRAM is also a significant producer of tungsten (W) and molybdenum (Mo) powders including powder grades with various dopings which are used in the manufacture of lamp filaments and other PM-based refractory metal products such as sintered rods. The company states that its W and Mo powders are also used for Powder Injection Moulding and that it operates a vertically integrated PIM process from powder to the finished part.
The PIM facility at OSRAM additionally processes cermet, ceramic and thermally conducting polymers (TCP) for heat sinks and thermal management. Applications for PIM parts besides lighting applications may include radiation shielding, counterweights, components in sports equipment, automotive, aerospace and medical.
