The MIM enigma

The MIM Enigma Metal injection moulding is an industry seeking to break into the broad uplands of general business acceptance. A passionate advocate of MIM technology looks at some of the factors that influence companies looking for breakthrough - and those that affect their potential customers...

M

injection

ETAL

(MIM), eral

moulding

powder

(PIM)

movement,

The

plastic injection industries

aren’t

for every-

The current

industry

to gain traction

niches

result, the technology stream industries.

Prospective

must make

the technology r7nn

MIM,

Steve James

MIM

of technical,

marketing

l l

rnaecs for PIM,

ningjstippcart by expert

ab

_““G,

Dilemma

PM

Clay

Christensen

of established

businesses.

manufactur-

the needs of today’s customers. existing

investment/die CNC

moulding, casting and

machining

well-established For the

have

a

SUPPlY most part,

customer

ences the allocation

of the supplier’s

Today’s

customers

sustaining

innovation

innovation. ket

enjoy end-users who under-

established

stand

one

how

technology products.

to utilise within

the

or

that of

Third,

not

of an

is at least magnitude the market-

ing apparatus of the established

The days of pio-

mar-

does

expectations

orders

greater in scope.

their

the MIM

composition

industry

two

want

over disruptive

Second,

size and

solve the growth

industries

The

base strongly influ-

resources.

indus-

neering work in developing

try finds it difficult,

the

to analyse the MIM market potential

applications

and

marketplace

interest

the

The

past.

because

are in

of the

it doesn’t

if not impossible, exist

(in conven-

tional terms) ahead of time.

powerful

successful,

status

established

Fourth, a

organisation’s

Established market

End-User

d

t .!

MIM

GERO-Hochtemperaturtifen Gmbtl MonbachstwBe 5-7 D-75242 Neuhausen Tel.: ++49-(0)7234-9522-O Fax: ++49-(0)7234-9522-99 ‘e-Mail: [email protected] www.gero-gmbh.de

2002

the

First, they are very busy satisfying

HOT SULU JfOA’S

June

that

conventional

Harvard’s

Supplier

MPR

the

such as PM,

1.

14

it uninten-

ing industries

momentum

New Reader Enquiry Go to www.metal-powder.net

of dominance,

explores what he calls the Innovation

technology.

the conventional

comple

Graphite or P&&L$@pm&at-.

-

viable.

Conventional

chain.

extensive accessory program Custom-designed sojutions

isn’t

they face a series of issues that

ment.

and

strategic issues that come to play with

do not.

r special heat-treatments debinding

MIM

of

lack

inhibit their ability to justify involve-

The MIM enigma then, is the collection

/

Catalytic/thermal

they

and/or plastics industry contemplates

in main-

plastic injection

l

to make

creates an infrastructure

When

any disruptive r-7

that

what because

next set of market innovations.

As a

as they adopt

Hor, indeed,

or

not

makes it very difficult to embrace

a series of impor-

decisions

vision

tionally

may continue

to those

know

but

a position

firms

in order

in the market.

don’t

MIM,

Rather, once an industry has grown to

are compelled

to appear unusual users

PM,

and other

sure what to make

to seek out eclectic

tant business

The hard reality is that these industries

pre-

established

moulding

of the newcomer. in the MIM

tial liability.

injection

sents a series of dilemmas one involved.

quo is both a great asset and a poten-

moulding

as part of the gen-

Service No 609. to make your enquiry. 0026-0657/02/g

- see front

matter

0 zooz

Elsevier

Science

Ltd. All rights

reserved.

capabilities ties.

create

The

inherent

staff develops

disabili-

wisdom and

intuition

around the existing business

network.

They find it extremely

2 .

diffi-

cult to keep internal resources focused on the pursuit of a disruptive

innova-

tion because of the compelling the established

Supplier

pull of

market.

The MIM industry Meanwhile, industry

the

existing

are

in

the

proud

plishments

supply

their

excited

potential

MIM

of the

competency

draws from powder metallurgy, tic injection trol

and

moulding,

marketing. gies, MIM

for

important

non permeates

eclectic

our

an exciting and

nology work, discover convince

embrace a

chain

niche

the process,

in

spread market

- we of

to

build a supply

pioneering

scruti-

market

loop - our industry

acceptance

but strugthe stronger

image and supply chain

necessary

to

make the leap from early adoption

to

early

mass-market.

OEMs

and their

The entre-

feedback

dreams of wide-

gles with how to create

applica-

and endure the critical

preneurial,

phenome-

our industry

in niche markets can create a type of self--reinforcing

many of

customers

ny of the establishment. cultural

and a

knowledge.

After all, in order to thrive,

tions,

land of confusion. An

of

an uphill struggle to make the tech-

technolo-

innovation

protective

us have spent well over a decade

for what

isolated

can be both

opportunity

plas-

technology

As a “node”

MIM can be somewhat bit

process con-

(hopefully)

were previously

Niche++2

accom-

remain

about the untapped technology.

business-

MIM

of

and

MIM

perspective.

the various

involved

chain

Make a Market

has a different

In most cases, es

End-User

Mainstream product

managers

aren’t reassured of MIM as a manage-

spirit that was

able

necessary to create MIM applications

risk when

like “proprietary,

they

hear

secret,

messages

unique,

and

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3.

//

Transitional

0 Phi

End-User

/

/

Technologies JITEK high pressure

&

temperature

MIM

black art.” Prospective either

those

who

MIM

component

MIM users are

will

purchase

from

a

technology

case, the selling industrial

Author

on technology.

and

venture

Presses (HIP)

into

four cate-

and

is comprised

industry

Sceptics.

and Pragmatic

The of both

end-users

in

markets

These

two quite

depending presented

Web-site: www.phi-technologies.com

such as PM moulding

are

Pragmatists

and

while the MIM indusand

Where

this all ends up is with the of a technology-intensive

sales activity

coming

down to decid-

issues.

A prospec-

buying differently

to them.

The

quite differ-

sales messages

than

segments

will a Pragmatic

Buying Center.

The

to

Visionary

MIM is

Visionary

won’t

necessarily

hear that their application forward,”

and

the

want to is “straight

Pragmatists

will

MIM prospect will tend to be an indi-

revolt from too much talk about the

vidual and may be the leader of the

exotic,

proprietary

business.

MIM

process

from

will

happen

It is likely

a vision

tion

if they

contrast,

that

of how

can

they will

MIM

properly

is typically

mission-critical

In

MIM

a group of indi-

business

by a comin a

function. is common-

are

way, the likely

either business

an

What

The bottom of MIM

next?

MIM

individual

leader who wants

line: prospective

are either

or completely depending segment

turned

out

questions

whenever

users

confused

off by MIM

represent

of MIM

encounter

excited,

on what type of customer they

version Two

ly called a Buying Center. users

of one another.

apply the

Pragmatic

viduals who are motivated

nature

might

of the technology.

the

Visionary

[email protected]

basis.

to certain

on how the technology

Put another

E-mail:

injection of

paradox

ently

This group of pragmatists

Fax: +32 3 710 95 99

industries

plastic

com-

routine

ness leader will respond

pelling need for an improvement

Tel: +32 3 710 95 95

wants to

tive MIM user who is a visionary busi-

prospect

Belgium

a

edly psychological

Vision or pragmatism?

latent potential

B-91 40 Temse

on

Conventional and

latter

select Pragmatists.

rewrite the rules of their market posi-

13

ponents

Centers

Pragmatists,

MIM

for,

most assuredly selling into the Buying

capitalist

Conservatives

have

Winninglaan

The

make/buy reliable

try is selling to both Visionaries

adopters Visionaries,

respond

Hot lsostatic

project.

technology

a variety of niche

Presses (CIP)

The

Conservatives,

Visionary

Cold lsostatic

is a

with a

along with a

risk.

Geoffrey Moore segments prospective gories:

and services

In

scenario

sales activity

heavy emphasis

upgrades

process.

adoption

mer wants to make/buy an involved (ultimately)

and

advantage

manageable R&D

equipment

either

builds,

“MIM

a competitive

MIM

B2B,

. . . designs,

a

moulder” or those who will integrate into their manufacturing

technology

Market

MIM

and

selling in

which

tactic

the

always

they

industry. come

up

is discussed:

will

MIM ever make it to the same scale as other technologies; corporations

and will estab-

to push beyond the MIM application

lished

from

boundary, or a small group of decision

ventional

industries

like

makers who think that MIM can offer

injection

moulding

ever

the

con-

PM make

and a

l

4.

Sustaining not

The New Market

marketing

usually provide

activities relevant

for making decisions

do data

about disrup-

tive innovations. l

Your existing

staff has forged their

wisdom and intuition mainstream End-User

They

will

l

have

network.

great

maintaining

resource

innovative

technology

existing

around your

business

structure

difficulty

focus on an within

Try not to force a disruptive vation

to fit an existing

Find

a new market

keting move

into

MIM?

The

answers? “Yes” and “It depends.” Yes, MIM

business

- a technology

Others

will make it. The

ques-

first.

l

and

tion occur?

might offer that they have a core set

In the technology

dom, MIM

is a member

king-

of the PIM

species and the additive manufacturing genus.

The historical

trend seems

to head away from subtractive ods MIM

and

toward

additive

manufacturing

vides sophistication of complex precision

functionality,

dimensional

world

econo-

of capitalism,

of global

markets,

population

of customer they

and

Report

featured

Boney

Mathew’s

Strike

Team

of a solution

the

MIM ment.

vision

and

approach provider.

It

r

PIM

that

largely

Getting

resource

is the

market

presents

of established

will conclude

biggest

barrier.

moulding

The

PM and businesses

that they do not wish

on the straatefiicorientation of the indi-

there will be a few of these firms who

ness strategy

itself and its competencies. industry MIM

shares

and it certainly

high-volume tion

with

sells into some

markets.

moulders

The PM

a raw material Plastic

understand

injec-

a signifi-

cant part of the MIM process and they may already sell into attractive markets,

lem with sintering

and metallurgy.

It depends on how a firm perceives what

it does.

example.

will make a move Carpenter

What

Take

a PM firm for

business

Castparts Pacific Plastics

is it really

in MIM. into MIM,

Technologies, Corp.,

Sintered

But while

involved

Precision

Hawk

Industries,

Metals

are US-based

established

and Phillips examples

firms who have in

MIM

with

of

become varying

For PM firms (and others)

who are

ready to face the MIM Enigma, Christensen

offers

the

Clay

following

advice: l

Don’t

expect

your

existing

cus-

tomers to lead you toward innova-

in? Most will answer that they are in

tions that they do not know they

the

need.

PM

component

www.metal-powder.net

fabrication

to the new technology. l

The

biggest

obtaining

barrier

an

to

ample

unconventional

entry

is

supply

of

wisdom.

The Author Steve

James

holds

Administration Presidential/Key and

a BS

in

in

a Masters

from

Pepperdine

Executive

MBA

Mechanical

Oregon State University.

Business

University’s programme

Engineering

from

Steve has been in the

MIM industry for five years. This

year

International

he

launched

PIM

Alliance

agency for the PIM industry. on projects systems

IPIMA,

He also consults

for PIM implementation,

for

unique

business

The

e a marketing IS0

9000

structures

and

ERP/BI systems.

degrees of success.

MIM

but there is the pesky prob-

involved

even less will succeed.

and how a firm views

strategy of

and try to adapt it

invest-

to become

is no right or

Do not take the blanket

into

the MIM industry (and why) depends There

first

adoption

the

hidden)

plastic injection

vidual business.

therefore

“bet the farm” on the

a moderate-sized

and human

vast majority

wrong decision here - it is about busi-

for success

a new technology;

the corporation

the

to

learning are

to the search

the strategic orientation

represents

dynamic (and

of who will make up

l

example

are

project.

solutions

a great

capabilities

Failure and interactive

don’t

The February issue of Metal Powder

capital

The question

a

established

with

provider.

demonstrate

Self-perception is the key

-

Your

intrinsic

to supply almost

and/or service that their

the

dynamic that favours MIM adoption.

l

and that

require

the

a powerful

others

any product

cated

create

relationships

are prepared

steady increase in demand for sophistiproducts

Still

customers

pro-

- the combination

my. The evolution growing

methods.

technology

and manufacturing

emergence

meth-

business.

not a technical

more rigid than you think.

design, fabrication

tion is more at what rate will the adop-

supply

In the is a mar-

challenge.

practitioner.

might say that they are in the

metal component

challenge,

inno-

market.

end, the new technology major

the

of your business.

IPIMA

- The

be contacted

International at:

12 18 Plum Tree Road Carlsbad,

CA

92009

[email protected] ++l

760535

1556

USA

PIM Alliance

tax