Phillips-Medisize Corporation receives the 2017 Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) grand prize award in the automotive engine category at this year's POWDERMET show.
Phillips-Medisize, along with its customer Delphi, received the award for its metal injection molded (MIM) four-slot fuel valve seat part, which goes into the Multec3.5 compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel injector. The part is currently used for several small-engine and automotive applications, including aftermarket CNG conversions for trucks and cars, helping contribute to a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions.
"We are honored to accept this award with Delphi. The customer was responding to the market's need for a low cost, low pressure, port fuel injection (PFI) injector and our MIM technology made it possible," commented Matt Jennings, Chairman and CEO. "Awards like this, along with our continued growth, support our commitment to expanding our Menomonie, WI facility last year."
"Phillips-Medisize was a key supplier development partner for the Delphi CNG injector, and we were pleased with their technical expertise and manufacturing capability. This enabled us to produce a key injector component that met our design vision and performance expectations," stated Geoffrey Scott, engineering manager, Delphi.
Bill Welch, chief technology officer shares, "Our MIM technology allowed for a complex seat design that could be net-shape fabricated, while eliminating the need for expensive secondary machining. It also provided additional benefits, such as molding intricate lip edge features, stainless steel material and seat sealing features that are uniform and consistent. Without MIM, the part would have had to be completely redesigned. There is no other way to achieve the lip seal surface and the cost of a multiple piece assembly/entire fuel injector would have been exponentially higher."
Phillips-Medisize's 50,000ft2 MIM facility, houses four continuous debind and sintering furnaces, multiple batch furnaces, dedicated metal injection molding equipment, as well as a fully staffed and equipped metallurgical lab. It is common for MIM to produce parts for 50% less than the cost of CNC machining or investment casting. At the same time, the true value of MIM comes from its ability to produce parts with complex shapes, superior strength, and excellent surface finish in combination with low- to high-volume manufacturing capability. With 20+ years of experience in the MIM technology, Phillips-Medisize produces complex, precision-shaped parts from a variety of materials (without machining), for nearly every market.
Since 1965, Metal Powder Industries Foundation (MPIF) has sponsored an awards competition in which parts fabricators, among their member companies, are invited to submit components that epitomize the possibilities inherent in this metal-forming technology. This year's competition covered a selection of powder metallurgy components from seven categories.
