A Virtual Tour of Porite’s Manufacturing Facilities

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside a powder metallurgy plant? In this blog post, we invite you on a guided tour of our facility, with photos highlighting each stage of the process. The goal is simple: to show how powder metallurgy (PM) turns fine metal powders into precision-engineered components that power industries from automotive to electronics.

Understanding what happens inside a PM facility is important because it highlights the unique advantages of this manufacturing method—such as material efficiency, design flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Unlike traditional machine shops or foundries, powder metallurgy plants are built around highly specialized equipment for blending, compacting, sintering, and finishing parts. This creates an environment that looks and feels very different from other manufacturing operations, with clean production areas, precise handling of powders, and furnaces that operate at extreme temperatures to bond materials at the molecular level.

At the end of this tour, you’ll have a clearer picture of how powder metallurgy facilities operate, what sets them apart, and why they play such an important role in today’s manufacturing landscape.

Compacting Presses

Before we begin the tour, let’s talk a little bit about powder.  One of the unique advantages of powder metallurgy (PM) components is the customization available when determining the powder to use and what additives will be blended with the powder.  At Porite, many of our facilities create custom powder blends on site.  However, the blending area is considered a bit of a trade secret, so we are going to begin the tour at the powder compacting presses with the powder already blended.

Once the powder is ready for production, it is moved to the press area.  Here you can see a row of powder compacting presses.  The blended powder is placed in the hopper of the press.  From here the powder is inserted into the die and compacted into the “green” component.  A “green” component is a metal powder compacted part that has not yet been heated and bonded.

Porite employs a wide variety of powder compacting presses.  Some presses for very basic components only exert a small amount of pressure (20 tons for example).  While some specialty components are produced in presses exerting up to 1,600 tons of pressure.

Additionally, Porite uses both mechanical presses and hydraulic presses.  A mechanical press looks something like the one you see here:

A hydraulic press, on the other hand, can been seen here:

There are some key differences between mechanical and hydraulic presses, both having advantages in specific areas.

Mechanical presses are driven by an electric motor.  They have a fixed stroke with most force applied rapidly near the end of the stroke.  They operate at high speeds with low operating costs but have less precise pressure control and are less ideal for large, thick or detailed parts.

Hydraulic presses, on the other hand, apply smooth, gradual and controllable pressure generated by hydraulic cylinders with pressurized fluid.  The speed and length of strokes are easily adjustable on a hydraulic press.  These features make it more suitable for intricate components.  These presses can be more expensive to maintain and operate at a slower speed making the components produced on hydraulic presses costlier than those produced on mechanical presses.

Sintering Furnaces

After compacting, the “green” metal components are moved to the sintering area.  Here there are a variety of sintering furnaces running at different temperatures and atmospheric conditions depending on the specific requirements for each component.

The sintering furnaces at Porite operate with a conveyor belt, as seen below (though other furnace types like box, pusher and more are available).  The parts move slowly through this furnace.  The temperature of the furnace is kept below melting point, so the metal powder is heated enough to create bonds between the particles, but not so much to cause melting.  Thus, the components maintain their shape throughout this process.

The heat and energy required to operate a sintering furnace is less than that required for competing manufacturing methods, like die casting, that require the metal to be melted.  This energy savings is passed on in the form of cost savings to the buyer.  One of many reasons why powder metallurgy components are more cost effective.

At Porite, our large production volume allows us to keep our conveyor belt furnaces constantly filled with components.  Because the furnace is always working, there is no wasted energy if there are components in the furnace.  This requires careful production planning, but over 70+ years, Porite has become very efficient in this area.

Sizing Presses

Sizing is the process of reinserting the part into the mold.  While not required for all components, the sizing process increases dimensional accuracy.  You might think that these sizing presses look very similar to the compacting presses we saw earlier, and you would be correct.  The process is extremely similar, but instead of inserting raw powder into the mold, we are inserting a sintered component.

Below you can see a close-up of the tooling in the sizing press.  As expected, it looks very much like a set of tools in the compacting press.

Secondary Processes

While the basic powder metallurgy process is complete after compacting and sintering, Porite will often include sizing as an additional step to ensure we produce a quality component.  However, after those three steps, many of our plants have the capability to add additional finishing processes to either increase strength, change the surface properties or add features otherwise unobtainable through the PM process.

Although not all encompassing, a few of the secondary operations available in Porite facilities are Induction Hardening, Washing and Machining, to name a few.  Let’s take a look at these areas in the plant.

First, we see above one of our induction hardening machines.  Induction hardening is a heat-treating process that targets the surface of the metal component.  During induction hardening the surface of the component is rapidly heated and then quenched.  The result is an extremely hard surface layer, but the core of the component remains unchanged.  This process increases part strength and wear resistance.

Now, let’s move over to the washing area.  Above you see a washing machine.  PM components run through this machine on a conveyor belt.  In the machine the components are cleaned with a specialized solvent designed to remove any unwanted surface material like grease, oil or other particles.  This ensures that the part meets necessary requirements especially for components used internally in engines and transmissions.

Lastly, let’s look at our machining area.  Although powder metallurgy on its own can meet many dimensional requirements, on occasion post-process machining may be necessary to achieve even tighter tolerances, create undercuts, cross holes or to correct any dimensional variations that may occur during sintering.  Many Porite plants have machining lathes on site (one of which you can see above) which eliminates the need to outsource this process.

Automation

Throughout the tour we have been focusing on the function of each machine at each step along the way.  But before we head towards the last part of the tour, let’s discuss the automation that we have seen along the way.

Automation at Porite in the form of various robotics is a key part of our manufacturing process.  Because there are several steps to the powder metallurgy process, it can be very labor intensive.  Additionally, the intricate details of our components require precise handling.  This is where robotics really shine.  Our automation equipment does a variety of pick and place tasks at each step in the manufacturing process.  This creates a production line that is consistent, repeatable and low cost.

Shipping / Staging Area

The end of our tour is the shipping / staging area.  Our components are typically packed in boxes and then palletized.  These pallets are then placed on inventory racks near the shipping area until they are shipped.  Our plants operate on the First In First Out (FIFO) inventory principle.  This ensures that the components produced first are shipped out first.  We want to avoid shipping components out of order, so no inventory becomes stagnant for a long period of time.

Summary

Beginning with metal powder derived from recycled metals, through to sintering furnaces operating at energy efficient temperatures and automation incorporated at every step along the way, Porite’s powder metallurgy facilities are built for efficiency and sustainability for now and into the future.  As green energy becomes more important to our society, our facilities not only operate in a way that supports these efforts but also manufactures components that are used in the green energy industry.  With these building blocks, Porite will continue to play a key role in the changing global economy.

Thank you for stopping by our plant today.  Hopefully you gained valuable insights into the powder metallurgy manufacturing process and what makes it unique!

Porite has seven manufacturing plants across the globe and, though they each have their own specialties, they all operate in a similar manner with a focus on quality.  Contact us today to find out how we can bring your powder metallurgy component to life.