PM Review Summer 2022: Safeguarding PM part usage in a new automotive industry
June 21, 2022
The Powder Metallurgy industry has been preoccupied with concerns over the decline of the internal combustion engine (ICE) for a number of years, mainly due to the growth of the electrified automotive industry, and how to get PM parts into electrified vehicle engines. These concerns are founded in good sense; regardless of opinions on the viability of vehicle electrification. It cannot be argued that without a concerted effort to find PM parts a core position within the new automotive manufacturing supply chain, the PM industry will suffer.
Many of those efforts are focused on ensuring decision-makers at today’s major automotive companies are aware of press and sinter Powder Metallurgy as a green, affordable, versatile and sustainable manufacturing solution. If a legacy automaker were to approve the use of a PM part in a new mass-produced battery electric vehicle (BEV), many in the PM industry would be relieved to have the opportunity of another PM application safeguarding the future of the industry.
Automotive industry journalist Alex Voigt goes further and suggests that to protect Powder Metallurgy’s future as a key supplier to the biggest automotive names, we must reassess who those names are likely to be in future. The concern being that while the industry worries about how to woo the traditional Big 5 automakers with the promise of PM as an EV-enhancing technology, there is a risk of backing the wrong horse in the race.
This is explored more in the ‘Backing the right horse? Safeguarding PM part usage in a new automotive industry’ article in the Summer 2022 issue of PM Review. Download the PDF or read it online.
