New York, NY -- The term micromachining refers to manufacturing parts or machining materials in dimensions no greater than several millimeters in total. Although the ability to manufacture at such a small scale has existed for decades, there has been an increasingly growing trend in this area over the last several years.
The main issue in micromachining is the development of smaller cutting tools and enabling faster setup time. Thus, many cutting tool manufacturers have designed complete products, systems and programs specifically aimed at this market. Many tool makers have recognized some of the technological obstacles, such as the need to have extremely sharp cutting edges to facilitate clean cuts. For example, many tools are made using PVD coatings which is contrary to the remaining industry. This is due to the fact that CVD coatings exhibit rounded edges in some circumstances. In holemaking applications, micromachining is mainly accomplished using drill bits, EDM and lasers. Several companies such as Minitool Inc have focused on just one market, that is drill bits, within the cutting tool market.
Concerning materials, there is greater use of the harder alloys, ceramics or metal matrix composites being machined in Swiss applications.
Driving the micromachining market primarily have been advances in the medical and electronics industries where the continuing trend is toward smaller parts. This is especially true in the market for microfluidics which are devices that control flow within bioMEMS and biochips for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Also growing is the demand for smaller parts within the automotive and aerospace industries as well.
In the automotive market, the trend toward better fuel efficiency and cleaner emissions demands the need of having smaller holes in fuel injectors and fuel system components. Another growing market is the microdevices used for entertainment systems, safety devices and luxury items.
In the aerospace industry, a primary concern is the integrity of fasteners. Using micromachining, fasteners can be realigned and fixed after the aircraft shows signs of loosening. Also being focused on is sensors, and various flow-control devices for fuel control
In 2005, the world market for micromachine tools exceeded $500.0 million. The Japan market is currently the largest at nearly 20% of that. All markets are expected to show growth rates of over 13% annually until 2010.
The US market is showing particularly strong growth in the biomedical sector as is the market in Europe.
Further, in the United States market, for example, most of the companies focusing on micromachining are smaller companies with 10-20 machines of which 10-15% are Swiss-types. Many companies worldwide are meeting the demand in two ways:
• outfitting existing machine tools for micromachining; and
• investing in R&D for the development of special tools for micromachining applications.
This information is based on the research report entitled Indexable Inserts—World Markets, Applications & Competition: 2006-2011 Analysis & Forecasts published in January 2006.
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Dedalus Consulting Inc. is a privately owned and independently operated market research publisher and consultancy. Our research focuses on both emerging and mature markets in high-technology sectors, including machining & materials, electronic components, life sciences, nanotechnology, mobile communications and photonics.
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