Powder Sintered Gears — 35% Cost Reduction. 1 Million Parts. 5-Year Contract.
A global automotive OEM came to Amsol with a drivetrain gear drawing and asked for a CNC machining quote. Amsol's engineers reviewed the geometry, volume, and cost target — and proposed something entirely different. The result: 35–40% cost reduction, a 5-year supply contract, and 1 million gears to be delivered.
The Customer Wanted a Machining Quote. Amsol Proposed Powder Metal Instead.
A leading global automotive OEM required precision gear components for a drivetrain assembly programme. Their baseline specification: manufacture from bar stock by conventional CNC gear hobbing and grinding. At the volumes their programme demanded, this approach was expensive and difficult to scale.
Amsol submitted a quote — and a question: had the customer considered powder metallurgy? The geometry was right for it. The volumes were right for it. And the mechanical properties achievable through sintering with secondary heat treatment would meet every automotive specification on the drawing.
Why Powder Metal Was the Right Answer — Not Just the Cheaper One
The customer's concern about switching from CNC machining was understandable: would the mechanical properties hold? Amsol's answer was to demonstrate it through PPAP — measure the sintered gears under the same standards as the machined baseline. They passed.
What the Programme Delivered
Every result below is documented and traceable to this supply programme.