As so often, nature is a role model for an industrial process. The sintering.

With high pressure, heat and time, nature forms sandstone out of single grains. New technologies like 3D printing or MIM (Metal Injection Molding) of powder metal enable the manufacturing of high precision parts without expensive molds and casting processes. Increasingly this technology is also used for superalloys. After molding the powder into shape, the parts need to be sintered.

Depending on the material our refractories out of zirconia are used to ensure that there won't be any reaction between the material and the refractories and the material is resistant to the high sintering temperatures.