Powder metallurgy is the process of blending fine powdered materials, pressing them into a desired shape or form (compacting), and then heating the compressed material in a controlled atmosphere to bond the material (sintering). The powder metallurgy process generally consists of four basic steps: powder manufacture, powder blending, compacting, and sintering. Compacting is generally performed at room temperature, and the elevated-temperature process of sintering is usually conducted at atmospheric pressure.The use of powder metal technology bypasses the need to manufacture the resulting products by metal removal processes, thereby reducing costs.Powder metallurgy is also used in "3D printing" of metals.