"What is a Shape?"

Between the raw material stage - an ingot, bar, blank, rod or other unaltered form - and the machined or finished product component is the material stage we refer to as a "metal shape". It is a net or near net shape individual component that may have been formed, shaped, extruded, cut, cast, rough machined, molded or altered by one of many other processes.

In the shaping process, specific metallurgical or mechanical characteristics are often incorporated into the shape.