DIN 8580 divides all manufacturing processes into six main groups: primary forming, forming, separating, joining, coating and changing material properties. The sorting criterion is the cohesion of the material. It is created, retained, reduced or increased. Every process receives an order number whose first digit names the main group, the second the group and the third the subgroup. Shear cutting therefore carries the number 3.1.1. The edition in force is DIN 8580:2022-12, which superseded the 2003 edition.
This page lists all six main groups with their groups, order numbers and the associated follow-up standards. It then shows where the processes of a company working with electrical insulating materials sit within this system, with the real figures from our production.
The six main groups of manufacturing processes per DIN 8580
The six main groups cover every conceivable manufacturing process. Their order is not arbitrary: it follows the path of the material from a shapeless substance to a finished component.
| No. | Main group | What happens to cohesion | Typical processes | Follow-up standards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primary forming | Cohesion is created | Casting, injection moulding, sintering, papermaking, 3D printing | DIN 8580 itself |
| 2 | Forming | Cohesion is retained | Rolling, forging, deep drawing, bending, folding | DIN 8582 to DIN 8587 |
| 3 | Separating | Cohesion is locally removed | Shear cutting, punching, turning, milling, grinding, laser cutting | DIN 8588 to DIN 8592 |
| 4 | Joining | Cohesion is increased | Welding, soldering, adhesive bonding, riveting, screwing | DIN 8593, parts 1 to 9 |
| 5 | Coating | An adhering layer is added | Painting, powder coating, electroplating, vapour deposition | DIN 8580 itself |
| 6 | Changing material properties | The material itself is altered | Annealing, hardening, tempering, sintering, magnetising | DIN 8580 itself |
Main groups 5 and 6 fall outside the cohesion scheme. In coating, the geometry of the workpiece stays largely unchanged and a layer is added. In changing material properties, even that layer is absent and the microstructure of the material is rebuilt instead. Both main groups therefore follow different criteria: coating by the state of the coating material, changing material properties by the type of treatment applied.
How the order numbers of DIN 8580 are built
Each digit stands for one level of the hierarchy. The first digit names the main group, the second the group, the third the subgroup, followed by processes and process variants. An example from our own production: the 3 stands for separating, the 1 for the group dividing, the second 1 for the subgroup shear cutting. Anyone writing 3.1.1 into a drawing or a routing means exactly one process and nothing else.
The standard names the purpose of these order numbers as identifying processes in manufacturing documents, classification, documentation and data processing. In an ERP system this becomes a process key that holds quotation, routing and inspection plan together.
The groups and subgroups of DIN 8580 in detail
Main group 1: primary forming
Primary forming creates a solid body from a shapeless substance. Paper and nonwovens are made this way, and with them the base webs of many electrical insulating materials.
| No. | Group | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Primary forming from the liquid state | Sand casting, die casting, continuous casting |
| 1.2 | Primary forming from the plastic state | Injection moulding, film extrusion |
| 1.3 | Primary forming from the pasty state | Slip casting, concrete casting |
| 1.4 | Primary forming from the granular or powder state | Powder pressing, sintering |
| 1.5 | Primary forming from the chip or fibre state | Papermaking, fibreboard, nonwoven web forming |
| 1.6 | Primary forming by welding (new in the 2022 edition) | Manual arc welding as subgroup 1.6.1 |
| 1.8 | Primary forming from the gaseous or vapour state | Deposition from the gas phase |
| 1.9 | Primary forming from the ionised state | Electroforming |
| 1.10 | Primary forming by additive manufacturing | 3D printing, laser sintering |
The gap at 1.7 has a reason. The 2003 edition kept numbers 1.6 and 1.7 free and justified this by stating that welding and soldering, unlike in coating, do not occur in primary forming. The 2022 edition corrected that judgement for welding and filled group 1.6. Number 1.7 for soldering remains free.
Main group 2: forming
Forming changes the shape of a solid body without removing or adding material. The framework standard DIN 8582 sorts the five groups by the stress state in the workpiece. Readers who want these processes in detail will find them broken down in our article on forming technology.
| No. | Group | Standard | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Compressive forming | DIN 8583 | Rolling, drop forging, extrusion |
| 2.2 | Combined tensile and compressive forming | DIN 8584 | Deep drawing, wire drawing, spinning |
| 2.3 | Tensile forming | DIN 8585 | Stretching, expanding, recessing |
| 2.4 | Forming by bending | DIN 8586 | Free bending, folding, roll bending, creasing |
| 2.5 | Forming by shearing | DIN 8587 | Displacing, twisting |
Main group 3: separating
Separating removes cohesion locally. Group 3.1 dividing works without chips, groups 3.2 and 3.3 produce chips, group 3.4 removes material without a mechanical cutting edge. For a company processing web materials, this is the most important of all six main groups.
| No. | Group | Standard | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Dividing | DIN 8588 | Shear cutting (3.1.1), knife cutting, nibbling, splitting, breaking |
| 3.2 | Machining with geometrically defined cutting edges | DIN 8589 | Turning, drilling, milling, sawing |
| 3.3 | Machining with geometrically undefined cutting edges | DIN 8589 | Grinding, honing, lapping, abrasive blasting |
| 3.4 | Removing | DIN 8590 | Spark erosion, laser cutting, flame cutting, etching |
| 3.5 | Dismantling | DIN 8591 | Taking components apart, emptying |
| 3.6 | Cleaning | DIN 8592 | Blast cleaning, solvent cleaning, degreasing |
Cleaning as a manufacturing process surprises many readers. The logic of the standard is strict: removing scale, grease or dust from a surface breaks the cohesion between a foreign substance and the workpiece. Cleaning therefore belongs to separating rather than to a main group of its own.
Main group 4: joining
Joining brings two or more workpieces together permanently or detachably. The nine groups are set out individually in DIN 8593, parts 1 to 9, covering roughly one hundred individual processes. The DIN standards committee for technical principles has scheduled this main group for the next revision. The boundaries between the processes are covered in our article on joining technology.
| No. | Group | Standard | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Assembling | DIN 8593-1 | Laying in, inserting, hooking in, sliding together |
| 4.2 | Filling | DIN 8593-2 | Impregnating, saturating, potting cavities |
| 4.3 | Pressing on and pressing in | DIN 8593-3 | Screwing, clamping, nailing, interference fits |
| 4.4 | Joining by primary forming | DIN 8593-4 | Casting in, overmoulding |
| 4.5 | Joining by forming | DIN 8593-5 | Flanging, seaming, riveting, clinching |
| 4.6 | Welding | DIN 8593-6 | Arc welding, laser welding, ultrasonic welding |
| 4.7 | Soldering and brazing | DIN 8593-7 | Soft soldering, brazing |
| 4.8 | Adhesive bonding | DIN 8593-8 | Bonding with adhesives, bonding with pressure-sensitive tapes |
| 4.9 | Textile joining | DIN 8593-9 | Sewing, knotting |
Main group 5: coating
Coating applies an adhering layer of shapeless material to a workpiece. The groups are ordered by the state of the coating material and therefore run parallel to main group 1.
| No. | Group | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Coating from the liquid state | Painting, dipping, adhesive application in the laminating unit |
| 5.2 | Coating from the plastic state | Filling, extrusion coating |
| 5.3 | Coating from the pasty state | Knife coating of pastes |
| 5.4 | Coating from the granular or powder state | Powder coating, fluidised bed sintering |
| 5.5 | Coating from the chip or fibre state | Flocking |
| 5.6 | Coating by welding | Weld cladding, plating |
| 5.7 | Coating by soldering | Solder cladding |
| 5.8 | Coating from the gaseous or vapour state | Vapour deposition, CVD and PVD processes |
| 5.9 | Coating from the ionised state | Electroplating, electrolytic deposition |
Main group 6: changing material properties
The sixth main group changes neither shape nor surface but the microstructure of the material. Seven groups describe what triggers that change.
- 6.1 Strengthening by forming, for example shot peening, rolling or drawing
- 6.2 Heat treatment, for example annealing, hardening, tempering
- 6.3 Thermomechanical treatment
- 6.4 Sintering and firing
- 6.5 Magnetising
- 6.6 Irradiating
- 6.7 Photochemical processes
For electrical insulating materials, 6.6 irradiating matters most. Cross-linked polyethylene films gain their higher temperature resistance through electron beam treatment, without any change to thickness or contour.
The current status of DIN 8580
The edition in force is DIN 8580:2022-12, titled Manufacturing processes, terms and definitions, division. It runs to 25 pages and replaces DIN 8580:2003-09. Compared with the previous edition, the normative references have been clarified and the terminology section revised, subgroups 1.3 and 5.3 carry new names, group 1.6 primary forming by welding has been added, and so has group 1.10 primary forming by additive manufacturing.
Additive manufacturing now has a fixed place in the system instead of hanging between the main groups as a special case. The classification follows the logic of the standard: a 3D printer creates a coherent body from shapeless material, which is primary forming and nothing else.
Which main groups GOBA runs every day
A company processing electrical insulating materials covers four main groups rather than six. This assignment is not theory, it is written in our routings. We have been making insulating parts from Hostaphan, Mylar, Nomex, pressboard and technical laminates since 1959, using exactly the following processes.
| Process at GOBA | No. | Classification per DIN 8580 | Figure from our production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roll slitting with circular knives | 3.1.1 | Separating, dividing, shear cutting | Slit widths 5 to 1,600 mm, width tolerance plus minus 0.1 mm |
| Punching with steel rule dies or solid steel tools | 3.1.1 | Separating, dividing, shear cutting | Material thickness 0.023 to 3.0 mm, format up to 1,000 x 2,000 mm |
| Kiss cutting on a carrier liner | 3.1.1 | Separating, limited to the upper layer | The cut stops in the liner, the part stays ready to lift off the web |
| Creasing, folding and bending | 2.4 | Forming, bending per DIN 8586 | Bending lines are pre-creased in the same punching stroke |
| Tape application, self-adhesive versions | 4.8 | Joining, adhesive bonding per DIN 8593-8 | Pressure-sensitive tapes matched to the thermal class of the application |
| Adhesive application during laminating | 5.1 | Coating from the liquid state | Preliminary stage of laminates such as DMD and NMN |
| Hot forming of complex geometries | 2 | Forming under the influence of heat | Fitting into stator stacks without damaging the surface |
Main group 3 carries the largest share of our production. In roll slitting two circular knives pass each other and divide the web, which is shear cutting in the sense of DIN 8588. Stamping and forming uses the same subgroup, only with a closed cutting contour instead of rotating knives. Readers who need the process detail will find it in our articles on stamped parts and roll slitting.
One case shows the system particularly well. When two webs are laminated into a composite, two main groups interlock: applying adhesive to the first web is coating from the liquid state, and bonding the two webs afterwards is adhesive bonding per 4.8. One machine, two order numbers. Anyone who writes only laminating in a quotation has bypassed the standard rather than applied it. Process chains of this kind are described in our article on converting processes.
What DIN 8580 is worth in purchasing and design
The practical value of the standard rests on a single point: it makes the naming of a process unambiguous. Cutting can mean anything in an enquiry, from shear cutting through laser cutting to water jet cutting. Those three processes sit in different groups, cost different amounts and leave completely different cut edges. With films below 0.1 mm thickness, that choice decides whether the edge stays clean or distorts thermally.
Three points in the procurement process benefit directly:
- The drawing: a process note with an order number defines how an edge is to be produced and rules out alternatives that would look different.
- The enquiry: writing shear cutting instead of cutting yields comparable quotations instead of prices for three different processes.
- The routing and the ERP system: the order number works as a process key and ties costing, production and inspection planning to the same term.
A different standard governs the dimensions on that same drawing. Naming the process says nothing about permissible deviations, which is what a note per DIN ISO 2768 is for. Both entries belong in the title block together.
Where the standard reaches its limits
A common objection from purchasing runs: why bother with an order number when everyone understands punched. The answer depends on the material. With sheet metal, everyone really does understand it. With a three-layer laminate on a carrier liner, punched means either cut through, partially cut or cut only in the top layer, and those three variants produce three different components. The order number alone does not settle that, but it forces the question of which layer is to be separated.
DIN 8580 classifies processes, it does not specify a result. Four points therefore stay open and have to be settled elsewhere.
- Tolerances, edge quality and surface finish are not in the standard. The drawing needs its own entries for these.
- Processes with limited cutting depth such as kiss cutting and partial cutting are only roughly represented, although they are routine in web converting.
- Process chains run across the structure. A laminating and slitting line touches main groups 5, 4 and 3 in a single pass.
- The standard trails the technology. 3D printing had been in series production for decades before the 2022 edition took it in as group 1.10.
Our advice to designers: use the order number as an anchor in the title block and add the values that actually describe the component, meaning thickness, tolerance, edge requirement and delivery form. Send us your drawing and we will assign the necessary processes and name the achievable tolerances for your material. Out of that assignment come our stamped and bent parts and, where the geometry calls for it, custom products.
