The problem is getting the organics out, not getting the heat in
The powder-metallurgy and MIM chain is shape → debind → sinter. The temperatures are not extreme: many parts sinter between 1200 and 1400 °C, nowhere near a furnace's limit.
Debinding is the hard part. If the organics from binder decomposition are not removed promptly they re-deposit on the chamber and the parts, and become residual carbon and defects in the following sinter. This is the industry's most distinctive requirement and the most commonly underestimated.
So the first thing to examine is the exhaust design, not the maximum temperature.
What a single-furnace route requires
Debinding and sintering can share one furnace, but two design elements are required: zoned temperature control and directed exhaust.
Zoned control lets the debinding zone and the sintering zone each hold an appropriate temperature instead of the whole chamber being pulled to one value. Directed exhaust gives the decomposition products a defined path out, rather than letting them circulate and settle back onto the load.
Without both, a single-furnace arrangement may look fine at first and then reveal yield problems once the batch is scaled up.
When two furnaces are the better economics
Separate furnaces win on stability and flexibility: each runs at its own optimum, the profiles do not interfere, and scheduling is easier because debinding and sintering can overlap.
The cost is energy, floor space, and one more control system to maintain.
The decision follows your volume and part characteristics. High volume, tight cycle times, or parts especially sensitive to residual carbon tend to favour two furnaces; small batches with many variants favour one. We have delivered both arrangements.