A method of manufacturing an article from powder material comprising, a) sorting the powder material by the size of the powder particles, the shape of the powder particles and/or the flow characteristics of the powder particles, b) storing the sorted powder material (68A, 68B, 68C, 68D, 68E) in different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E), c) providing a canister having a predetermined internal shape to define the shape of the powder material article, the canister having at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) which is more difficult to fill than other regions, d) supplying the powder material from the different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E) into the canister to fill the canister, and e) controlling the proportions of the powder material supplied from the different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E) into the canister to control the voidage in the powder material in the canister at all positions in the canister, characterised by supplying powder material from at least one hopper containing powder particles having a relatively small size, a regular shape and/or good flow characteristics to the canister to fill the at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) of the canister which is more difficult to fill and/or has a fine tolerance and supplying powder material from at least one hopper containing powder particles having a relatively large size, the powder particles having a relatively large size are larger than the powder particles having a relatively small size, an irregular shape and/or poor flow characteristics to the canister to fill the other regions of the canister, providing a model of the powder material article and the canister, measuring (82A, 82B, 82C, 82D, 82E) the level of the powder material in the canister, determining from the model of the powder metal article and the canister if the level of powder material in the canister is at the at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) of the canister which is more difficult to fill, and supplying a greater proportion of the powder material from the at least one hopper containing powder particles having a relatively small size, a regular shape and/or good flow characteristics to the canister to fill the at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) of the canister which is more difficult to fill and/or has a fine tolerance if the level of the powder material in the canister is at the at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) of the canister which is more difficult to fill and/or has a fine tolerance. a) sorting the powder material by the size of the powder particles, the shape of the powder particles and/or the flow characteristics of the powder particles, b) storing the sorted powder material (68A, 68B, 68C, 68D, 68E) in different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E), c) providing a canister having a predetermined internal shape to define the shape of the powder material article, the canister having at least one region (56A, 56B, 56C) which is more difficult to fill than other regions, d) supplying the powder material from the different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E) into the canister to fill the canister, and e) controlling the proportions of the powder material supplied from the different hoppers (66A, 66B, 66C, 66D, 66E) into the canister to control the voidage in the powder material in the canister at all positions in the canister,