This paper presents the numerical and experimental analysis of hot pressing of NiAl powder with an emphasis on the best possible representation of its main stages: initial powder compaction and pressure-assisted sintering. The numerical study has been performed within the discrete element framework. In the paper, an original viscoelastic model of hot pressing has been used. In order to ensure that the applied values of material parameters in numerical simulations are appropriate, the reference literature has been reviewed. It produced the relations and equations to estimate the values of all required sintering material parameters of the considered viscoelastic model. Numerical simulations have employed the geometrical model of the initial dense specimen generated by a special algorithm which uses the real grain distribution of powder. The numerical model has been calibrated and validated through simulations of the real process of hot pressing of intermetallic NiAl material. The kinetics of compaction, sintering and cooling stage indicated by the evolution of density, shrinkage and densification rate have been studied. The comparison of numerical and experimental results has shown a good performance of the developed numerical model. (C) 2017 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.