Progressive die stamping of pre-tinned, pre-nickel and selectively gold- or silver-plated strip into contacts, terminals and pins. Dies are built in our own tool room, run on 21 presses from 25 to 110 tons at up to 300 SPM, held to ±0.005 mm on piloted features.
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PARTS WE STAMP
Pre-plated strip is specified where the finish is part of the function, not decoration: contact resistance, solderability, corrosion. Four part families carry most of that work here, and each one loads the die and the coating differently.
Pre-tinned C11000 and C26000 terminals, board-to-board contacts, FPC pads and crimp barrels, usually 0.1 to 0.5 mm. The tin is already on the coil, so the die never meets a wet plating line and the part ships on reel: piercing and forming in one progressive tool, strip fed from a coil whose edge we locate, not a blank.
Phosphor bronze and brass springs with a selectively plated silver or gold face on the contact dome only. The stripe is narrow, so the die layout has to keep every forming station off that band. We run these at high speed with a stripper that never drags across the plated zone.
Gold belongs on the mating face and nowhere else — plating the whole part pays for gold that never touches anything. Stripe-plated coil lets the drawing define a narrow gold band, and the die cuts and forms around it so the gold lands on the contact crown after forming rather than being stretched over a bend.
Heavier nickel-plated copper from 0.8 to 3.0 mm, cut into welded busbar tabs, battery contact faces and grounding straps. At this gauge the tonnage and the edge quality matter more than the finish; nickel survives the forming but not a careless shear, so clearance and punch condition are set at die design.
INSIDE THE PLANT
Real equipment and inspection floor from our Dongguan plant — 25–110T high-speed presses, in-house tool room, and a CMM lab running first-article inspection on every program.
WHERE PRE-PLATED STRIP GOES WRONG
The coating is already paid for when the coil arrives, and every scratch, crack and bare edge is a part you cannot repair. These are the four failures that decide whether a pre-plated program is cheap or a scrap generator.
01
The Challenge
A punched or trimmed edge has no plating on it — the coating stops where the fracture starts. On a tin-plated copper contact the bare edge oxidizes and the solder joint or the mating face degrades from the cut outward, which is a slow field failure rather than an obvious reject at the press.
Our Solution
Edge quality is treated as a plating feature: clearance set per station, punches and dies kept sharp on a counted-stroke schedule, and the shear band measured at first article. Where the drawing tolerates it, we leave a small plated land rather than cutting through the coated face.
02
The Challenge
Tin, nickel and gold all elongate less than the copper under them. A bend at a tight inside radius stretches the outer fibre past what the coating can follow, and the result is a hairline crack or a lifted flake — invisible on the press, visible under a microscope at the customer's incoming inspection.
Our Solution
Inside radii are agreed at DFM against the coating and the base metal, not against the base metal alone. Bend lines are placed across the rolling direction, coining and sharp-corner forms are removed from the layout, and formed edges on plated faces go into the first-article report as a checked feature.
03
The Challenge
The usual cures for a rough stamped part are barrel finishing, deburring and a plating pass — and pre-plated strip rules out all three. Parts that rub in a bin, get dragged by a stripper or land on a hard surface are scrap, and the scrap carries the full cost of the coating that was bought on the coil.
Our Solution
The die is built for gentle entry: guided strippers, polished non-marking inserts where the coating faces the tool, no abrasive deburr after forming. Parts leave on reel or in layer-packed trays, and in-line vision checks the plated face for scratches and skips before anything is boxed.
04
The Challenge
Selective plating is applied as a band at a fixed position across the coil, so the whole die layout hangs off that band. A stripe that sits a fraction off, or a coil wound the other way, puts the plated zone on a bend instead of the contact crown — useless, though every dimension measures in tolerance.
Our Solution
Stripe position, band edge and coil orientation are fixed on the drawing at DFM and confirmed on the first coil, not the sample. The layout is dimensioned from the stripe datum, feed direction is written into the purchase specification, and the first-article report shows the plated zone in place after forming.
HOW WE STAMP IT
The values we quote and inspect against on plated-strip work. Coating thickness and adhesion come from the strip supplier's certificate and are verified again on the first article, not assumed.
| Specification Parameter | What We Hold | How It Is Controlled |
|---|---|---|
| Strip thickness | 0.05–3.0 mm | Coil certificate plus in-process thickness check |
| Positional tolerance | ±0.005 mm on piloted features | First-article CMM at 0.001 mm resolution |
| Formed dimensions | ±0.01 mm where the drawing controls them | CMM and optical, SPC on the critical bends |
| Stamping speed | up to 300 SPM | Press chosen for the part and the coating, not the calendar |
| Press fleet | 21 presses, 25–110 tons | Thin plated contacts on high-speed frames, heavy nickel copper on larger presses |
| Dies | 100% designed and built in-house | 30 machining machines behind the tool room |
| Quality system | IATF 16949:2016 · ISO 9001:2015 · ISO 14001:2015 | PPAP, coil certificates, lot traceability |
| Coating verification | tin, nickel, silver, gold — overall or stripe | Supplier certificate reviewed, first-article and in-line vision on the plated face |
Plated-strip dies are designed around the coating: guided strippers, polished inserts, no abrasive finishing after form. Layout, machining and assembly under one roof.
Thin plated contacts run on the high-speed frames at up to 300 SPM; nickel-plated copper from 0.8 to 3.0 mm runs on the larger presses.
First-article CMM at 0.001 mm, optical and profile for edges and radii, in-line vision watching the plated face for scratches, skips and bare cut edges.
Incoming coil certificates checked against the drawing before the die runs. Where a program needs plating on bare strip instead, that goes through managed partner lines with the same test regime.
From Drawing to Production
Base grade, temper, coating, stripe position and feed direction settled before a die is cut — including whether pre-plated strip is the right route at all.
Progressive layout with the stripe datum as the reference, guided strippers and polished inserts wherever the coating meets the tool.
Run on the production coil: formed bends, plated zone and cut edges checked on the CMM and under magnification, PPAP documentation raised.
Counted-stroke tool maintenance, in-line vision on the plated face, SPC on the dimensions the drawing controls, reel or tray packing.
STRIP AND SUPPLY
We stamp plated strip, we do not sell it. What we do is confirm the coating spec is stampable, fix the stripe datum and quote the coil as material plus conversion.
The coating sits on a substrate that still has to form: C11000 or C19400 for conductivity, C26000 and C26800 brass for terminals, C51900 when the part is a spring. Temper decides springback, and a temper change on a plated program means the bend stations are re-checked, not assumed.
Tin for solderability, nickel for wear and barrier, silver for current, gold for low contact resistance — overall or as a stripe, with thickness and adhesion on the supplier certificate. A drawing that names the metal but not the zone gets a DFM question before tooling.
Either you send coil to your own specification, or we buy the grade, temper, width, coating and stripe position you name and quote material plus conversion. Coil certificate, stripe datum and feed direction are agreed in writing before the first stroke.
Grades we run
BEFORE YOU SEND THE DRAWING
Eight checks worth making on a plated-strip drawing before tooling — they decide whether the coating survives the die or becomes scrap.
INDUSTRY CASES
Oct 20 · 1 min read
An automotive Tier-1 brought us an L-shaped contact that cost more than the assembly it went into. The design welded a separately gold-plated contact button onto a…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
An appliance timer control builder was staging two suppliers: brass springs from one, silver contact rivets from another, and a manual riveting cell of its own. At…
Oct 20 · 1 min read
A part for an automotive electrical assembly came in as a drawing with two solid pins to be bought separately and resistance-welded onto a stamped terminal base.…
ORDERING & FAQ
From drawing to delivered parts: a four-step path with engineering review at the front and 100% dimensional inspection at the back — then the questions buyers ask us most.
Step 1
Submit CAD & Specs
Send 2D/3D drawings (STEP, DWG, PDF) with quantity, material, and tolerance requirements.
Step 2
DFM Feedback & Quotation
Our engineering team conducts DFM analysis and follows up with a competitive quote after the review.
Step 3
Precision Manufacturing
High-speed progressive die stamping, secondary forming, finishing, and surface treatment per your specifications.
Step 4
100% QC & Express Shipping
100% dimensional inspection, anti-corrosion packaging, and global express delivery.
Either. We are a stamper, not a strip distributor. You can send coil to your own specification, or we procure the grade, temper, width, coating and stripe position you name and quote material plus conversion with the mill certificate on file.
Pre-tinned, pre-nickel, and selectively plated silver or gold strip, overall or as a stripe. Tin covers solderability, nickel covers wear and barrier duty, silver carries current, gold keeps contact resistance low on signal faces.
0.05 mm at the thin end of our range, up to 3.0 mm at the heavy end. Thin plated contacts run on the high-speed presses; nickel-plated copper for busbar tabs runs on the larger presses.
Yes, through managed partner lines, when the drawing needs an overall finish, a heavier deposit or a plated zone a stripe cannot reach. Pre-plated strip is usually cheaper and faster, but it removes tumbling and rework from the route.
±0.005 mm on piloted positional features, verified on a CMM at first article, and ±0.01 mm on formed dimensions the drawing controls. Coating thickness and adhesion come from the strip supplier and are re-checked on the first article.
It can, if the inside radius is tighter than the coating allows. We set radii against the coating at DFM, keep bends across the rolling direction, and check formed plated edges at first article before production starts.
Ready to Start Your Precision Stamping Program?
Send your drawing today — engineering runs a free DFM review and detailed pricing follows the review.
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