One of the most commonly used materials in metal manufacturing is stainless steel. While widely known for its aesthetically pleasing natural finish, stainless steel does much more for products than provide good looks. Regardless of grade, stainless steel contains a durability, toughness, and multiple corrosion resistant properties that, along with its natural finish, make it an appeal material selection for plenty of customers in the metal production market.
That’s why stainless steel progressive stamping services continue to rise. By combining progressive stamping which combines multiple forms of stamping into one, smooth process for high volume orders, and stainless steel, customers walk away knowing their products are going to be ready to use from the jump.
Winco Stamping covers stainless steel progressive stamping services by highlighting best applications of the service, considerations to make ahead of manufacturing, and lastly, production benefits for customers and manufacturers.
Common Applications of Stainless Steel Progressive Stamping Services
Stainless steel can be used in any application that requires large volumes of stamped parts that feature corrosion and chemical resistance, and require minimal cleaning or polishing. Because of that, these applications can be wide ranging, but these are some of the most common examples of stainless steel progressive stamping services.
Automotive
- Connectors
- Exhaust brackets
- Catalytic converter shells
- Heat shields
- Fuel and braking system components
These parts are small enough and needed in large quantities to want progressive stamping operations. And because they are exposed to rapid temperature changes, vibration, and in some areas, road salt, stainless steel makes for an excellent choice.
Medical
- Device housings
- Battery cases
- Custom brackets
- Contact springs
- EMI shields
Stainless steel offers the product longevity necessary for medical parts while progressive stamping serves the quantity healthcare professionals need.
Electronics
- Clips
- Vents
- RFI shields
- Battery retainers
Stainless steel offers mechanical strength with magnetic or non-magnetic qualities depending on the grade, which can positively impact electrical applications if selected properly.
Aerospace
- Shims
- Wear plates
- Seat latches
- Grommet retainers
The aerospace industry needs parts that offer stable performance under constant vibration, moisture, and temperature cycling, and that’s why stainless steel serves as the material of choice. Progressive stamping works to create these parts because of how quickly production occurs with multiple forms of stamping rolled into one singular operation.
Key Considerations
Considerations for stainless steel progressive stamping services mainly adheres toward design aspects as well as specific material selection for the stainless steel options.
Alloy Selection
Winco Stamping offers four different alloy grades of stainless steel, each with their own set of benefits, purposes, and applications.
- 301 Stainless Steel – Superior corrosion resistance and moderately high tensile strength
- 304 Stainless Steel – Food-grade quality and has moderate tensile strength
- 316 Stainless Steel – Incorporates molybdenum for improved strength and corrosion resistance
- 430 Stainless Steel – Provides maximum flexibility and good corrosion resistance
Part Geometry and Material Thickness
Stainless steel work hardens and has a higher strength compared to low carbon steels making bend radii, draw depths, and coining features required to match the material grade (alloy) and thickness. During your team’s DFM phase with a manufacturer, these issues can be resolved to avoid unformable features and/or excessive tool wear.
Tooling Considerations
If your team knows it’s going to require a high-volume production run, then progressive stamping services are the right choice. But with that comes tooling costs for a high-volume production run. It is a recommended best practice to limit tooling changes, particularly on high volume production runs as one change can impact hundreds of thousands of pieces, cause delays, and quickly increase costs.
The Need for Value-Added Services
One of the benefits of stainless steel is that it largely handles many of the value-added services a metal stamper might offer its customers. Between the corrosion and other resistant properties, and its appearance, truly the only need for a value-added service would be any deburring, cleaning, or assembly operations.
Everyday Benefits
The part every potential customer is looking for – the benefits of stainless steel progressive stamping.
- These operations offer high efficiency and a low cost per part that overtime offsets the high tooling costs associated with progressive stamping runs. Progressive stamping is efficient because it combines multiple forms of metal manipulation into one process
- Consistent and repeatable quality is enabled thanks to tooling operations. This means tight tolerances in parts with minimal variation.
- With stainless steel as the material choice, products experience more extended part longevity and require minimal maintenance.
Contact Winco Today for High-Quality Stainless Steel Progressive Stamping Services
Winco Stamping has been one of the industry leaders in the metal stamping market since we first opened our doors in 1948. Located in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the relationship with our customers has always been our number one priority. We believe in showing that from the very first conversation and every one after.
While we are more known for our short to medium volume production runs for metal stamping, with our in-house progressive tooling services, we’re able to handle high volume stamping production in-house as well. All packed with the same tooling and operating benefits our customers have come to expect. We work with four different alloys or grades of stainless steel, including 304 which is food-grade approved.
Quality is always at the front of our minds as well and as an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer, we have a responsibility to ensure our QMS is always on par.
Contact Winco Stamping today for more information on our stainless steel progressive stamping services.
