Metal Stamping vs. Metal Fabrication

For more than half a century, Midwest Metal Products has provided high-quality, precision products to industries across the globe. We provide a diverse range of metal fabrication services, including metal stamping. Due to our long and superior reputation, we are a preferred vendor for clients in the aerospace, electronics, medical, transportation, and computer industries.

If your next project involves either metal stamping or fabrication, we’ll discuss your needs and recommend the best product. Following is a brief description of each of those processes.

What is Metal Stamping?

Metal stamping—also called pressing—is a fairly straightforward process. We place a flat sheet of metal on a stamping press and we can then bend, press, fold, or stretch the metal. This operation can be a single or multiple-stage process.

At Midwest Metal Products, we find stamping metal is a quick and economical method of producing large quantities. The cost per piece decreases as the production order rises. So if you have a large production run, stamping may be the best option. In addition to the forming process, we can also provide secondary customized work including welding, fastener and nut insertion, riveting, and other assembly processes you may require.

However, there are situations where metal stamping is not the best solution for your needs. If you require a one-off product, stamping is probably cost-prohibitive. In addition, stamping adds tooling costs and longer preparation times to your order. Finally, if you have design changes, it may be expensive to implement them because hard tooling is inflexible.

Midwest Metal Products also provides metal fabrication services for all your manufacturing needs. We use raw materials to build and construct machines and structures. This manufacturing process shapes metal into different parts by removing materials—such as creating holes or cutouts—or changing the material, through bending and stretching the metal.

Benefits of Metal Fabrication

There are distinct advantages to the metal fabrication process. Rapid prototyping results in a very quick design to the production schedule. To meet your custom specifications, we offer a wide variety of production processes. From shearing to laser cutting, our tried and true techniques provide many fabricating options. We use only the most recent technology, equipment, press brakes, and assembly processes to create innovative products for you.

Metal fabrication, while versatile, is more labor-intensive and requires a longer production period than metal stamping. The material costs for fabrication tend to be higher and the complex parts and components used for stamping may not be possible with fabrication. Finally, the ability to repeat a process is more challenging than when stamping metal.

Contact Midwest Metal Products to discuss whether metal fabrication or stamping is best for you. You’ll appreciate working with our friendly staff and experienced engineering team. We’ll collaborate with you from start to finish.