Compound Dies vs. Progressive Die Stamping: Advantages and Applications
Compound dies and progressive dies are both widely used throughout the modern metal stamping industry. These different stamping methods each offer some unique advantages while being optimized for different types of industrial manufacturing projects.
To some up the differences: progressive dies generally require more than one stroke to create a custom stamping. This is because progressive dies pass the metal strip through multiple stations, with each stroke adding a different press feature. In contrast, compound dies perform the stamping operation in a single stroke, generally for the production of simpler products.
Master Products builds custom tooling for our progressive metal stamping services in-house.
Essentially, compound dies are optimized for the high-volume production of simple metal parts. Progressive dies are ideal for the mass production of larger precision stampings with complex geometries.
The Benefits of Progressive Die Stamping
Progressive die stamping saves time and money by performing multiple operations simultaneously. Some of the notable advantages of progressive die stamping are that it has:
Reduced setup time.
Lower overall labor costs.
Less scrap and wasted material.
Can accommodate complex stampings with difficult geometries.
Can produce large quantities of small parts with tight tolerances in a short period.
The Benefits of Compound Metal Stamping
Compound die stamping is used to produce simple flat parts like washers. A metal strip is fed through the compound die, but unlike progressive or transfer die stamping, compound stamping tooling performs multiple cuts, punches, and bends in a single stroke rather than multiple strokes. For medium- to high-volume production runs, this can be cost-effective.
Speed is an important factor in compound die-stamping; however, speed is also affected by the size of the part. Large components take longer to exit the die, whereas small components exit faster. Manufacturers benefit from compound die stamping in a variety of ways.
Custom tooling is less expensive to develop than complex progressive die tooling.
Production of simple small parts is quick and efficient..
High degree of repeatability for single-die cases.
Streamlined single-stroke production for flat, relatively simple parts.
Quality Metal Stamping Services for Cleveland, Ohio and Beyond
Since 1919, Master Products has delivered world-class metal stamping solutions from our hometown facility in Cleveland, Ohio. We proudly serve commercial die stamping customers throughout the greater Midwest and beyond through our flexible and responsive contract manufacturing services.