Hot stamping, also known as press hardened steel (PHS), is a process where a sheet of metal is heated in a furnace, transferred by a robot into a press, and formed in a steel or kirksite die. Our fully automated low volume, hot stamping cell provides reliability and repeatability in the manufacturing process of your parts. Our onsite metallurgy lab allows us to test our hot stamped parts post-production in order to validate the material properties and ensure that we meet your expectations for high quality products.
Our state-of-the-art hot stamping cell and metallurgy lab allow us to provide our customers with quality products every time.
Eric shares why he loves being part of the QMC-EMI team! To learn more about our open positions, visit our careers page at https://www.qmc-emi.com/careers/
Sheet metal fabrication can be a very specialized process and we have more than 60 years of experience working with unique metals. We tailor our solutions to your program’s specific needs, such as joining aluminum to steel. From cutting and bending to stamping and assembling, each program is different. We manage your complete program in-house, vertically integrating all processes and technologies while maintaining a single point of contact.
Joining Aluminum
Our range of complex robotic joining methods include resistance welding, hemming, adhesives for structure and bonding, and an onsite curing oven large enough for a completed BIW. In addition, our highly skilled technicians are qualified to AWS standards for GMAW, GTAW, MIG, TIG, and RSW processes. We utilize state-of-the-art equipment with capabilities for all of your advanced joining needs, including self-piercing rivets, flow drills, and adhesive applications. Using this wide range of joining technologies, we can join dissimilar metals of different thicknesses using our mixed material joining technology, such as joining aluminum to steel.
We are a world class supplier of components and assemblies for aerospace and automotive fabrication. Our commitment to craftsmanship and detail drives our growth and is ingrained in our team. In other words, we leverage old world techniques combined with the latest computer-controlled technology to bring your visions to reality.
Unique Metals We Work With
Each metal has its own set of unique specifications. We work with numerous advanced and exotic materials including:
Aluminum, including bright or pre-painted
Stainless steel, including polished or bright grades
Carbon steels
Boron steel
Dual phase steel
Advanced high strength steels, including martensite and TRIP
Inconel®
Waspaloy®
Hastelloy®
Titanium
Magnesium
All ferrous metals
Our experience with this wide range of metals and their distinctive properties has allowed us to work with many diverse programs, such as joining aluminum to steel. We go above and beyond simple stamp and ship projects; we are one of the industry’s leading automotive and aerospace metal fabrication companies.
Assembly Technologies
We employ a wide range of complex robotic joining methods based on your project’s specific needs and requirements, including resistance welding, hemming, adhesives for structure and bonding, and an onsite curing oven large enough for a completed BIW. We also specialize in flow drills and laser welding, ensuring we are able to use the best possible joining technology for your program. Utilizing both manual and robotic welding allow us to customize the manufacturing process to give you the repeatability and flexibility you need. Our three Centers of Excellence give us the capacity for large prototype joining aluminum projects as well as hybrid assembly and production programs.
Our joining technologies include:
AC manual weld guns (RSW)
DC manual and robotic weld guns with adaptive controls (RSW)
Press welder for fasteners (RSW)
Clinch press for clinch nuts or studs
Manual and robotic welders (MIG)
Fronius “cold metal transfer” manual and robotic welders (CMT)
Manual welding equipment (TIG)
Drawn arc stud welding
Self-piercing rivets (SPR) – Henrob & Bollhoff
Flow drill screws (FFS & FDS)
Bonding with onsite cure oven capacity for full vehicle BIW
Roller hemming – adhesive & antiflutter
Laser welding
After assemblies are joined, we post machine critical features that need to be drilled in or tapped. This assortment of joining methods allows us to meet your joining needs.
We have designed and completed programs with a wide array of processes for many materials, including joining aluminum, steel, stainless steel, high nickel alloys, and titanium. Due to our experience, we can join dissimilar metals of different thicknesses using our mixed material joining technology, ensuring we can join the materials your program requires.
Impression Technologies Limited (‘ITL’) and EMI Aerospace (‘‘EMI’) have entered into a licensing and technical services agreement to develop applications and manufacturing capability for advanced aluminum structures using Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) Technology in international aerospace markets.
Accessing HFQ® Technology and support from ITL’s technical specialists will widen the range of applications that EMI can serve, enabling it to offer hot-formed aluminum structures for aerospace OEMs with reductions in part count and part cost. The partnership brings together EMI’s production capabilities, decades of experience, and strong channels to market with ITL’s expertise in materials characterisation, simulation, applications engineering and hot forming (HFQ®) process technology for the highest available strength grades of aluminum sheet.
“We are delighted to embark on this journey with EMI to establish HFQ® manufacturing in the USA for commercial aerospace structures. Our new partner is proactive and ambitious, and extends our commercial reach into major aircraft OEMs and subsystem suppliers”, said Jonathan Watkins, Chief Executive Officer of Impression Technologies.
“EMI Aerospace is excited to partner with Impression Technologies and is eager to offer the HFQ® forming process to our trusted aerospace partners. We look forward to collaborating with the HFQ® team on current and future projects as we expand our forming capability of complex aluminum parts,” said Stan Kenner, President of EMI Aerospace.
About EMI Aerospace
EMI Aerospace is a leading aerospace parts manufacturer specializing in complex metal formed parts since 1959. Headquartered in Sterling Heights, Michigan, they produce OEM and MRO aircraft engine nacelles, bulkheads, heat shields, and duct sections. They also produce spacecraft parts including thermal shields, structural components, and fuel system components.
EMI Aerospace specializes in speed to market, utilizing their on-site foundry that allows them to support rapid developmental projects with prototype tooling and simulations followed by full production tooling and components. They are AS9100D and Nadcap certified, and are ITAR compliant. EMI Aerospace is a division of Quality Metalcraft / Experi-Metal, Inc Holdings.
About Impression Technologies and HFQ®
Impression Technologies developed and commercialised the Hot Form Quench (HFQ®) process for the hot forming of ultra-high strength aluminum sheet. This breakthrough was pioneered at Imperial College, London. HFQ® enables high-strength aluminum precision forming at high speeds into complex-shaped parts reducing part count, weight, costs and tool investment, whilst improving dimensional repeatability. This disruptive technology encompasses advanced materials science, alloy processing and sophisticated forming simulation models. HFQ® structures have been in serial production for automotive platforms since 2016, with manufacturing in Coventry, Achern in Germany (with its partner, fischer group) and Chengdu, China (with its partner Jet Wagon). From the company’s headquarters in Coventry, UK, ITL’s team of design, metallurgical and process experts support growing ecosystem of partners for sustainable automotive and aerospace lightweight solutions.
For further technical information:
Tim McGuire, Director of Aerospace, Impression Technologies
Richard Kraft, Aerospace Business Manager, EMI Aerospace
We have stamping presses to manufacture virtually any of the prototype stamping parts you need. Our 33 presses range from 150 to 4,000 tons with bed sizes from 42” x 60” to 240” x 96”. Our equipment allows us to manufacture parts of various material specifications and thicknesses. This includes hand and coil fed transfer and tandem line presses. We feature a 2,500 ton coil fed transfer press allowing for a faster, more automated process for large stampings and assemblies. Our brake press uses v-tool forming, reducing tool costs for straight, less complex bends. We also have 500 and 600 ton presses with roll-out bolsters that use multiple dies and minimize change outs over time. Combined, this gives us the ability to stamp the parts you need to get your product to market faster.
We tailor our solutions to your program’s specific prototype stamping needs. Our expertise goes beyond stamping a part and shipping it to you. We engineer the manufacturing process to ensure it is as efficient as possible. Your complete program in managed in-house, vertically integrating all processes and technologies while maintaining a single point of contact. We understand the key to being a successful partner is more than just delivering a high-quality product on-time.
We take a strategic engineered approach and utilize robotics based on your requirements, our years of proven production experience, and automated technologies. This semi-automated process creates a leaner, more cost effective project. Your program can see greater repeatability, reduced piece price over the life of the project, and increased rate in flow. If you are looking for a trusted, reliable partner for your prototype stamping needs, look no further than QMC-EMI.
