At Keats Manufacturing Co., we’re proud of our ability to meet customers’ exact custom needs, whether clients require a single prototype or tens of millions of pieces.
Our custom assembly capabilities include multiple-stage tooling to eliminate secondaries, plastic injection molding, in-line contact staking insertion, and welding.
We can create in-die tapped and threaded holes with or without screw/fasteners insertions, and also offer in-line part-to-part assembly to reduce component costs. Brackets, clips, bushings, shields, terminals, stampings, lead frames, and wire forms are the foundation of our offerings. Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery ensures all even the tightest deadlines are met — every time, for every project.
Keats serves a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, communications, construction, medical and medical device, electrical, appliances, military, and general manufacturing. Our stamping, tapping, and threading services meet or exceed strict industry standards — including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, TS 16949, Mil-Spec, PMA, SMI, and TMA — and we employ advanced, state-of-the-art technologies and equipment to meet customers’ unique requests and ensure optimal product reliability. Before any of our products ship out, they undergo thorough final inspections.
Custom Capabilities
We have more than 55 years of experience manufacturing high-quality custom small metal stampings, wire forms, and assemblies, and proudly employ 25 of the industry’s most experienced die makers. Both of Keats’ locations house more than 142 metal stamping and wire forming machines, and we offer sophisticated four-slide/multi-slide and stamping press technologies — allowing us to accommodate high-volume orders of up to 50 million parts. Keats offers various custom metal fabrication capabilities, including bending, drawing, cutting, flattening, stretching, and straightening.
Below are some examples of our previous custom manufacturing work.
- Spring contact for hearing aids — Keats manufactured a beryllium copper spring contact for a large medical-component manufacturer. The 120,000 spring contacts, which were ultimately used in hearing aids, complied with tight tolerances of 0.0005 inch. The springs also required gold plating, which we were able to provide within the given time frame.
- Copper terminal assembly for timer control — Our team manufactured and assembled a copper top spring stamping and contact assembly for use in appliance timer controls. We made use of AutoCAD software to design the automated assembly for terminals, blades, and contacts, which were individually stamped. The brass used in these pieces was pre-plated with 100% tin to allow for optimal corrosion resistance, and the silver contacts were assembled during stamping. The client’s 300,000 pieces were provided through JIT delivery.
- Steering wheel sensor terminal — This 0.0238-inch thick phosphor bronze terminal was manufactured for use in automotive steering position sensors. We made use of our precision stamping services to manufacture 1 million of these terminals, each of which was plated with bright tin to provide reliable corrosion resistance, ensuring optimal longevity and safety.
- Phospor bronze automotive terminals — Keats designed and built reel-to-reel phosphor bronze terminals for an automotive lighting application, meeting ultra-tight tolerances — as tight as 0.005 inch. We continue to manufacture as many as 850,000 of these terminals annually for this specific customer.
- Hinged contact jaw for electrical box — The team at Keats turned out 1 million hinged contact jaw pieces using a multi-slide stamping process, maintaining a tolerance of 0.002 inch. The jaws were also nickel-plated to ensure optimal electrical conductivity.
- Copper automotive terminal — We made terminal wire forms for sensors used in the automotive industry. The 0.082-inch terminals were formed from copper alloy wires. A tolerance of 0.001 inch was achieved.
- Medical stainless formed wire link — Wire links for use in medical devices were manufactured from ASTM-standard fine stainless steel wire. Keats’ expert design team created the tools needed to produce 1 million of these wire links, and our state-of-the-art equipment and engineering expertise helped us to achieve tolerances as low as 0.0002 inch.
- Annealed spring link cartridge — Keats designed and built a series of annealed spring steel link cartridges for use in critical military applications. We formed the cartridges from 0.040-inch thick annealed spring steel, meeting precision tolerances of ±0.005 inch.
Learn More
The expert team Keats Manufacturing works closely with clients to create top-quality products tailored to their exact specifications and requirements. Serving a huge range of industries, Keats offers various custom fabrication services — including high-volume multi-slide and four-slide precision metal stamping, punching, forming, small progressive die stamping, and tool design — to make your vision a reality. For more information on our custom capabilities or to learn more about our previous work, contact the team today.
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