SPF America

The Challenge

Responding to a 5x increase in demand. 

SPF America is a U.S.-based manufacturer known for its precision metal fabrication capabilities and high-performance copper busbars used across power, energy, and industrial markets. Their customers span rapidly growing sectors including energy storage, data centers, telecommunications, EV infrastructure, and backup power.

To support these industries, SPF America operates a vertically integrated facility with in‑house plating capabilities, including bright Sn, matte Sn, Ni, and Sn/Pb. This integration allows them to maintain tight control over quality, lead times, and cost. But as customer demand surged, their existing plating workflow reached its limits.

Suddenly, a customer increased their weekly order volume from 1,000 pieces to 5,000 pieces, a 5x jump in demand. Their nickel-plating process was on a rack plating line that would have required a reciprocal 5x increase in bars. The barrel plating line was configured for a different plating process, making it unavailable to support the overflow in demand.

SPF America needed a solution that could fit into its existing rack line footprint, accelerate throughput, and deliver a fast return on investment.

The Solution

Novo Metal Finishing Equipment’s Custom Multiplater

SPF America reached out to Novo Metal Finishing Equipment for a custom multiplater, a high‑efficiency barrel plating system engineered to integrate seamlessly into rack plating lines. Multiplaters are fully-contained barrel systems that can be integrated into a rack plating line. These systems can be designed with 2, 3, or more barrels.

The Novo Metal Finishing Equipment Multiplater offered several advantages that aligned directly with SPF America’s needs:

• Designed to fit on existing rack lines
• Engineered for high‑volume nickel plating
• Capable of dramatically increasing throughput per load
• Reduced manual handling and labor requirements
• Consistent, uniform plating quality across large batches

By incorporating the Multiplater into their nickel-plating line, SPF America could bypass the limitations of traditional rack plating while leveraging the infrastructure they already had in place. Instead of requiring 50 rack bars to meet the new demand, the Multiplater allowed them to process the entire 5,000‑piece weekly requirement in just five loads.

The Result

A 10x increase in throughput and a 3.5 week payback.

The Novo Multiplater delivered a 10× increase in throughput compared to SPF America’s rack plating process. What once required 50 rack bars could now be completed in five efficient, repeatable loads.

This improvement didn’t just solve the capacity problem - it transformed SPF America’s plating operation:

• Throughput increased 10×
• The Multiplater integrated directly into the existing rack line
• Quality and consistency remained high across all batches
• Increased flexibility of the rack plating line
• The investment paid for itself in just 3.5 weeks at fully loaded labor rates

With the Multiplater in place, SPF America could confidently meet the 5,000‑piece weekly demand without adding temporary staff, expanding equipment footprint, or compromising turnaround times. The solution provided the scalability they needed to support rapid customer growth while maintaining the precision and reliability their brand is known for.

Conclusion

SPF America’s partnership with Novo Metal Finishing Equipment demonstrates how the right plating technology can unlock dramatic gains in efficiency, capacity, and cost savings. By integrating the Multiplater into their nickel-plating rack line, SPF America not only met a fivefold increase in demand-they did it with speed, consistency, and a return on investment measured in weeks, not months.