Area Development
Intricate Metal Forming Company, a high-speed metal stamping manufacturer that recently changed its name to Intricate, plans to upgrade and expand its Roanoke, Virginia, manufacturing facility.

Founded in 1988 as a specialized metal stamper providing milled-end contact pins to automotive industry suppliers, the company said it continues to introduce new processes, equipment, and design capabilities at its Roanoke and Guangdong, China, manufacturing facilities to meet customers' changing connector needs.

"We're proud of our continued growth and excited about what the future holds for us as one of the world's leading high-tech metal stamping manufacturers and designers for our global partners," says Intricate President Scot MacCormack. "It's been particularly gratifying to see the company's growth from being a niche supplier in metal stamping – producing products for the automotive industry 25 years ago – to our position today as a major supplier of connectors. It has also been exciting to see our continued expansion into more advanced and detailed engineering, tool design and production for customers."

Company innovations include manufacturing speeds up to 1,500 strokes per minute, modular and carbide tooling, and multiple-out manufacturing. New processes include an automated secondary bending and starring operation, compliant tips, electrical testing, and insertion and removal testing. Additional innovations and processes added over the last year included tooling, automation systems, and highly efficient production process controls.

"These ongoing innovations and process introductions are supported by the addition of state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, including Bruderer presses, Sankyo feeds, an Agie CNC machining center and EDM," MacCormack added. "On the automation front, recent equipment additions designed and manufactured by Intricate include a 24-hour take up, multi-payoff, and insertion and removal equipment. Additionally, our expanding tool modeling and design innovations are supported by Quickpress and Solidworks."