Prince Manufacturing Expands Automated Plating Operations in Santa Catarina, Monterrey

Prince Manufacturing Expands Metal Plating Operations in Santa Catarina — Second Facility Coming June 2026

Prince Manufacturing is growing its metal finishing footprint in northern Mexico. Following the successful launch of our automated rack plating line in Santa Catarina, Nuevo León, we are pleased to announce that a second, larger facility is on track to open in June 2026 — bringing expanded plating capabilities, larger component capacity, and a broader process portfolio to serve customers across some of the world’s most demanding technology sectors.

This is a significant milestone in a story that began in early 2025, when we first announced plans to bring advanced plating capabilities to the Monterrey region. What started as a single automated line is now becoming a dedicated, multi-facility plating campus.

Facility One: Automated Rack Plating — Now Fully Operational

Our first Santa Catarina plating facility is up and running. This automatic rack plating operation specializes in electrolytic nickel plating and electrolytic tin plating, serving leading technology customers in sectors including aerospace, data centers, communications, power management, and EV electrification.

The line is built around a fully automated gantry-type system with 14 process tanks plus a dedicated drying stage — a complete, integrated sequence designed for precision, repeatability, and high throughput with minimal manual intervention.

Process Sequence

Key Technical Specifications

Nickel Plating Tanks (x3)

• Inner dimensions: 1,100 mm × 2,000 mm × 1,100 mm per tank
• Effective bath volume: 2,156 liters per tank
• Tank material: Polypropylene (PP), 15mm thick
• Operating temperature: 50–55°C
• Anodes: Titanium baskets — 16 per tank
• Bus bars: Copper
• Rectifier: 1,000 A / 12 V per tank
• Filtration rate: 20 T/Hr per tank

General Line Parameters

• Takt time: 10 minutes
• Automation: 1 gantry crane operator
• Fly bars: 7
• Heat source: Electric
• Power supply: 3Ø / 440V / 60Hz
• Total heating power: 190 kW
• Total exhaust capacity: 219.6 CMM
• Max tank capacity: 2.0 meters parts can be plated and epoxy coated

Three dedicated nickel plating tanks — each with its own rectifier, filtration, and titanium anode system — give the line redundancy, consistent bath chemistry, and the throughput capacity to support high-volume customer programs without sacrificing process control.

Measurement & Quality: FISCHERSCOPE XRAY XDL 230

Quality assurance on this line is anchored by the FISCHERSCOPE XRAY XDL 230, a high-standard X-ray coating thickness measurement system. This industry-recognized metrology equipment ensures precise plating thickness verification and process control at every stage — providing the traceability and documentation that aerospace, automotive, and high-reliability industrial customers require.

Facility Two: State-of-the-Art Expansion — Opening June 2026

The second Santa Catarina facility will significantly expand both the range of plating processes available and the physical scale of components Prince can accommodate. Designed specifically for large and heavy profile components that require the highest quality performance in technology applications, this new line will offer:

• Electroless Nickel — uniform, autocatalytic deposition for complex geometries and non-conductive substrates
• Electrolytic Nickel — corrosion protection, wear resistance, and surface hardening
• Electrolytic Tin — solderability and electrical conductivity for connectors and busbars
• Electrolytic Silver — maximum conductivity for high-current, high-load applications

The addition of electroless nickel is particularly significant. Unlike electrolytic processes, electroless nickel deposits with uniform thickness regardless of part geometry — making it the preferred solution for complex machined components, blind holes, recessed features, and parts where dimensional consistency is critical. It is widely specified in aerospace, defense, semiconductor, and precision industrial applications.

Electroless nickel deposits with uniform thickness regardless of part geometry — a property defined and governed by ASTM B733, the international standard for electroless nickel-phosphorus coatings — making it the preferred solution for precision aerospace, defense, and industrial components.

Silver plating at production scale is equally noteworthy. As EV architectures, power distribution systems, and high-frequency communications hardware push current-carrying requirements higher, silver’s unmatched electrical conductivity makes it the material of choice for the most demanding busbar, connector, and contact surface applications.

Prince’s key competitive advantage with the new line is its ability to plate and epoxy coat components up to 2.8 meters in length — a significant step up from the 2.0-meter capacity of the existing line. This large-format capability opens the door to oversized busbars, structural power rails, and long-profile industrial assemblies that cannot be accommodated by most plating operations in the region. For EV battery systems, data center power distribution, and high-current switchgear, the ability to plate a full-length component in a single pass eliminates the need for sectioning, reduces assembly complexity, and maintains the electrical and structural integrity of the finished part.

A grand opening announcement will be coming soon — stay tuned.

Why Santa Catarina, Nuevo León?

Santa Catarina sits within Greater Monterrey, one of Mexico’s most established industrial corridors and home to a dense base of automotive, electronics, and industrial manufacturing suppliers. The location provides strong logistics advantages — road access to the US border, proximity to Monterrey’s international airport, and an experienced industrial workforce — while operating under Mexico’s IMMEX program, which enables duty-free importation of materials and components for export-oriented manufacturing.

For OEMs rethinking their supply chain geography, the timing is favorable. Foreign direct investment into Mexico’s manufacturing sector surged more than 10% year-over-year to $34.3 billion in the first half of 2025, underscoring the region’s deepening role as North America’s preferred nearshoring destination.

For customers shipping components across the US-Mexico border for plating and returning finished parts to US assembly operations, Prince’s Santa Catarina facilities offer a structurally cost-advantaged alternative to domestic plating suppliers, without sacrificing quality, traceability, or lead time.

A Broader Finishing Network Across Mexico and the USA

Santa Catarina is one part of Prince Manufacturing’s wider, vertically integrated finishing and fabrication network. Customers looking for a single-source partner can combine plating with:

• Powder coating — high-volume lines
• E-coating
• Fluidized powder coating for busbars and conductors
• Liquid paint and CARC painting for defense applications
• Metal fabrication — laser cutting, stamping, press braking, welding
• Contract assembly, kitting, and sequencing

This breadth of in-house capability means fewer suppliers, shorter lead times, and tighter process control across the full manufacturing value stream — all from a Mexico shelter or contract manufacturing arrangement.

Ready to Discuss Your Plating Requirements?

Whether you have an active plating program looking for a cost-competitive alternative, a new product launch requiring nickel or silver plating, or a large-format component that’s been difficult to source domestically, our engineering and finishing teams in Santa Catarina are ready to assist.

Contact Prince Manufacturing for a consultation — and ask about our upcoming June 2026 facility opening.