Feintool and SITEC announce their latest production partnership with industry-leading Swedish coating specialist Impact Coatings AB. This non-exclusive cooperation further strengthens our capability to provide customers with the entire process chain in the production of ready-to-install metallic bipolar plates and interconnects for fuel cells and electrolyzers – from early development to high-volume production.
January 23, 2025 – As leading manufacturers of metallic high-precision components for fuel cells and electrolyzers we are continuously enhancing our manufacturing processes to address the needs of the hydrogen industry. To strengthen our customers’ competitiveness, we find partners that share the same spirit of driving innovation and cost advantages as we do. With Swedish Impact Coatings AB we cooperate with a proven, reliable, and globally present specialist to further evolve our state-of-the-art development and production capabilities.
Impact Coatings’ expertise lies in physical vapor deposition (PVD), a clean coating process for the modification and enhancement of surface properties with minimal environmental impact. PVD and the corresponding quality control complement our coating capability which is an integral production step to provide customers with ready-to-install bipolar plates and interconnects.
Bipolar plates and interconnects form the core of fuel cells and electrolyzers
Fuel cells are electrochemical energy converters that generate electricity from hydrogen and oxygen. They emit only water vapor. This is how fuel cells power electric vehicles and, for example, emergency power generators. They offer a clean alternative to fossil fuels and thus contribute to a greener future. Electrolyzers use the same principle as fuel cells in reverse to store energy in hydrogen.
Our metallic bipolar plates and interconnects constitute the cores of fuel cells and electrolyzers. These high-precision components enable efficient gas flow, cooling and electrical connection at low production cost. Several hundred plates are layered to form the fuel cell or electrolyzer stack.
Feintool and SITEC’s strategic goal is to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of metallic bipolar plates and interconnects.
Learn more: https://bipolarplates.com/
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Impact coatings
Applied Technologies
FEINforming: Advantage through precision
Feintool’s FEINforming technology enables the precise processing of ultra-thin material thicknesses with maximum accuracy. This results in weight and volume reduction, facilitating a more compact arrangement of the cells within the fuel cell stack and in electrolyzers. Through the optimization of material use, design implementation, and production processes, we unlock significant potential for reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of fuel cell and electrolyzer technology.
FLEXwelding: Advantage through efficiency
Employing efficient laser technology from SITEC, FLEXwelding stands out as an extremely economical process. Characterized by the highest welding speeds, maximum contour accuracy, and virtually distortion-free components, FLEXwelding ensures optimal results. In addition, the intelligent systems specially developed by SITEC form the basis for excellent weld seams. Integrated, intelligent monitoring processes ensure 100% quality control and traceability within automated production systems.
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD)
Impact Coatings’ Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is a technology where a material is evaporated and condensed to form a thin film coating over an object (substrate). The coatings consist of metals or ceramics, such as nitrides, carbides, and oxides. With the highly flexible PVD method, the thicknesses of the coatings can be varied from a few atomic layers to several μm.
About SITEC
SITEC is an internationally valued partner and system supplier for automated high-tech production systems and the series production of precision parts and assemblies.
Focusing on the use of innovative technologies, complete turnkey solutions and the highest quality, we develop production-ready solutions for laser material processing and automated assembly for the automotive and renewable energy industries. The company achieves this with around 300 employees and optimal teamwork.
SITEC is growing with the challenges of its customers and the market, such as the economical production of future-oriented products in the field of e-mobility or self-sufficient storage technologies based on fuel cells and interconnects. The company has been producing laser-welded bipolar plates on behalf for customers since 2012.
Fully automated laser processing systems for laser welding of copper in particular for components in e-drives, battery systems and power electronics, complete the portfolio.
Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Germany, the company serves Asian markets directly on site via SITEC Laser Technology (Shanghai) and operates a showroom in the USA (Pittsburgh).
About Feintool
Feintool is an international technology and market leader in electrolamination stamping, fineblanking, and forming. We manufacture high-quality precision parts in large volumes from steel. We supply the automotive industry, energy infrastructure equipment providers, and all manner of high-end industrial manufacturers. Feintool’s products perfectly complement the megatrends for green energy generation, storage, and usage.
Our core technologies deliver measurable cost-efficiency, consistent quality, and improved productivity. Feintool constantly expands the horizons of its production methods and develops intelligent solutions, innovative tools, and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes in line with customer needs.
Founded in 1959 and headquartered in Switzerland, the company has 18 production sites, 3,200 employees and 85 vocational trainees in Europe, the USA, China, Japan and – as of 2025 – India. Feintool is publicly listed and majority-owned by the Artemis Group.
Feintool Equipment Corp.
6833 Creek Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242, USA
n/a n/a
Phone : +1 513 791 00 66
feintool-ftu@feintool.com
Feintool International Holding AG
Industriering 8
3250 Lyss
Schweiz
Labhart Karin
Phone : +41/323875157
Fax : +41/796092202
karin.labhart@feintool.com
SITEC Industrietechnologie GmbH
Bornaer Straße 192
09114 Chemnitz
Germany
Schweiz
Rabenhold Sabine
Phone : +49 371 4708 273
sabine.rabenhold@sitec-technology.de