Plating Business Overview
Plating business with a focus on precious metal plating
Plating is widely adopted for the contact points of electronic components to enhance their reliability and durability. Our company specializes in providing plating services for the strip materials used in these electronic components. We primarily offer precious metal plating such as gold (Au) and silver (Ag), and we also accommodate various types of metal, including tin (Sn) and nickel (Ni).
Primary Applications
Our company's plating products are primarily used in automotive components.
Recently, the electrification of vehicles has been remarkably progressing, and the demand for plated automotive parts is on an increasing trend year by year. Automotive applications inherently demand a high quality standard; however, our company has received high praise from our customers for both our quality and pricing.
We particularly hold a top domestic share in silver (Ag) plating for both automotive and high voltage terminal applications, as well as a significant share in gold (Au) plating for sensor terminals and tin (Sn) plating for PCB terminals. Our plated products contribute to the safety and performance improvement of vehicles.
Product Examples
They are used in the contact parts of the following components.
Characteristics of Plating Types
| Plating Type | Characteristics | Applications |
| Gold (Au) | ・Chemical stability (corrosion resistance) ・High conductivity |
Taking advantage of gold's (Au) corrosion resistance, it is widely used in critical parts such as automobile engines and airbag components. |
|---|---|---|
| Silver (Ag) | ・High conductivity | Leveraging the conductivity of silver (Ag), it is frequently used in the switch components of automobiles. In recent years, it has also been adopted in high-voltage connectors for electric vehicles (EVs) and the like. |
Plating Methods
There are various methods of plating, but our company adopts the reel-to-reel plating method. Reel-to-reel plating is a plating technique that excels in mass production and quality stability.
Reel-to-Reel Plating Method
The materials that can plated at our company include strip materials such as copper and copper alloy, as well as stamped materials (stamped reel materials). We offer plating services for a wide range of materials from various manufacturers, not just our own. For further details, please inquire.
Organizational Chart
History of DOWA Plating Business
| 1884 |
Fujita Group (currently DOWA Group) received the transfer of the Kosaka Mine from the Meiji government and established itself as a non-ferrous metal mining and refining company. DOWA Group has transformed and developed its business in response to the needs of the times over its 130-year history. Currently, we have established a circular business model through five core businesses and are globally expanding our operations. We offer a unique combination of proper waste treatment and metal recycling in our smelting and recycling complex functions, as well as provide high-performance materials, technologies, and services, and possess numerous niche top products. |
|---|---|
| 1945 | The company name was changed to DOWA Mining Co., Ltd. |
| 1947 | Establishment of Yokozawa Chemical Industry and the start of manufacturing and selling precious metal chemical products. |
| 1973 | Yokozawa Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. becomes an affiliated company of DOWA Mining Co., Ltd. |
| 1982 | Yokozawa Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. has changed its trade name to DOWA Chemical Co., Ltd. |
| 1987 |
DOWA Chemical Co., Ltd. transfers its business rights to DOWA Mining Co., Ltd. DOWA Chemical begins silver plating processing. |
| 1997 |
DOWA Chemical Co., Ltd. changes its name to DOWA HIGHTECH Co., Ltd. Establishment of DOWA Mining (currently DOWA METALTECH Honjo Technology Center), an electronic materials research institute, as a research and development base for precious metal plating. |
| 2006 |
DOWA Mining Co., Ltd. changes its corporate name to DOWA Holdings Co., Ltd. and relocates its headquarters. Transition to a holding company system and establishment of DOWA METALTECH for metal processing business. DOWA HIGHTECH (同和ハイテック) changes its name to DOWA HIGHTECH (DOWA ハイテック) . Establishment of the Metal Materials Research Institute (currently Honjo Technology Center) as a separate entity from the electronic materials research institute. Establishment of DOWA METALTECH (THAILAND), a manufacturing and sales base in Thailand. |
| 2007 | Expansion of the dedicated plating processing factory (Building M) within DOWA HIGHTECH Co., Ltd. |
| 2016 | Establishment of DOWA METALTECH MEXICO, S.A. de C.V., a manufacturing and sales base in Mexico. |
| 2019 | Establishment of DOWA METALTECH CHONBURI, the second manufacturing and sales base in Thailand. |
| 2023 | Plans to expand a plating processing plant (Building P) within DOWA HIGHTECH Co., Ltd. |
