Stelmi America

What Stelmi America does

Stelmi America LLC is a privately held U.S. manufacturer of hard chrome plated and induction hardened chrome plated steel bars and tubes, operating from a single facility at 1601 Brooks Drive in Marshall, Michigan. The company sells primarily to hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder OEMs, with secondary applications in heavy equipment, snowplow, auto-haul, and offshore oil extraction. Chrome-plated piston rods typically represent 15-30% of total cylinder material cost for buyers, making bar quality and consistency a meaningful driver of cylinder service life.

Stelmi America's core technology is a proprietary continuous horizontal feed chrome plating process in which the entire length of each steel bar passes through multiple circular anodes immersed in a chromium solution, with bars advanced and rotated to build uniform plate thickness. The process is the only one of its kind in North America, and the company is the first U.S. operation to deploy the European-origin Stelmi method domestically. Output includes two main chrome bar product lines (Stelmi 500 HR at 500+ hours ASTM B-117 salt spray resistance and Stelmi 1000 HR at 1000+ hours), induction hardened variants with a minimum 50 Rc surface hardness and 0.050 inch case depth, and O.D. chrome plated tubes. Standard specifications span 1-5 inch diameters and 20-30 foot lengths, with custom quotes for non-standard dimensions.

The business model is straightforward industrial B2B sales: custom, quote-based pricing tied to diameter, length, yield strength, chrome plate thickness, and whether induction hardening is required, with revenue recognized on a one-time hardware-sale basis. Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales through a website quote-request system, supported by ISO 9001:2008 certification (valid through November 2026), NFPA trade association membership, and mill certification with 100% product traceability. Distribution is single-channel direct to North American industrial buyers with no reseller network. The company is part of a three-entity group under common ownership alongside Industrial Hard Chrome and Bar Technologies, together covering the chrome plating and bar finishing value chain.

Name

Stelmi America

Legal name

Stelmi America LLC

Website

https://stelmiamerica.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stelmi America LLC is a Michigan-based manufacturer of hard chrome plated and induction hardened steel bars and tubes, serving hydraulic cylinder OEMs and heavy equipment makers in North America using a proprietary continuous horizontal feed plating process unique to the region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hard Chrome Plated Steel Bars

NAICS

Iron and Steel Pipe and Tube Manufacturing from Purchased Steel (33121)

SIC

Coating, Engraving & Allied Services (3470), Steel Pipe & Tubes (3317)

akta.pro primary industry

Seals, Valves & Auxiliary Components (for Pumps/Compressors) (IMAHANAH)

Keywords

• Chrome plated steel bars
• Hydraulic cylinder components
• Industrial steel manufacturing
• Induction hardened bars
• Hard chrome plating

Headquarters

HQ city

Marshall

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Chrome Plated Steel Bars and Tubes: Sale of hard chrome plated and induction hardened chrome plated steel bars, and O.D. chrome plated steel tubes. Products are sold with standard specifications (24ft lengths, 1-5 inch diameter) or to customer specifications.
2. Custom Machined Products: Optional machining services for bars offered as add-on to base chrome plated bar products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Stelmi America manufactures hard chrome plated and induction hardened chrome plated steel bars, as well as O.D. chrome plated steel tubes, for use as piston rods in hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. Production uses a proprietary continuous horizontal feed chrome plating process with circular anodes, yielding uniform plate thickness and 500–1000+ hour salt spray corrosion resistance for industrial equipment manufacturers.

Product overview

Stelmi America is a manufacturer of hard chrome plated and induction hardened chrome plated steel bars and tubes for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. The company offers two main product lines: Stelmi 500 HR Chrome Bars (500+ hours salt spray resistance) and Stelmi 1000 HR Chrome Bars (1000+ hours salt spray resistance). Both product lines include standard chrome plated bars and induction hardened variants. The company also produces O.D. chrome plated tubes. All products are ISO 9001 certified and use a proprietary continuous horizontal feed chrome plating process with circular anodes for uniform plate thickness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stelmi 500 HR Chrome Bars Hard chrome plated steel bars with 0.001 inch minimum plate thickness per side delivering 500+ hours of ASTM B-117 neutral salt spray corrosion resistance, intended for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder piston rod applications across heavy equipment, construction, agriculture, mining, and offshore oil extraction industries.
• Stelmi 1000 HR Chrome Bars Premium hard chrome plated steel bars with enhanced corrosion protection achieving 1000+ hours of neutral salt spray corrosion resistance for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder piston rods used in severe-service environments such as offshore oil extraction, snowplow equipment, and auto-haul carriers.
• Induction Hardened Chrome Plated Bars Chrome plated steel bars with an induction hardened case (50 Rc minimum surface hardness, 0.050 inch minimum effective case depth) that combines wear resistance with corrosion resistance for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder piston rods subject to high surface contact stresses.
• O.D. Chrome Plated Tubes Outer diameter chrome plated steel tubes produced by the same continuous horizontal feed plating process used for solid bars, for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinder applications requiring plated internal or external cylindrical surfaces.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ hours neutral salt spray corrosion resistance (four times industry norm of 120-150 hours)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Industrial Hard ChromeminorOthersRelated company under same ownership. Industrial Hard Chrome provides hard chrome plated bars, induction hardened and chrome plated bars, and OD chrome plated tubing as a related product line.
• Bar TechnologiesminorOthersRelated company under same ownership. Bar Technologies provides turned and polished bars, and turned ground and polished bars as part of the product portfolio.
• National Fluid Power Association (NFPA)minorOthersIndustry association membership. Stelmi America is a member of NFPA, the trade association for the fluid power industry.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Techmetals Inc. US-based hard chrome plating and surface engineering services company. Directly comparable in chrome plating capability for industrial components serving similar OEM customers in fluid power and heavy equipment.
• Bar Technologies (sister company): Sister company under common ownership providing turned and polished and turned-ground-polished bars. Operates as a complementary supplier to Stelmi America for the same hydraulic cylinder OEM customers.
• Industrial Hard Chrome (sister company): Related entity under common ownership offering hard chrome plated and induction hardened bars and OD chrome plated tubing. Direct overlap in product line and customer base, with a shared Marshall, MI footprint.
• Stelmi Group (parent European entity): The European originator of the continuous horizontal feed chrome plating process. Stelmi America is built around this technology, making the European parent the closest comparable in process know-how and product specification.
• Niagara LaSalle Corporation: Major North American producer of cold-finished and chrome plated steel bars for hydraulic/pneumatic cylinder applications. Most significant direct competitor in chrome plated piston rod stock serving the same hydraulic cylinder OEM customer base.

Regional players

• Chrometech (UK-based): UK-based hard chrome plating specialist serving industrial cylinder and rod applications. Operates in a different geography than Stelmi but applies comparable hard chrome plating technology to similar piston rod and actuator end uses.

Broad incumbents

• Metal Improvement Company (Curtiss-Wright): Large-scale industrial surface treatments provider, including hard chrome plating services for industrial components. Broader portfolio and geographic reach than Stelmi, but overlapping in hard chrome plating of bars and rods.
• Bosch Rexroth (Hydraulics): Major global hydraulic cylinder and component manufacturer. Representative of the OEM customer base for chrome plated piston rods and a benchmark for the quality and traceability expectations Stelmi must meet.
• Parker Hannifin (Cylinder Division): Global leader in motion and control technologies, including hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. A major customer-segment representative and the type of OEM that Stelmi's chrome plated bars are designed into as a specification-driven input.
• Gerdau (specialty bar operations): Large global steel producer with specialty bar product lines, including chrome plated bar offerings for hydraulic cylinder applications. Significantly larger scale and broader product portfolio than Stelmi America.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stelmi America