How Steel Matting is Made: Behind the Scenes at Una Wire Products

Most buyers order steel matting by the sheet without much thought about how it's made. But understanding the manufacturing process helps you appreciate why quality varies between suppliers — and why choosing a dedicated manufacturer like Una Wire Products gives you consistent, reliable results. Here's a look behind the scenes at how steel matting is made.

Step 1: The Raw Material — Wire Rod

The manufacturing process starts with wire rod — a coiled steel product that comes from steel mills. Wire rod is typically 5.5mm to 12mm in diameter and is the primary raw material for wire-based products. The quality of the wire rod — its carbon content, yield strength, and dimensional consistency — directly determines the quality of the finished matting.

At Una Wire Products, we source wire rod carefully to ensure our finished matting meets the structural requirements our customers depend on.

Step 2: Wire Drawing

Wire rod is too thick for most matting applications. It needs to be drawn down to the required diameter through a process called wire drawing.

In wire drawing, the rod is pulled through a series of progressively smaller dies — hardened metal discs with a tapered hole in the center. Each die reduces the wire's diameter slightly while increasing its length. The process is repeated until the wire reaches the target gauge (e.g., 3.2mm or 4.0mm).

Drawing also work-hardens the wire, increasing its tensile strength. For matting applications, the wire is often annealed (heated and slowly cooled) after drawing to restore some flexibility — this is especially important for wires that need to be welded.

Step 3: Welding the Grid

Once the wire is drawn to the correct gauge, it's fed into a welding machine that automatically forms the grid pattern. The machine:

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The result is a rigid, flat grid with welds at every intersection. The quality of these welds — their strength, consistency, and appearance — is a key indicator of manufacturing quality. Poorly welded intersections can pull apart under load, which is a safety risk in structural applications.

Step 4: Cutting to Size

The welded wire mesh comes out of the machine as a continuous panel and is then cut to the specified sheet dimensions — 4′×8′, 6′×20′, or custom sizes. Cutting is done with precision shears to ensure clean, square edges.

Step 5: Surface Treatment (for Galvanized Products)

For galvanized matting, an additional step is performed after cutting:

• Hot-dip galvanizing: The finished sheet is cleaned, pickled in acid to remove surface oxides, fluxed, and then dipped in a bath of molten zinc at around 450°C. The zinc metallurgically bonds to the steel surface, forming a robust protective layer.
• Electro-galvanizing: An alternative process where zinc is deposited on the wire surface via electroplating, producing a thinner but smoother coat. Often used for wire that will be further processed.

For stainless steel matting, the wire is already corrosion-resistant from its alloy composition — no additional coating is needed.

Step 6: Quality Inspection

Before sheets are packed and shipped, each batch is inspected for:

• Dimensional accuracy — sheet size and mesh spacing within tolerance
• Wire gauge consistency across the sheet
• Weld quality — checking that welds are firm and complete at intersections
• Surface condition — for galvanized products, checking for coating consistency

About Una Wire Products

Una Wire Products Inc. has been manufacturing steel matting, wire rods, and black iron wire at our Quezon City facility since 2021. Our production team brings over 50 years of combined experience in wire and mesh manufacturing — the same expertise that has been delivering quality products to Philippine construction and hardware markets since 1975.

Every sheet we produce goes through our quality inspection process before it reaches our customers. Whether you need a single standard sheet or a large custom order, you get the same attention to manufacturing quality.