Reel-to-reel plating is an economical process, which allows for select deposits of metal. This process can plate strips of manufactured products or reels of raw material before they are stamped into parts. This starts by loading the reels onto a de-reeling station. Then by using a capstan system, the product is fed through various plating processes. At the end of the line is a take-up system, which re-spools the material once the appropriate finish is achieved. Multiple reels can be ran with the use of an accumulator, which facilitates a smooth transition between them.

Reference electrode is an electrode. It has a stable and well-known electrode potential. The high stability of the electrode potential is usually reached by employing a redox system with constant concentrations of each participants of the redox reaction. Reference electrodes are used to measure electrochemical potential. It is used not only to measure the potential of the incestigated electrode but also in potentiostatic measurements as an element in the input channel of the potentiostat.