Abstract: A first portion of a continuous material strip is indexed through a stamping press and the stamping press is cycled so as to undertake a stamping operation on a section of the material strip during each cycle. A length of the continuous strip is accumulated in an accumulator either upstream or downstream of the stamping press. A second portion of the strip is continuously fed at a non-zero speed through a laser micromachining station positioned such that the accumulator is between the stamping press and the laser micromachining station. The speed of the second portion of said strip is controlled so that this speed is constant for at least a portion of each cycle of the stamping press and so that the average speed of the first portion of said strip through the stamping press is equal to the average speed of the second portion of the strip through the laser micromachining station.