TOOLING DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT FOR A SHAFT TO REDUCE PROCESSING COSTS

Micro Metal Finishing has been applying plating to a wide variety of parts and components since the 1950s.

In a unique turnaround, an appliance industry customer asked them to design and develop tooling to keep the gear end of a shaft free of plating. Initially, the customer had been plating the shafts using their own operations, and using a labor intensive process to cap, plate, and then remove the caps to mask off the end of the part.

In a clear demonstration of the knowledge and creativity of Micro Metal's staff, we were able to offer the customer significant savings by designing custom racks to mask the shafts and eliminate the labor costs required to cap them. The unmasked area needed corrosion protection during transit which was then solved when we developed a custom rust preventive application process to protect the unplated ends of the shafts during shipping. Our plant manager, line leader, and outside tooling manufacturer worked closely to bring this project to fruition. The customer was so pleased with our production capability and quality that they eventually single sourced all of their plating requirements to Micro Metal.

Although this project may be unique, it serves as more than an anecdote of the customer service, engineering, and tooling creativity Micro Metal Finishing brings to any challenge with which we are confronted. Please contact us for further information.