Automotive - Metal Finishing

Latest News

Ford Otosan Commercial Vehicles Sport BASF Coatings
BASF supplies basecoats and clearcoats for the plant in Turkey
U.S. Industrial Production Falls 0.5% in April
Decreases seen in automotive products, appliances, furniture, carpeting as well as miscellaneous durables.
Advanced Technical Finishing Continues $10 Million Facility Renovation
Improvements at ATF are designed to expedite execution, decrease turnaround time and meet the increasing consumer demand for tight-tolerance, mission-critical work.
BYK-Gardner Announces 7th Annual User Meeting
Speakers from automotive makers, paint makers, part suppliers as well as raw material suppliers will share their best practices and challenges to optimize color & appearance.
Enthone, Inc. Elevates Henri Sep to the Position of Vice President of Global Marketing, Performance Coatings
Since joining Enthone in 2011, Sep has led efforts in delivering customer-focused solutions to OEMs, applicators and job shops.

Podcasts

Metal Finishing Audio Newscast--January 9, 2013
Exclusive interview with Dan Dunigan and Kenn Leuzinger, founders of The Finishing Experts.
Metal Finishing Audio Newscast, December 18, 2012
Review of three independent manufacturing reports: the Federal Reserve's U.S. Industrial Production Summary for November; Association for Manufacturing Technology's October Orders Report; and the latest PMI Index from the Institute for Supply Management.
Metal Finishing Audio Newscast, August 14, 2012
Manufacturing technology orders; U.S. July unemployment report; SIFCO ASC featured on FOX Business Network's "Manufacturing Marvels" Show; AutoTechnology training programs; COATING 2012 technical sessions
Metal Finishing Audio Newscast, June 2012
NASF Annual Awards Presentation; Save the date for SUR/FIN 2013

Blogs

Guest Blog: Import Penetration Still Outweighs Reshoring Trend
Posted by Reg Tucker • 02 April 2013
BY MICHELE NASH-HOFF. In January, the U. S. Business and Industry Council released a report, "Import Penetration Rises again in 2011; Challenges Manufacturing Renaissance, Insourcing Claims,"...
tags: U.S. manufacturing, imports, reshoring
rated:
Making Reviews Worthwhile for Employees and Managers Alike
Posted by Reg Tucker • 05 March 2013
BY MARKO DUFFY. It’s a new year, and if you’re like me you’re absolutely giddy over the excitement of starting another round of meaningful and impactful performance reviews...
tags: Performance appraisals, employee reviews, continuous improvement
rated:
Automotive OEMs Are Riding the 'Wave'
Posted by Reg Tucker • 02 February 2013
Coming off a year which saw a rally in both automotive production and sales – mostly evident in the US and China – it’s not surprising to see that momentum course through the entire ...
tags: automotive parts suppliers, OEMs, powertrain, engine components
rated:
Guest Blog: What a Plater Thinks of Masking for High-Tech Applications
Posted by Reg Tucker • 18 December 2012
By Marko Duffy. This is how we platers think it goes…An engineer calls his co-workers over to his cubicle to show the latest device he’s created—an intelligent, innovative work of t...
tags: electroless nickel, masking, profits
rated:

Matt Stauffer

Ask The Expert

Zinc & Zinc Alloys, Bright Nickel, Trivalent Chrome, Acid Copper
Matt Stauffer is the Director of Technical Service at Pavco, Inc. in Charlotte, N.C. He leads a group that specializes in helping customers maintain, optimize, and troubleshoot a wide variety of metal ...

Features

Unfinished Business—Thoughts of a Senior Plater, Part II
In Part II of what he calls his “swan song,” industry veteran John “Jack” Horner touches on a range of subjects, from Ni electroplating from a sulfamate plating solution, to anodizing Ni, to zinc as an undercoating for Cu-Ni-Cr on steel.
"Unfinished” Business—Thoughts of a Senior Plater, Part I
In this retrospective piece, industry veteran John “Jack” Horner reflects on the early research and development and testing that spurred innovations in modern plating.
Process Optimization by Means of Continuous Monitoring of Cleaning and Rinsing Baths
Precision component manufacturers are increasingly specifying the monitoring and documentation of residual contamination limit values as a means to mitigate both costs and product quality issues.
Surface Finishing Sheet-Metal Assemblies When Using Self-Clinching Fasteners
This article provides a basic understanding about self-clinching fastener technology and the issues associated with surface finishing can help guide the way toward best practices

Downloads

Nano-crystalline Sn-Co-X Alloy Alternative to Decorative Chromium Plating
The nano-crystalline Sn-Co-X(M13) plating alloy coating, intended as a alternative to decorative chromium, shows similar color and excellent corrosion.
The Study of Color Strength Measurement in Anodizing Dyes
In the past, engineers of quality assurance department matched color by eyesight or colorimeter to identify the change of hue. However, the method does not offer the best accuracy, nor does it indicate color strength. In this study, Everlight Chemical Industrial Corporation attempted to find a better measurement of the color strength and used the statistical analysis to get the estimated equation.
Update on Accelerated Corrosion Testing
In this comprehensive refresher, Ray Singleton, president of Singleton Corp., underscores the usefulness of accelerated corrosion tests in comparison to real-world exposure, while focusing on the consistency of the results.
Self-Healing, Chromate-free Conversion Coating for Magnesium Alloys
Magnesium and its alloys are increasingly being used in a wide range of applications, from aircraft to motor vehicles to consumer electronics because of the low density, high specific strength and stiffness [1-5]. However, since magnesium exhibits high chemical and electrochemical activity, its alloys suffer from poor corrosion resistance, often leading to structural or mechanical failure. Magnesium corrodes rapidly when exposed to salt water, moisture or acidic liquids or gases. Many methods have been used to protect magnesium alloys by inhibiting corrosion or slowing down the reaction mechanisms, including use of conversion coatings, anodizing, electroplating and addition of corrosion inhibitors.
Brush Plating of Tin-Zinc Alloy as an Alternative to Cadmium
SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts has developed a brush-plated deposit, Tin-Zinc, Code 4019, that provides sacrificial corrosion protection without the use of toxic chemicals.

Latest News

Podcasts

Blogs

Features

Downloads

There is a US version of this site available...

Members' Login

Not a member?