- 06 January 2006 -
Review & Forecast: Specification Confusion Creates Opportunities for Metal Finishers
By Kelly Brennan, CEO, Pavco Inc.
The European initiative, ELV Directive 2000/53/EC, initiated before the turn of the century, was designed to eliminate leach-able hexavalent chromium from automobiles. This turned out to be one of the most significant impacts on the metal finishing industry last year.
State of the Industry: Where Do We Stand? |
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As the wheel continued to turn, environmentally friendly products and applications took hold, and the buzz words and phrases like ELV, hex-free, RoHS, and WEEE changed how electroplaters approached conversion coatings over functional deposits, such as zinc, zinc alloys and aluminum.
2005 also saw much indecision as to which processes were the best fit for plating shops trying to achieve the goal of eliminating hexavalent chrome from their plating facilities. Every automotive manufacturer wanted its own specified application or process to be applied by the metal finisher of their choice. This, in turn, created a dilemma for the applicator that processed parts for multiple car manufacturers.
Last year, plating companies continued to face problems that were created by the technical inventions of the 1990s. The implementation of innovative plating processes such as new zinc alloy systems, where one car company would specify zinc iron, another, zinc cobalt, and yet another, zinc nickel, was just the beginning of the problem. For example, within zinc nickel alloy, there is low nickel (3 to 5%), mid nickel (6 to 8%), and high nickel (12 to 15%). The confusion was compounded with the introduction of different hex-free conversion coatings, and metal finishers found themselves in the middle, faced with the reality of having multiple processes just to service one industry.
They continued to process work awarded from automotive companies while bidding on new business that would require either a different alloy plating system, a totally different non-hex conversion coating, or both. The past year brought to everyone’s attention that there were many tails wagging the dogs. The days of plating to common specifications established by organizations such as ASTM were over, and the tail became the dog.
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| When energy and maintenance costs are factored in, new equipment may be less expensive than older machinery in the long run. Pictured is a phosphate washer from KMI Systems featuring energy-saving insulation walls. |
Today, if a metal finisher wants to plate for an automotive company, many automatic lines may be required, providing different plating processes with a multitude of different conversion coatings, none of which can contain hexavalent chromium. These innovations are not only ground breaking but are also worthy of the change.
The ability to produce functional coatings that will pass hundreds and sometimes thousands of hours of neutral salt spray corrosion protection, while improving the environment, is something this industry should not only be proud of, but also embrace.
We have entered into a technological era that has created opportunities for a stronger industry than was seen earlier in the decade, and the potential of good, sustained profitability for metal finishers.
2006 will bring more exciting changes to the technologies of plating processes and their complementary conversion coatings. innovative suppliers are seizing the opportunity to invent new products as well as improve existing products associated with specified applications that had created problems in the past for applicators.
Zinc/nickel alloy processes that are heavily chelated, and create problems in waste treatment, are being replaced by systems free of sequestering agents. These new processes offer improved quality, ease of use, greater distribution and coverage, and are free of waste treatment concerns. They provide higher productivity which allows the metal finisher to achieve greater profitability over existing technologies. Non-hex conversion coatings are being improved also, incorporating nano-technology, along with the introduction of totally non-chrome conversion coatings.
Worldwide, in 2006, the focus of our industry will be growth through innovation and technology. The tails will still wag the dogs, however, until all automotive companies worldwide realize that as long as applications are so individually corporate specific, their costs will continue to be high. Hopefully, this year will also bring some kind of automotive specification unity regarding general corrosion and torque requirements. This change would not only help the metal finishing industry, it will improve automotive companies’ cost structure.
Review & Forecast compiled by Greg Valero, Editor and Publisher.
