Blog - Page 6 of 6 - Advint Incorporated

March 1, 2019December 4, 2024

How to Properly Design an Electroplating Process

Importance of Proper Plating Process Design

Offering timely quality at a fair price is the best way to serve customers. Isn’t this always true? Properly designing a plating process is one of the best paths to achieve this goal!

If you are designing a plating or conversion coating process line, you need to make the most of the opportunity. Time and time again, we had seen limitations in our process, capacity, and capability hindering our ability to serve customers effectively on key performance indicators (KPI) such as process capability, capacity utilization, and cost per unit.

Key Point:

A well-designed plating process line in most cases would only require ~ 20% changes to its features in the operations phase in the long term.

In reality, the required changes in the operations phase are seldom lesser than 20%. And these changes are expensive, time-consuming, and in most cases the problem and the positive benefits are unknown.

If you are designing or redesigning a plating process line now, seize the moment. Give your best – communicate, collaborate, and think long term (5–20 years). To ensure good process design begin by improving your understanding of customers and employees. At a bird’s-eye view consider aspects such as chemistry, engineering, technology, quality tools, and human factors.

Whether your supply chain is following predictive or responsive product flow, knowing products, variants, sizes, demand and demand frequency, and types of substrates will help determine plating process layout, sequence, tank capacity, rack design, rectifier capacity and ripple factor, and the process flow. In a plating bath, the anion type used, the effectiveness of formulation, and bath stability is a few among several important variables. You should identify potential errors–human and technology-related failures and effects and prudent corrective actions must be well thought-out. NASA’s failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is one among several tools available within lean and total quality management (TQM) concepts. Breakdown and preventative maintenance, inventory management, and process control must follow instantly after completion of the design phase and the beginning of manufacturing phase, which we will discuss more in one of the later

blog posts.

The listed variables influence quality at the design phase, though there are more variables and specifics within the variables.

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February 6, 2019December 4, 2024

Influence of Nickel and Cyanide Ions on Electroplating

The Expertise of Mr. Wood in Cyanide-Based Silver Plating

Donald Wood contributed significantly to the surface finishing industry by inventing (Wood’s) nickel strike formulation around the 1940s. The invention of this formulation and subsequent improvements from the 1960s enabled plating elements of different electromotive force (emf) potential on stainless steel (SS420) and nickel alloys (Inconel) effectively.

Mr. Wood was an expert in cyanide-based silver-plating process and had used silver strike formulation with low free cyanide content.

Mr. Wood was an expert in cyanide-based silver-plating process and had used silver strike formulation with low free cyanide content. In a verbal communication on this subject he had mentioned, “…. a strike solution is generally designed to operate at low cathode efficiency so that a liberal evolution of hydrogen will perform it surface scouring function before metal is deposited”.

Both nickel (cation) and cyanide (anion) ions posses a unique value in plating. We use many elements to develop a strike layer on a substrate, and deposit other elements where electrode potential is different. Gold, copper, iron, and cobalt are a few examples. But most professionals consider the nickel strike deposit the best, and it is most commonly used to form an adherent strike layer. We consider nickel as an element which possesses many refractory properties, though it isn’t a refractory element!

Other than cyanide ions, sulfates, chlorides, and fluoride ions possess good transportation or conducting properties. Plating baths which use simple cyanides (base) for many reasons provide superior physical characteristics than other types of anions.

electroplating chemicals electroless nickel

The point driven above is not about the use of nickel or cyanide. It is about choosing suitable cation and anion(s) in a process at the design phase to achieve sustainable quality.

What is unique about nickel? What is the effect of cyanide in the electrolysis, it can produce exceptions results? What other variables influence quality at the design phase? This blog post introduced a few fundamental electroplating terms. What do they mean? I will answer these questions. Stay tuned for the next post.

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7 QC Tools – Mere Use of Tools are Not Enough

Many plating teams use quality control (QC) tools like process checklist, cause-and-effect analysis, Pareto chart, and failure modes and effects analysis. These tools are simple and powerful.

The purpose of using these tools is to minimize potential quality non-conformances. But, do all users attain alike results and are they able to meet the aim on most occasions?

If not, why?

The benefit and actual result apply to the other 3 QC tools too! But, for the sake of simplicity let us discuss the four tools listed in the beginning. There are quite a few ways to optimize and implement these tools.

Below I had recommended the few simple and valuable practices for the specific tools.

Process Checklist:

When developing and practicing the checklist prioritizing the four features given below are significant:

Frequency—Relate productivity and the frequency of conducting the process checklist for optimum results.

Variables—Ensure the team observes important variables. The detection or measurement time of a variable must take ≤ 3 minutes. Decide the importance of a variable based on its influence of the output quality.

Time—Limit the time required to complete a checklist to ≤ 15 minutes.

Reaction Plan—Instil a mechanism to notice deviations, document, and react promptly with corrective actions. We do not require a formal correction action, but identify the cause of the effect, find a solution, and act.

The owner of the checklist must know the relationship between the reaction plan of the checklist and the preventative maintenance.

Cause-and-Effect-Analysis:

The effectiveness of the analysis depends on the facilitator and the team members. We must restrict the team members to ≤5. All participants must have either operations or subject knowledge of the effect(s). The facilitator must limit the duration of analysis and encourage pointed answers to the ‘why’s.

Ironically, the most common issue with this tool is working on the effects and not getting to the root cause. Though this is easily said than done, if this symptom occurs, get back to the drawing board and reflect on the team and their understanding of the tool, its limitations, and the subject.

Last, it is easy to come up with corrective actions, but the efforts are in vain if we do not fully implement the actions. Occasionally review previous cause-and-effect analyses and ensure the problem did not reoccur.

Pareto Chart:

Clarity and consistency of defects classification and the number of classes (≤ 12) observed in a Pareto chart are two crucial aspects one needs to pay attention to. Properly set up the tool, periodically use the 80 – 20 rule, and work to reduce the size of the bars. Simultaneously, work on Pareto chart and cause-and-effect analysis to achieve the best results.

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA):

Both design and process FMEA are influential when used timely. Allot enough time and meticulously work on all potential modes. On this blog, I will resist listing all the important features of FMEA but highlight the most important routine to follow. And, that is to identify potential failure modes in full and act on the corrective actions to minimize risks. It is a tedious process but valuable.

Conclusion:

This blog drives a simple point using a tool might meet a procedural or an auditing guideline, but only effective use will confirm optimum results.

An effective method is open for discussion and an individual’s discretion, but a sustained focus on the end goal is imperative. And, the goal is to ensure the non-conformances do not repeat in the long term.

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