Click here to go to our website

Services by business type: Overhaul and repair companies

When your business is overhaul and repair, whether it is for aircraft, hydraulics, pumps, industrial machinery, or any other product, you are faced with the problem of dealing with other people’s problem materials.  Even when you use clean products yourself, your employees are still faced with chromates, cadmium, and chrome plate stripping from the incoming work flow.  This makes your life increasingly complicated as the OSHA rules become tighter.

The new OSHA chrome PEL is likely to be a major headache for any company that has to overhaul products that are typically protected with chromates, such as

• Zinc-plated parts (which are usually chromated or use zinc plated and chromated fasteners)

• Aluminum or magnesium components (usually chromated)

• Aircraft parts (which typically use both chromate conversion and chromated primers and bonding layers and sealers)

• Stainless steels or other high-chrome alloys that must be welded.

One of the worst problems that overhaulers face is what to do about all the chromated dust that is thrown into the air when you grind or sand any of these materials in the course of corrosion control or repainting.  You will not only have to protect the worker directly involved, but you may well need to place the whole work area off-limits to anyone else until the work is complete and the area cleaned up.  The cost in workplace efficiency can be staggering, and has already led to companies moving to chrome-free finishes just to avoid this one problem.

Where specifications permit you can, of course, replace chromate conversion with non-chromate, chromated primers with non-chrome primers, etc.  Where you can change materials you need to know what to change to, and you need to be able to specify the new process properly and qualify it for production. 

But even if your own shop goes “green” you still have to remove the old chromated material before you can apply the new.  And all too often the specifications will require you to continue to use these older materials for some customers.  If you must continue to deal with chromates, this may mean rearranging the workspace to minimize employee exposure, modifying air handling systems (-air tests in some plants have found non-OSHA-compliant Cr⁶⁺ levels even in office areas), or providing protective equipment to employees. 

As the various US and European rules begin to bite, you are likely to find that your customers are starting to specify cleaner finishing processes so that they do not have to deal with the problem themselves out in the marketplace.  That may well mean having to either bring thermal sprays or other clean processes in-house or finding a reliable and high quality supplier.

Like any major change, this adoption of “green” materials and processes has the potential for a lot of cost and business disruption, but it is also an opportunity to get ahead of the curve, and begin supplying your customers with superior products that will reduce their long term maintenance costs.

With our broad knowledge of surface finishing processes and materials, and OEM requirements, we can provide assistance to finishers in choosing the best processes and practices, putting them into production and training the workforce:

• Market analysis to identify the changing needs and markets for new technologies and processes in the industry you serve

• Identify the best and most cost-effective alternative processes and materials to meet US and European rules

• Carry out cost-benefit analysis to help you convince customers of the value of paying more up-front for a lower down-stream maintenance cost

• Assist with qualifying new finishing technologies bringing them rapidly into production

• Assist with developing specifications for alternative materials and processes

• Provide training to the workforce to ensure a smooth transition.

• Assistance with identifying reliable suppliers of new technologies and products, and qualifying them with you and your customers

• Assistance with bringing new processes in-house, including identifying the most cost-effective option, qualifying it and training your workforce

• For suppliers wanting to offer thermal spray (HVOF) in place of hard chrome:

  • Analyze the market in the industry or region you serve to understand customer needs, volume and price points

  • Identify the best thermal spray equipment and materials to meet your needs in the most cost-effective manner

  • Provide assistance in optimizing spray parameters for the most cost-effective process, developing specs and standards relevant to your product line, and qualifying coating processes and materials

  • Provide training for your workforce.

Commercial Services

• Meeting the OSHA Cr6+ PEL

• Meeting the European Rules

• Services by Business Type

  • OEMs

  • OEM Suppliers

  • Material & Chemical Suppliers

  • Metal Finishers

  • Overhaul & Repair

  • Alternative Techs.

• Market Analysis

Government Services