Blog

Did you know that the porosity of your part’s substrate can cause our processing solution to get trapped within the part and cause plating issues? Here’s how it can happen.When we process a part, it’s submersed into a heated tank (typically an acid or soap solution),...

If you look at your zinc plating bills in terms of the plating expense per pound of parts, you've probably noticed that the cost per pound varies from part to part. Specifically, you might have noticed that thinner, flatter parts are more expensive to coat than...

The thickness of the zinc coating on your parts affects not only the amount of zinc used, but the amount of amperage (i.e., power) and the amount of time used to plate those parts. Since zinc, power and time all cost money, it stands to reason that you'll pay more for...

When cutting your parts with a plasma torch, oxy-acetylene torch or laser before sending them out to be plated, please make sure there are no parts in close proximity to the parts being cut. If there are, slag from the parts being cut will land on and stick to the...

Many times when we pick up a customer's product, there's no purchase order prepared for our driver. When the product is brought back to our plant, the lack of a P.O. makes it impossible for our Data Entry Perfectionist to enter the parts into our system. This forces...

Several of our customers have asked for an easy way to confirm whenever an order has been entered into our system. We thought that was a terrific idea, and so we were happy to turn that request into reality. Any customer who opts to take advantage of this new service...

It's important for metal parts manufacturers to understand that, in many cases, it's impossible to prevent corrosion forever. This is especially true for parts that are exposed to extremely harsh environmental conditions. Fortunately, zinc plating can extend the time...

You might not know this, but you can log onto our website at any time to check on all sorts of things, including: Where your product is in the plating process Your invoices Your account statements To access this, just click on CONTACT US and then PLATING CENTRAL in...

One of our favorite business quotes is, "I hate surprises, because 99% of surprises are bad surprises!" At Plateco, we go to great lengths to avoid ever having to surprise our customers with bad news, especially having to tell them that a cost estimate we gave them...

Many of our customers send us heat-treated hardened steel parts. And we love working with those parts! But if there are any process control issues with the heat treatment that create a carbon-rich surface, this can cause significant problems with the part's surface...

You'd be surprised what a big impact a seemingly small thing can have on plating quality. Many of our customers ship us parts in wooden crates with each layer of parts resting on a cardboard sheet. However, many parts leave our customers' factories with oil residue on...

Exceptional plating quality is a shared responsibility between the plater and the customer. To be sure, most of the responsibility is ours, but there are things you can do that will enable us to give you the best results possible. If the part you're having plated is...