Back


EGIDE USA: NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART PLATING LINE

• New continuous and remote process monitoring systems 
• New environmentally friendly wastewater treatment
   equipment 
• Enhanced efficiency and reliability 


   

Egide Group (Euronext ParisTM - Segment C - ISIN code : FR0000072373) is pleased to announce the completion of the renovation of its plating line at its Cambridge, Maryland facility.

This state-of-the-art facility has the capability to provide electrolytic nickel, gold, tin and copper plating services, as well as electroless nickel and gold plating services. To support these operations, new wastewater treatment equipment, laboratory analysis equipment, and environmentally friendly fume scrubbers have been installed.

4 highly specialized lines to meet all customer needs

The plating shop is sub-divided into four separate lines.

  • The first line provides a process to clean various metal components such as CRS, SS, ASTM F-15, and copper alloys. This is accomplished with various alkaline and acidic chemistries.
  • The second and largest line provides the following plating services: electrolytic nickel, electroless nickel, electrolytic gold and selective electrolytic gold plating.
  • The third line provides electrolytic nickel, copper and tin plating. The tin plating is a pure matte finish, which may be flow brightened using an EGIDE proprietary process. 
  • The fourth plating line provides electroless boron nickel and gold plating services. This specialized plating is applied to our high temperature co-fired ceramic.


Increased security and controls on all lines

The electrical rectifiers for each of the plating lines have been installed in an environmentally friendly area. This will prevent rectifier degradation and provide continuous operation with little or no maintenance.

The individual plating lines have dedicated controllers that allow operators to review the various parameters such as temperature, solution level, conductivity, etc.

Live data streamed from these controllers are accessed remotely with the use of computers or smart phones.


A new control laboratory

A new laboratory has been outfitted with wet chemical analysis equipment, as well as a new Perkin Elmer Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer.

This equipment will ensure that the plating bath solutions, which are monitored daily, are kept within specification, and our wastewater treatment operation is compliant to local regulatory requirements.

State-of-the-art equipment

Finally, the factory has created a dedicated manufacturing area for staging and processing product from the plating shop. Included in this manufacturing area are various plating racks designed for a multitude of part geometries and two ultramodern x-ray fluorescence machines which allow technicians to monitor the plating thicknesses.

This information allows the plating technical team to establish precise process parameters meeting stringent customer requirements.


Improved productivity and delivery times

The reconstruction and modernization of the plating shop will provide a more efficient and reliable process which will better serve our customers by providing increased accuracy regarding delivery performance and enhanced delivery lead-times.


CONTACTS

Egide USA

Kirk Williamson - Director of Operations - 410 901 6224 -kwilliamson@us.egide-group.com 
John Hitch - Director of Engineering - 410 901 6211 -jhitch@us.egide-group.com

Press relations (Europe)
FIN'EXTENSO - Isabelle Aprile - +33 1 39 97 61 22 - i.aprile@finextenso.fr