When you decide to improve the performance of your parts with SilcoTek's coating solutions, you begin a customer experience that's unlike any other. As a provider of custom coatingservices, SilcoTek partners with each customer to ensure we deliver the best solution in an efficient and expeditious manner.
1. Request a quote and provide drawings or photos as necessary.
Our team will respond within one business day (usually within the hour) and ask for any additional information needed to issue an accurate quote. We'll also give you shipping instructions along with an RA# for shipping your parts to our coating facility.
2. Receipt, review and order acknowledgement.
Once received, your parts are inspected to ensure we got everything you sent. We also photograph the parts for verification and traceability. If there are any questions or "red flags" before coating, our Customer Advocate will contact you to review your order and any potential concerns with processing. Substrates listed on our material compatibilty chart as "not treatable" will either be returned directly to you or along with your compatible parts after coating. Once everything is confirmed, our customer service team sends you an order acknowledgement email with delivery date.
Note: SilcoTek takes special care to collaborate with all our customers and provide exceptional service that exceeds your expectations. Our manufacturing system employs FIFO(first in, first out) and One-Piece-Flow methods for moving parts through. The data show that these techniques are best for both speed and efficiency as well as minimizing potential handling damage or errors.
While our ultimate goal is to reduce S.T.A.G. (ship time average goal) as much as possible, the nature of our CVD process means we cannot guarantee that necessary re-works won't occur. For this reason, SilcoTek does not offer a formal expedite program. Rest assured we understand the urgency of your parts and will do everything we can to coat them quickly and with the top-notch quality you've come to expect from us.
3. Surface preparation
SilcoTek uses proprietary surface preparation methods in order to ensure the best coating possible. It is important to know that any surface imperfections like scratches, rough surfaces, or widely varying surface characteristics, will be highlighted by the coating process, not hidden.
4. Chemical vapor deposition coating process
We load customer parts into a vessel corrseponding to the size of the parts. This vessel is placed in a large oven which pulls vacuum and heats up to as high as 450° C. Throughout this process, a proprietary blend of gas enters the vessel and starts a reaction which diffuses into the lattice of the substrate, forming the "rainbow" coating layer that many have come to recognize and trust.
5. Quality inspection
Once the coating process is complete, your Silco'd parts are unloaded and moved to the inspection area. Coating quality is initially verified by average surface contact angle measurements on a process control coupon. SilcoTeknicians then visually inspect each part to ensure conformal thickness and proper aesthetics. Parts that pass inspection are issued a coating certification adherent to ISO 9001:2008.
6. Packaging and shipping
After the parts have passed inspection, we package them so that they are secure and won't be damaged when traveling to the field, plant or back to the factory. We will follow any packaging or shipping specifications required by you or your customer. If shipping out of the United States, our international customer support specialist will work closely with you to arrange logistics efficiently.
Once the parts are ready to go, we send you one last email to confirm that they are shipping by your preferred method. They're now coated, to spec, and ready to make what was impossible possible!
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