What to Expect When You Use One Vendor to Machine & Plate Your Parts

If you rely on separate vendors to machine and plate your parts, you’ve likely noticed a disconnect between the two parties. Trust between those who machine parts and those who plate them is often low. And, if things go wrong, it isn’t uncommon for the already tenuous relationship to sour and devolve into a tense back-and-forth of finger pointing.

That friction can ultimately harm you, the end customer. Lead times may be prolonged, costs may balloon, and your team may be forced to expend unanticipated time and resources on supply chain management.

Fortunately, there is a way to bypass the challenges siloed machining and plating can produce: work with a vertically integrated vendor.

The Pitfalls of Standalone Machining & Plating

Machinists and platers provide discrete services – but the result of their respective work is inherently interconnected.

The outcome of a machinist’s work has a direct impact on the work done by platers. For example, if a machining process causes metal to be rolled over (like from roller burnishing), the potential for liquid entrapment is high – and can make the plater’s job all but impossible. Even routine byproducts of machining – like roughness and oils – can impact a plater’s ability to successfully fulfill their work.

Given the interrelated nature of the two processes, it makes sense for machinists and platers to work collaboratively to produce parts. While collaboration isn’t uncommon, barriers often exist between the two parties. Both machinists and platers use proprietary processes, so they may sometimes resist working collaboratively. Because of this, they may be slow to implement solutions when problems arise. As a result, your parts may end up sitting in limbo while your vendors work to resolve the root cause of the issue and how to move forward.

The Benefits of Vertically Integrated Machining & Plating

When machining and plating are executed by the same vendor, you skip such friction – and gain a host of other benefits related to process, reduced development times, quality and cost.

Process

Vertically integrated processes are, by nature, streamlined. When machinists and platers are on the same team, they are better able to coordinate work and contain issues that may arise.

Before beginning work, machinists and platers meet and leverage their knowledge of both processes to determine the optimal division of labor. This collaborative approach means engineers from both teams have special insight into the entire process and can make recommendations that drive efficiencies, reduce costs, limit trial and error, and thus reduce product development times

If a problem does occur, the teams will meet and work collaboratively to contain the issue and eliminate root causes quickly – without assigning blame or coming to a stalemate over proprietary information. As a result, your team won’t have to spend time and resources managing multiple vendors and can instead focus on other critical tasks.

Reduced Development Time

Reducing the back and forth that occurs when machining and plating are handled by separate vendors saves a significant amount of time. Further, vertically integrated providers can eliminate the logistical complexities and inefficiencies that can cause delays.

Reduced Work in Process (WIP)

When machining and plating are handled by a single provider, facilities are generally close together and the same vehicles are used to transport parts. By reducing transportation distances and time spent transporting parts to and from machining and plating facilities, vertically integrated providers are able to reduce the working capital costs of WIP, scrap from quality events, and transportation costs.

Quality

When it comes to machining precision parts with stringent PPM requirements, the expectation is that parts will be pristine and issue-free. While many vendors are capable of delivering that quality, vertically integrated providers reduce the potential for errors or defects that could compromise the integrity of parts and lead to costly and time consuming rework.

Because some parts are particularly vulnerable to surface corrosion or flash rusting after machining, it is best to plate them as quickly as possible. A tight supply chain protects these vulnerable parts – and lessens the overall risk of damage that can happen during transit.

Cost

All of these factors can impact the overall cost of production. Process delays, slow turn times and quality concerns can all bloat budgets. Vertically integrating machining and plating can reduce costs in the following ways:

• Less supply chain management is required from your team
• Engineers work collaboratively and can recommend cost-saving efficiencies
• Fast turn times allow you to get your product to market more quickly, and ramp up production easily
• The reduced potential for damage to parts helps to avoid costly rework
• A second mark-up of outsourced plating services is eliminated

Machine & Plate Your Parts with Greystone

Greystone is a global leader in the production of machined and plated components for the automotive, aerospace, defense and industrial markets. Our machining process is designed around customers’ parts – and is executed in our Rhode Island facility by our over 90 Hydromat rotary transfer and multi-spindle machines. Hard chrome, zinc, zinc nickel, zinc phosphate and electroless nickel parts can then be electroplated or anodized at our facility down the road.

Greystone’s vertically integrated, logistically simple machining and plating services consistently save clients time and cost for development and production costs. Our engineering teams work cross-functionally to optimize machining and plating and collaborate with our in-house automation team to drive efficiencies. The result? Greystone delivers the highest-quality and most cost-effective parts to customers in record time.

For more information or to get a quote, speak with one of our precision, high-volume machining and plating experts.

Contact us to learn more about our vertically integrated machining and plating services