WANTED!...companies who require ferric-chloride chemical etching... m.smith@sifco.co.uk

Aerospace selective metal plating

SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts (UK) Ltd, a selective metal plating company based in Bromsgrove, have seen a 21% sales increase in the first 6 months of their financial year. March was also a record sales month for the company. They have also seen record profits and in the first 6 months of their financial year they have achieved higher profits than in any previous full year. The only disappointing figure in all of this is that sales to Midlands companies only equate to 10% of the turnover.
SIFCOs’ MD, Mark Smith, puts the improvement in both sales and profits down to the companies planning last year when sales were flat due to the recession. “Efficiency changes and proactive marketing were put in place in early 2010 to arrest the fall in sales and profits. From this new KPIs were introduced for the staff to monitor internal efficiencies and to find where improvements in work practices could be found”. The company targeted specific industries in which they performed the strongest, leveraging knowledge and application skills to win more business. They also looked at potential new business which was a slight diversification from their traditional selective plating work.

Ferric-chloride chemical etching

In September 2010 SIFCO won a contract with a local company etching Turbine components, ferric-chloride chemical etching. To win the business SIFCO had to invest over £80k in new equipment, a risk in the current climate. Smith states “we believed as a company that if we were to win new business, we had to show our commitment to our customers by being innovative in our business practices. This meant not sticking with our traditional work, but by also looking for complimentary surface finishing projects”.
In December 2010, installation of a new aerospace chemical etching line was completed and initial trials were held to prove the process on the clients’ products. This proved successful and full production commenced in January 2011. Smith adds “the team worked hard to ensure that when we were ready to work on the customers’ aerospace components, that all the process parameters were correct and that we liaised with the customer fully throughout the project”. Successful implementation now means that SIFCO etch most of their clients’ components.
SIFCO are now looking for other companies who require ferric-chloride chemical etching for their components. Smith states “our advantage is that we do not need large volume runs to work efficiently on our line. Companies who require up to 100 parts per month could well find that we are more competitive than the traditional chemical etching companies who require large volumes to ensure their line run efficiently”.
For further information on the SIFCO range of services, please contact Mark Smith at m.smith@sifco.co.uk.