What is Thermal Spray?
Thermal Spray is a crucial industrial technique and involves heating or melting metallic or ceramic materials and applying them onto a surface to enhance or rebuild surfaces for various purposes.
So, how does Thermal Spray actually work? Well, it relies on heat and different carrier gases, which vary depending on the specific method used. Each method offers distinct advantages based on these factors.
When choosing a Thermal Spray method, it's essential to consider what you need from the coating. Are you after improved wear or corrosion resistance? Or perhaps you need better thermal insulation? Factors like the size and shape of the surface, the material it's applied to, and the environment it'll operate in also play significant roles. Each Thermal Spray method has its own strengths and limitations, so it's important to find the one that fits your needs best.
Thermal Spray Operations Management
Advancements in technology have made managing Thermal Spray processes more efficient. Steelhead Technologies provides comprehensive solutions that allow thermal spray job shops to track the entire process seamlessly, from sending a quote to order entry, processing, and everything in between.
The ability to track all information in one central location ensures smooth operations and helps optimize the efficiency of the entire coating process. Whether you're exploring these processes independently or seeking advice from our HTS Coatings team, finding the right Thermal Spray solution is key.
The Challenge
A Thermal Spray Provider, located in the Houston, Texas area, specializes in thermal spray and chrome plating for various industrial components. With a workforce of 120+ employees, they faced several challenges in their operations:
- Manual Processes: Before implementing new solutions, many of their processes, including quoting, invoicing, and quality management, were manual and time-consuming.
- Quality Control: They lacked effective tools to track and manage quality issues, resulting in many parts being put on hold due to quality concerns.
- Tracking & Communication: The real-time tracking of parts in the shop and communication to administrative staff for internal and external updates was a very time intensive process in this large shop.
The Solution
The Thermal Spray Provider sought to streamline their operations and address their challenges by implementing a comprehensive solution. Key components of the solution included:
Automated Certifications
They leveraged the capabilities of Steelhead’s job shop software for thermal spray shops. This allowed the team to automate certifications (over a hundred per week) which reduced the time required for generating certificates by three full days per month.
Quality Management Tools
The Thermal Spray Provider took advantage of the quality management functionalities provided by Steelhead’s integrated QMS. This resulted in the ability to identify and address quality issues more effectively. The integrated QMS unlocks a greater understanding of production processes and areas for improvement.
Real-Time Part Tracking
Steelhead’s operator workboards and production oversight features provided seamless tracking of parts as they move and allowed admin staff to have real-time updates digitally from anywhere.
The Results
The implementation of the solution brought significant results for the Thermal Spray Provider including:
- Efficiency Gains
Automated processes led to substantial time savings, with tasks such as certification generation being reduced from days to mere minutes, allowing employees to focus on more value-added activities.
- Quality Improvement
The enhanced quality management tools enabled them to identify and address quality issues proactively, resulting in action to reduce the number of parts put on hold and an improvement in overall product quality.
- Increased Visibility
The insights provided by the new tools allowed the company's leadership to have a clearer understanding of their operations, facilitating better decision-making and alignment of strategies with business goals.
The implementation of Steelhead's job shop software not only addressed the immediate challenges faced by the Thermal Spray Provider but also positioned them for continued growth and success in the competitive industrial coating market.