How to solve a surface treatment problem

In today's competitive industrial environment, it is a considerable asset to be able to produce products that do not wear out, resist corrosion and retain their electrical, optical or thermal properties over time... Thanks to the increasingly precise answers they provide to ever more diverse and demanding industrial situations, surface treatments have become indispensable.

Paradoxically, although surface functionalization is often only taken into account in the final stages of a project (after material selection and implementation, kinematic and mechanical studies, RDM calculations, etc.), it occupies a strategic position in product definition processes, pricing and competitiveness. In particular, by the time an object reaches the surface treatment stage, it has generally reached the last phase of its manufacturing process, i.e. a stage where its cost is highest and all design choices have been made (materials, geometries, etc.), so that there is no room for error.

The relevance of the approach to a surface treatment problem (contextual positioning, expression of specifications, etc.) depends on the relationship between the client (designer) and the supplier (applicator). This relationship is all the easier, more constructive and more rewarding, both technically and economically, if the latter is closely involved at every stage, from the choice of solutions to their execution. This approach is becoming more and more widespread, in response to demand from customers who are moving towards the acquisition of functions, i.e. comprehensive services that go well beyond surface treatment alone.

Technically speaking, this relationship between the various players can only be effective when the following basic conditions are met:

• establishing a common vocabulary: practice is full of examples of misunderstandings of varying degrees of seriousness, linked to varying interpretations of concepts that are apparently obvious to everyone;

• in-depth analysis of the problem and drawing up of specifications that all parties can understand;

• consideration by each party of technical, technological or economic constraints and limitations from the outset of discussions, to avoid wasted time and unsuccessful trials, and in extreme cases, even litigation.

This article is not intended to provide the reader with a specific recipe. Its aim is to highlight the essential points that have led to most failures, and to help the various players involved to tackle a surface treatment problem with the best chances of success.