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Frost Electroplating, specialist electroplaters to the electrical, electronic, automotive and general engineering industries based in Birmingham, believe they are the first electroplating company in Europe to be awarded the ISO/TS 16949:2002 Quality Management System for Automotive Production. This is the new international automotive standard developed by the major worldwide motor manufacturers and goes a step beyond the better known ISO 9000:2000 quality standard.
The emphasis of the new standard is on controlling the manufacturing process - if the process is right, the product will be right – and includes the internal auditing of key inputs and outputs, resulting in consistent product quality and better service to the customer.
‘At Frost Electroplating we are delighted to be the first electroplating company in Europe to achieve this new Quality Management System for Automotive Production - which of course will benefit all our customers from the very wide range of industries we serve. We have always been an innovator in the electroplating field and feel this new system has taken us to a new level of quality, reliability and customer satisfaction’ said Dr. William Southall, Managing Director.
These developments in quality come in a year when Frost Electroplating has already announced that it has invested over £750,000 in the development of two new reel to reel plating lines which enable it to supply high quality, competitively priced reel to reel work all over Europe. The new lines, designed in house, can handle double the previous coil weights and work at much faster speeds, up to 5 times faster typically. They use new generation chemistry which improves the plating rate and they achieve much better precious metal control. Water loss is also kept to a minimum so that the lines are more environmentally friendly.
All these developments in technology and in quality have lowered costs and greatly increased customer satisfaction as well as capacity for silver, tin, tin/lead and nickel plating. Dr. William Southall is confident that they will help the company win more business throughout Europe “It’s very exciting to see major markets open up to us” he says. |