Private Global Company

Private Global Company

Large global private company offered us the opportunity to tender for their black anodising business.

Discussions with the management team at Frost highlighted their concerns with the supply chain regarding damage & poor anodising, this resulted in 100% inspection creating delays, increased deliveries to and from the subcontractor with replacement plates, as reworking is not an option.


This had the undesirable effect of premium freight costs being incurred to avoid global zero stock levels, including those related to black anodising.


At our following New Part Review meeting the question was raised with their Technical department, why use 5000 series cast tooling plate? In effect we’re being asked to anodise a heavily porous material (imagine a metallic bar of Aero) which created a whole raft of potential failure modes. It came to light that due to these parts going into highly sophisticated scientific nanotechnology experiments, flatness is absolutely critical and cannot be compromised by using any other material.

A Case Study in Black Anodising Process Improvement


The Frost technical team then went on to ultimately produce what is probably the longest PFMEA in our history. Customer defect levels were running at an unacceptable level as high as 27%, the target was to get this down below 3% in the first 12 months and implement a continuous improvement programme to reduce it still further.


Our customer encountered High defect levels of ‘white spot’ throughout the black anodising supply chain with no sign of it being eradicated. Frost have close ties with local universities and used their facilities to conduct an autopsy, identify the root cause and implement actions based on these findings. Because of these results the white spot issue was eradicated and have been for a while now, running at Zero %.


black anodising

Handling was also an issue due to volume and weight, a guaranteed level of business allowed us to design & build the appropriate handling equipment, going from a manual plant, to a fully automated facility run by our own software programmes. Dedicated jigs were also a necessity to ensure perfect contact points and eliminate the risk of arcing.


The success of this partnership has resulted in the owner of the business planning to move all global production into the UK in 2017. This is one of many successful partnerships that we are more than willing to share with you, but more importantly we sincerely want to be able to make your business, the next success story.


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If you're facing supply chain difficulties as a large corporate or would like to book a consultation with our black anodising experts, contact us today for a free quote.

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