Finishing an
American
Standard
ReShoRing meAnS eliminAting cyAnide
FRom the plAting pRoceSS.
By Tim Pennington
Editor
m
inutes mean money when
it comes to plating parts.
Just ask Emmanuel
Carraza, the Lean Six Sigma
process leader for the American
Standard plant in Ciénega de
Flores, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, near
Monterrey, where he oversees
zinc casting and surface finishing
of American Standard faucets,
plumbing fixtures, and other bath
and kitchen accessories. Carraza
found himself in a predicament
when he began having plating
issues after the work was reshored
to his North American plant from
China.
"It was taking about an hour to
plate the parts," says Carraza, a
mechanical engineer. "That was just
way too long. Plus, we were having
several other issues with blistering."
the clean lines of the
Studio faucet collection from American
Standard have gained
the attention of today's
homeowners.
American Standard's new Quince
kitchen faucet collection features
single-control models with a gently
arched form.
The crux of the issue was traced
back to American Standard's
corporate decision not to use
cyanide-based copper plating
processes in North America. That
meant Carraza had to come up with
other solutions to get the same
finish after the work was reshored.
"The difficulties were in the
throwing and covering power for
deep recessed parts," he says. "We
had to find a better solution, and
we had to speed up the plating
process."
A non-cyAnide Solution
Carraza turned to several sources
to find an alternative supplier and
work out the kinks in his plating
(Facing page) American Standard now
runs three, 632-gal tanks and plans to
install a fourth tank by this summer.
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