Electrochemicals Blog – EPI – Electrochemical Products Inc.

March 17th, 2008

By Eric Olander

On March 11 and 12 I participated in Microsoft's Convergence trade show held in Orlando,FA at the Orange County Convention Center. On Tuesday I gave a presentation on how our switch to Microsoft Navision Dynamics Version 4.0 is working and the benefits we have seen at EPI   like faster reporting less time to QC and a platform that does not crash. Microsoft has released version 5.0 and is working on a version Navision 2009, which is something we are looking at. The next 5- 10 years  offering many opportunities for companies to capitalize on technology changes. We were fortunate to hear Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer discuss Microsoft's future and their commitment to business solutions for companies today like the Navision products we use today. We hope later this year to implement a new MSDS module and also to implement on of Microsoft's CRM solution that will work together with our Navision solution so that we can move EPi  with the technology gaining efficiencies and leading the way to help meet our customers needs.

Posted in Eric Olander Happenings | No Comments »

March 8th, 2008

By Eric Olander

Here am I sitting on one of Harley Davidson's latest models  on March 4, 2008. I took a tour of Harley Davidson's Powertrain facility located on Capitol Ave in Milwaukee,WI. The local NASF Milwaukee branch of  58 members  toured the facility. Many of the people on the tour supply Harley Davidson through plating some of their parts or through supplying their chemistry like EPi's E-Kleen 190, E-Brite 23-11R/ Electrosolv and E-Brite 200 processes that are used for cleaning and copper plating on aluminum Harley Davidson parts.

One interesting fact on the assembly line is the Harley does not run one model through the line they run many different models so there challenge is to have the correct parts there for assembly for that specific motor. The assembly line offers more flexibility this way. After assembly all Harley engine are tested prior to shipping.  Harley Davidson is utilizing world class manufacturing techniques in their plant to produce a superior product.

Posted in Copper Plating, Eric Olander Happenings | No Comments »

March 6th, 2008

By Eric Olander

One of EPI's strengths is developing custom formulations for its customers. Today taking the formula off the shelf always does not work today as customers have individual needs. Barrett Plating challenged us to develop a hexavalent chromate that is blue without any yellow color and that has at least 72 hours salt spray.  The EPi team of Larry Abbott  Chemist and Sid Arthur  Senoir Technical Service started working  together in EPi's lab in New Berlin, WI. Through the testing we actually found that the salt spray results exceeded 96 hours almost approaching 150 hours. This chromate is called E-Chrome 859. Another benefit of the E-Chrome 859 is that it produces a brighter blue finish. The E-Chrome 859 actually polishes the zinc plated surface.

Posted in Metal Finishing, Trivalent Chromates | No Comments »