Is Electroplating “Advanced Manufacturing”?

There’s been alot of hype around Advanced Manufacturing lately. But we wonder what’s really driving it and what it really means.  I found this article which talks about the many possible descriptors – and why we need them – for advanced manufacturing. It has certainly got us thinking.

Electroplating itself may be viewed as old technology, but with many innovations and advances made in the processes every day, in my view “traditional” plating still has a role in advanced manufacturing.  When I think about it, we have helped many of our manufacturing customers apply this technology to achieve totally new and advanced surface finishing outcomes. As just one example – good old silver plating – still essentially applied the same way, but with tweaks to the inputs, purity and process, silver plating is providing new life or purpose to many very “advanced” products through its enhanced conductivity properties in applications such as radio frequency enhancement, solar conduction and others.

I guess we all have a choice.  Either feel like we’re under threat, or embrace the idea of innovating our traditional processes, technologies and services to find new ways to take value to customers. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Phil Wood