5.2.4. Headaches
The ultimate solution is to totally remove the plating
process from the plant; plating should be done in
a local subcontractor’s plant located some distance
from the company. The project has been successfully
implemented, and the plating line had 100% shifted to
planting subcontractor during the end of 2009. There
are many advantages of subcontracting this process.
It saves the high infrastructure and maintenance
costs (i.e., chemical stores, waste management, and
deionized water). (Note that deionized water is used in
plating baths, static rinses, and running rinses, and it
reduces impurities in the plating bath to extend its life
and minimizes the precipitation of minerals in water
as sludge.) In addition, stringent audit requirements
can be handled by professional subcontractor experts.