Asterion Answers: The Importance of Value

The Importance of Value

by Doug Trageser, C.E.F

Southeast US Regional Sales Manager

The 19 ^th century poet and playwright Oscar Wilde was famously quoted as saying, “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” It’s been well over 100 years since this quote was published, but it certainly has remained relevant in today’s world. However, it is a challenge for people to universally agree on what defines value. The word value has 11 definitions in Merriam Webster’s online dictionary. With so many definitions of a single word, it’s no wonder we are challenged to determine what true value is.

How do I define value?

In my position as a technical sales advisor, I am routinely challenged with opportunities to add value to our customers, suppliers and fellow team members. How does value look to me? It might be surprising to learn that value has very little to do with the price of a product. The simple fact is the free market will dictate whether the price of a product is out of line.

I have been fortunate in my career to have been mentored by experts in plating, powder coating, anodizing, black oxide and general metal finishing. The training I received over the years has prepared me well to advance my knowledge on to others, especially the younger generation that is coming into the industry. Mentoring others is something on which I place a high value

By Randy Postoak, C.E.F.

Technical Sales Engineer

With more factories redirecting their production capacity to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, you may find yourself needing to idle one or more of your plating lines for a few days or weeks. While shutting down a plating line is rarely desirable, today’s business environment may demand it.

On behalf of the Asterion Team, here are some suggestions on shutting down your lines for the short-term. Each suggestion should be further customized to best suit you plating operation and business requirements.

Keep heated plating baths at minimum temperatures
Top off cleaner tanks and shut off heat sources
Reduce air handling equipment to a minimum
Cover tanks to prevent contamination
Close main water supplies
If possible clean and empty filters and plumbing lines.
Consider cycling return type automatics for 15-30 minutes every 2-3 days

Virtually eliminating downtime on a plating line is always a primary goal for all finishers. However, given the pandemic, accepting some span of downtime is the reality for some. But downtime today provides an important opportunity to optimize your plating lines for when business conditions rebound.. Take the opportunity to perform:

Tank and solution maintenance
Preventative maintenance, including replacement of worn parts on plating and auxiliary equipment
Before starting back up, get the baths heated and filtered. If possible , complete analysis of all process tanks.

As always, Asterion technical service stands ready to address any questions to optimize your plating lines. Contact us today.

STAY AT HOME...and Cook!

During this time of “Stay at Home,” have you had enough of Netflix? Are you finding you’ve had your fill of the news? Has your appetite for Amazon Prime been more than satisfied?

Time to get off that couch and hit the kitchen to whip up these culinary delights! Recommended by two of our top-notch engineers extraordinaire, Doug Trageser and Randy Postoak, these guys know yummy recipes when then EAT THEM.