Passivation plant added

Spring, bent wire form and assembly manufacturer, William Hughes, has installed an automated passivation plant at its UK HQ in Dorset.

The move will cut the leadtime incurred by subcontracting this requirement and enable the company to provide another Nadcap process for aerospace clients.

The machinery was designed and made to William Hughes' precise needs and offers optimised control of the process in line with AMS 2700.

Shaun Tattershall, special processes manager, says: "This helped with our plan to gain a Chemical Processing Nadcap accreditation. We have also achieved Honeywell approval for passivation, and we appear on their approved processing supplier list." The plant performs 'fluid transfer', moving chemical solutions from holding tanks into the main processing unit as required. The process is automatic and PLC controlled.