Nickel plating: the new surface treatment workshop offers up to 6 hours of autonomous production without human presence

John Cockerill will supply a new nickel plating line for the Luxembourg-based Ceratizit group. This new surface treatment workshop offers up to 6 hours of autonomous production without human presence. The customer, specialized in cutting tool and hard material solutions, processes two types of Nickel: Chloride and Watt, as well as one type of Cobalt deposit.

Sleti, John Cockerill’s French entity specializing in surface treatment for 40 years, won the order for a new nickel plating line. The study began 3 years ago, during which time Sleti accompanied Ceratizit while using its experience to define the technical solution best suited to the customer’s needs. Thus, our teams have written the specifications of the new automated line which will process the two types of Nickel (Chloride and Watt) and one type of Cobalt deposit.

One robot for several gains

The nickel plating line will be organized in a U shape with loading and unloading areas in the same place, with 12 stocks to ensure autonomy in production for up to 6 hours without any human presence.

The line will be equipped with a single 3-axis robot, which will eliminate the need for a transfer at the end of the line. In concrete terms, this solution saves space, time, flexibility on the ranges and the occupancy rate of the tanks and robots. In order to facilitate maintenance and safety stock related to the line, the equipment (including pumps), rectifiers and probes, will be standardized.

Supervision 4.0

The chemical process will be guaranteed by pump systems, while our CATS® supervision software will allow the customer to monitor and track the process, productivity and maintenance of their new automated line.