Liquid Nitriding Status Update
February 4th 2019 - The QPQ Liquid Nitriding line is now operational.
As you are aware, our QPQ Liquid Nitriding line has been down for extensive line maintenance for the last month or so.
What happened?
This maintenance became necessary as a result of Thermex attempting to exceed reasonable production limits for the equipment. Our emphasis on working to address delivery pressures without maintaining reasonable downtime caused the condition of the line to deteriorate to the point where we had to temporarily halt production.
What has been done?
Thermex has taken the last several weeks to effectively recover the line and regain control on this important process, and the line is now ready for regular operation. New preventative maintenance schedules, rigorous new best practices for staff, and regularly scheduled maintenance downtime, are now in effect, and will be adhered to. Thermex will resume running the line 24/5, which will include weekly line maintenance.
What is the impact moving forward?
These improvements in operating and maintenance practices may have an impact on turnaround times, which will be reflected in our quoting and target ship date notifications. Rush requests may be harder to accommodate based on this schedule and we ask you work with our staff to help prioritize work in a meaningful way. While we will always do what we can to support our customers’ delivery requirements, implementing these new operating and maintenance steps (and thus preventing a recurrence of this painful interruption in service) may mean that at times we cannot meet rush turnaround requirements.
We have options to offer:
Thermex has also recently integrated the new Gas FNC (Ferritic Nitrocarburizing) + Post Ox process, which is a viable alternative to QPQ Liquid Nitriding. This process will provide redundancy to the Liquid Nitride process to address potential backlog concerns. This is a great option to consider, and we invite your inquiries about this new process.
Contact Thermex for more information on our QPQ Liquid Nitriding Process