Additional Capacity and Shorter Lead Times

Materion is expanding its chemical shield kit cleaning capacity in our Wheatfield, New York facility to meet increased customer volume in North America. The enhanced capacity is expected to be available in August and will allow for greater process flexibility and improved services.  A unique feature will be a dedicated R&D area to provide start-of-the-art custom cleaning solutions for new and challenging deposition layers, as well as for non-standard shield kit substrates. 

The expansion includes supplementary quality assurance equipment to certify parts to the customer’s most stringent requirements. Plus, the necessary ancillary equipment to ensure continued full compliance with all environmental requirements for air and waste water treatment. The improvements will enable Materion to offer best-in-class service and continue its reputation as a good corporate citizen. 

“The additional capacity in Wheatfield demonstrates our commitment to meeting the growing needs of our customers,” said Jim McMullen, Product Manager-Precision Parts Cleaning Services. “The expansion will allow for the development of innovative cleaning techniques, industry-leading part turnaround, improved precious metal returns and lower total cost of ownership. In addition, it will enhance our ability to remove precious metal depositions, as well as non-precious metal deposition layers.” 

Customer Advantages

The Wheatfield facility will continue all current services including precision parts cleaning and surface treatment of physical vapor deposition (PVD) shield kits for a broad range of industries such as semiconductor, medical, LED and wireless markets.  Customers experience numerous business advantages by using chemical treatment services for their shield kits. Chemical removal of depositions without aggressive mechanical procedures reduces cleaning lead times. It also reduces replacement costs by extending the part’s useful life.                                                                At Right: Gold recovered from shield kit.

Materion is the only fully integrated precious metal refiner with precision parts cleaning capabilities.  This combination, along with the Wheatfield enhanced capacity, will help our customers realize improved service and substantial savings.  For more information on shield kit cleaning services, please contact Matthew Waz, Product Manager - Precision Parts Cleaning, at Matthew.Waz@Materion.com.