Brenda Shilling is the managing operator of BKTS Inc. and has decades of experience with the company. She is working to expand the product line and reach a more diverse customer base.
Best Ways to Ship Small Machined Parts for Plating and Finishing
For machine shops producing hundreds or thousands of small machined components, sending parts outside for plating or finishing can create an unexpected amount of handling. Parts may be counted, packaged, shipped, unpacked by the plating company, transferred into processing containers, removed again, repackaged, and returned to the machine shop.
Every additional transfer takes time and creates another opportunity for parts to be lost, mixed, scratched, dented, or otherwise damaged. One alternative is surprisingly simple: ship the parts in the same industrial baskets that can be used to handle them during plating and finishing. BKTS manufactures a variety of polypropylene and poly/stainless baskets that have quickly become a favorite of machine shops looking to streamline their production of small parts and shipping those components to and from plating companies.
Polypropylene Plating Baskets as Shipping Containers
Polypropylene and poly/stainless steel baskets are typically associated with plating, dipping, rinsing, drying, and other metal finishing processes. BKTS manufactures both standard and custom baskets specifically for these demanding industrial environments.
For machine shops outsourcing finishing operations, however, these baskets can also become part of the transportation and material-handling process.
Instead of loading finished machined parts into disposable boxes or temporary containers, a shop can place batches directly into designated baskets. Those baskets are secured for transportation, sent to the plating supplier, used throughout the applicable finishing process, and returned with the completed parts.
The result is a reusable machine shop-to-plater-to-machine shop handling system.
Reduce Handling & Loss of High-Volume Small Parts
For this example, let us consider a machine shop sending 5,000 small turned or machined components to an outside plating company. These parts need to move from one facility to the next in an efficient manner that minimizes part loss and the potential for damage.
With a conventional packaging process, machine shop and plating employees may need to:
- Transfer parts from production containers into shipping packaging
- Count and separate individual lots
- Unpack and transfer parts at the plating facility
- Move parts into appropriate processing baskets
- Remove finished parts and package them again
- Unpack and recount parts when they return
A reusable basket system, like the polypropylene baskets manufactured by BKTS, can help to eliminate several of these transfers and ultimately save on production times and costs.
Parts can remain together as a defined production lot throughout transportation, finishing, drying, and return shipment. For high-volume operations completing these shipments weekly or even daily, eliminating several handling steps per shipment can translate into meaningful labor savings.
Use Reusable Baskets to Reduce Lost, Mixed, and Damaged Parts
Small precision components are particularly difficult to manage because losing only a few parts from a large lot can create inventory discrepancies and complicate customer orders. Repeatedly dumping, transferring, and repackaging parts also increases the possibility of parts contacting floors, tables, containers, or one another.
Keeping components in designated baskets minimizes unnecessary handling while giving both the machine shop and finishing supplier a clearly defined container for each production batch. Baskets can potentially be dedicated by part number, customer, job, production cell, or plating requirement, creating a straightforward physical system for managing work moving between facilities.
Polypropylene or Poly/Stainless Steel Baskets?
The appropriate basket depends on the parts, weight, handling requirements, and finishing process.
- Polypropylene baskets offer chemical resistance and are available from BKTS in multiple sizes and perforation configurations. Their perforated construction also supports the drainage and fluid movement required in plating, rinsing, washing, and similar processes.
- Poly/stainless steel baskets provide another option when an application requires additional structural support or durability. BKTS manufactures both polypropylene and hybrid poly/stainless configurations and can also fabricate baskets around specific dimensional, material, and perforation requirements.
That customization can be particularly useful when developing a standardized shipping and handling system around a specific family of machined parts.
Allow Shipping to Become A Value-Added Opportunity
Shipping parts to an outside finisher should not require reinventing the material-handling process every time an order leaves the building. Reusable industrial baskets allow machine shops and their plating partners to establish a more controlled workflow in which the container travels with the parts.
For manufacturers routinely outsourcing large volumes of small components, that can mean less packaging, fewer transfers, easier lot management, reduced part loss, and less employee time spent handling the same components repeatedly. BKTS manufactures polypropylene and poly/stainless steel baskets for plating, dipping, drying, and industrial material-handling applications, including custom configurations for specialized production requirements.
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FAQs About Shipping Small Machined Parts with Baskets
Can BKTS plating baskets be used to ship machined parts?
Yes. When appropriately secured and packaged for transportation, reusable industrial baskets can provide machine shops with a convenient way to keep small components together while traveling to and from an outside finishing supplier.
What size or type of machined parts are good candidates for basket shipping?
The concept is especially useful for high-volume quantities of small CNC-machined, screw-machined, stamped, turned, or other metal components that require outsourced plating, coating, washing, or finishing.
How can reusable baskets reduce part loss?
Parts can remain inside a designated container through multiple handling stages rather than being repeatedly dumped, counted, transferred, and repackaged. This reduces opportunities for individual components to become misplaced or mixed between production lots.
Can BKTS manufacture baskets for specific machined components?
Yes. BKTS offers custom basket fabrication based on dimensional, material, perforation, and application requirements, allowing manufacturers to develop baskets around specialized processing and material-handling needs.