Vibratory finishing subcontracting: how it works

Not every company that needs vibratory finishing needs a vibratory finishing machine.

Subcontracting means you send the parts and someone else processes them on their equipment. You get finished parts back, with no capital tied up.

How it works

1. A trial on your part. No serious supplier quotes before seeing the part. A few pieces are processed, and the media, compound, settings and cycle time are established.

2. Agreeing the result. You define what “good” means: degree of deburring, roughness, appearance. Without it, an argument at first delivery is inevitable.

3. Production. Parts arrive in batches, are processed to the recipe agreed at trial, separated, dried and packed.

4. Delivery. With corrosion protection, if the parts have to wait.

What to know beforehand

Volume. How many parts per month, in what batch sizes. This decides whether subcontracting makes sense at all.

Tolerances. Vibratory finishing removes material. A little, but it removes it. If you have critical dimensions, decide up front what gets protected.

Transport. Parts go and come back. On large or heavy parts, transport can exceed the processing cost.

Lead time. A batch that leaves and returns introduces dead time in your flow.

What to ask the supplier

• Do you run a trial on my part before quoting?
• What result do you guarantee, measurably?
• What capacity do you have, and how fast do I get a batch back?
• How do you protect the parts against corrosion until delivery?
• What happens if a batch comes out of specification?

A supplier who answers the second question vaguely will answer the last one vaguely too.

When it makes sense

Small or irregular volume. Parts you have no experience with. A production peak you cannot cover. Or the period while you evaluate whether buying the machine is worth it.

Related reading

• Vibratory Finishing
• Service & Support
• When to subcontract and when to buy the machine