Lord to add MetalJacket pilot line in English plant

MANCHESTER, England (July 21)—Lord Corp. is commissioning a pilot line for its novel water-based metal-coating technology—called MetalJacket—at the company's Manchester facility. Using this line, Lord said, it will be able to apply the MetalJacket autodeposition coating to customer parts for sampling and evaluation. The pilot line is "a new addition to our European facility that enables us to apply MetalJacket corrosion control coatings for the European market," Mark Weih, business development manager, said in a statement. "Previously, steel parts from customers were sent to the U.S. for coating and evaluation. By having this line operational in Europe, we can now respond to our customers in the European market with much faster turnaround times." For rubber-to-metal bonded components, the system replaces both zinc phosphating and primers, Lord said. The firm also claims the process offers "excellent flexibility and resistance to swaging or calibration for bonded rubber bushings with excellent corrosion protection."