Ceramic Production Capabilities

In-House Tool & Die Capabilities | Glazing, Firing & Finishing | Quality & Reliability

Capability

Using advanced equipment, Du-Co has a ceramic manufacturing facility capable of producing both millions of small parts per day and larger ceramic shapes-pressed parts up to 3-1/2" in diameter, and extruded shapes up to 2-1/2" in diameter. With this capability, Du-Co can serve both high volume-low cost applications, and special usages involving larger parts, while keeping our products competitive.

Precision Ceramic Production Operations

Steatite, cordierite, forsterite, magnesium oxide and aluminum oxide are among the wide varieties of raw materials used in the production of Du-Co ceramic insulators. Materials are tested and monitored throughout the production process. (Please contact us to speak to one of our engineers about how we may be able to offer a lower cost alternative to what you use now with a custom material. As one example, we have used a cordierite variant as a lower cost substitute for the more expensive mullite, while maintaining the required properties for the part.)

Ceramic Production Processes

Extruded Sections: Ceramic products with regular and linear shapes are produced using the extrusion process. Du-Co extrudes ceramic shapes to a maximum of 2 inches in diameter and 12 inches in length using extrusion equipment engineered and built in-house.
Automatic Press Parts: Irregularly shaped or multi-level ceramic parts are produced with automatic pressing equipment. Some of the most intricate shapes can be acieved on Du-Co's custom-designed presses, which can produce ceramic parts to a maximum of 3 inches in diameter and 2 1/2 inches thick.
Machined Parts: Many features that cannot be incorporated into the die design are machined into ceramic parts after extrusion or pressing. Du-Co can drill, tap, slot, thread, machine and groove to exact tolerances prior to firing.

Glazing, Firing, and Finishing Ceramics

Du-Co ceramic insulators can be glazed to your specifications before or after firing. Our glazing machines are monitored and controlled to apply glaze to the designated area of the ceramic parts with precision and uniformity. Glazed and unglazed parts ultimately are transferrred to Du-Co's gas-fired tunnel or periodic kilns for the firing process.

Every phase of the firing process, from initial heat-up through the cooling of the finished product, is continually monitored and controlled. This uniformity of firing helps ensure the dimensional stability of ceramic products, as well as consistently high electrical and mechanical properties.

When necessary to meet customer specifications, a variety of finishing operations can be carried out following the firing of ceramic products. The tumbling process is utilized to obtain the desired surface finish for certain parts, and Du-Co can achieve exact tolerances.

Swindell Dressler Tunnel Kiln

Quality & Reliability

After firing, finished parts are subjected to a final quality audit to ensure accordance with blueprint specifications. We firmly believe, however, that quality cannot be inspected into the final product. Quality is managed into Du-Co ceramic insulators through our rigid control of the entire production process.

Du-Co's experienced ceramic engineers and technicians are the driving force behind our total quality assurance program. Our experience enables us to identify critical control variables throughout the manufacturing process, from the analysis of raw materials to the firing of finished ceramic insulators. Our quality control teams use sophisticated control systems to continually monitor and regulate equipment capability to ensure the finished product meets required tolerances. Final inspections and quality audits serve only to confirm that systems are operating properly and products are conforming to specifications.

We are ISO 9001-2008 Certified.