Just how important is Quality Control? You may think that “The Driving Force” is an overstatement, but consider that just one microscopic crack in a defective fan disk caused the unfortunate crash of United Airlines Flight 232 in 1989. Without Quality Control, there are no standards to adhere to, no certainty that products conform to requirements, and certainly no accountability.

Quality is defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as the “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements,” where requirements are defined as needs or expectations. In the words of Genichi Taguchi, quality is two-fold: 1) uniformity around a target value and 2) the loss a product imposes on society after it is shipped. To put it simply, quality is conformance to requirements and expectations; any non-conformance ends up costing society at some point, whether it is a monetary or economic cost, or the cost of energy and time spent correcting an error, or the cost due to harmful side effects.

Quality Control is a sub-category of quality—which also includes Quality Assurance, Quality Management, and Corrective and Preventive Actions—and is associated with the detection of defects, most commonly associated with testing within a quality management system. A typical quality control process emphasizes physical testing and inspection of products to uncover defects prior to shipment, and to take the necessary corrective actions.

Similarly, quality assurance attempts to monitor and improve the processes involved in quality. A highly proactive approach, quality assurance is a failure-prevention system attempting to eliminate errors/inconsistencies in production before they occur. Quality Assurance focuses on two important principles: 1) Fit for Purpose and 2) Right First Time. Fit for Purpose, introduced by the late Joseph Juran, deals with conformance to the purpose/use defined by the customer. Right First Time focuses on the proactive elimination of errors/inconsistencies that lead to defects.

Quality Assurance defines the standards to be followed in order to meet the customer requirements whereas Quality Control ensures that these defined standards are followed at every step. Despite the differences between Assurance and Control, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Regardless, whatever you decide to call them, their importance cannot be diminished or undermined. Together, Quality Control and Quality Assurance attempt to deliver a defect-free, quality product or service to customers.

At Nema Enclosures, we take quality very seriously. With an entire Quality Control Department dedicated to inspecting every single enclosure at multiple stages during production, you can rest assured knowing that your enclosure will be delivered exactly as ordered. Our Quality Control Department thoroughly inspects each job packet four (4) times PRIOR to a piece of sheet metal ever being cut! The Quality Control Department also inspects five (5) times during fabrication of your enclosures. Our Quality Assurance Manager works diligently to assure any errors or inconsistencies are reduced or eliminated prior to production, while our Quality Control Manager works non-stop to ensure any errors are caught and corrected as soon as possible.

Why do we value quality so much? Because we exist to serve our customers; they come first, and the quality of their orders is of the highest magnitude here at Nema Enclosures.

You won’t find dedication to quality like this anywhere else. At Nema Enclosures, we take pride in our enclosures, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve not only our quality, but our efficiency and lead times as well. Nema Enclosures, the Standard for Custom Enclosures.

Contact us to place your order today.

Silk Screening is the easiest and least expensive way to customize an enclosure.  Any flat side of the enclosure can be silkscreened with nearly anything you need from labeling operators or externally installed devices to your company name and logo.  Examples include of operators include Hand-Off-Auto, emergency stop or gas detection to name a few.  If you have a product line name you would like on each enclosures as well as serial numbers they both can be added with this process. Silk screening can be done in nearly any color and can be as simple as a color match similar to what you do at your local paint store. Silk screening on metal is susceptible to being worn off or scratched off from hand tools on smooth metal surfaces like stainless steel or aluminum but we have found that a clear powder coat applied after silk screening makes the specific markings nearly 100% permanent. The silk screening process is actually quite simple.   Once we receive your logo or lettering, a screen is made to match your design.  After customer signs off on artwork, the screen is mounted in a frame and the enclosure is mounted in a fixture to lock both items in place.  Ink is pushed through the screen with a rubber paddle and the ink is then dried in an oven.  If multiple colors are required, a separate screen for each color must be used.  Proper fixturing allows for many colors to be used on the same enclosure. Engraving the enclosure is another option to customize the enclosure.  This option is typically more expensive and takes more time but the outcome is more permanent than silk screening.  In this process, a small amount of metal is removed from the surface of the enclosure to match the logo or letter desired.  Typically .005” to .010” of metal is removed either mechanically via a milling operation or chemically through an etching process.  Once the metal has been removed it is typically filled with epoxy paint of the desired color to match your requirement. If you have an interest in taking your enclosure to the next level of customization, just call one of our project managers to work out the details.  To get started we will need the following information as a minimum:

• Company logo and color requirements in a .pdf or .eps format with as high a resolution as possible.  The ideal file format for us is from Adobe Illustrator.
• Location of the labeling on the enclosure.  If lettering only is required, then just the font type and size.
• Any custom configuration of other details that would allow us to make the final custom enclosure exactly to requirements.

Contact us if you have any questions regarding silk screening an enclosure.

The four terms busway, bus duct, termination box, and bus box are one in the same; they are electrical enclosures that house copper or tin plated copper busbar that carry very large currents. The enclosures typically house four busbars mounted on custom Z-Brackets with specific insulators depending on the amperage and other specifications. These types of enclosures allow the tapping of feeder circuits for power distribution.

The most common variation of these types of  enclosures that we encounter is for switchgear applications and mainly stainless steel; aluminum is a lighter weight alternative. Other applications are as simple as multiple unit draw systems or even for commercial construction projects with common electrical sourcing. Those applications use stainless, aluminum, or even powder coated carbon steel. NEMA Enclosures provides a variety of made to order custom Bus Boxes.

Below are some items that will determine the size and construction of the enclosure:
1) The number of devices or drops that need to be connected to determine number of access points
2) The spacing between units connected to the unit
3) The location of the installation- Indoors/Outdoors/Extreme Conditions

Taking those factors into consideration plus any other job specific requirements we are able to develop a bus box that will meet your needs and include a variety of custom features.

Some of the custom features that we provide are:
1) Multiple access points to allow for front and rear access
2) A variety of door/access panel hardware options
3) Multi-Step “Z” brackets welded in place to separate the required legs and ground
4) Pre-punching customer supplied copper bus bar (2”-4” width and ¼” to ½” thickness is typical for copper bus bar stock)
5) NEMA or IP rating along with UL listing.

Busway, bus ducts, termination box, or bus box. You can name it, just leave the building of it to NEMA  Enclosures.

We build a variety of custom enclosures for offshore, marine, corrosive atmosphere applications and we are asked what material is best suited for them. 5052 Aluminum is an acceptable material especially when weight of an enclosure is an issue. It will eventually show signs of surface corrosion or surface pitting after prolonged exposure to salt water/ or corrosive environments.

A common practice to reduce or minimize those effects are to anodize the enclosure. Anodization increases surface hardness, increases corrosion resistance and is non conductive. The coatings can withstand up to about 80 degrees C, prolonged exposure to high temperatures can cause cracking in the finish, but it will not peel.
The other option is to construct the enclosures out of Stainless Steel. We use both 304L and 316L grades of stainless. Both materials are suitable for corrosive environments due to their Chromium and Nickel content but they are substantially heavier than Aluminum. Of the two materials 316L stainless steel is the most corrosion resistant material for constriction, this is due to the higher Nickel content and the addition of Molybdenum. But what about hardware? Many people ask for an enclosure constructed in 316L stainless and also request all the hardware (nuts, bolts, and fasteners) be constructed from 316L stainless as well. Although 316L stainless steel is the best material for corrosion resistance on the body of the enclosure it is not the best material for hardware. 304L stainless steel has higher strength and wear resistance than 316L stainless, due in part to the slightly higher Chromium content. With higher strength and wear resistance and a lower cost than 316L hardware it is the best choice of hardware on any enclosure that will be exposed to corrosive environments. Please share your feedback or send any questions you might have about metals in corrosive environments, we love to talk metal!