Precision in the tiniest of objects

Driving through most industrial areas can be an unnerving experience. The areas are filled with parking lots and nondescript buildings. The buildings and areas rarely give a hint as to what is happening behind the silent walls.

Tucked into a standard looking industrial mall in Concord, just north of Toronto, is Shimifrez. It occupies a 4,000 square foot unit that is virtually indistinguishable from its neighbours. Yet here, like perhaps in the neighbouring units, something fascinating is happening.

Shimifrez means chemical milling in Farsi, according to the CEO and President, Hassan Nojoumi. There are many names for what the company does: photo chemical milling, chemical blanking, photo etching, chemical milling, to name but a few.

The company manufactures precision photo chemically machined metal parts for a host of clients.

The process begins when the client sends a drawing to Shimifrez and a very high resolution photo master is created. The process is not unlike photography. The metal is cleaned and coated with a light-sensitive resist, according to Nojoumi. “The coated sheet is then exposed to ultraviolet light through the photo master from both sides, hardening the photo resist where exposure takes place.

The unexposed areas are developed away, thereby removing the resist and leaving the metal bare where etching will occur.

Etching solution is sprayed under pressure onto the top and bottom surfaces, accurately producing the component by removing the unwanted metal. The resist is then removed to leave burr and stress free components.”

The later points are extremely important for the production of tiny precision parts. Unlike stamping or even laser cutting, “photo chemical machining has no effect on magnetic properties or deformation. Without stresses or thermal effects, it produces a burr-free product,” he said.

A metal photo-etched scale model of the Eiffel Tower made by Shimifrez. The parts are assembled with some folding but no gluing or welding.

Many of the parts that are produced at Shimifrez are extremely tiny. The company can manufacture parts that range in size 0.06 by 0.06-inches up to a foot and a half square. The material that is worked in is quite thin from about 0.019-inches thick to as thin as 0.0005-inches. The components are manufactured in stainless steel, brass, nickel alloys, beryllium copper, kovar, invar, phosphor bronze and aluminium. The process has the flexibility to produce unusual configurations while maintaining very tight tolerances to within 0.0005-inches or 10 to 15 per cent of part thickness.

The roots of the company lie in Iran when Hassan’s father, Mustafa, started a photo etching company in 1981. “We came to Canada in 1997, I was 14 years old,” said Hassan. Working on a master’s degree in renewable energy at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, he needed some specialized components for his thesis work. “I came up with some new processes for photo etching that involve plating at that time,” he said. “I wanted to start the business in 2008, but 2008 was not a good time to start anything with the bubble bursting and all. So I held off for a year and a half and when we saw some indicators that business is at least getting from a minus to a plus, we decided to start a business that can cater to 30-40 different businesses.” He adopted the name his father used as a sign of legacy and says the company now is, “30 per cent of what my dad had and 70 per cent of my input.”

Photo etching is a very flexible process and can be applied to many industries. “As components are getting smaller photo etched parts will be used more and more,” said Nojoumi.

He pointed to the microphone/recorder on the desk, “We can make the mesh for that. Your camera — there are photo etched parts in there. We can make them.” They make tiny components for pacemakers and stents for aortic surgery. Nojoumi says parts produced by Shimifrez can be found in aerospace/satellite, automotive, computer/telecommunications, defence, ornamental, jewelry, medical and electronics sectors among others.

“Most of the clients are in Ontario,” he says. “Aerospace in Quebec, universities in Ontario and in the U.S. are big clients.”

Hassan said that some items, like the cheaper parts and basic utility items, don’t necessarily have to be made in Canada.

You can get it cheaper somewhere else.

“But if you are making a pacemaker, a body implant…. Because those items are not driven by costs but on quality and there is no reason Canada cannot compete,” he said.

There are eight people directly employed in Shimifrez. “These are operations and sales,” said Nojoumi. “We have roughly 10 people in R&D which work at universities. They are both in material and in manufacturing fields.

The university take care of one half of their salaries and we take care of the other half.” Since the company deals with high-end precision components it carries several quality standard designations — ISO 89001: 2008, and ISO 9100 Rev C. The latter covers the aerospace field. “This lets me approach companies like Airbus and Boeing. If I do not have this, they will not even want to talk to me,” said Nojoumi. “Because I have it, the conversation turns to what I can do for them. We also are on the Control Goods Registered with the Department of Defence in Canada.”

Although happy where his business is and where it is going, he does have one stumbling block that he has yet to overcome. “We in Canada can improve on the supply of raw materials,” he said. “We have an abundance of raw materials but no one makes metal here. If they do, they just want to make the big stuff. No one makes thin material.”

Nojoumi notes that he has a difficult time sourcing the thin sheets of ram material he needs for his production in Canada. “Price is not an issue here. We need a supply of material so we can fabricate.

If we can get the material we can make the part,” he said. “We source the raw materials from the States. It is not a problem but if you want the part in three days, it might take me seven days just to get the material in. It is the lead times. Sometimes lead times are what make or break a contract.

There is also the question of minimum quantities that we have to buy. You might want just 20 or 50 pieces and I have to by 200 pounds of the raw material. You might use 20 or 50 pounds in a run and you end up with 150 pounds in the inventory.

I then have to hope that the next client wants the exact same alloy in the exact same thickness. I don’t know who the next client will be. It could be a watchmaker or aerospace company. We have a storage space with some inventory but we try to keep it at a minimum because we really don’t know what the next job will be. I have some copper, brass and stainless steel in stock.

In some applications the alloy does not matter but if there is heat involved or other requirements then it is important. We can’t stock everything.”

For the clients of Shimifrez, cost is important said Nojoumi. “But it is not just how cheap it is but how fast we can deliver and if we can deliver on time. What manufacturing can do in Canada is use that lead time.

Shipping is quick, but even getting something couriered from China is going to take three days—express. We have done things here in less than 24 hours—from PO, to drawing to part. Per piece price is not always the main thing.”