What a Coating Configuration is
A Coating Configuration is the reusable template that describes a finish the shop offers — the combination of recipe, thickness range, UOM, and pricing.
Everywhere you see "Pick a treatment" in the UI (quotes, direct orders, part defaults), the options come from this list.
Menu: Plating → Configurator → Coating Configurations.
Create a new config
Click + New. Fill:
| Field | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Name | EN Mid-Phos — Commercial |
Shown in dropdowns. Keep it descriptive. |
| Code | EN-MP-COM |
Short code for PDFs and reports. |
| Recipe | ENP-STEEL-BASIC |
Links to a Process Recipe (tree editor). |
| Thickness Min / Max | 10–15 µm | Spec band. Drives thickness-report pass/fail. |
| Thickness UOM | Micrometers (µm) | Unit for the above. |
| Default UOM for pricing | Square inch, Each | How the pricing rule multiplies. |
| Default Price | $0.85 / in² | Fallback if no pricing rule wins. |
| Pricing Rule | ENP-SurfaceArea-Tier | Formula engine rule (see Pricing Rules guide). |
Recipe linkage
Every coating must link to a recipe — the tree-based process definition that drives work-order generation. Without a recipe:
- MOs get an empty traveller.
- Tablet Station shows no steps to operators.
- The CoC can't cite a process path.
Build the recipe first (see Building Process Recipes), then pick it in this field.
Thickness range
Set Min + Max for the spec. The thickness-reports view uses these to auto-flag out-of-spec readings. Common values:
- EN Mid-Phos commercial: 10–15 µm
- EN Mid-Phos aerospace (AMS 2404): 25–50 µm
- Chrome decorative: 0.25–1 µm
- Type II sulfuric anodize: 7–18 µm
Pricing
Two ways to price the coating:
Option 1 — Flat default: just set Default Price with UOM. Simple. Works for shops where "EN = $X per in²" is a fixed rule.
Option 2 — Pricing Rule: point Pricing Rule at a formula-based rule that can use variables like surface area, quantity, rush flag, thickness. Allows volume discounts, complexity surcharges, rush premiums. See Pricing Rules guide for the formula syntax.
Pricing Rule always wins if set; Default Price is the fallback.
Archiving
Retire a coating with ⚙ → Archive. Past quotes/SOs still reference it; new ones can't pick it.
What can go wrong
Pricing comes out as 0
No pricing rule, no default price, or the rule returned 0 because surface area was 0 on the part. Open the Quote Configurator in debug mode to see the resolved formula.
Two nearly-identical configs
Intentional if there's a spec difference (commercial vs aerospace). Unintentional = duplicate. Archive the loser.
Thickness readings always fail
Check Thickness Min / Max — they might be set for the wrong UOM (e.g. mm instead of µm). A reading of 12 µm fails if the min is 0.025 mm.