Premium PVD coatings from GPA
High-tech in harmony with the environment

Get a head start and get the most out of your tools and components. GPA coating technology makes your components even more wear-resistant, durable and efficient. This is ecologically sensible and economically beneficial: because what lasts longer is significantly more sustainable and minimizes the downtime of your production.

GPA Coating also pays off for you

As a toolmaker, production or plant manager, you know the impact of coating your tools: it not only reduces tool costs, but also tool life, lubricants and headaches.

If you are a managing director, controller or purchaser, we will be happy to provide you with facts and figures: You will no longer have to invest so heavily in your tools once we have coated them.. Simply because they last longer and reduce process fluctuations.

Our satisfied customers come from a wide range of industries. Where are you at home?

Medical technology
Electrical industry
Automotive
Mechanical engineering
Furniture industry
Windows/Doors
Household appliances

Aerospace
Motorsport
Renewable energies (solar, wind power)
Battery technology
Food
Agriculture & Forestry
Security technology

Your industry is not listed?
No problem, we are sure to find the right solution for your applications.

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Coating services from GPA: Tough times for your tools

We would love to make your tools indestructible. And to be honest: We are working on it. Our ultra-thin PVD coatings protect tool steels, powder metallurgical steels and carbides from wear – and your company from unnecessary maintenance costs and losses due to production downtime.

TiN, TiCN, AlTiN, AlCro, CrN or S-Protect: Each of our coatings impresses with unique properties and excellent adhesive strength!

What use is the best coating if it doesn’t suit the application?

PVD coatings from GPA are as individual as your components and precision tools. We know that you need customized solutions for your success and we also understand your individual requirements. We provide you with the best advice first and then the best quality for you.

Areas of application

Allow me, GPA: High-tech coating made in Germany

We come from the plant engineering sector and our core competence is arc evaporator technology – developed in-house and perfected over three decades. Today we can use plasma, this fascinating 4th state of matter, to make your tools virtually indestructible. By the way, did you know that stars, and therefore 99% of all matter in the universe, consist of plasma?

More about GPA

“There is something very special about seeing a plasma. Our machines can extract an electron from atoms and shoot them at a tool. What happens in detail is fascinating: a metal flies off and a ceramic lands on the workpiece.”
— Richard Kallee, managing director and physics nerd

Fast, faster, GPA Coating

The fact that our PVD coatings improve the performance of your tools and components is sustainable, resource-saving and economical. Those who work with us also appreciate our reliability, flexibility and adherence to deadlines! Over the last three decades, we have optimized and simplified our coating processes to such an extent that we can now deliver very quickly: top quality within 2 to 3 days.

“We are proud that we can organize the regular coating and recoating of tools and components in such a stable and reliable way. This saves our customers valuable time. We are often told: Ordering from you is so pleasant because everything is so precise and fast.”
— Uwe Haas, Technical Sales

Your advantages at a glance

Increased wear resistance and component service life
Reduced friction due to smooth surfaces
Increasing resilience
Cost efficiency for series production
Sustainability through environmentally friendly technology
Reduction of maintenance and downtimes
Less manpower required due to reduced tool maintenance and less tool production
Lower costs thanks to less material consumption
Faster production speed and larger production batches
Less disposal/recycling due to fewer worn tools
Less lubricant
Reduced cleaning effort for contamination caused by oil and lubricants
Energy savings through half as much toolmaking and faster production speed
Less material waste
Extremely short delivery time

Pick-up and delivery service

Efficient logistics: pick-up and delivery service
We collect the tools from you and deliver them – PVD-coated in first-class quality – directly back to you within 2 to 3 days.

Online calculator: How much does your GPA coating cost?

Use our guide price calculator and get a quick and easy overview of costs: Enter your dimensions and data and calculate the standard price for your coating online. Tip: Larger quantities lead to even better prices!

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Questions and answers

Please contact us personally if you require further information.

PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) is a vacuum process in which metals are vaporized and ionized. Reactive gases are used to produce so-called hard materials (nitrides, carbides and oxides), which are deposited on the substrate surface.

In addition to their high hardness, PVD coatings offer very smooth, chemically and thermally resistant surfaces. The coating temperature of 200 °C to 500 °C is below the tempering temperature of most steels, so that loss of hardness and distortion are reliably avoided.

In the PVD arc process, an arc is ignited between the chamber and the negative potential cathode, which vaporizes the cathode material.

A large proportion (up to 90 %) of the evaporated material is ionized. The material vapor (cathode material) spreads radially from the cathode surface. Since a negative potential is also applied to the substrate, the ionized material vapour is accelerated towards the substrate. The metal vapor is deposited on the substrate surface with the addition of a reaction gas (nitrogen or carbon carrier gas).

Uniform coating distribution on the substrate surfaces is achieved by continuous movement of the substrates in the coating chamber (up to 3-fold planetary rotation).

In machining processes, the functional surfaces wear out due to mechanical stress and corrosion, for example. This wear impairs geometries, surface quality and dimensional accuracy.

With a layer thickness of 2 to 10 µm, a hardness of up to > 3,500 HV and a coefficient of friction of up to < 0.1 (steel against steel = 1), GPA-Protect® coatings offer effective surface protection without affecting the usual tool tolerances.

Wear protection coatings extend the service life and reduce maintenance costs and set-up times, thus offering production-related and economic benefits.

In addition to the optimization of operating conditions and machining processes, the quality of the tools and components plays an important role in service life. A GPA-Protect® wear protection coating improves resistance to abrasive and adhesive wear and thus helps to improve service life.

Calculated in terms of unit costs or tool expenditure, the additional costs for hard coating a tool are negligible. They pay for themselves by improving tool life, saving set-up costs and improving product quality.

In many cases, coating tools allows processes to be stabilized and thus also improves the quantity produced per unit of time. Use our calculator and calculate the costs for your coating online.

During manual tool polishing, the surface structure is gradually removed using abrasives and diamond pastes, and roughness peaks are eliminated. This reduces the surface pressure and facilitates the material flow when forming steel and in the plastic injection mold.

GPA polishing reduces the surface roughness in the functional area. The qualities depend on the requirements and range from a classic line polish in the processing direction to a high gloss.

Get in touch with us

Do you have questions or are you looking for specific information? Discuss your challenges with us. We look forward to hearing from you. We will of course treat your data confidentially.

02171 – 70860

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Premium PVD coatings from GPA High-tech in harmony with the environment