Why Automotive Manufacturers Come Back for Stainless Steel Baskets

Marlin Steel is proud to be an American manufacturer of top-quality custom parts washing baskets for the automotive industry. Recently, one major, publicly-traded automotive manufacturer placed their eighth custom stainless steel parts washing basket order with Marlin. What was the basket for, and why does this major manufacturer keep coming back to Marlin for more?

A Heavy-Duty Reinforced Stainless Steel Parts Washing Basket

This parts washing basket was designed to hold a wide variety of heavy and oddly-shaped parts through a washing process. Because of the random weight and sizes of these automotive parts, the basket needed to be as strong as possible. However, the basket also needed to have plenty of open space to allow the aqueous cleaning solution to easily reach the parts the basket would hold.

To ensure durability and strength, the parts washing basket would be made of stainless steel. Steel has a high tensile strength, and using stainless steel would enhance the basket’s ability to resist oxidation when exposed to different chemical compounds that might be found in the client’s parts cleaning process.

Because of the tensile strength of steel, the basket could be made with relatively thin wires that had plenty of space between each wire—meaning that the cleaning process would be relatively unhindered by the basket itself. It also meant that any runoff from the cleaning process would drain easily and quickly.

To keep the wires fully supported, sheet metal was welded into the frame of the basket at the corners. This would supply some extra stability and rigidity for the basket, allowing it to be stacked while in use so multiple baskets could go through the parts washing process simultaneously.

Why the Automotive Manufacturer Kept Coming Back to Marlin Steel

So, why did this automotive manufacturer return to Marlin Steel for an eighth custom stainless steel parts washing basket order?

Some of the reasons why include:

• Marlin’s Consistent Quality. Thanks to Marlin’s investments in employee training and manufacturing automation, the Marlin manufacturing team can produce incredibly consistent results with high-precision manufacturing baskets. Many automotive manufacturers know the value of getting consistent and reliable results. After all, it helps them create consistent parts for their own products.
• Fast Manufacturing & Shipping Speed. Marlin’s automated manufacturing equipment, once set up, can produce custom stainless steel baskets at speeds unmatched by manual laborers. Even better—because Marlin makes its baskets in the USA, there’s no wait time for customs processing or slow overseas shipping methods for a U.S.-based customer.
• Engineering Know-How. More than 20% of Marlin’s team members are degreed mechanical engineers—which helps them design higher-quality stainless steel parts washing baskets for a variety of applications. Combined with Marlin’s use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, the engineering team can design the right basket for the job by rapidly testing and tweaking said design before committing a single ounce of wire to the job.

Want to learn more about why leading automotive companies and even aerospace manufacturers trust Marlin to make the best custom parts washing basket for the job? Reach out to the Marlin Steel team today! Or, check out the automotive case study below: