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History
New Brunswick Plating, Inc. was started in 1932 by Martin and Harry Sica.
The original name "New Brunswick Nickel and Chromium Plating Works" was changed to the New Brunswick Plating in the 1960's. In the early 1930's the company gained expertise in the hard chromium plating process which was new to the metal finishing industry. This expertise contributed to the war effort by adding the metal finish to aircraft wing hinges and torpedo sleeves. Cadmium plating was done on military hardware, silver plating on electrical contacts and nickel plating on parts for the Manhattan project. In 1946, the company moved for the third time to a 50,000 sq. ft. facility to meet the growing post war demands.
The fourth move came two years later when the company abandoned high-volume commercial plating to return to the industrial market where metal plating experience and expertise were scarce. With a reduced work force, the company hard chrome plated dies, rolls, shafts and molds. It was one of the first metal plating job shops to acquire an FAA repair station license and to metal plate critical aviation parts. They silver plated and gold plated wave guides, cadmium plated and phosphated radar cabinets, zinc plated, nickel plated and copper plated on military hardware for the Korean Conflict.
This metal finishing expertise was passed to the second generation who in turn set some records themselves.
They hard chrome plated the largest die body in the world, a 3-stage chrome operation.
Sulfamate nickel plated 35 foot stainless steel periscope tubes with .020" nickel.
Nickel plated - Gold plated the internal sections of a cast iron reactor for the Atomic Energy Commission 4'x6'x3'.
Decorative Rhodium plated the framework of the "Great Ring of Canada" designed and made by Stuben and presented to the people of Canada by President Lyndon Johnson. Gold plated the retro rockets on the Surveyor Space Craft, which made the first soft lunar landing.
Gold plated many parts on the early communication satellites, and also black nickel plated thin foiled solar collectors 4'x8'.
Nickel plated 8-ton shafts for the USS Milwaukee.
The company grew in size during the 60's and 70's, adding another 30,000 square feet to its 1947 building, while employing about 25 people. The next change in business came in the 80's, which ushered in the environmental factor in electroplating. The company kept pace with increasing regulations, but the days of the giant projects were over. With every operation they had to consider their treatment system. Pollution prevention, waste-water, solid waste, VOCs and OSHA ended the "Rube Goldberg" era at New Brunswick Plating.
As the Cold War ended, Star Wars faded, and heavy machine manufacturing companies moved off-shore. The firm turned toward plating electronic components and optical fiber devices. The second generation positioned the company for a handoff to the upcoming third generation. They, in turn, made ISO 9002 a reality. With online computers in every office, bar coding, electronic data interfacing, and computer generated scheduling, they have positioned the firm with a solid foot into the 21st century.
The fourth generation continues to operate the company with their grandfathers' philosophy which survived the Great Depression: "Know your trade and do it better than anyone else" to which they added, "don't merely satisfy your customers - delight them."