- Photofab


WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE PHOTOFAB FOR CHEMICAL ETCHING


Photofab’s chemical etching process allows for cost-effective, precision manufacturing of complex designs with tight tolerances. This fully traceable process, coupled with dedicated account management and over 50 years of industry experience and expertise creates the perfect partnership for your next project. This is especially important in industries such as aerospace, medical, and electronics, where precision is critical.

As well as our outstanding results, we pride ourselves on our world-class customer service. We believe this is the reason we enjoy such high customer retention, as we continually strive to improve our service experience. If you are looking for a chemical etching partner, look no further than Photofab. We are a leading partner to many businesses and are trusted to deliver in many sectors.

Customer reviews


To ensure we maintain the very best levels of service, we encourage our customers to review our performance through Hotjar which has helped us achieve an NPS score of 4.8 out of 5.

- Photofab
  1. Precision
    Complexity and accuracy, maintained consistently.
  2. Cost-effective
    Affordable quality from prototyping to volume.
  3. Traceability
    Full visibility of origination throughout.
  4. Dedicated Account Managers
    Friendly, knowledgeable team of experts.
  5. Scalability
    Flexible process from small to large volumes.
  6. Speed
    24-hour turnaround on quotes.
- Photofab

Dedicated Account Managers


At the heart of our business are our experienced Account Managers. Every order we receive is assigned to a dedicated account manager, who then personally oversees the entire order from submission until delivery. They are on hand to support you throughout the order process and will deal with you personally throughout. Our Account Manager system is often cited as why so many of our customers enjoy working with Photofab and continue long-term.

Value added services


As well as chemical etching, Photofab deliver a number of value-added services. These are either delivered in house, such as tooling and forming, or sourced from our trusted partners, like laser cutting. When you choose these services, they are all managed in-house and quality checked to the same standard as our etching, guaranteeing the same level of quality and traceability. This allows you to get everything you need in one place; with the outstanding service you’ve come to expect from Photofab.

Manufacturing better capabilities


Our chemical etching department houses five etching machines, all with multi-chamber etching capabilities for faster etching on thicker materials. This is all supported by our production team, who are highly experienced in high-volume orders.

Investments in automation have increased our capabilities in metal stripping, measurement, and logistics. This has allowed orders for forming, assembly and finishing to be completed faster, maintaining our 98% On Time Delivery service to SC21 standards.

Fast turnaround


Our advanced process means we are able to produce components rapidly. We aim to quote within 24 hours, and can produce prototype flat parts in another 24 hours! Chemical etching can produce many components on the same sheet, allowing us to produce products at large scale and with fantastic lead times. We also have no minimum quantity, meaning we can produce single parts if required.

Prototyping and beyond


We can powerup your prototyping. Our advanced digital toolset means we can take designs in any file format and rapidly produce prototypes from the created tooling. Prototypes can then be iterated on, with multiple designs on each sheet, before a final design is selected that achieves the design goals. This can then be scaled to higher volume production at Photofab, all fully traceable and managed to our exceptional high standards throughout.

- Photofab

Photofab, the first choice for chemical etching


Photofab is simply the ideal partner for chemical etching. Let our team of Account Managers take charge of your order and be on hand to look after you throughout the order process. Trust in our experience of over 50 years and over 80,000 components and choose Photofab for your next project.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about how chemical etching with Photofab could transform your supply chain.

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NEWS from Photofab


- Photofab

Prototyping Forming: On form to shape an outstanding service

With decades of experience in the production of tooling for sheet metal forming, which has been instrumental in supporting our globally renowned chemical etching capabilities, Photofab are already well established in the industry for quality hard tooling. Recognising the significance of this process in the manufacturing journey, we made substantial investments in a specialised secondary unit.

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The winner of our Easter Egg Hunt, Craig Price, had an unexpected but delightful face-off with his colleague Adam.

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We have a long-standing history of meeting the needs of respected companies in the aerospace and space industries. Our expertise lies in the precise chemical etching process, which we use to create essential components for aerospace and space exploration projects.

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- Photofab

Experience Fast and Efficient Turnaround

With our unwavering commitment to quality, precision, and quick turnaround times, we are the go-to choice for all your chemical etching needs.

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Embracing Apprenticeships in engineering

At Photofab, we’ve enjoyed a long history of apprenticeships and developed some incredible successes including our very own Managing Director Neil Shorten and Operations Director Paul Rea.

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employees leading by example

At Photofab, our most valued assets are our dedicated employees. We are thrilled to announce several recent promotions to Team Leader for members of the Photofab team

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The Photofab team was proud to host a Family Fun Day on Saturday 23rd September, which included activities for people of all ages, including games, music, and food and drink. The event was also an opportunity for Photofab to raise money for 3 Pillars Trust, a charity that feeds and provides clothes and bedding to over 60 people each night.

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chemical etching powering the electronics sector

Chemical etching carries the unique advantages of leaving the internal structure of the metal unchanged. Neither does it affect the properties of the metal with regard to hardness, grain structure, or ductility of the metal. This is critical for electronic components to ensure accuracy and consistency of the original specifications.

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Chemical metal etching is a highly accurate machining process for producing precision metal components with incredibly tight tolerances. Chemical etching is sometimes known as photo chemical milling, photo chemical etching…

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- Photofab

Flexible Prototyping

Prototyping is a necessary stage in manufacturing to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective production run. Our customers prefer to use our prototyping service as it’s hassle-free, fast, and highly cost-effective, thanks to our digital tooling and innovations in automation.

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- Photofab

Introducing Our New Website

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Turning up the volume on chemical etching

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Supporting our employees during mental health awareness week

We understand that mental health is a critical aspect of healthcare and support our workers as much as we can, treating it in the same way we would for physical health.

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Protecting your electronics with EMI and RFI shielding

Choosing chemical etching for the manufacture of EMI and RFI shielding components offer a multitude of advantages.

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Shims and Spacers

Photofab commonly manufactures metal shims and spacers from as thin as 0.01mm up to 1.2mm. These are produced to a very high tolerance and can be available in a wide selection of metals, including popular materials such as mild steel, carbon steel and stainless steel. You can trust Photofab’s experts to deliver outstanding service and quality, no matter the product or process.

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Time to reshore your manufacturing supply chain

Our country has faced many challenges in recent times causing a crippling domino effect of disruptions in the supply chain, forcing longer lead-times and reduced profit margins. Reshoring manufacturing services in Britain can help alleviate many of these issues.

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Photofab automates faster lead-times

Building on our 50 years’ experience and continuous investment in people and processes, we have evolved our high-volume chemical etching services to deliver industry leading standards in both quality and lead-times.

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Chemical etching vs laser cutting, which one works best?

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Proven to be an essential part of the production journey, Photofab have heavily invested in a dedicated secondary unit, the aim of this is to offer an even greater service and flexibility to our customers.

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