+91 98361 05950 info@indoeast.com NH-6, Jangalpur, Howrah – 711411, West Bengal, India

In-House vs Sub-Contracted Galvanizing

The difference is not marketing. It is what happens on the day a coating reading comes back low, and who is responsible for fixing it.

Most Indian steel fabricators do not own a galvanizing kettle. They fabricate, then send the work to a job galvanizer, then take it back and despatch it. That is a normal and legitimate way to run a business.

Indo East galvanizes on its own floor — a 7.0 m × 1.2 m × 1.6 m kettle at 450–460 °C at Jangalpur, Howrah. This page is about what that actually changes for the person buying the steel, stated without the superlatives. We are not the biggest kettle in eastern India and we do not claim to be.

What actually changes

Fabricator with in-house kettleFabricator who sub-contracts
TransportNone between fabrication and coatingTwo extra road movements, each with handling damage risk
Lead timeSet by our own scheduleSet by the galvanizer's queue, which the fabricator does not control
A failed dip testOne company fixes itA conversation between two companies about whose fault it was
Venting and design queriesAnswered before fabrication, by the people who will dip itUsually discovered at the kettle, after the steel is cut
Distortion on a slender memberHanging and sequence controlled by usControlled by a third party who did not fabricate it
Coating certificateIssued by the same quality system that made the steelIssued by a different company, to a different system
Third-party inspectionFabrication and coating witnessed in one visitTwo visits, or one incomplete one
ReworkStripped and re-dipped on siteSent back out and re-queued

None of this makes a sub-contracting fabricator a bad supplier. It does mean the buyer carries a coordination risk that is invisible in the quotation and very visible on a delayed project.

The honest limits

Where in-house is not the advantage.

  • Kettle size is a hard constraint. Ours is 7.0 m long. A specialist job galvanizer with a longer bath can take members we cannot, and where that is what a job needs, that is the right supplier for it. We handle longer members by double-end dipping only where the geometry allows.
  • Volume galvanizing is a different business. A dedicated job galvanizer running one process all day will out-throughput a fabricator's kettle on plain repetitive work.
  • In-house does not mean better coating chemistry. The coating is set by the standard and the process control, not by who owns the tank. What in-house changes is accountability and control, not the metallurgy.
  • We would rather say this than imply that owning a kettle settles every question. It settles a specific set of them.

What we do with it

  • Drawing review before fabrication. Send the drawing with the enquiry and we will tell you where the vent and drain holes belong and how the piece will hang — the ASTM A385 questions that decide whether a fabrication comes out clean. That review is free and it is the most useful thing a galvanizer can give a fabricator.
  • Job work for other fabricators. We galvanize other companies' work as well as our own, from across Kolkata, Howrah and eastern India.
  • One inspection visit. Where third-party inspection by SGS, Bureau Veritas, TÜV, DNV or Intertek is required, fabrication and coating are witnessed in the same place under the same quality system.
  • One certificate chain. Mill test certificates for the steel and the galvanizing inspection report with coating readings both come from us.

Questions engineers ask

Answered from our own line, not from the standard's cover page.

Does Indo East galvanize in-house?

Yes. The kettle is 7.0 m × 1.2 m × 1.6 m, operating at 450–460 °C, on our own floor at Jangalpur, Howrah. Fabrication and coating sit under one quality system.

Why does in-house galvanizing matter to a buyer?

Mostly because of what happens when something goes wrong. A low coating reading, a distorted member or a venting problem is one company's responsibility to fix rather than a discussion between two. It also removes two road movements and takes the galvanizer's queue out of your lead time.

What is the largest piece you can galvanize?

7.0 m × 1.2 m × 1.6 m, with double-end dipping for longer members where the geometry allows. Maximum single-piece fabrication weight is 5 tonnes. Where a job needs a longer bath than ours, we will say so rather than take the order.

Do you galvanize work made by other companies?

Yes — job-work galvanizing from fabricators, OEMs and project contractors across Kolkata, Howrah and eastern India. Send the drawing or component details and we will confirm fit and turnaround.

Is your kettle the largest in eastern India?

No. Other plants run longer baths, and we would rather tell you that than make a claim we cannot stand behind. The true and more useful statement is that our galvanizing is in-house and never sub-contracted.

Related standards and pages

Send us the specification

Tell us the standard, the coating requirement and the component, and we will confirm in writing what we can hold and how we will certify it. Galvanizing is on our own floor, so the answer comes from us and not from a sub-contractor.

Request a quotation Galvanizing job work