Sibert follow-up: USD 250k budget, current VS specs, OMS as galvanics option

Ian Locke's email of 5 October 2026 after Making Vinyl Europe:

- Budget of USD 250k for VSP, VSF and VSC confirmed; his time, spares,
  shipping and travel extra; itemised quotation on request. The
  total-investment block keeps its estimate until the re-base, the
  difference (+190k low case / +80k high case) goes into the
  not-yet-rolled-up table.
- Current specifications filed (VSF and VSC 2022, VSP 2023) plus the
  VSF/VSP/VSC line-up drawing (4958 x 833 mm); the 2021 issues move to
  sibert/specs-2021/. VSC is now 1000 kg with split OD hydraulic / ID
  pneumatic forming; VSF 0-30 psi, 4-station head. Crane table, supplier
  map, vendor landscape and the plant page details updated.
- Fully automatic VSPa exists; Sibert offers to move features to the VSP.
- Electroforming: OMS (Optical Media Services, Lou Wullms) named next to
  Pheenix; added as a third galvanics candidate with open questions.
- Sequencing advice (presses, boilers, operators and live feedback loops
  first) recorded in the exhibitor briefing, roadmap item 23, and as
  digital-factory design decision 9 (operators see the data first).

docs/plant-operation.html

@@ -841,9 +841,9 @@ const DETAILS={
  pdpu:{t:'4c · PDPU dual plating unit (Pheenix Alpha)',w:'Production electroforming: father on the pre-plated lacquer, mother on the father, stampers on the mother. Each cell has its own rotating cathode and digitally controlled rectifier; the current ramps up and the part grows to its thickness. The simulation deposits nickel by Faraday\'s law (1.095 g per ampere-hour at ~97 % efficiency, ~9.6 dm² for a Ø350 mm part), so the times follow from the current: father 0.25 mm in ~1 h 15 min on a slow ramp to 185 A, mother 0.25 mm in ~1 h and stamper 0.20 mm in ~50 min at 200 A. Loading takes 5 min, rinsing and unloading 10 min per part. A part that finishes after the shift waits in the cell until morning.',c:['Current, voltage and ampere-hours per cell (PLC with network access)','Bath temperature, filters, nickel top-up and anode basket alerts','Extraction interlock: no extraction, no plating'],f:['Up to 15 VDC and 200 A per cell, 40 L per cell, 385 L tank, parts up to Ø355 mm, cooling water 12 to 20 °C at 10 L/min (2024 flyer)','Published practice: father ~1 h 15 min, mother 1 to 1¼ h, stamper ~45 min (galvanics.md)','One PDPU covers full-capacity demand (20 to 32 parts a day); the second buys redundancy rather than capacity','Bath at 55 °C on screen is an estimate']},
  pmpb:{t:'4d · PMPB preparation bench (Pheenix Alpha)',w:'Between generations the new part is separated, cleaned, passivated anodically so the next generation will part from it, and spun dry. The lacquer is consumed when the father comes off; in 3-step plating the father, and later the mother, go to the archive.',c:['Passivation logged per part','Rinse water to treatment, never the drain'],f:['~10 to 15 min per part (estimate)','Spin table up to 120 rpm, DI water G3/4", single-phase 10 A (2024 flyer)']},
  qc:{t:'4e · Part QC: XRF and mother listening',w:'Every father, mother and stamper gets an XRF thickness reading against its serial; every mother is played before stampers are grown from it, since the mother is the playable positive.',c:['XRF nickel thickness per part, 0.2 to 0.3 mm','Mother listening check'],f:['~3 min per XRF reading, ~25 min for a mother with listening (estimates)']},
- vsf:{t:'5a · VSF back-finish (Sibert)',w:'The stamper back is wet-sanded through a sequence of abrasive grades and cleaned, so it seats evenly on the mould and no back-side defect presses through. First of the three Sibert steps: finish, punch, coin (the order Gotta Groove runs its Sibert machines in).',c:['Back visual check','Closed water loop with filtration; the nickel-bearing water goes to treatment'],f:['~5 to 10 min (estimate; Sibert publishes none), 8 min here','P120 to P2500 in nine grades, 5-station disc head, 150 to 1500 rpm, 1200 VA, 250 kg (2021 spec)']},
- vsp:{t:'5b · VSP centre punch (Sibert)',w:'After a pneumatic pre-centring the operator centres the lead-out groove, the one true circle on the stamper, under ×100 optics; then the punch cuts the centre hole. An off-centre hole makes every record wow, so concentricity is the critical stamper check, logged per stamper.',c:['Concentricity of hole to groove per stamper','Hardness on the punched centre slug (quality-automation.md)','Punch-and-die shot count against the service interval'],f:['~3 to 5 min (estimate), 4 min here','Ø25.4 mm punch standard, ±0.002 mm, turntable ±0.0015 mm, 250 VA, 200 kg (2021 spec)']},
- vsc:{t:'5c · VSC coiner (Sibert)',w:'One hydraulic operation forms the centre and the edge and sizes the outside diameter for the press mould, so no trimming is needed. It locates on the punched hole, which is why it comes last.',c:['Fit against the mould type'],f:['~1 to 2 min (estimate), 2 min here','7", 10" and 12" die sets, three tool stations, 1 kVA, 600 kg (2021 spec)','Tooling per mould type is a quote line']},
+ vsf:{t:'5a · VSF back-finish (Sibert)',w:'The stamper back is wet-sanded through a sequence of abrasive grades and cleaned, so it seats evenly on the mould and no back-side defect presses through. First of the three Sibert steps: finish, punch, coin (the order Gotta Groove runs its Sibert machines in).',c:['Back visual check','Closed water loop with filtration; the nickel-bearing water goes to treatment'],f:['~5 to 10 min (estimate; Sibert publishes none), 8 min here','P120 to P2500 in nine grades, 4-station disc head, 150 to 1500 rpm, 1200 VA, 250 kg (2022 spec)']},
+ vsp:{t:'5b · VSP centre punch (Sibert)',w:'After a pneumatic pre-centring the operator centres the lead-out groove, the one true circle on the stamper, under ×100 optics; then the punch cuts the centre hole. An off-centre hole makes every record wow, so concentricity is the critical stamper check, logged per stamper.',c:['Concentricity of hole to groove per stamper','Hardness on the punched centre slug (quality-automation.md)','Punch-and-die shot count against the service interval'],f:['~3 to 5 min (estimate), 4 min here','Ø25.4 mm punch standard, ±0.002 mm, turntable ±0.0015 mm, 250 VA, 200 kg (2023 spec)']},
+ vsc:{t:'5c · VSC coiner (Sibert)',w:'Forms the centre hole (pneumatic) and the edge (hydraulic) and punches the outside diameter to a preset size for the press mould, fully automatically, so no trimming is needed. It locates on the punched hole, which is why it comes last.',c:['Fit against the mould type'],f:['~1 to 2 min (estimate), 2 min here','7", 10" and 12" tooling carriages, up to three stations, 1 kVA, 1000 kg, about 2.0 × 0.8 × 1.6 m (2022 spec)','Tooling per mould type is a quote line; USD 250k budget for the three Sibert machines confirmed']},
  archive:{t:'Father and mother archive',w:'3-step plating keeps the father and the mother of every side. A repress, or a stamper set that wears out before its run is done, pulls a fresh stamper from the archived mother: no lacquer, no artist gates. Press Repress to watch that path.',c:['Storage conditions and genealogy per the traceability spec','Retention policy to be stated in the customer contract'],f:['Repress ~7 to 11 working days door to door (production timeline)']},
  rack:{t:'Stamper rack',w:'Press-ready stamper sets (A and B side). A title gets one set per ~1,500 records, since stampers last 1,000 to 2,000 pressings; a set that wears out early triggers a fresh one from the mothers. A new title\'s first set goes to a press for 10 test pressings, then waits here while the artist listens (gate 3), and the press runs other approved titles meanwhile.',c:['Set identity and pressing count travel with the stampers'],f:['Test pressings with the artist 5 to 15 days at gate 3 (production timeline)']},
  silo_v:{t:'Virgin black compound',w:'Record-grade compound, classically a vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer. A lot reaches the silo only after the material lab releases it, and its ID attaches to every record pressed from it. A new lot is ordered when the silo falls below a quarter.',c:['Certificate of analysis per lot','Retained sample per lot'],f:['Qualifying Thai and regional compound is an explicit goal']},