OMS introduction letter and links, Sibert's answer (9 October 2026)

OMS (Lou Wullms) sent its introduction letter, filed in
docs/equipment/oms/: wet-room units with reference prices, two 4-cell
configurations (EUR 224,000 basic with two EFS2-200, EUR 311,000 advanced
with one AEFS4-250 and PLC; installation days extra), capacities of 24
and 32 shells in an 8-hour day, utilities, rooms, staffing, used
equipment, and five contacts for buying a cutting lathe. Recorded in
galvanics.md (tables, our reading: the advanced units add up to EUR
314,000, know-how transfer is left out of both totals although CNX has no
plating know-how, the basic set has no passivation unit), the exhibitor
follow-ups, vendor landscape (new section on used lathes and cutting-room
contacts, plus Lou's three websites), supplier map, roadmap items 6 and
13, total investment (basis note only, block unchanged) and the scale
people estimate. Open: forward the letter to Simona, as Lou asked.

Sibert (Ian Locke, 9 October): footprints and formal quotations when we
are ready; settle the pressing side first, hopefully with Pheenix, and
mention his recommendation if we do; impressed by the green-factory
plans (supplier feedback). Open: pass on the recommendation if Pheenix is
chosen.

CNX-01 in proplan: OMS basic and advanced added as options to D-002 with
their reference prices in THB; budget line 3 notes the OMS range.

docs/equipment/galvanics.md

@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@ line-up drawing, sent by Sibert's Ian Locke on 5 October 2026, in
 [`sibert/`](sibert/); the April 2021 issues they replace are in
 [`sibert/specs-2021/`](sibert/specs-2021/)), plus Sibert's 2008 to 2009
 optical-disc literature (below). Every figure here is vendor-published, not
-quoted; the only price is Sibert's budget confirmation by email (below).
+quoted; the only prices are Sibert's budget confirmation by email and
+OMS's reference prices in its introduction letter (both below).
 Digital Matrix / Plating Power stays the comparison; its datasheets are not
 in the repo yet (see the
 [vendor landscape](../suppliers/vendor-landscape.md)).
@@ -122,8 +123,9 @@ and refurbishes vinyl electroforming equipment, including conversions of
 CD/DVD electroforming lines to 14" vinyl. The same directory gives
 Newbilt's equipment page as OMS's website, and that page announces new
 Newbilt electroplating equipment with the portfolio "presented here soon";
-whether OMS builds it is not confirmed, so ask both. No OMS datasheet or
-price is on file.
+whether OMS builds it is not confirmed, so ask both. OMS's introduction
+letter (below) presents the units as its own designs (EFS2-200, AEFS4-250)
+and does not mention Newbilt.
 
 What it adds: a third galvanics vendor next to Digital Matrix and Pheenix,
 named by a supplier who knows Lou Wullms and has installed equipment at
@@ -149,9 +151,121 @@ will work on the project. Company details as OMS gives them:
 
 Alexander has replied to confirm (October 2026), with the split Lou asked
 about: Simona covers management and the audio side, Alexander the
-technical side, so galvanics questions go to Alexander. **Next step: wait
-for his material**, then file it here and answer the OMS questions below
-from it.
+technical side, so galvanics questions go to Alexander.
+
+#### OMS introduction letter (9 October 2026)
+
+Lou Wullms sent his material two days later: an introduction letter to
+Alexander and Simona, filed as
+[`oms/OMS_Introduction_letter_2026-10-09.docx`](oms/OMS_Introduction_letter_2026-10-09.docx).
+He asks Alexander to give Simona a copy so that she can work through the
+figures. **Open:** forward the letter to Simona. It is an introduction,
+not an offer: the prices are "for reference only", final pricing comes
+with an official quote, and a dedicated offer needs our plans first. Lou
+would rather explain the options in Baarlo, where the equipment can be
+seen.
+
+Background, as Lou gives it: from 1986 to 1994 at Philips' optical-disc
+equipment business (ODM, then OD&ME and ODME, the company later called
+Toolex Alpha); two years setting up a CD plant with mastering and
+electroforming at WPME in Kaarst, Germany; then OMS, for service to the
+optical-disc industry; involved in setting up Mimeos, a CD and later DVD
+stamper service that closed in 2012; in vinyl stamper production since
+2015. OMS runs an independent stamper service for vinyl plants and builds
+the wet-room equipment to its own designs.
+
+The wet room for a turnkey line, with the letter's reference prices:
+
+| # | Unit | What it does | EUR, reference |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | Wet bench | Cleaning, rinsing, soaking, wetting and pre-treating the lacquer | 20,000 |
+| 2a | Silvering booth, manual (\*) | Silvering the lacquer | 16,000 |
+| 2b | Silvering booth, automatic/manual (\*) | The same, automatic | 22,000 |
+| 3 | Pre-plate, 4 positions (\*) | First plating of the silvered lacquer at lower temperature and current | 45,000 |
+| 4a | Electroforming unit EFS2-200, 2 cells | Fast plating; the basic unit | 55,000 each |
+| 4b | Electroforming unit AEFS4-250, 4 cells with PLC | The advanced unit | 155,000 |
+| 5 | Cleaning / passivation | Extra cleaning of the stamper at high temperature and current; passivation | 25,000 |
+| 6 | Spin dryer | Spin-drying DMMs, lacquers and stampers; scuffing (pre-treatment) of DMMs and lacquers | 14,000 each |
+| 7 | Know-how transfer, including training at OMS | | 10,000 |
+| 8 | Silvering recipe | | 5,000 |
+
+(\*) Not needed for stampers made only from DMMs: these are the lacquer
+path. The model names of the electroforming units come from the
+letter's expansion lines.
+
+The letter totals two configurations:
+
+| | Basic | Advanced |
+|---|---|---|
+| Units | 1, 2a, 3, 2 × 4a, 2 × 6, 8 | 1, 2b, 3, 1 × 4b, 5, 3 × 6, 8 |
+| Cells | 4 (two EFS2-200) | 4 (one AEFS4-250, PLC) |
+| Total in the letter | **EUR 224,000** (~USD 259k) | **EUR 311,000** (~USD 359k) |
+| One 8-hour day (30 min lunch included) | "7 runs should be possible", then counted with 6: 6 × 4 = **24 shells** | 8 × 4 = **32 shells** |
+| Doubling | 2 more EFS2-200, EUR 110,000, "over 50 stampers a day" | 1 more AEFS4-250, EUR 155,000, "over 68 stampers a day" |
+
+USD at the [total investment](../finance/total-investment.md) rate of
+1 EUR = 1.155 USD. Reading the letter:
+
+- **The sums.** The basic total adds up; the advanced units add up to EUR
+  314,000, not the 311,000 stated. A re-quote point.
+- **Know-how transfer is left out of both totals**, with the note that
+  electroplating know-how "is already present at your facility". That is
+  not the case for CNX: nobody on the team has run a plating room. With
+  the EUR 10,000 item (training at OMS included) the totals are EUR
+  234,000 and 321,000, ~USD 270k and 371k (our reading).
+- **The basic set has no cleaning/passivation unit** (item 5). Ask how
+  parts are passivated between generations without it.
+- **Installation is extra**: training and start-up on site at EUR 1,200 a
+  day each, travel days at EUR 600, all other costs invoiced on top.
+- **Used equipment** is also on offer ("good used/pre-owned equipment").
+- **Finishing is not OMS's scope.** For back-polishing, centre punching and
+  forming/trimming the letter points to Sibert and Ian Locke as the
+  reference, as Sibert pointed to OMS for electroforming.
+
+What it changes in the plan:
+
+- **Price.** A complete 4-cell wet room at ~USD 259k to 371k, depending
+  on the configuration and the know-how item, is at or below the low end
+  of the USD 320k to 650k galvanics block in
+  [total investment](../finance/total-investment.md). Neither includes
+  water treatment (its own block) or installation days. Reference prices,
+  so the block stays until quotes exist.
+- **Capacity.** 6 to 8 runs in a 7.5-hour working day is roughly an hour a
+  run, which matches the 1 to 1.5 hours per part the cell count below
+  assumes. Full capacity needs 8 to 20 parts a working day, so either
+  4-cell configuration covers it on one shift, and the doubling options
+  buy headroom only. This is the first vendor figure on cycle times.
+- **Staff.** One person runs about 20 stampers a day; from about 30 a day
+  it takes two. Lou asks for people who work accurately and precisely,
+  attentively, and like clean work. At the plant's 8 to 20 parts a day that
+  is one operator per shift ([scale](../scale.md) people estimate).
+- **Utilities and rooms.** Compressed air, a demineralised-water system,
+  waste-water collection or treatment, and cooling water, which Lou says
+  can be passive, with no active chiller (he expects this needs more
+  discussion). The Pheenix PDPU asks for 12 to 20 °C cooling water, so
+  whether passive cooling holds at 30 °C and more ambient is a question for
+  Lou. Space beyond the wet room: an acid cabinet with fume extraction for
+  mixing chemicals, storage for stampers, lacquers and DMMs, a quality
+  room with turntable, speakers and inspection microscope, spare parts and
+  consumables. Smaller items: a drill stand for removing lacquer from the
+  back of lacquers, lab ware (glass and PP ware, temperature sensor,
+  density meter, pH meter), and a laundry washing machine and a concrete
+  mixer for cleaning the anode baskets and anode bags.
+- **Data.** The AEFS4-250 has a PLC: programs of up to 20 steps, each step
+  setting time, voltage, current, flow and rotation; an automatic wake-up
+  function and pump-curve calibration; a modified cell flow that allows
+  higher current "without stretching the bath solution". Lou calls it very
+  energy-efficient with extremely low maintenance (vendor claims). The
+  protocol is not stated, so the [digital factory](../digital-factory.md)
+  RFQ clauses apply. The letter mentions no PLC for the basic EFS2-200,
+  which would keep galvanics a manual check-in station.
+- **DMM.** The lacquer-path units (2a or 2b, and 3) are EUR 61,000 to
+  67,000 of either configuration; a plant cutting only DMM would not need
+  them, which bears on the Sillitoe DMM question in the
+  [vendor landscape](../suppliers/vendor-landscape.md).
+- **Cutting lathes.** The letter ends with five contacts for buying a
+  lathe, second-hand included; they are in the
+  [vendor landscape](../suppliers/vendor-landscape.md#used-lathes-and-cutting-room-contacts-via-oms).
 
 ### Cycle times and cell count
 
@@ -190,7 +304,9 @@ first version of this page assumed 2 to 3 hours per part and concluded
 that the high end needed two. One PASU, one PPPU (pre-plate is for the
 masters, 2 to 4 a day at full capacity, and the unit takes four at once)
 and one PMPB cover the rest. Ask Pheenix for measured cycles at the
-plant's thickness before this goes into a budget.
+plant's thickness before this goes into a budget. OMS's letter (above) is
+the first vendor figure: 6 to 8 runs on 4 cells in a 7.5-hour working day,
+roughly an hour a run, which fits these times.
 
 ## Stamper prep: the Sibert VS line
 
@@ -222,7 +338,9 @@ What this changes in the plan:
   2026) that a budget of USD 250k covers "all 3 auto-machines"; Ian
   Locke's own time, spare parts, shipping and travel come on top. This is a
   budget confirmation, not a quote: Sibert offers a fully itemised
-  quotation once we go ahead. It sits above the 60k to 170k estimate in
+  quotation once we go ahead. Ian Locke repeated on 9 October 2026 that
+  equipment footprints and formal quotations follow when we are ready, and
+  advised settling the pressing side first. It sits above the 60k to 170k estimate in
   [total investment](../finance/total-investment.md), which carries the
   difference in its not-yet-rolled-up table until the next re-base.
 - **Single-phase power.** All three run on 115 to 230 VAC, 50/60 Hz, ~2.5
@@ -340,10 +458,17 @@ goes ahead.
   works or a regional partner); the roughness the VSF reaches; crated
   sizes and weights (the VSC is now 1 t); what it installed at Pheenix in
   January 2025, and whether Pheenix sells Sibert machines with its line.
-- **OMS (Optical Media Services)**: equipment range and datasheets, a
-  budget for one line next to Pheenix and Digital Matrix, installations and
-  service in Asia, stamper service prices and turnaround, and whether it
-  builds the electroplating equipment Newbilt announces.
+- **OMS (Optical Media Services)**: a dedicated offer once we send our
+  plans (lacquer, DMM or both; parts per day; shifts), ideally after seeing
+  the equipment in Baarlo (the February 2027 Europe trip could fit);
+  datasheets for the EFS2-200 and AEFS4-250 (dimensions, empty and filled
+  weights, power, cooling water); how parts are passivated in the basic set
+  without the cleaning/passivation unit; the advanced total (the units add
+  up to EUR 314,000, the letter says 311,000); whether passive cooling holds
+  at Thai ambient; the AEFS4-250's PLC protocol and tag list; the used
+  equipment on offer; installations and service in Asia; stamper service
+  prices and turnaround; which water-treatment partner his customers use;
+  and whether OMS builds the electroplating equipment Newbilt announces.
 - **Press vendors** (Newbilt, Pheenix, M-Tech): the stamper centre hole and
   edge form each mould expects, so the punch size and coiner tooling can be
   ordered to match ([pressing line](pressing-line.md)).
@@ -362,6 +487,12 @@ goes ahead.
   Medstead, Hampshire, UK, by the email signature (the specification
   sheets still carry the older Alton address); sales@sibert.co.uk,
   ian.locke@sibert.co.uk.
+- [`oms/`](oms/): OMS's introduction letter of 9 October 2026 (Word;
+  sent as "Introduction letter BUILDFOR.LIFE.docx", attached to Lou
+  Wullms' email of the same day): wet-room units with reference prices,
+  two configurations, capacities, utilities, staffing, used equipment and
+  lathe contacts. Optical Media Services B.V., Tangweg 16, Baarlo,
+  Netherlands.
 - [`sibert/sps-optical-disc-2009/`](sibert/sps-optical-disc-2009/): SPS
   punching and finishing literature (2008 to 2009), the punch-and-die
   return form, and the Blu-ray stamper characteristics paper (2008).