Manufacturers across industries are losing millions to unseen surface issues that cause adhesion failures, recalls, and rework. Brighton Science’s new Surface Intelligence Maturity Model gives organizations a clear, five-stage framework to benchmark and improve how they manage surface energy—the hidden variable behind bonding, coating, and sealing success.
This blog introduces the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model, explains each stage, and shows how companies can transform surface quality into a strategic advantage. Whether you're solving recurring problems or aiming for predictive quality, this model helps you reduce scrap, control costs, and boost customer satisfaction.
Start mastering your surfaces before they master you.
In today’s manufacturing landscape—where speed, precision, and reliability are everything—there’s a hidden variable quietly costing companies millions: uncontrolled surface energy.
Flaking paint, adhesive failures, delaminating seals, warranty claims, production delays—these seemingly unrelated issues often stem from a single root cause. Brighton Science is proud to introduce a transformative framework that helps companies get ahead of these problems: the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model.
“Controlling surface energy is a powerful source of cost savings and quality improvements,” said Andy Reeher, CEO of Brighton Science. “The Maturity Model is an assessment tool that allows companies to compare themselves to others in how they manage surface energy in cleaning, bonding and adhesion processes”
Every manufacturer, from aerospace to consumer electronics, relies on bonding, coating, sealing, or painting to produce high-performing products. And in all of these applications, the molecular state of the material’s surface—what’s known as surface energy—determines success or failure.
“Surface energy isn’t just a scientific curiosity,” explains Dr. Giles Dillingham, Founder and Chief Scientist at Brighton Science. “It’s a profoundly influential variable that determines whether modern manufacturing processes succeed or fail. This model enables organizations to harness materials science—not just in R&D labs, but on the factory floor, across the product lifecycle, and throughout the supply chain.”
Surface contamination, uncontrolled cleaning processes, aging surfaces, or even subtle supplier variations can lead to bond failures that don’t reveal themselves until it’s too late—when the customer has already been impacted. And unfortunately, many teams don’t have the tools, language, or structure to diagnose or prevent these issues.
The Surface Intelligence Maturity Model is a five-stage framework designed to help manufacturers assess their current capabilities, benchmark against best practices, and systematically improve how they manage surface quality.
Based on the principles of People, Process, and Technology, the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model draws inspiration from established frameworks used in Continuous Improvement, Product Development, and Talent Development. It’s a flexible, non-prescriptive model that can be applied by any organization, regardless of the specific surface measurement tools or techniques in use.
The framework was shaped through years of hands-on collaboration between Brighton Science’s lab team and applications experts and a wide range of manufacturing companies across numerous industries working to solve complex bonding, coating, sealing, and cleaning challenges. This real-world foundation ensures the model is practical, scalable, and grounded in the realities of production environments.
The model is progressive. Companies mature from being ad hoc and reactive in responding to bonding problems, to becoming predictive in their ability to leverage technology and process to reduce scrap, lower costs and improve customer quality
The model is also built to assess capabilities. This means it provides clear, objective criteria that companies can use to access themselves. By looking at how you use People, Processes and Technology, you can see if there are opportunities to unlock new profit potential.
Stage 1: Passive
At this early stage, manufacturers operate without their own method of measuring surface energy. Instead, they rely on technical data sheets and vendor recommendations when building adhesion, coating, or cleaning processes. Issues related to surface quality—like bond failure or coating defects—are typically discovered too late, often through scrap, rework, or warranty claims. There’s no dedicated ownership of surface readiness, and problem-solving is reactive and inefficient.
Stage 2: Qualifying
In the qualifying stage, companies begin experimenting with surface energy measurements—usually during process development or when a failure occurs. Teams might run tests to compare surface treatments or validate bond strength, often using lap shear testing or contact angle tools. While this marks a big step forward, the data remains confined to R&D or troubleshooting. There’s still a disconnect between what’s learned in development and what’s monitored in daily production.
Stage 3: Active
Now, surface energy measurement becomes part of the production environment. Manufacturers identify key points in the process—called Critical Control Points (CCPs)—where surface conditions can make or break quality. These might include areas after cleaning, before bonding, or prior to coating. Operators are trained to use surface testing tools at regular intervals, catching variability before it leads to defects. The organization starts to build confidence in its ability to control outcomes on the floor.
Stage 4: Process-Based
At this level, surface energy data is integrated into the company’s broader quality system. Measurements taken at CCPs are tracked over time, compared across production lines or facilities, and reviewed alongside other KPIs. Trends can be analyzed, supplier inputs monitored, and corrective actions taken proactively. Surface intelligence becomes part of standard operating procedure, with regular reviews and shared accountability for surface quality across teams.
Stage 5: Surface Proactive
In the most advanced stage, surface intelligence is fully embedded into product development, compliance, and lifecycle management. Teams use surface data to predict product performance, manage risk during FMEA, and hold suppliers accountable to quantifiable cleanliness specs. Companies correlate surface data with warranty claims and quality metrics, creating a closed feedback loop. The organization doesn’t just control surface quality—it leverages it as a strategic capability to innovate faster, reduce cost, and maintain a competitive edge.
Each level builds on the one before. You can’t skip stages—but by progressing methodically, companies achieve faster troubleshooting, less scrap, and lower warranty costs.
Let’s make this real:
Every week, Brighton Science is contacted about issues like:
In nearly all of these cases, the cause is invisible to the eye but measurable at the molecular level.
“We’ve worked with hundreds of customers on thousands of problems,” Reeher shared during a recent webinar. “And the breakthroughs they’ve achieved—fewer recalls, better margins, happier customers—all stem from taking surface readiness seriously as a process variable.”
The Surface Intelligence Maturity Model enables companies to get ahead of the failure curve. By identifying critical points where surfaces can become compromised—and monitoring them—manufacturers can resolve issues before they become expensive defects.
The Surface Intelligence Maturity Model isn’t just for engineers. It’s a strategic and financial tool, especially powerful for CFOs, auditors, and operational consultants.
“Recalls and warranty claims typically involve significant costs to manufacturers. Additionally, routine rework and scrap that are avoidable erode away profit margins." said Tom Perazzo, CFO at Brighton Science. "CFO’s, auditors, and operational consultants will all benefit from using this maturity model to understand how warranty claims and recalls related to adhesion problems can be avoided and what changes can be made to improve quality and manufacturing efficiency at the same time.”
When surface intelligence becomes part of a company's quality reporting, it transforms hidden costs into manageable metrics. It also enables stronger vendor contracts and better capital allocation—something traditional quality models often overlook.
Brighton Science has spent the last two decades turning surface science into practical solutions for industry leaders. From our handheld Surface Analyst™ devices to our BConnect™ cloud-based platform and Brighton Academy training programs, we’ve built a full Surface Intelligence Ecosystem.
“Our goal is to let this model elevate the entire industry. You can be using any method for measuring surfaces and still apply these principals.” Reeher said. “It’s not just about better bonds—it’s about unlocking better business outcomes through science, measurement, and strategy.”
Whether you’re just starting to measure surface energy or ready to scale Surface Intelligence globally, the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model is your roadmap.
If you're not sure where your organization stands, Brighton Science is uniquely equipped to help you find out—and move forward. With decades of experience solving real-world adhesion and surface quality challenges, we bring together:
Whether you’re troubleshooting persistent bonding issues, looking to prevent costly failures, or ready to take a more proactive approach to quality, our team can help you assess, benchmark, and advance. Let’s build surface intelligence into your competitive advantage.
Learn more about the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model below, or contact us to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions about Surface Intelligence in Manufacturing
Q1: What is Surface Intelligence in manufacturing?
A: Surface Intelligence refers to monitoring and controlling the molecular properties of surfaces—especially surface energy—to ensure successful bonding, coating, or sealing.
Q2: How does the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model work?
A: The Maturity Model provides a 5-stage framework (Passive to Surface Proactive) that helps organizations benchmark and improve their ability to measure and manage surface energy in production.
Q3: What are Critical Control Points (CCPs)?
A: CCPs are locations in a production process where surface conditions can change—intentionally or unintentionally—impacting final product quality. The Maturity Model helps identify and monitor these.
Q4: What industries benefit from Surface Intelligence Maturity Model?
A: Aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical devices, and any industry where materials are bonded, painted, coated, or sealed.
Q5: How can the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model reduce warranty and recall costs?
A: By catching issues at the surface level early in production, the Surface Intelligence Maturity Model minimizes downstream failures that lead to expensive scrap, rework, and customer dissatisfaction.
Q6: What tools are used to measure surface energy?
A: Tools include Brighton Science’s Surface Analyst™, contact angle goniometers, Dyne pens, and automated inspection solutions—all scalable for real production environments.