Whenever I get the chance to visit a finishing operation, I look forward to walking the shop floor and meeting the people working the lines, racking parts, moving hoists, running lab tests, or shipping parts back to the customer.
Six years doesn’t seem all that long ago, but in the publishing world, it sometimes feels like a lifetime. My calendar tells me that six years ago, in 2020, we published the very first FinishingAndCoating magazine, which in dog years adds up to about 89 years, or so I think.
About 146 miles — or a roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive- separates what I might consider two of the finest examples of what industrial finishing and coating is all about in North America.
To be completely honest with you, I have no clue what the federal government is trying to do by hiking the price of imported hexavalent chromium material by almost 40%.
Stop me if this sounds like a broken record: a government agency decides it wants to make a statement about how environmentally aware it is, so it votes in new rules that severely impact the finishing and coating industry.
I like a good party just as much as the next person. I enjoy hanging out on the beaches of some resorts, sipping Mai Tais, and shooting the yuck with someone who is also enjoying ocean breezes on the company dime.
As if running electroplating or anodizing lines weren't hard enough, some folks among us often augment their services by providing liquid or powder coating processes as well.
In the world of surface finishing, imitation is certainly not the best form of flattery. And when you have state environmental officials working to imitate what was done to finishers in California, then you can see real trouble brewing on the horizon.
Being at the mercy of others isn't for the faint of heart, especially for those who own and manage finishing and coating operations in North America.
It is nothing new that original equipment manufacturers are dictating to their supply chain what materials to use and how to use them that will eventually go into their products.
I tell everyone I know outside the finishing and coating industry that the owners and operators of shops are among the most environmentally conscious people I have ever met.
Brace yourself if you are in the finishing business, whether it be electroplating, anodizing, powder coating, or any other type of process.
No one wants to get the phone call that Dan Rose received in July.
I've been collecting a paycheck for almost 45 years, starting when I was slicing roast beef and slinging fries at Arby's, through working at a small weekly newspaper, then on to a humongous daily paper, a brief stint working for the PGA Tour, and then finding my way back to the publishing side where I have covered the finishing and coating industry for the past 15 years.
I didn't know Brian Dancy, but I surely wish I had.
Buried a bit in the announcement by Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, of the Trump Administration’s plans to limit the amount of PFAS producers of the toxic substances that can discharge into the water was a nugget that leaped off the page.
Believe it or not, there was a time before PowerPoint when the top minds in the surface finishing industry would stand before their peers and read a written paper on their research and process breakthroughs that they would share with others in a meaningful way to educate others.
One of the biggest criticisms I hear about the finishing and coating industry is the overall lack of innovation in technology and processes.
When people introduce themselves as electroplaters, anodizers, powder coaters, or any type of surface finisher, I am always drawn to a simple conclusion that is more obvious: they are business owners and managers who just happen to apply a finish.
Lately, the finishing industry in California has resembled the Black Knight character in Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie.
The finishing industry is a uniquely niche manufacturing sector. It is often run by family businesses that have been in operation for decades and passed down through generations.
The spoil belongs to the victor, and surface finishers are certainly hoping that the new federal administration taking office in January will somehow derail the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's current path.
We'll call him Bill since on TV, and in the movies, they always say they changed the name to protect the innocent, which I am not exactly sure what that means.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go here.
