Finding the Hard Truth on Hard Chrome

As we all know, actions have consequences, and I'm sure many of us have been told that many times, including when we were kids, and our parents were trying to teach us the difference between right and wrong.

The actions of our legislative bodies, which we elect and who then appoint regulatory agencies and boards, also have consequences for businesses, whether immediate or farther down the road.

Those shops set up in California and Michigan know all about the consequences of what their elected officials impose on them. Those two states seem to have a high level of focus on their state, counties, and cities when it comes to finishing regulations, specifically in regard to air and water.

So when I received an email from a shop a few months back with a fairly simple question about the new air quality regulations in California, it took me a few minutes to fully feel the gravity of his curiosity and the impact these regulations have on finishing and coating operations.

His question was based on the state's new rules on forcing out hex chrome finishers.

"Do you think the law is going to stick, or is there any chance to have an extension for hard chrome platers?" was the question asked by Francisco Capacho, General Manager of Dixon Hard Chrome, smack dab in the middle of all the hullabaloo in Los Angeles.

He was asked to explain his questions further and summarized them fairly succinctly.

"I am thinking about the future if we have to move our operations to another state because it seems the aerospace industry will continue to use hard chrome," he asked, which I am sure a dozen other shop owners and managers in California have been asking themselves also lately, and especially those who deal in the chrome world.

I have profiled Francisco's shop in this edition of FinishingAndCoating.com to shed further light on what shops like Dixon Hard Chrome are going through or will be going through in the coming years.

The worst answer anyone wants to hear to their questions these days is "I don't know." Sometimes, that answer is worse than a definite response with negative connotations. That is because you often just want to have a sense of what to plan for, what to expect, and what you may have to do to keep your doors open.

And that is not the way it should be. Those shops in California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and all places in between want to know what the rules are I have to live by, and please don't move the goalposts on me. I can't imagine running a business like a finishing operation and waking up one day to realize you may have just been regulated out of business. If you were in that 5-10-15 year period looking to transition out of owning a finishing operation, you might have just seen your retirement windfall drop by 20%-30%.

The unknown is the worst thing to plan and operate your finishing and coating on, which is what a lot of shops these days seem to be doing. Sometimes, a real answer is all you want.