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.
Yes, for the masochists amongst us, there are those in the finishing and coating industry who often take great pleasure in offering the full treatment: not just plating and anodizing finishes, but also anything else their customers might need, and that often means powder coating.
In our March issue, we take a look at two such shops that offer both organic and inorganic finishes to their customers. Each added the service when customers asked them to, which is hard to do when telling your customer 'no,' especially when that customer may be the biggest whale you have.
A survey I conducted a few years ago found that about 20% of shops offered both plating and powder coating, though I hedged that some in the plating and anodizing field may have been outsourcing the work, even though they said they perform it.
Still, it is a relatively low number across the board that does surprise me somewhat, and doesn't in another realm.
Powder coating is a lot less of a crapshoot than its plating brethren when it comes to dealing with the science of coating. Plating seems to be a work-in-progress almost all the time, as customers bring new or different substrates to be finished with zinc, nickel, tin, or chrome. It takes a good eye and attention to detail to get the chemistry, the baths, and all the other moving parts working together to deliver a good batch of parts to the customer.
That is not to say that liquid and powder coatings are any less difficult, but they often do not require an advanced science degree and decades of experience to make things go as smoothly as one wishes. Yet the challenges can be even greater for coaters of liquid and powder, as they are often asked to move huge, heavy parts through their system: a pass-through pretreatment, then into the coating booth or conveyor line, and then to the cure booth before final inspection.
Either way, it always surprises me to see a shop offering such a wide variety of finishes, especially a plating shop offering liquid or powder coatings, and vice versa.
It requires almost marketing your business to two separate industries, and spreading your staff and talent even thinner, but the reward — I'm sure — is worth the risk. Hats off to those who can pull it off, doing so with skill and craftsmanship.
With this issue, we are introducing an old friend back as a featured columnist in ex-powder coating owner Sandee Kaplan, who will be writing a management column for us regularly.
Sandee left the industry for a brief time a few years ago when she sold her company in Los Angeles, but is now back in the industry, working as a consultant to other powder coaters across the U.S. to help them advance to the next level of business ownership, productivity, and profit.
I have written about Sandee many times over the past few years, but I was excited when she agreed to write a column for us on best practices for running a shop. I am sure readers will enjoy her sound advice, and I know she enjoys working in the industry again. A definite win-win for both Sandee and our readers.
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 
