The Importance of Good Shop/Supplier Relationships

Now more than ever before, it is imperative for finishing and coating shops to have partnerships with suppliers who are responsive and responsible. In the world we live in today, having experts at your fingertips to call on to help when assistance is needed could be the difference between jobs going out the door on time or losing jobs ($$$) altogether.

There are a plethora of great suppliers in the finishing and coating industry; too many to count, at times, which is a great thing to have in a technical industry like ours. People will often ask me which supplier is the best at a certain process; it’s like picking which Brady kid was your favorite: impossible to do unless his name was Tom and he could heave a football.

I bring up the subject of having great suppliers at your disposal because we feature a few stories this month where the theme is about the supplier who stepped in to help or provided great advice when needed.

If you have read these pages in the pages, you’ll notice that I always include an “infobox” about the shop I profile that includes the name and city of the shop, plus their web address, their process and often a list of their top suppliers. I do that because it is a way of showing that great plating and coating shops aren’t just made overnight, but that they are supported by external teams such as suppliers and consultants who have helped many of them solve the almost unsolvable, or stepped in at the drop of a hat and helped a shop get through a particularly sticky problem when the solution wasn’t clear.

Our cover story about Allied Finishing is one of those cases. When Allied Finishing Technical Manager Brad Hirdes learned there was a possibility of missing shipment to a customer because of plating issues, he turned to Haviland for help.

Allied Finishing, based in Grand Rapids, was founded in 1978 and has 260 employees. The company has a reputation for providing performance decorative metal plating to the automotive and motorcycle industries; they process more than 10,000,000 parts per year on three plating lines, all of which use Haviland chemistry. The newest addition is a black and white trivalent chromium plating line that promises additional growth.

“Haviland’s technical service people responded immediately to our plating issue,” Hirdes says.  “They came in one after another, around the clock, to resolve the problem and keep our customer satisfied. Their technical service is excellent.  When we need answers, Haviland shows up – any time, any day.”

The other story featured in this issue is about Control Electropolishing, based in Brooklyn, New York. Several years ago, Hubbard-Hall acquired the supplier that Control Electropolishing had been using since they started in 1959, but Control Electropolishing owner Nancy Zapata-Acosta says they have had a great relationship with the Hubbard-Hall technical and sales staff over the years.

“They have been great to work with,” she says. “Anytime we have needed technical help on a project — such as when we get a new stainless alloy to process; their technical people are open to test it for us.— we have had success working with the Hubbard-Hall technical people and our relationship has always been positive.”

That’s just two of 1,000’s of stories I’m sure where suppliers have made a big impact on the success of a shop; often that relationship has gone on for decades and sometimes through generations of shop owners and supplier representatives. The key is finding someone you can trust and rely on who can help you through the tough times and aid in solving issues that will undoubtedly come up.

Hats off to the suppliers in the finishing and coating industry; they are honorable and hard-working people who do indeed have the best interest of their customers nearly 100% of the time. We are lucky to have those companies and institutions in our North American plating, anodizing, and liquid and powder coating industry.