As much as most finishers want to accelerate their operations to stay up-to-date with the latest innovations and processes, Micron Industries CEO Guy Saenz wants to slow things down a bit.
Guy SaenzThe Garland, Texas, electroplater and anodizing processor has hit the pause button since Saenz was named to the position in January, as he works to develop a successful approach at the 70,000 square foot facility.
“We are getting back to basics,” says Saenz, a veteran of the finishing industry who has also spent many years working for aerospace suppliers.
His approach, he says, emphasizes a “servant leadership” style with the almost 60 employees who work there. The primary focus areas are safety, quality, and lead time at competitive prices.
“We are working to do all that while delivering what we call ‘Five-Star Customer Service,’” he says. Has it worked in the short seven months he has been in charge? Saenz says, slowly but surely, the momentum is building.
“The first quarter of 2024 has been a resounding success, marked by improved efficiency, shorter lead times, and sustainable quality,” he says.
Zinc, Anodizing, Chemfilm, Electropolish, and Electroless Nickel
Micron’s primary processes include zinc plating, chloride and alkaline, zinc nickel, anodizing Type II and III, chem film, electropolish, passivation, electroless nickel, and precious metals such as tin, silver, and gold.Micron’s primary processes include zinc plating, chloride and alkaline, zinc nickel, anodizing Type II and III, chem film, electropolish, passivation, electroless nickel, and precious metals such as tin, silver, and gold.
Micron Industries was founded in 1974 by Richard Stertz, who owned it for 46 years until his passing in 2019. It is now controlled by an investment group, Dakota Holdings, which owns about 15 manufacturing and fabrication companies in the Dallas and Fort Worth area.
Micron acquired TecPlate, a division with decades of experience in finishing. It is also an approved Lockheed Martin vendor and holds an ISO 9001:2015 certification for electroplating, anodizing, and electropolishing processes.
When Saenz was hired to run Micron in early 2024, one of the first things he did was let the team know that they were going to focus on what he calls the industry’s “pillars”—safety, quality, lead times, and costs—and start with those basics.
“The goal for everyone was to become number one in the region and then expand from there,” he says. “We not only want to be a metal finisher per se, we want to be a solution provider. And part of being a solution provider is we need to be looking ahead and asking the questions such as ‘What do our customers require from a metal finisher?’ and ‘What do they require that we’re not doing?’”
Saenz says Micron’s goal is to handle the purchase order “holistically” by taking care of all of the customer’s needs. For example, he says if an order gets powder coating, prime, and paint, or non-destructive testing, the CEO wants Micron to handle all of those facets for the customer.
“It’s all about the signals that you send your customer, and the biggest signal you can send your customer is beating the lead time that you’re publishing”
“If we don’t do it here — and we don’t find it as a good business sense for us to do it today — then let’s partner up with some of our local friends here and provide a solution to the customer,” he says. “Let’s make it easy for them to cut one P.O. to let us handle the logistics and reduce the logistical nightmare that goes with cutting five P.O. s versus one. That’s the transformation and the solution- providing that we were on now, looking at it from a different perspective, a different lens, and saying this is what sets us apart.”
Experience as a Supplier and a Finisher
From left, President Dean McCowen, Operations Manager Mike Ray, Quality Manager Amanda Sampson, and CEO Guy Saenz.Much of the approach Saenz is preaching came from him being on the other side of the transaction. He worked for many years for aerospace suppliers, who eventually had to have their parts treated and coated to very high tolerances and specifications. That took time and energy and often became a stumbling block if the finishers didn’t offer all the services needed to finish a part.
Before joining Micron, Saenz was Vice President of Quality at Incora, a provider of supply chain solutions to aerospace, defense, and other industries that integrated PattonAir and Wesco Aircraft, where Saenz was working at the time.
Previously, Saenz was Director of Quality at Hi-Tech Metal Finishing and Mayday Manufacturing in Denton, Texas, where he got his first taste of working on the finishing and coating side of the business. That came after a seven-year stretch when he worked for Boeing in its Quality Assurance division.
Saenz says that being on the opposite end of the transaction when he was a supplier gave him a great perspective on what needs to be done to satisfy customers and deliver quality coated parts.
“If you’ve got a single line come in, it’s imperative you turn it within two to three days max. Turn it, and let’s show them you have the capacity and operational know-how to get it in, flush it through the system, and get it back to them with no hiccups.”
“It’s all about the signals that you send your customer, and the biggest signal you can send your customer is beating the lead time that you’re publishing,” he says. “From a processing house, you’re at the end of the game. You have to be able to turn it the next day for these guys.”
Saenz’s team’s goal is to get the parts out the door—and coated to near perfection—in less than a week after receiving them.
“If you turn it in a week, then you are sending your customers a pretty good message that says, ‘Hey, you got your stuff under control, and you got capacity to continue to turn their work,’” he says. “If you’ve got a single line come in, it’s imperative you turn it within two to three days max. Turn it, and let’s show them you have the capacity and operational know-how to get it in, flush it through the system, and get it back to them with no hiccups. And it’s not just your lead time; it’s doing it right the first time.”
New Operations and Quality Managers Helping Lead Change
Micron Industries spacious facilities employee almost 60 staff. Saenz isn’t the only new person on the management team pushing a “back to basics” approach. Mike Ray was hired in 2022 as the Operations Manager before Saenz was brought on; Amanda Sampson was hired along with Saenz to be the Quality Manager, and Sampson and Saenz have worked together extensively in the past, including stops together at Boeing, Hi-Tech, Pattonair, and Incora.
Ray — who has almost 40 years of experience in finishing — says that when he was first hired, the Micron operations were not as efficient as they needed to be.
“There was a lot of old equipment, and the staff were used to one way of doing things, and that was the old ‘mom and pop way’ of doing it where they have always done it that way,” he says. “That’s how often you hear, ‘We’ve always done it that way.’ Trying to get people to change and look at things differently was challenging, but with me, it was fresh eyes coming into a new facility.”
Of major concern was Micron’s focus on one industry, which accounted for almost 90% of their work, which alarmed Ray. But his first goal was to get operations in order.
Mike Ray“Micron pretty much relied on one customer and was not very diversified,” he says. “But I was brought in to run the operation side, and Dakota Holdings has been very good at letting me do my thing and then backing me with funding as long as I can show an ROI.”
Ray says they are at about 60%- 70% capacity on their lines, which is good for Saenz, which has been given marching orders by Dakota Holdings to see if they can double their business throughput with increased efficiencies and possibly open additional locations throughout the region.
“It was very apparent that Dakota had a vision for Micron that we want to double it, and we want a multi-site location,” Saenz says. “Today, Micron is a single-site location, and the idea is to have multiple locations, so they asked me to come in and streamline the processes to get repeatable processes in here. Once we get a repeatable recipe, let’s start looking at shops to buy and expand our footprint.”
Dean McCowenAlso on the leadership team is Dean McCowen, a seasoned veteran with an impressive track record and a deep-rooted history with the company. McCowen has been at Micron for eight years, stepping into various leadership roles that culminated in his current position as President.
With 40 years of experience in the metal finishing industry, McCowen’s journey is a testament to dedication, expertise, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Over 20 of those years, he spent in chemical sales, where he not only mastered this domain but also built a robust network and developed a deep understanding of the market dynamics.
McCowen is enthusiastic about Micron Industries’ future. All signs point up with his new colleagues, changes, and opportunities being created at Micron. McCowen’s leadership is poised to support and help guide the company through the industry’s evolving landscape, fostering growth and ensuring that Micron continues delivering exceptional value to its clients and stakeholders.
“I have seen many changes at Micron, and I believe what we create here is incredibly positive. These advancements will exceed our customers’ expectations like never before,” he says.
Removing the Possibility of Human Error in Processing
Quality Manager Amanda Sampson tests samples in Micron's lab.That is where Sampson comes in with her years of experience in quality management, plus her years of working alongside Saenz at their various stops. They have worked together for more than 20 years.
“I brought Amanda in to go on the journey with me so that we can start looking at how we can start focusing on the quality management system,” Saenz says. “That is Task 1, which is to develop sustainable quality management processes that are standardized and can be repeatable. We want the same level of quality each and every time.”
To do that, Saenz and Sampson want to remove decision-making from operations and essentially hand them “recipe cards” for each process. The goal is to eliminate human error.
“We want to hand them a recipe card that says if you follow this card, you’re going to get a repeatable process each and every time, and that’s what we’re working on,” Saenz says. “From day one when we stepped in here, we were running four to five weeks lead time, and we’re running one week lead time right now. We’ve focused on basics and diving down on key indicators and metrics, while Amanda, Mike, and the rest of our team focus on the quality management system.”
Sampson has Micron on schedule to be AS 9100 by October, and they want to be Nadcap certified by the first quarter of 2025. When she arrived, they were already registered to ISO 9001, which gave them an advantage in getting things rolling.
“We have the processes there, and now we’re just looking at the tribal knowledge,” Sampson says. “We have tons of experience out on the floor with all of our operators, but it’s garnering that experience and getting it documented because if someone wins a lottery tomorrow, do you think they’re going to stay around?”
Getting Proper Procedures in Place for Nadcap
Guy Saenz goes over parts with several Micron Industries managers and staff.The Nadcap process doesn’t intimidate Sampson too much, as she has worked with Saenz at previous stops on accrediting a finishing operation and pursuing reaccreditation efforts.
“We believe we have a pretty good method that we use to prepare for Nadcap audits, so we’re well aware of the requirements,” she says. “We know typically what they will ask for and what they’re looking for when we go through those checklists through audit.”
But Saenz knows he has his work cut out for him in getting things in order operationally with Ray’s help and the quality program that he has tasked Sampson to lead. Nadcap is not something he is taking lightly, and he knows that Dakota Holdings’ owners are counting on it to help grow the company and expand its locations.
“A lot of accreditations go a mile long and a foot deep, but Nadcap goes a mile long and a mile deep,” Saenz says. “That’s a tough group, and rightly so because they’re trying to standardize the industry worldwide, and that’s a pretty tough job.”
“It seems like an awesome time to be in the plating realm.”
On top of everything, Saenz’s other big task is diversifying its customer base so that it doesn’t rely so much on the defense industry, which was about 90% of its business when Ray joined two years ago and now sits at about 60%. He says the goal over the next six to 12 months is to continue to diversify to be somewhere in the 20% to 30% range in the various targeted sectors, including defense, energy, aerospace, and telecom.
“Each of those industries is very volatile, so we have got to be prepared to withstand any of those searches,” Saenz says. “Thankfully, these guys had a good foundation to withstand the COVID situation, and now we’re stronger than we’ve been in recent years. We continue building on that, which I’m excited about this year.”
He says Micron is in negotiations with several new customers, which builds his excitement up even more.
“We’re in negotiations right now with some pretty big outfits that would lead us to about 40% growth,” Saenz says. “We’re looking to have these things closed out pretty quickly and — with some minor investments to add a few more tanks here and there and make this a little bit more robust in our turn times — it seems like an awesome time to be in the plating realm.”
