The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is less than 10 miles (15km) away from The Metal Finishing Center in Toronto, but both places exhibit plenty of fine hardware to admire.
The Metal Finishing Center (MFC) is home to both Active Metal Finishing that provides zinc, electroless nickel, tin, black oxide and numerous other plating operations, as well as Bristol Powdercoat and Shotblast.
Owner Allan Phillips has more than 100,000 square feet under roof at the two facilities, making it a true one-stop shop for anyone needing surface finishing and coatings in not only Canada, but much of the U.S. and even internationally.
Not only is the size of the facilities large, but so are the parts that Phillips and his almost 50 employees finish every day.
“Bigger is better,” says Phillips, who has owned the company since 1987. “We specialize in large projects, often very bulky and heavy with specialized finishing requirements and requiring a quick turnaround.”
UNIQUE AEROSPACE WORK
Most of that work is in the aerospace industry; in fact, one of their earliest works was on the Canadarm1 project, a series of robotic arms that were used on the U.S. Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, maneuver and capture payloads.
“We serve a variety of high tech companies,” Phillips says. “And because of the breadth of our processes and capabilities, we cover nearly all major industries in North America.”
TMFC is in a rapid growth phase, growing at 34% per year, according to Phillips. Their current focus is to improve on that growth rate and maintain a high reputation for customer attentiveness and quality.
“We will continue to innovate in processes and equipment and employee programs, and we are looking at strategic acquisitions in addition to organic growth,” he says.
Active Metal Plating has 23,000 sq. ft. of space that houses four production lines that can finish:
- Zinc plating up to 15 ft.
- Electroless nickel up to 11 ft.
- Tin plating up to 12 ft.
- Silver, copper, nickel and chrome
- Plating on aluminum up to 12 ft.
- Black oxide up to 8 ft.
- Capacity to 2,500 lb.
Bristol Powdercoat and Shotblast can finish parts up to 60 ft. in length, and has batch and automatic lines with a capacity of up to 10,000 lbs.
STORIED HISTORY
The history of TMFC is long and storied; Bristol started in 1952 as an electroplating company in Toronto that specialized in high volume automatic production. Active Metal began in 1956 nearby the Bristol operation focusing on specialty plating. In 1983, Active Metal bought the plant and business of Bristol but continued to operate on two sites.
The businesses were purchased by Phillips in 1987, and they were expanded and merged to one location in Toronto in 1999. A small powder coat plant was started by Bristol in 2009, and a few years later The Metal Finishing Center was established and trademarked in 2012, incorporating several of the activities of both businesses including electroplating, metal treatment, cleaning and passivation, shotblast, powder coat and assembly, packaging and shipping services.
A new powder coat plant was built in 2015 in nearby Burlington, Canada outside of Toronto that is near the U.S. border; a 70,000 sq ft facility specializing in large infrastructure projects.
“The Burlington plant is only 5-years old, but we continue to invest heavily in automation and large goods handling equipment,” Phillips says. “Both plants have a significant continuous capital budget spending program.”
ADDING NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
TMFC is constantly adding new products and services, sometimes in partnership with customers and sometimes in order to supply a perceived need in the market.
“Innovation is a key part of our systems,” Phillips says. “We also have a strong IT support system which provides supply chain management benefits to customers and helps us to manage the manufacturing and financial control systems. We have significant spending plans for IT development and expansion.”
Phillips says the tremendous growth of the facilities can be traced to a very simple core belief.
“We have an intense focus on customer needs,” he says. “We look for early identification of new trends and opportunities for customers, and for us as suppliers. We operate on a sophisticated, real time digital platform.”
Among their customers are many of the largest companies in Canada, the U.S. and globally, with most involved in aerospace, power generation and distribution, mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, transportation and telecommunications.
LONG-TERM STAFF
Another reason for TMFC success is its people; Phillips says the combined staffs take great pride in their innovative approach to processing technically difficult products, as well as their product quality, turnaround time, customer service, and the wide range of processes that they offer.
“Most of our production staff have long-term experience with the company, and all are highly trained in quality assurance and productivity,” he says. “Our laboratory consists of skilled technicians with vast experience in plating and quality management.”
Phillips and his team have managed their growth well, and plan to continue the climb by staying focused on customer needs.
“Every day in finishing is a great day, and a great challenge,” he says. “We are highly focused on the long term and major steps like new key customers, new equipment, new processes and new employees are exciting for us.”
Phillips says his TMFC team does not get distracted by the short term stumbles and volatility.
“We have managed to quickly adapt and prosper during the challenges of the pandemic,” he says. “And we were also able to help in these difficult times by participating in the North American processing of ventilator and hospital equipment. And keeping our employees employed.”
