The Finish Line

Anne Deacon Juhl, Ph. D., is the owner of AluConsult, where she consults with OEMs and manufacturers on aluminum and anodizing.

Dr. Juhl recently celebrated her 25th as a consultant in the anodizing industry. She holds a Ph.D. in pulse anodizing of extruded and cast aluminum alloys from the Technical University of Denmark, Material and Surface Technology Department, and is an M.Sc. chemical engineer focusing on the corrosion resistance of light metals. She is also a member of the International Hard Anodizing Association and the Aluminum Anodizers Council.

Visit https://aluconsult.com and visit https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/anodizing/1939-legends-dr-anne-deacon-juhl-aluconsult to read more about our interview.

Gary Hamby is the President and Chief Executive Officer at H&M Plating in Houston, Texas, and who saw his company grow in volume when many oil and gas operators had trouble getting parts for their equipment and facilities.

Those supply chain problems forced many manufacturers to recondition their parts to keep operations going. Hamby and the four companies he runs — grinding, honing, and finishing — saw a huge benefit.

“With the supply chain issues, you had to fix parts because there wasn't anything to buy,” Hamby says. “I think that most of our people out there realize that they can get parts back faster — and can get it back cheaper — as a better product with the coatings we put on it.”

Read more about Gary and his company at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1888-texas-h-m-plating-in-a-boom-time-with-acquisitions-growth

Robert Hunsucker purchased Future Finishes in Hamilton, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati in 2020, and has revitalized the company.

After buying the struggling finishing company and moving from Michigan with his family, Hunsucker wasn’t turning a profit and was finding all kinds of issues with the equipment and systems he had mortgaged his life on.

And with just two other employees to help him weather the storm of getting Future Finishes back up and running, his physical and mental well-being were also being tested. But looking back three years after taking on such a daunting task — and raising a young family in the process — Hunsucker takes a more liberal approach to grading his performance as president and CEO.

Read the article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1868-new-owner-turns-struggles-into-rewards-at-future-finishes

We talk with Sandee Andrews, Co-Owner, Chief Financial Officer, and Strategic Director of Operations at Andrews Powder Coating in Los Angeles.

Andrews Powder Coating holds numerous approvals and certifications, all of whoich Andrews and her team has worked diliogently to obtain:

• AS9100 | ISO 9001, recertified annually. Entering their sixth year doing Tier 1 space projects with prime contractors, and to their knowledge, are the only powder coating operation in the nation certified for space flight. 
• Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings (CARC) approved for five years. APC uses powder for applications such as MIL PRF 32348 and has 18 powder coatings approved for all types and classes.
• Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) approvals for MIL PRF 24712, which includes 46 powder coatings approved for all types and classes.
• Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) approvals for WSD-C-0181A with approved products
• Mil-Spec and Qualified Products List (QPL) coatings certified to actual QPL products.
• AAMA 2605 Architectural Finishes has been certified for eight years and has to be recertified annually.
• FDA-compliant coatings are used in medical and food safety industries.

While none of the approvals and certifications are easy to come by — or cheap, for that matter — Andrews says the company decided a long time ago to set itself apart from other coaters, especially in the Los Angeles area.

“It started to happen when we were still in our first building in the San Fernando Valley,” she says. “It was filled with powder coaters almost on every corner. They were everywhere.”

Read the article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/powder-coat/1902-andrews-powder-coating-spreads-certified-services-from-coast-to-coast

We talk with Tony Bouie, President of ChemResearch Corp. in Phoenix, Arizona, who takes a unique approach to how CRC views its staff and the unique approach to managing them.

“I call it ‘People, Not Parts,’” says Bouie, whose company is a metal finishing service provider for the aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductor/electronics, space, and heavy equipment industries.

“We are laser-focused on our customers, which for us includes employees,” he says. “If we take care of our employees, our customers will be taken care of. So we've done things that probably seem mundane but mean a lot to our employees.”

Read the original article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1829-az-finisher-chemresearch-focuses-on-staff-to-grow-business

We speak with George LaCapra Jr., President of UniMetal Surface Finishing, and Patrick Hayden, Senior Vice President, about the  company that has two facilities in Connecticut: one in Thomaston, that serves as headquarters and another in Naugatuck.

Their key to success is running high-volume barrel, reel-to-reel, and short-run rack plating; in addition, they offer cleaning, deburring, precision cleaning, and vibratory finishes.

Read the article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1777-unimetal-surface-finishing-uses-diversity-expertise-to-attract-oems

We talk with owner Rob Thomas of Anchor Bay Powder Coat in New Baltimore, Michigan, a 15-year-old shop that applies powder and liquid coating along with sandblasting and oven burn-off.

Its roots go back to Thomas’ parent’s autobody finishing operation and a need to offer better coatings and improved quality to customers located about 35 miles northeast of Detroit.

The company has two locations about 1.5 miles from each other: a 20,000-square-foot location that houses the original operation and a 33,000-square-foot spot that was needed to handle the additional work that ABPC has taken in over the last few years.

Read the article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/powder-coat/1760-anchor-bay-powder-coat-manages-growth-through-improved-shop-efficiencies

Tony Sclafani is Vice President and General Manager of the family-run Las Vegas AR Iron facility, including an in-house powder coating operation, AR Powder Coating.

“We’re always looking to differentiate ourselves because every shop does the same thing, whether it’s an ornamental or powder coating,” Sclafani says. “Anybody can pick up a welder, and anybody can pick up a powder coat gun. But it’s how you do it and the steps you take. We won’t take shortcuts. I for sure will not.”

They have over 20,000 square feet of production space and 20 employees, so drilling home to everyone the quest for quality and perfection is a non-stop endeavor of Sclafani and his management team.

Read the article at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/powder-coat/1724-ar-powder-coating-earns-certs-through-training-and-persistence.

Visit https://arpowdercoating.com.

Jason Pugh was in the powder coating industry for only a few months before his company — Key-Link Fencing and Railing — presented him with a huge challenge.

 Key-Link managers wanted Pugh — who had worked in the food service industry prior to being hired as powder coating manager in April 2022 — to put his coating team and its systems to the test by obtaining certification from the Powder Coating Institute.

“We thought it would be something that would help set us apart from competitors,” Pugh says. “We’re always striving to get better. We want to learn where our shortfalls may be, what we can do to improve our processes, and what we can do to put a better quality product out.”


Read the article HERE

Jim Jones spent more than 50 years in the finishing industry, you can now find him soaring high above the clouds these days as a pilot of his own planes after retiring from DIFCO in Georgia.

After high school, Jones attended college and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served in the Minuteman Missile Program at Vandenberg AFB in California and attended Alan Hancock College.

“I also had for a while a part-time job in a plating shop in Santa Maria,” he says. In 1965, Jones’ father called him and said, “I need you,” and back to Georgia, he went to work at DIFCO.

Read more about Jim at https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/plating/1658-legends-jim-jones-difco