Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/653106
POWDER COATING, March 2016 25 Health Administration (OSHA) laws, and sanitation district rules. However, there should be some sort of qualifica- tion by suppliers for custom coaters to be able to purchase and apply chemical pretreatments and powder coating materials. Professionalism of job shops The reputation of custom coaters in general has been somewhat tarnished over the years by the apparent lack of discipline regarding how business is conducted on a professional level by a small number of renegade companies. Small one- or two-man garage shops are often compared to professional shops that effectively and efficiently service the automotive, aerospace, military, health care, and other industries as tier two metal finishing service suppliers. There is simply no clear way for a manufactur- er to grade or gauge the professionalism or competence of a custom coating shop other than to perform an expen- sive physical inspection and audit of the facility and their capabilities. There are more than a few custom coaters that aspire to be whatever their customers need them to be at the time. Some are more than willing to bend the rules and cut corners. This approach often results in a conflict between what should be done and what is actually done in terms of the correct processes and materials that are applied to the end user's product. I have personally wit- nessed companies that have "invented" ways to get the job done, knowing that they are seriously cutting corners and sacrificing the quality of their work. From the guy who builds a metal shell to extend his batch cure oven to the guy who decides that pretreatment using Simple Green to replace a proper multi stage chemical conversion coating for a r c h i t e c t u r a l a l u m i n u m i s g o o d enough, I have witnessed some of the worst violations of metal finishing pro- fessionalism. The worst part is that these wannabe custom coaters truly believe that they can "invent" a better, faster, and more cost effective way to compete with the shops that do it right. Metal fabricators as customers to these metal finishing companies deserve better. They should not be subject to the caveat emptor "buyer beware" mentality that exists with these renegade shops. number of occasions, and the pre- dictable outcome is that any agree- ment, whether oral or written, will be judged in accordance with contract law. Unlike electrical or general contractors, there are no educational or legal require- ments to prequalify the metal finishing contractor. There are no required train- ing programs, competency tests, or applications to complete to start or run a custom coating business. As custom coaters, aka job shops, there should be a reasonable level of professionalism that the end use customer would expect in terms of how their services are per- formed and delivered. The fact is, how- ever, that some job shops lack the disci- pline or the competence to establish and implement a formal management sys- tem consisting of policies, procedures, work instructions, documents, and records necessary to fulfill the reason- able expectation of implied profession- alism. Custom coaters provide value-added services to a customer's product in var- ious ways and to a variety of quality levels limited primarily by their equip- ment capabilities, material supplies, and human resources. Much is written about the importance of quality equip- ment, quality materials, quality pro- cessing methods, and human resource training for any manufacturing or ser- vice business. Unfortunately, there is no rule book or list of standard proto- cols for custom coaters to follow. Per- haps there should be. After all, doctors have to abide by approved procedure, the military has rules of engagement, electrical and general contractors have licensing requirements and codes to comply with, and lawyers have written laws that guide them through the com- plexities of their respected professions. Why has our industry allowed such an important group (custom coaters) the freedom to do just about anything they wish? Custom coaters do not need any more regulations. We have enough with the compliance requirements set forth by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), air quality authority, fire and safety code compliance, health services laws, Occupational Safety and