Powder Coating

Nov2016

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22 POWDER COATING, November 2016 Stay within your competence, equipment, and skillsets until you are ready to grow your company properly As a metal finishing consultant and metal finishing custom coating profes- sional for most of my adult life, I often say that I have seen it all when it comes to finishing related problems. But then someone calls to say that another incomparable and unexpected blunder has occurred, and one more unique story unfolds. Over the years, I have had the opportu- nity to consult on many projects, including designing new finishing sys- tems, troubleshooting finishing related problems, and teaching and training finishing line personnel, supervisors, and business owners. Helping people learn and grow in the profession by offering valuable educational insight is the fun part of my job and it is also the most rewarding part of consulting in terms of personal satisfaction. Why expert testimony on finishing failures is necessary By far the most interest- ing part of consulting is the topic of failure analy- sis. In my opinion, the science of failure analysis and the result- ing need for expert testimony is much more challenging these days due to all of the complex legal issues that are put into play when lawyers are hired to pin financial responsibility on someone other than their client. As a metal finishing consulting expert, I am asked to assist and advise lawyers and legal firms with the investigation of cause or causes when premature finish- ing failures occur. With these cases, the consultant's goals and objectives are to identify the problem, gather the facts, define the problem, analyze the prob- lem, and produce a report outlining the details of the root cause(s). The analysis and report must include the scientific basis of opinions necessary to support the conclusions. This is typically where the consultant's scope of work ends. From there, the focus is to implement a solution to the problem, evaluate the solution, follow up, and ultimately improve. When liti- gation is in play there is also the element of blame, fault, and financial responsi- bility that would not be a part of the consultant's scope of work. If a resolve cannot be reached between the parties, the legal proceedings may require expert testimony to support the report find- ings of cause or causes of the failure. It is always trouble when contractors fail to fulfill their obligation under contract as specified with their customer. Speci- fication compliance and customer satis- faction are the ultimate goals for all pro- fessional contractors. This is true for the building construction industry as well as the metal finishing industry that sup- ports them as a subcontractor. Job shop custom coaters are metal finishing con- tractors and will be treated as such by the laws that govern contractors all over America. Professional metal finishers that have proven track records of success share many common traits in terms of how they run and operate their respect- ed organizations. They must follow industrial regulations, standards, and job project specifications. Those that choose to cut corners and ignore regula- tions, standards, specifications, and proven practices often find themselves in serious legal and financial trouble. As I looked back on my many experi- ences, it occurred to me that the powder coating industry as a whole has pro- gressed at a steady pace in terms of tech- nology and innovation. Innovative advances have been made in application equipment, pretreatment chemicals, finishing materials, curing systems, masking materials, and a host of others. You would think that these advances would unilaterally increase the profes- sionalism and quality of work produced by all custom coating job shops as well. Most of the seasoned custom coating shops are truly professional organiza- tions that have grown steadily along with the industry and continue to profit and thrive. I am convinced, however, by my experience as a consultant, that there will always be a few poorly man- aged job shop companies that will con- tinue to give our industry a bad name. We constantly hear stories of cata- strophic premature finishing failures that occur due to skipped or abbreviat- ed processes and the use of incorrect chemistries and/or powder materials for high profile projects that demand high end quality and attention to detail. Fail- ure will continue to chase those unpro- fessional job shops that insist on making poor decisions and continue to play to their own misguided beliefs that they can disregard even the basics of quality. Those few "bad apples" that truly believe that they can continue to make money by cutting corners and run their operations by their own set of rules are sure to fail. Those that decide to make up new ways to "git-r-done" cheaper, quicker, and faster without regard for quality are not innovators; they are fools. Poorly managed job shops share a common belief that they have a better and more cost effective way to get things done. They believe that it is okay to bypass critical processes, use inferior chemistries and powder materials, oper- ate poorly designed and maintained equipment, and disregard quality con- trol and testing requirements. Coater's Corner Coater's Corner Michael W. Cravens Powder Finishing Consultants and IKON Powder Coating

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