Noting advances in powder coating
Customers are asking their metal fabricating suppliers to assume more production responsibilities as they look to reduce the size their vendor bases. As a result, more fabricators are becoming involved in powder coating, either doing it themselves or coordinating the finishing process with a nearby custom coater. Of course, metal fabricators are first and foremost in the business of cutting, forming, and joining metal, but they still need to stay on top of the latest developments in powder coating.
Complete coverage of powder coating is always a worthwhile goal, both in terms of application and knowledge about the subject.
More metal fabricators are finding themselves in a position where they are expected to take on responsibility for finishing metal parts. Either OEM customers want them to take on powder coating activities, or at the very least they want the shops to coordinate the finishing process in addition to the fabrication.
Of course, in this economy, many metal fabricators aren't in a position to say no to such requests. Fortunately, powder coat paint technology has advanced to the point where it's more user- and production-friendly than ever.
It's one of the younger metal finishing technologies on the marketplace, having appeared on the manufacturing scene in a large way in the 1970s. The technology grew rapidly in the 1980s as key industry segments, such as appliance and architectural, gravitated to it, and powder coating usage grew with international expansion in the 1990s. The growth of the technology is not as robust as in past decades, but this lull has put pressure on the material and application equipment sector to develop new products in an aggressive manner.
