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Off Topic
Transit of
Venus
 On
June 8, 2004, Venus will pass in front of the Sun as seen from the
Earth (just like a solar eclipse). Transits of Venus across the
disk of the Sun are among the rarest of planetary alignments. No
one alive has viewed this rarest of all eclipses: The Transit is
when Venus moves directly between the Earth and the Sun. Only six
such events have occurred since the invention of the telescope;
the most recent in 1882.
Important
"NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE
SUN WITH UNPROTECTED EYES - THIS MAY CAUSE TOTAL BLINDNESS WITHIN
SECONDS! ALWAYS BE SURE TO USE PROPER OPTICAL FILTERS TO PROTECT
YOUR EYES. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY THROUGH A TELESCOPE TOWARDS THE
SUN.
For further information click on these links
Link1,
Link2,
Link3 |
Dow Epoxy Price Rise in Europe, Middle
East, India and Asia Pacific
Horgen, Switzerland – (6 May 2004) – Effective 1 June 2004, or as
contract terms allow, Dow Epoxy Products and Intermediates (EP&I) will
be increasing its prices for Epoxy resins.
In Europe, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Turkey, Dow is
aiming for an increase of 150 Euro/MT for its liquid and solid epoxy
resin grades, as well as an increase of 120 Euro/MT for its solid
solution epoxy resins and standard brominated resins. The increase for
specialty resins varies by product.
In the Middle East and Africa (MEAF), the Indian Subcontinent and Asia
Pacific, Dow is aiming for a 200 $/MT increase for its liquid and
solid epoxy resin grades, as well as an increase of 150 $/MT for its
solid solution and standard brominated resins. The increase for
specialty resins varies by product.
Goodlass Nerolac announces record growth
Goodlass Nerolac Paints, one of the leading paint companies in India,
declared for the financial year 2004 a turnover of INR 9.25 billion (1
EUR = 54 INR), marking a record growth of 16.97% over FY 03. The net
profit of the company increased by a whopping 45.48 % over last year
and stood at INR 580 million. Commenting on the announcement, Mr. H.
M. Bharuka, Managing Director, Goodlass Nerolac mentioned, "Our
topline growth this year, is the highest in the industry, primarily
driven by the growth in the Automotive sector and amply complimented
by the superior performance of the Architectural segment. Our focus
this year has been more on the profit mix and we have been able to
absorb the inflation in raw material prices through reduction in
overheads and operating efficiencies."
Asian Paints Subsidiary Inks
Technical Consultancy Arrangement with Berger Paints Pakistan
Mumbai, May 5, 2004… Berger International Limited (BIL) the Singapore
based subsidiary of Asian Paints, Asia’s fourth largest paint company,
has entered into a technical consultancy and advice arrangement with
Berger Paints Pakistan Limited, the second largest paint company in
Pakistan.
This arrangement also puts at disposal of Berger Paints Pakistan
Limited through Berger International Limited, the technical expertise
and technology of Asian Paints’ group companies.
 High-tech
exhibition trio succeeds again
Nuremberg, April 2004. 13,341* trade visitors - plus almost 4,000
congress participants - is the positive result of the three-day
exhibition trio POWTECH / TechnoPharm / ExploRisk, which ended in the
Exhibition Centre Nuremberg on 18 March 2004. This equates to 7 % more
visitors over the previous event. The internationality of the trade
visitors and congress participants rose to a total of 31 % from over
80 countries. 873* companies (2002: 864) presented their products and
services for mechanical processing technologies and process
engineering at the three exhibitions.
"Whereas general capital goods exhibitions have considerable
acceptance problems, POWTECH has succeeded in clearly consolidating
its position as leading exhibition for the whole field of mechanical
processing technology", sums up Claus Rättich, Director of Exhibition
Management (Own Events) at NürnbergMesse. Exhibitors and visitors
confirmed that TechnoPharm as second trade fair in the trio has now
finally established itself as Europe's leading forum for
decision-makers in the development, manufacture and analysis of
pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health food products.
"Trade fairs with a clear profile, proven communication quality and
above all a convincing benefit-cost ratio are still accepted to a high
degree by the exhibiting and visiting industry, and this trio is one
of the events still fully accepted", emphasizes Claus Rättich.
The mood among the exhibitors and visitors was very good - the
exhibitors at the combined event especially mentioned the calibre and
competence of the trade visitors.
The response from the visitors was also good. In a survey conducted by
a neutral institute, more than 96 % of the trade visitors stated they
were extremely satisfied with the products offered at the three trade
fairs.
J&N loses gloss, referred to BIFR
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 01, 2004 12:27:59 AM ]
KOLKATA: Whenever you think of colour, think of us. Perhaps never ever
anymore. Once identified with this famous catchline, paint major
Jenson & Nicholson (J&N) has lost all colour.
Crippled with severe financial debts, the company has been referred to
the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).
Manufacture of paints has come to a trickle with most of its
factories, including the Panvel unit, having almost shut down and
production at Naihati having practically stopped. Financial
institutions like IDBI are currently contemplating various options,
including transfer of bad debts of J&N to ARCIL, its asset
reconstruction company. Institutional sources in the know of
developments said the company had earlier indicated prospective buyers
to bail it out. But, with no deal forthcoming, the company found
itself in troubled waters, following which it approached the BIFR. The
latter is yet to give its final decision.
Sources hinted that with polls round the corner and with the
government itself thinking of doing away with the BIFR, it may be a
long way before something concrete comes up for the paint company.
Most of J&N's creditors, including banks and financial institutions,
had declared J&N a non-performing asset (NPA). While lead banker
Allahabad Bank has already filed a suit in the court, lead institution
IDBI is said to be keeping its options open on the J&N account. While
taking responsibility of the assets through the securitisation route
is possible, the other option would be to hand over the assets to
ARCIL, subject to the approval of 75% of the lenders and the ARC.
Although the latest figures could not be ascertained, J&N's total
secured and unsecured debts are estimated to be over Rs 160 crore.
Signs of a financial crisis has been showing over the last one year,
after it chose to close down its corporate office in Kolkata citing
huge business losses. Naihati has seen a massive cut in production
levels from a high of 7.55 lakh litres a month four years ago to
hardly any production at present. It's decorative factory at
Sikandrabad is said to be operating at much low levels compared to its
big capacity of almost 3 lakh litres. It has also pruned number of
branches across the country from 52 to 12 in recent months.
Sources in the know of things said that even employees across all
levels have problems with their salaries. Most of the employees in the
eastern plants have not received salaries for several months as well.
Jotun
Norway-based Jotun is to invest ?1M in a new powder coatings plant in
Indonesia. The 2000-tonne facility, which has been approved by the
Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, will be at Tangerang in
Banten Province. Europ Chem News, 19-25 Apr 2004, 80 (2096), 26
Thailand: TOA Paint planning
expansion in Vietnam
Coatings Flash
- May 03, 2004
TOA Paint (Thailand) is taking another step to expand its business
abroad by building a factory in Vietnam, aiming to generate sales of
USD 100 million from the fast-growing Vietnamese market within five
years. Chairman Prachak Tangkaravakoon said TOA had purchased 30 rai
(= 48,000 square meter) of land in Ho Chi Minh City for the factory
which may be developed in five phases. The first phase, which requires
a minimum investment of 300 million bath (1 EUR = 47 baht), is
scheduled to be operational in the first quarter of next year.
The factory in Vietnam would mainly serve the fast-growing Vietnamese
construction market and also export some of its output to Laos, he
said. It will be the second overseas facility for TOA, which has
operated a plant in Shanghai for seven years.
Honda Announces $123M
Paint Shop for Marysville Auto Plant
Inside Paint
MARYSVILLE, Ohio, May 11 - Honda of America Mfg. unveiled plans today
to construct a $123 million paint facility at its Marysville Auto
Plant, continuing Honda's commitment to a cleaner environment,
flexible and efficient manufacturing, and high-quality products
for its customers.....<more>
Asian Paints overseas subsidiary,
Berger International Limited exit operations in Malta
Inside Paint
Mumbai, May 13, 2004: In an announcement made today at the Singapore
stock exchange, Berger International Limited (BIL), the overseas
subsidiary of Asian Paints, announced it would divest its stake in its
subsidiary Berger Paints (Malta) Limited (BPM)....<more>
New Akzo Nobel decorative coatings plant in Vietnam
Akzo Nobel is underlining its commitment to investing in Asia with the
construction of a new factory for decorative coatings in Vietnam. Work
on the facility, which is situated in one of the expanding industrial
areas outside Ho Chi Minh City, has already started. Operated by the
company's Decorative Coatings International (DCI) business, the new
premises - located on a 40,000 square meter greenfield site at the
Amata Industrial Park in Dong Nai province - will significantly boost
production and lead to a gradual creation of new jobs over the coming
years.
Akzo Nobel's DCI business has been producing and selling architectural
paints in Vietnam since 1992. The new factory, which is 35 kilometers
from the current Ho Chi Minh City plant, is expected to start
production by the first quarter of 2005.
DuPont, Gail enter marketing
alliance
NEW DELHI, APRIL 8: DuPont and Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail) have
entered into a marketing alliance to jointly develop markets for DDG
three-layer polyethylene pipe coating systems (used on steel pipes).
Under the alliance, both companies will jointly market the product in
India, Arabia, Turkey and Russia.
‘‘DuPont is very pleased to have this alliance with Gail. It allows us
to offer solutions that contribute to protecting national assets —
India’s pipelines, and to contribute to the country’s economic growth
by offering world-class solutions for protecting pipelines throughout
the region,’’ said DuPont India president Henrique H Ubrig at the
signing of the agreement with Gail in Delhi on Thursday.
Gail chairman and managing director Prashanto Banerjee said: ‘‘Given
the technical soundness of the system and the strengths of each
company, we are confident the association will be a mutually
beneficial one.’’ The DDG system is for the exterior protection of
Gail’s new steel pipelines, the DuPont statement said. DuPont and Gail
have been working jointly in recent months.
Roanoke metal-finishing shop under investigation by EPA
A metal-finishing shop in downtown Roanoke is under investigation by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, officials said Thursday. aul Truntich, the city's environmental administrator, confirmed that
Advance Metal Finishing at 523 Norfolk Ave. S.W. is under scrutiny but
said he could not disclose exactly why the EPA was conducting the
investigation.
Special agents with the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division spent
Thursday looking into the sanitary sewer lines through manholes on
Norfolk Avenue near its intersection with Fifth Street Southwest. usan Helbert, EPA assistant special agent in charge, said the group
was investigating a complaint but would not say who made the complaint
or exactly what the EPA was searching for.
"We get involved when we believe it's a serious concern for the
environment," Helbert said. But, she said, there was no reason to
believe there were any health or safety concerns. Helbert said the EPA was expected to wrap up its search late Thursday.
Truntich said the investigation had been going on longer than the one
day, but he wouldn't say how long.
U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said the investigation was a pending
matter and that he couldn't comment on it.
Metal finishing is the process of changing the surface of an object to
improve its appearance or durability. There are many ways to finish
metal, including electroplating, organic coating, powder coating,
anodizing, electropolishing and phosphate coating. It can be done by
spray applications, chemical baths, electrodeposition and other
mechanical applications.
Electroplating, a common finishing method, involves applying a thin
metal coating by using an electrochemical reaction that pulls metal
particles from a sodium solution and binds them to their host. Parts
can be plated with zinc, nickel, brass, copper, silver or black oxide.
A Virginia Waste Minimization Program fact sheet on waste reduction
for metal finishers posted on the EPA's Web site says typical wastes
generated are industrial wastewater and treatment residues, spent
plating baths and process baths, spent cleaners, and waste solvents
and oils.
Experts say powder may have been trigger
SPECULATION was mounting last night that a gas oven was the source of
the explosion that destroyed the building.
Shortly after the blast, the gas-supply company Transco said the
supply to the building had been switched off, but that it had not been
a factor in the explosion.
Workers who were inside at the time said they believed the blast
originated from part of the factory where metal was coated with
plastic powder.
Experts in explosions said the powder could have turned a relatively
small explosion caused by a gas fault into the devastating blast that
destroyed the factory.
Professor Barry Moss, an expert in thermo-fluids and combustion at
Cranfield University, said any explosion was "driven" by the presence
of some kind of flammable gas.
This could come from gas in pipes, or a faulty gas appliance, vapour
from a solvent, or chemical or a fine powder.
He said there may have been an initial explosion which threw plastic
powder used in the coating process into the air.That may have ignited,
causing a major explosion. This would have increased the pressure
inside the building, pushing out supporting walls and causing the
whole structure to collapse
"It could be a situation where perhaps the initiating event was the
oven, and that perhaps in some way dispersed the powdered plastic so
you got a much larger volume of flammable material," Prof Moss said.
"As a result of plastic being dispersed into the air, it could have
led to a much greater explosion, depending on the amount of material
dumped into the air.
"Even though the particles [of powdered plastic] are small, they are
dense in comparison with a gas, and therefore the mass involved might
have been sizeable. This is an event that produces an over-pressure.
How the over-pressure interacts with a structure depends a little bit
on the detail of the structure.
"You don’t need a huge over-pressure to knock walls down," Prof Moss
explained. "If you knock out a few walls and the building collapses,
that’s not the same as blowing the whole building up.
"It’s like the World Trade Centre. You destroy a small part and the
rest falls through it. That perhaps could give you what looks to be a
disproportionate amount of damage [compared with the explosion]."
Colin Hindle, the president of the Scottish Plastics and Rubber
Association and a lecturer in polymer technology at Napier University
in Edinburgh, said Stockline was basically a warehouse for storing
sheets of plastic, while ICL did the manufacturing.
He said plastics factories were not particularly prone to such
explosions."While, if there was a fire, some of these plastics would be a fuel,
it would never explode. They are not that easily ignited, and
certainly they are not likely to explode, except possibly if there was
a very fine powder," he said.
"There was an explosion but no fire. That surprises me. An explosion
like that would almost certainly be followed by a fire."Temperatures of 200C or 300C at most, he said, would be used to mould
the plastic."There’s not much chance even of a fire, let alone an explosion," said Mr Hindle.
"A chemical explosion seems to me to be less likely. The most
flammable thing they would stock would be an adhesive, which would be
in a sealed container anyway."
But he agreed with Prof Moss that the powdered plastic may have had a
role in causing the blast, although he said that using it as part of
the coating process was routine in the plastics industry.
"Coating plastic on to metal is a common occurrence, whereby you heat
the metal up normally until it’s pretty hot and then dip it into a
powder coating," Mr Hindle said."The powders are potentially a source of explosion because you get
static, but the vessels they are in have to be earthed according to
the legislation."
Battling the rising
offshore tide
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0515perma15.htm l
Valley's Perma-Finish Inc. recovering from battering and is winning
business back
If losing business to companies that have gone offshore sounds like
something that happens to the other guys, let Perma-Finish be a
lesson. The company's founders thought that once, too.
In late 2003, Perma-Finish Inc. lost one of its biggest customers,
Tempe-based Rockford-Fosgate, an audio component manufacturer that
sent its work overseas.
"When you hear about all this business going to China, that was us,"
said Richard Quiroz, vice president of Perma-Finish, which specializes
in a painting process called powder coating for audio equipment,
building materials and lighting fixtures.
Perma-Finish took the hit just as Quiroz and President Angel
Castellano were seeing the highest sales in Perma-Finish's 19 years
and recouping from devastating losses in 1997. he pair have been working aggressively to restore business while
striving to become the dominant powder-coat paint applicators for the
building industry in the United States. They heard in the news that
the manufacturing sector is starting to turn around. Some accounts
that went offshore, or ones that tried to paint their own products to
cut costs, have been are returning to Perma-Finish. It's too soon to
tell how this will affect business, Quiroz said.
"We're by no means out of the woods," Quiroz said. "We're almost in a
crisis mode where we see the big guys outsource to Asia."
Their profit margin has increased 6 percent since their leanest period
in 1997.
That year, co-founder and friend Jerry Greitzer died. Without their
business-savvy partner, the company faced financial ruin, Quiroz
recalled. Sales bubbled at $2.4 million, but the company was socked
with $3 million in losses. Sales dipped, creditors were calling, and
utility bills piled high.
The pair sought help at the Maricopa County Community College Small
Business Development Center and the Arizona Public Service Academy for
the Advancement of Small, Minority and Women-owned Enterprises. Perma-Finish
enjoyed top sales and profit margins from 2000 to 2002. By the end of
2002, sales were peaking at $4 million, with 12 percent profit.
"We needed to dig ourselves out of the hole, and we did," Quiroz said.
More importantly, they became competent businessmen. Castellano wrote
a production program that has helped the company become more
efficient.
Quiroz, Castellano and the late Greitzer got their start in aluminum
anodizing. In the energy crunch of the early 1980s, their customers
switched to liquid paint, a cheaper alternative. That caused them to
diversify.
"We came across powder and saw that it was the coating of the future,"
Castellano said.
Greitzer had the idea to switch from anodizing to powder-coat paint
finishing.
"It was absolutely like jumping in at the deep end," when Perma-Finish
started with 10 employees in 1985, Quiroz said. "It was sink or swim.
We chose to swim."
The company now has about 70 employees and has ventured into retail. A
few years ago, Castellano and Quiroz developed Link-It, a modular
system of decorative fences, trellises and arbors. The entire
manufacturing process is done in-house. One of the products, a corner
fence kit, was featured on QVC. It wasn't a big seller - callers
bought up just 200 of 1,400 kits - but the TV exposure helped to
launch Perma-Finish's first foray into retail. Link-It products have
become a hit in the home garden industry. Frank's, the largest nursery
in the United States, ordered $50,000 worth of modular fences and some
local nurseries carry Link-It products.
Castellano and Quiroz now hope to snag a deal with big-box retailers
such as Lowe's or Home Depot.
Trio Industries Group, Inc.
Partners with DuPont and the University of Southern Mississippi
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2004--Trio Industries Group, Inc.
(Pink Sheets:TRIG), announced today that it is negotiating a Joint
Development Agreement with the Polymer Science Institute at The
University of Southern Mississippi, the leading polymer science
research foundation in the United States. Trio Industries, a developer
of technology and applications in the wood products field, will
develop technology with The University of Southern Mississippi
utilizing polymers and high performance materials applications on
composite wood panels. In an effort to enhance this collaboration,
Trio Industries has engaged in preliminary discussions with DuPont
Performance Coatings to participate in the development of advanced
powder-coating products for composite wood panels. DuPont Performance
Coatings has developed a new powder-coating process with low curing
temperatures that Trio Industries anticipates utilizing as its powder
coating of choice for composite wood panels.
Trio Industries Group, Inc. is seeking to become the first vertically
integrated manufacturer of powder-coating on wood in North America.
Trio intends to control the supply chain from the forest to finished
powder-coated products providing the Company strategic advantages as
major kitchen cabinet, bathroom vanity, and office furniture
manufacturers embrace the outsourcing platform of the future.
Trio Industries Group, Inc.
Enters Into Development Contract With Nordson Corporation and Delle
Vedove USA, Inc. / Superfici USA, LLC
Thursday May 20, 10:18 am ET
DALLAS, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Trio Industries Group, Inc
(OTC Pink Sheets: TRIG - News), announced that it is entering into a
development contract with Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN - News),
the world's leading producer of precision dispensing systems and
manufacturer of technology-based systems for curing and
surface-treatment processes. Nordson, a company with year-end 2003
revenues of approximately $660 million, will develop for Trio a
proprietary flat line finishing system for powder-coating on wood
products.
This development effort includes participation by Delle Vedove USA,
Inc. / Superfici USA, LLC, a world leader in designing finishing
systems for wood products. They will collaborate with Nordson
Corporation in developing for Trio the proprietary flat line finishing
system for powder-coating on wood products. The projected timing for
completion of this line will be in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Trio Industries Group, Inc. is seeking to become the first vertically
integrated powder-coating on wood manufacturer in North America. Trio
intends to control the supply chain from the forest to finished
powder-coated products providing the Company strategic advantages as
major kitchen cabinet, bathroom vanity, and office furniture
manufacturers embrace the outsourcing platform of the future.
Sun Announces First
Japanese Sun Java(TM) Enterprise System Customer Nippon Paint
Wednesday May 19, 12:00 pm ET
Nippon Paint Plans to Migrate Mainframe Architecture To Open
Standards-Based Sun Architecture; Expects To Reduce Total Cost Of
Ownership By 50 Percent
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun
Microsystems, Inc., the creator and leading advocate of Java(TM)
technology, today announced that Osaka, Japan-based Nippon Paint Co.,
Ltd. has purchased and plans to deploy the Sun Java(TM) Enterprise
System, an integrated, open standards-based software system as its
corporate-wide IT infrastructure software standard. The Java
Enterprise System software was purchased through Sun iForce(TM)
Partners CSK CORPORATION (CSK) and ITOCHU TECHNO-SCIENCE Corporation (CTC),
demonstrating continued partner momentum in the Asia Pacific region.
Nippon Paint selected the Java Enterprise System running the secure,
reliable, scalable and highly available Solaris(TM) 9 Operating System
based on Sun's innovative pricing model and open architecture. The
company plans to migrate its distribution, logistics, human resources
and finance applications, currently hosted by legacy mainframes, to
the Java Enterprise System platform by 2006.
By adopting the Java Enterprise System, Nippon Paint expects to reduce
operational costs associated with system management and upgrades, and
increase time-to-market of new applications and technologies. Nippon
Paint will also benefit from an open standards-based architecture,
ensuring interoperability and more proactive and productive
management. Additionally, through this migration, Nippon Paint
projects the transition will cut its total cost of ownership (TCO) by
50 percent.
Nippon Paint plans to utilize the following Java Enterprise System
components including the Java(TM) System Directory Server, Java(TM)
System Identity Server, Java(TM) System Portal Server, Java(TM) System
Messaging Server and Java(TM) System Web Server. Additionally, Nippon
Paint plans to leverage Sun's robust hardware platforms such as the
Sun Fire(TM) B100s blade servers for front-end applications, the Sun
Fire(TM) V480/V440/V240 servers for application processing, and the
Sun Fire(TM) V1280 and V880 servers for database operations.
SK Finishing has lofty goals for its new home in Lorain
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1699&dept_id=46377&newsid=11658725&PAG=461&rfi=9
LORAIN -- A company that has recently moved its operations into Lorain
wants to color coat the industrial world in northern Ohio and is
setting lofty goals to serve that need at a faster and better rate.
After securing a loan from the Lorain Community Development Department
to move its equipment and promising to keep the business in the city,
SK Finishing Inc., a 26-year-old color coating company now owned by
Roger Mahoney, 42, of Grafton, purchased the struggling Class A
Coatings Inc. in Lorain in February.
In March, SK moved all of its color and powder coating operations to
Class A's Lorain facility from North Abbe Road in Elyria.
SK Finishing now is on a 3.7-acre property at 2201 W. Park Drive on
Lorain's west side.
Not only did the industrial color coating company quadruple its space
to 25,000 square feet when it moved, it added jobs and hopes to add
about 30 more in the fall, both in production and sales, Mahoney said.
''We want to develop a world-class sales team and expand our sales
radius to cover all of northern and northeast Ohio,'' Mahoney said.
Pending further financing, SK hopes to add a third line and expand its
facility by 12,000 square feet without seeking any tax abatements,
Mahoney said.
The company currently has 100 clients, and color coats parts for
manufacturers of wheelchairs, telecommunications equipment, automotive
components and purchase displays.
American Greetings in Cleveland, Westlake-based Nordson Corp. and
Sunrise Medical Inc., a wheelchair manufacturer based in Carlsbad,
Calif., that has a facility in Avon Lake and produces 50,000
wheelchairs a year, are among SK's clients.
SK now employs 40 people and has an annual payroll of $750,000,
generating $20,000 a year in annual property taxes, Mahoney said. When
it adds the estimated 30 production jobs that will pay $7 to $9 an
hour in the fall, that will add another $500,000 a year in payroll,
Mahoney said.
He said when the company expands its sales team and the radius it
covers, it projects to double its revenue of $2.5 million it made its
2003 revenue of $2.5 and triple its revenue within five years.
SK currently is launching a national campaign, ''Quality Powder
Coating Done Right ... Now,'' and ultimately would like to become a
company with an annual $15 million revenue, Mahoney said.
SK's motto is becoming ''service, production and quality.''
''We're basically acting as an extension for other companies that
manufacture parts who need to have them color coated at the end of the
manufacturing cycle. We hope quality and quickness will mean something
for manufacturers who need parts color coated. The city's community
development department was helpful in accommodating our move here,''
according to Mahoney.
He said that manufacturers sometimes have waited at their facility for
the work to be done.
''We're the heroes when manufacturers come in and don't have to wait a
week to have their parts painted,'' Mahoney said. ''Some companies
have even come in and waited while their parts were done, and carry
them right out in the box. By being able to do that, companies are
beginning to realize they no longer have to wait for their parts or
have to get them from overseas.''
On the average, SK has the ability and personnel to turn out
color-coated parts in 24 hours and the company works with about 20
colors a day, Mahoney said.
SK also has the capability to do custom colors within five days, using
the example of being able to implement the ''Moen Blue'' color on
parts for the plumbing fixtures company.
Mahoney said that SK is one of two color coating companies in the
United States that has the capability to accommodate the
Westlake-based Nordson Corp. that makes powder coating equipment.
''We believe that when you do the color coating work for a powder
coating business that says a lot,'' Mahoney said. ''A lot of the
companies that used to do their own color coating in-house are seeing
that it's more cost efficient to have someone else do it.
''There will always be a need for products that are built here,''
Mahoney added. ''They know they can't wait a week for the parts to
come from China. That's why we say we can do color coating right
now.''
SK currently has two lines, a high-speed automated line and a ''batch
system'' line for larger parts. Mahoney and his general manager, Jim
Gallagher, hope to add a third line.
The third line would be another high-speed automated line to
accommodate large parts. SK currently can color coat products as large
as a medium size car, Mahoney said.
SK has adopted a strategy called lean manufacturing, which is geared
toward achieving the shortest production turnaround time by
eliminating waste and mistakes. SK currently has three shifts working
daily.
Currently, for every 1 million parts SK color coats, there are just
550 mistakes, Mahoney said.
Gallagher said that being able to turn out the work at a faster rate
has been helping the company make a name for itself.
''What we're hoping to do here is to at least force the other
powder-coating companies to step up to the plate, and hopefully they
won't be able to,'' said Gallagher. ''We want to take the business to
the next level simply by being the best. We want to create a good
company and a good place to work.''
''If we can add a third line, we'll be able to really open the
business up,'' said Gallagher, who has been with the company for 18
years. ''We'd be able to do five times as many parts as we do now.
Each month we've been in our new facility, we've been setting
records.''
Mahoney said he first became interested in electronics when he began
experimenting with them when he was in the fifth grade.
Soon after graduating Lorain County JVS in 1980 in industrial
electronics, he acquired a job with Accurate Electronics in Elyria. He
purchased the business in 1991 and became partners with Patrick
O'Connel, who now is deceased.
O'Connel was the one who first became involved in powder and color
coating when he owned and operated Strip and Klean Furniture Service
in Elyria.
Mahoney sold off Accurate Electronics in 1996 and became more involved
with the powder coating business, which only had two clients.
O'Connel died in 1996, and Mahoney bought out the powder and color
coating business in 1997.
''I had a rough 1996. In 1997, we started turning things around,''
Mahoney said. ''In 2000, our sales grew by 25 percent, and we haven't
had a backward year since.''
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Smart Coatings III
June 7 - 8, 2004
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The Powder Coating Institute
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exhibition to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina,
September 21 - 23, 2004. |
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