A Powder Coating Recipe for Success

By Sheila LaMothe

Investing in the training and development of employees has always been a high priority for All-Color Powder Coating in Oregon, WI. Supporting continued employee growth within a family environment has served the company well over the last 28 years, creating a successful model worthy of attention from the powder coating community.

Professional development comes in a variety of forms through multiple resources at All-Color. Last year, the company purchased a learning management system called Vector. According to Dan Anderson, general manager at All-Color, the program covers everything from how to properly lift a box from the floor to active shooter training. Employees use a company tablet to access their assigned training which must be completed quarterly. The company is also a member of the Management Resources Association (MRA) and is taking advantage of an MRA online supervisory training. Human Resources Manager Dina Geitt explains, “The ten-week program provides the skills necessary to move into a supervisory role within our company.”

To streamline production, All-Color automated order tracking and quality testing results using Bluestreak | Bright AM from Throughput Consulting, Inc. To ensure accurate use, employees are trained in how to use the system, giving them the much-needed technical skills to keep the company efficient and competitive.

Advancing Powder Coating Prowess
Being a custom coater, it’s not a big surprise that All-Color places a major focus on training their powder coaters. In fact, in 2019 they launched their own Coater Certification Program. Dan shares, “We wanted to make sure we created a path for our coaters to continue to better their knowledge and abilities, not only in coating parts but in operating our state-of-the-art equipment as well.” The program is comprised of four certification levels that range from the basics, to changing settings and creating recipes, to troubleshooting equipment. Each level includes classroom instruction, training on the finishing line and with a virtual reality (VR) system, testing, and follow up observation. To maintain their level of certification, each coater must complete the test and VR requirements annually. Dan adds, “By creating certification levels and compensating them for each level achieved, we have a lot of coaters who have bought into what we are doing and have made tremendous progress in being self-sufficient in troubleshooting, maintenance, coating efficiency, and quality.”

The VR system was not part of the original certification program. It is something Dan added not too long ago, and he feels it’s been an asset to the program. “Our team enjoys being able to hone their skills in a virtual environment where they can try new coating techniques without affecting actual customer parts,” notes Dan. The system has also been used to figure out how to coat difficult parts and work out the kinks before putting them on a real production line. This saves rework time and keeps costs down.

Taking the Show on the Road
Both President Mark Mortensen and Dan share that when looking at the powder coating industry, be it a job shop or an OEM, one of the biggest challenges they have run into is the lack of true powder coater training. “Most companies don’t have the personnel or the time to invest in training a coater in the basics. There is more to it than just pulling the trigger on a powder gun and spraying powder, which sadly is what a lot of companies do. We stress that being efficient, utilizing proper technique, and using the proper air and electrostatic settings teaches our team how to be better powder coaters,” explains Dan. Both men believe that virtual reality technology combined with All-Color’s decades of experience can fill this training gap, and they are working on taking their program on the road to help other powder coating operations. Mark acknowledges that companies also struggle with having to send their key coaters for off-site training. “This is where we come in as our training program is mobile. We can train a company’s coaters and get them on their lines to start using the techniques learned immediately,” he says. The program includes coating a few sample parts in a batch booth at the end of the class, to enhance retention of what they learned in the virtual environment.

As the retirement of most baby boomers throughout manufacturing looms, All-Color sees the VR powder coating system as a viable tool to get the younger generation interested in the powder coating industry. Dan notes, “Most kids today love playing video games and this VR system is something they can really relate to and stay engaged with. We have been talking to local trade and high schools to get the machine in there to give the kids an opportunity to use it and show them they can have a good career in this industry.” As a first step in this initiative, this summer, Dan took the system to industrial finishing camps at Triton College in River Grove, IL, and Madison Area Technical College in Ft. Atkinson, WI. The camps, which aim to provide hands-on finishing experience for kids aged 12 to 16, are part of the Nuts, Bolts, and Thingamajigs (NBT) Foundation’s successful summer manufacturing camp program and are supported by the Chemical Coaters Association International Finishing Education Foundation (CCAI FEF). Unfortunately, very few of the camp facilities have finishing equipment on campus. With the VR system the kids were able to try their hand at powder coating, right in the classroom.

Managing Quality
Quality parts are what keep customers coming back, and to ensure consistent quality in coating, Mark added a quality manager in 2009. “We wanted to make sure we had someone on our team whose focus is ensuring quality throughout the organization—from documentation to customer communications—as well as training our staff on all things quality,” he explains. And when the decision was made to pursue PCI 3000 Certification through the Powder Coating Institute (PCI), the quality manager led the charge.

Mark stresses that the PCI Certification process requires a high level of attention to detail. “To become PCI 3000 Certified, auditors come to our facility and evaluate us on our processes and procedures, maintenance practices, and quality control capabilities,” he explains. “Being PCI 3000 certified shows our customers that we are committed to providing high-quality powder coated parts, and that we have the processes and procedures in place to do so.”

Mark believes their PCI 3000 Certification sets them apart from other coaters. It has also prepared them for achieving additional quality milestones including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) credentials, AAMA 2604 and 2605 compliance, and numerous OEM approvals.

Membership Has Its Privileges
Beyond PCI 3000 Certification, All-Color has been very involved with both PCI and the Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI). They are long time members of both associations, including training and event participation, as well as Board of Directors service. The company supplements their own internal powder coater training with PCI’s powder coating workshops and CCAI’s online powder coating course.

A wide variety of employees, from production to shipping, have participated in these programs and have expressed value in learning about the entire powder coating process.

All-Color has also taken advantage of the Peer Group program, a joint initiative of the two associations. In the program, six to ten non-competing custom coaters form a peer group. The groups meet twice per year with meetings held at a group member’s shop. A key component of the meeting is a peer audit of the host facility. Mark states, “There is a huge benefit to traveling to other member facilities for audits, presentations, and networking. The best way to grow is through the experiences that members bring to the table.” Peer Group members form a unique bond and call on each other for assistance with challenging projects or problems. “Bringing an outside perspective really helps and the friendships we’ve made through the program are priceless,” he adds.

Word Travels Fast
With 63 employees and 175 cumulative years of powder coating experience, All-Color has come a long way from when they started in January of 1996 with just three employees and a 6,400 square foot leased building with used equipment. Merely three years after opening their doors, the company moved into a new 22,500 square foot building with a brand new 5-stage conveyorized line on North Burr Oak Avenue. Since then, they’ve added onto the building three times and now have a total of 80,110 square feet that houses three conveyorized lines and two batch systems. Over the years, growth has come primarily by word-of-mouth from happy customers. In fact, All-Color has never had a sales team or a dedicated sales representative.

As a custom coater, All-Color has the flexibility to coat all types of substrates from steel and aluminum to zinc and aluminum die-castings. Each of their automated and batch systems incorporate pretreatment processes consisting of cleaning, rinsing, and iron phosphate or zirconium conversion coatings. They serve a variety of industries including appliance, agriculture, solar, electrical transformer, railing, window covering, machine tools as well as various OEMs, and metal stamping/fabrication shops. They are also happy to accommodate the occasional walk-in with a personal project.

Being located so close to the University of Wisconsin, many employees and area customers closely follow their athletics. “Most people don’t realize UW’s football goalposts and hockey goals are powder coated. We provide the coating services for this equipment, and it is a fun representation of what All-Color can do,” shares Mark. The company also powder coats and refinishes the well-known sunburst chairs for the UW Memorial Union Terrace. An icon of the university, the chairs are widely recognized around the world. Madison is also a major biomedical hub which brings with it projects with challenging colors, shapes, and masking requirements. Further illustrating the breadth of the industries they serve, Mark notes the high-end, custom order, “purple wave” titanium hammers they coat. The vivid color is eye catching and some hammers show the color of the coating through the sides of the clear handle for a very unique look.

Secret Sauce
All-Color takes pride in maintaining an environment where people want to come to work. They host a variety of events for employees and their families throughout the year which are of course fun but provide Mark and his wife Ruth another opportunity to express appreciation for their employees. “Our main event every year is a Christmas party held at an indoor water park that includes a hotel room for all families, access to the water park, dinner, gifts for the children, and games,” explains Ruth. The festive atmosphere also serves as the perfect stage for Mark and Dan to present employees with their yearly bonuses.

Mark acknowledges that All-Color has been very fortunate to have talented and loyal employees over the years. Every five-year milestone is recognized with a cake, a longevity check, and a presentation by Mark. They’ve also adopted a Monday through Thursday work schedule. “By shifting to a four-day, 10-hour work week, we are able to give our employees more time to spend with their families,” Mark notes.

In a time when employees can be hard to come by and turnover is extremely high, All-Color has managed to keep turnover to just 29%. Dina admits this was not always the case and it wasn’t all that long ago turnover was as high as 50%. Now they turn away three to four applicants a week, 95% of which are employee referrals. Dina acknowledges, “All-Color is not the highest paying employer in Oregon, WI, but if you create an environment people want to come to every day, they will spread the word that your company is a great place to work.” With training and development opportunities, social events, service recognition, and a family-friendly work schedule, it seems All-Color has discovered the secret sauce for employee retention.

Optimistic Outlook
Although they’ve experienced a slowdown over the last six months due to the overall economy, the attitude at All-Color is that the future is bright. Mark explains, “There are still plenty of opportunities and we are ready for them. We are finalizing the purchase of land for future expansion and are always on the lookout for compatible businesses to acquire.” Keeping in line with their history of quality coating, there is an ongoing pursuit for AAMA compliance for their batch lines, as well as additional OEM approvals. Their VR coater training program has great potential and will be a helpful resource for others in the industry. They even have a product in development with hopes it will be available for sale soon. Mark feels the management team is stronger than it’s ever been, and they are all willing to examine new ideas and try new things, which makes everyone at All-Color excited for the future.

Sheila LaMothe is editor of Powder Coated Tough.