#TOP SHOPS

Electroplating

Top Shop’s Journey to Building a Unique Brand

Since this new Ohio plater took over the space and assets of a former plating business, it is intentional about setting itself apart from prior ownership.

Lori Beckman
Senior Editor, Products Finishing

Anodizing

Product Finishing’s 2024 Top Shops Benchmarking Survey Deadline Approaches

Taking this year’s Products Finishing’s annual Top Shops Benchmarking Survey? Respondents are urged to complete the survey by April 30, 2024 in order to be considered as a qualifying top shop.

Electroplating

Plating Shop Leverages Ingenuity to Strive for Perfection

With unique systems in place, this zinc plating Top Shop offers several value-added services for its customers while focusing on top-notch customer service.

Attentive Employees Support Large Customer Base

As a Products Finishing Top Shop, this company’s success with offering a variety of finishing services would not be possible without its employee dedication and the pride that’s been instilled in them to produce quality products for its long list of customers.

Defining a Top Shop: Quality, Quickness, Communication, Community

Luke Engineering & Anodizing Co. takes an active role in its community and the industry while also focusing heavily on the quality of its work and employee treatment.

Electroplating

Products Finishing Reveals 2023 Qualifying Top Shops

Each year PF conducts its Top Shops Benchmarking Survey, offering shops a tool to better understand their overall performance in the industry. The program also recognizes shops that meet a set of criteria to qualify as Top Shops.

Highlights from SUR/FIN 2023

Products Finishing offers a recap of some of the topics that were top of mind at the SUR/FIN 2023 finishing industry trade show.

Eliminating No-Value-Added Services Adds Value for Customers

Answering questions about how to best meet customer needs led this Products Finishing Top Shop to stop using trucks to provide value-added services and instead, start offering in-house solutions.

Lori Beckman
Senior Editor, Products Finishing

Powder Coating

Strategic Acquisitions and Versatility Set This Shop Apart

Associated Finishing continues to evolve and grow, stretching its capabilities to meet the needs of its customers.

Electroplating

Top Shop Leader Focuses on Its People as Key to Success

Twin Cities job shop, Avtec, was named a Top Shop for the third time in 2022, due in no small part to its commitment not only to the work it produces but to those who produce it — its employees.

Take the 2023 Top Shops Benchmarking Survey

Participate in the Top Shops Benchmarking Survey to find out if you qualify as a 2023 Products Finishing Top Shop.

Top Shops Benchmarking Survey — FAQs

Products Finishing’s Top Shops Benchmarking Survey is gearing up for 2023. Jan Schafer, director of marketing research for Gardner Intelligence, offers insights for taking the survey and interpreting the results.

Powder Coating

How to Build a Powder Coating Brand

Maui Powder Works, a 2022 Products Finishing Top Shop, shares the story behind how it grew from an island job shop to a recognized voice in the finishing community.

Electroplating

Top Shop Aces Outstanding Customer Service

More than a finishing shop, this anodizing, powder coating and vacuum resin impregnating business goes above and beyond for its customers by being a resource for whatever their finishing needs might demand.

Lori Beckman
Senior Editor, Products Finishing

Powder Coating

Powder Coating Top Shop Focuses on Growth, Expanding Markets

Indiana-based Winona Powder Coating has become one of the leading industrial powder coating providers for the Midwest and continues to emphasize new growth as it looks to the future.

Electroplating

Consistency is Key for this Plating Top Shop

A recurring theme from Products Finishing's recent visit to Varland Plating was a commitment to continuous improvement.

The 2022 Top Shops Benchmarking Results Have Arrived

With hundreds of finishers participating, this year’s benchmarking survey data shows that automation solutions are one of the primary makers of a Top Shop.

An Opportunity for a Second Chance

Perfection Industrial Finishing has a remarkable way of cultivating its workforce: It hires people as they leave the prison system and reenter society.

Electroplating

Embracing Tools for Continuous Improvement

Triplex Plating is a great example of how to use benchmarking, training and employee feedback as tools for continuous improvement.

Powder Coating

Products Finishing Reveals 2022 Liquid and Powder Coating Top Shops

8th annual Top Shops Benchmarking Survey for liquid and powder coating qualifying shops list announced.

Top Shop Savors Past 20 Years of Prosperity

This one-stop finishing shop was rescued by new management in 2004. Since then, its rejuvenation has brought substantial growth and success to the business.

Lori Beckman
Senior Editor, Products Finishing

Electroplating

Episode 20: Jesse Baldwin, Triplex Plating

Jesse Baldwin, chief operating officer for 2022 electroplating and anodizing Top Shop Triplex Plating, discusses the importance of benchmarking and the company’s formula for success.

Electroplating

Solving Unmet Needs of the Medical Device Industry

Pioneer Metal Finishing's Medical Center of Excellence has expanded the company's capacity to serve the critical medical device industry. With ISO 13485 certification in hand, the company is now a key driver in medical innovations.

Electroplating

Products Finishing Unveils 2022 Plating and Anodizing Top Shops

2022 Top Shops for electroplating and anodizing recognized at Products Finishing awards presentation at SUR/FIN in Rosemont, Illinois.

Electrocoating

An Altruistic Growth Strategy Puts People First

Professional Plating emphasizes investing in its team and fostering a supportive environment on the shop floor.

Electroplating

Straightforward Success

2022 Top Shop Valley Plating’s Black Oxide Operation Keeps it Simple

Liquid Coating

Growth Through Collaboration, Year After Year

Micron Metal Finishing, a job shop based in the south suburbs of Chicago, is a veteran of the Top Shops program. The shop’s co-owners walk through the shop’s growth over the years.

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