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Pretreatment of Black Oxide

Having issues achieving a consistent color with the application of black oxide? Start by looking at your pretreatment. Connor Callais of Hubbard-Hall offers advice for troubleshooting your black oxide process.

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Ask The Expert

Addressing Metallic Powder Challenges

Powder coating using metallic powders can be challenging for some applicators. Powder coating expert Rodger Talbert discusses appearance problems that can arise with metallic powders and best practices for getting good results.

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Electrocoating

Finishing Systems Provider Celebrates 150 Years, Looks to Future

From humble beginnings as an Indiana-based tin shop, Koch Finishing Systems has evolved into one of the most trusted finishing equipment providers in the industry.

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Parts Cleaning

Replacing Discontinued Vapor Degreasing Fluids – 3 Things to Consider

What do you do when you learn your trusted line of vapor degreasing cleaning fluids will soon be discontinued? Elizabeth Norwood of MicroCare discusses what you should keep in mind when replacing discontinued vapor degreasing fluids.

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Liquid Coating

Justifying Investments in Automation and Smart Solutions

Corey Sorrento of Carlisle Fluid Technologies discusses the long-term benefits and payoffs for investing in AI-driven technologies for your paint line. 

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The Tragedy of Compounding Compensation

Employee compensation can be a complex matter. Here are a handful of best practices.

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automotive

Robots, AI and Superb BMW Surfaces

There isn’t an automotive paint shop in the world that doesn’t have post-paint inspection and defect processing. But BMW is doing this with levels of technology at a plant in Germany that exceed all other paint shops in the world.

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NASF/AESF Foundation Research Project #121: Development of a Sustainability Metrics System and a Technical Solution Method for Sustainable Metal Finishing - 12th Quarterly Report

This NASF-AESF Foundation research project report covers the twelfth quarter of project work (January-March 2023) at Wayne State University in Detroit.  In this period, our main effort concentrated on documenting technical content that was yet to be reported, including analysis of costs for specific technologies for sustainability improvement.

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NASF/AESF Foundation Research Project #120: Electrochemical Destruction of Perfluorooctanesulfonate in Electroplating Wastewaters - April 2022-March 2023

This NASF-AESF Foundation research project report covers project work from April 2022 to March 2023 at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  The overall objective of this work is to utilize a cost-effective reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) for the removal of PFAS from synthetic electroplating wastewater.  Initial results for the oxidation of PFOA with three different catalysts are discussed.    

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Industry 4.0

Top 5 Areas to Consider Automation of Plating Operations

Automation for finishing operations can lead to improvements in process time, repeatability and consistency of quality. Yet, processes that make sense to explore for these operational efficiencies may not always be readily apparent.  

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Powder Coating

Powder Coating Forms and Surfaces

A peek at an automated powder coating line utilized by outdoor and architectural furniture and fixtures fabricator Forms + Surfaces (Pittsburgh, Pa.). 

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Top Shops

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. 

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