Powder Coating Near Me

An international directory of powder coating

What’s working now on social media in powder coating

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]In our exclusive interview with Danielle Miller, Owner of Miller Media Management, we uncover some of the strategies powder coating companies can use when posting to social media platforms like Instagram & Facebook.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vc1ertl3zQ[/embedyt]

RossKote (Kim Scott): [00:00:00] In this episode of the Powder Coater Podcast, we introduce you to Danielle Miller and welcome her as our podcast, first resident guest. She’s a media strategist who’s well versed in powder coating. Danielle has been featured in HubSpot in Huffington Post, and she’s here to talk about what’s now working in social.

Find out why using the newest features on Instagram will get you noticed and how to build a stellar profile. She explains how Pinterest can lead to website growth and why Facebook wants you to join a group. We’ll also cover how to use partnerships to gain access to more followers and clients, as well as what the must have hashtags are for powder coaters.

It’s all about building marketing strategies for your brand on social. Let’s get ready to level up your powder coater game.[00:01:00]

Welcome back to episode 11. I’m Kim Scott, your host of the Powder Coater Podcast, where you’re listening to influencers and, we’re interviewing and covering trending topics so that powder coaters can effectively learn and grow their business. And today I am super stoked. I’ve got a girl on my side who has been my partner in social media and my group, my go-to guru.

Fortunately she resides right here in Maui, Hawaii. She’s the owner of a top rated social media marketing company here. Her mission is to help entrepreneurs [00:02:00] anchor on results when it comes to marketing their businesses online. And her articles and presentations have been mentioned in HubSpot Social Media Today, and Social Media Examiner.

She’s also a prolific Pinterest producer, so to speak. So welcome aboard, Danielle Miller. How are you today?

Danielle Miller: Hey Kim. Doing great. Super stoked to be on the Powder Coat podcast today and talk about marketing. You know, that’s my, my jam. That’s where I get nerdy.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, and you and I met back in 2015 when I was struggling with social media. I had not ever tried Instagram, didn’t really know much about Facebook in, in terms of business Facebook. And you and I collaborated on a project together for another business I owned at the time and [00:03:00] really kind of sidelined Maui Powder Works. Because we hadn’t really taken ourselves too seriously and you were there for me.

You were there to review my, and give me feedback on my website, my approach to, the market, my message to the market and who my audience was. So I really do thank you and appreciate everything that you’ve done for me, and I know that you have something very valuable to share with our listeners today.

So I’m happy that you’re here.

Danielle Miller: Thanks. Yeah. We have a lot of big changes happening on social media right now and, it made for perfect timing to hop on and let all the powder coaters of the world know about what is the latest and greatest, what’s, what’s working now.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, and I think this perfectly segues with a lot of what our previous podcast was about with, Jace Kaser, from Kaser coating about how he markets his business, and does social media and how [00:04:00] he produces content on whatever platform he’s using. So I’m happy that we’re here to discuss maybe a little bit more in detail about how to. Bring a balance to your social media cuz it can get overwhelming if you don’t know where to start or how to do it.

And also how does that convert into leads and sales and new customers, without having to spend a bazillion dollars just in advertising. And we’re not gonna really address advertising today. We’re gonna talk about just the organic reach that you can do. With some of the things that we’re gonna talk about today, some of the, some of the ideas, that you can implement today in your business, Right?

Danielle Miller: Absolutely. And help you get focused, so you don’t feel overwhelmed and you know, kind of what, what are the new trendy things and what are the tried and true things that are always working?

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. [00:05:00] I think that’s kind of the problem is sometimes you can get really burnt out for those that have experience with instagram and social media and what it’s like out there already. We are gonna address some of the more advanced concepts as well in this podcast. And, you know, for the new guys out there that need to get started, I hope to maybe give you a little bit of encouragement or confidence that you can do this.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Listen Now” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ global_module=”20170″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Listen Now

[button link=”https://link.chtbl.com/powdercoaterpodcast?utm_source=chartable+smart+link” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Click Link[/button]

The voice of custom coating.

Listen to the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

 

Because, you know, if you’ve been on social media, you know, you know how exhausting it can be. And you know, sometimes you just need to take a break and it’s okay to do so. But when you take that break, how do you jump back into it, because as you know, social media changes all the time.

And so that’s what we’ve got you here for is to give us the latest, greatest on Facebook and Instagram. So let’s hop into this.

Danielle Miller: Yes, let’s dive right in. Okay, so, let’s start with Instagram. And the reason I like to start there is cuz if you’re somebody who is overwhelmed with creating content [00:06:00] for every one of your platforms, then you need to be thinking of Instagram as the top platform that you create for and let.

The content you create on Instagram, trickle down to your Facebook and trickle down to your Twitter and trickle down to your Pinterest. So let’s start with Instagram. The latest and greatest on Instagram right now is “Reels”, and that is a contender for TikTok. It’s basically, just the same way that Instagram came in and copied Snapchat and integrated the same features that Snapchat offered right into the Instagram platform.

They’ve now integrated a lot of the same features that were on TikTok, right into Instagram with reels. So reels are, at the moment, still a bit clunky, but what’s happening with them is if you’re participating in reels and creating reels, you are actually getting. A lot of preferential treatment in terms of getting your content featured on that Instagram Explorer tab.

So we talked about, you know, today’s focus really being organic reach, that unpaid [00:07:00] reach, that reach that anybody can get as long as they’re creating quality content. And the the important thing here is that if you can get your content featured in that explorer tab, then you have a very high chance of being introduced to a lot more people for free.

It’s like getting a free ad on Instagram. So the, the short and quick on reels is that they are slightly longer videos that allow you to overlay text on top of your video and also do transitions between your, videos. So you see sometimes people come in like you might be showing a rim, right?

You’re showing a before and after. Is the concept of the reel. And you might show a rim, take a little video of it. Then when it comes out of the processes and it’s completely done, and like right before you’re giving it to the customer, you can now overlay that before picture of the rim, video of the rim. Right with your brand new video of the [00:08:00] rim, and have it transition within this Instagram reels video. And overlay text that says, you know, this process took this long. But the result was amazing. And here’s what the client had to say. And you can fit all of that in as long as you can fit it in, in a short period of time.

 They’re really like the 15 second. Now you can go up to 30 seconds with your reel. Those are really, really well received these days. .

RossKote (Kim Scott): Wow. So that’s something new because I had been guessing about the reels and we kind of took a step back from Instagram and sure enough, right as we were moving into our new shop. That’s right when reels was getting launched. And of course I missed out. So it’s good that we’re talking about this. Of course I’m not on TikTok, but a lot of people are, and this is a great way to kind of learn a little bit more, and maybe you just start with reels.

I don’t know, do you have to build up your profile first? I mean, do we wanna kind of backtrack a little bit or[00:09:00] if someone wanted to get started or just maybe only has a handful of followers right now, do you suggest they go directly into reels or still continue to build up their profile?

Danielle Miller: So I think it’s great to do both simultaneously because, as long as you’re using the appropriate hashtags and whatnot in, in your post, you’re gonna end up getting that organic reach and attracting your followers. And then with the reels, Instagram’s gonna place you in that Instagram Explorer feed if you’re getting enough engagement on your reels and for the followers that you already have.

Let’s say you’ve done the thing where you’ve invited your customers, you’ve invited your friends and family, and you’ve made it up to maybe 250 followers on Instagram. You know, you’re just getting started. Now you can really develop some tight relationships with those 250 people by participating in reels, cuz Instagram is gonna show that content to those people.

You know, it’s like, it’s almost as [00:10:00] if it bypasses the algorithm, right now because it’s a new thing they really want it to take off. So I would say, yeah, you gotta get the basics right. So you have to make sure your Instagram bio is solid. That means you’re not telling people. About what you offer in terms of services and instead you’re telling people why you’re worth following on Instagram.

benco sales b17 ad

And also with your bio that you’ve got your website link in there cuz that’s the only clickable link you’re gonna have on your Instagram account until you have 10,000 followers. and that you’ve taken the initiative to go ahead and become an Instagram business profile so that you get the insights and analytics about your content, because that’s the only way you are gonna know what’s working and what’s not, so that you can focus your efforts on the things that are actually producing results.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think, you’re hitting on some pretty key points about Instagram that I think [00:11:00] commonly get overlooked. From when I’ve looked at other coaters profiles and stuff, is this lack of the profile or, you know, lack of information on the profile. I know we’ve kind of hashtag stuff on our profile.

We’ve kind of put in powder coating as a hashtag within the profile. Is that not valid anymore to do? Do you still recommend that?

Danielle Miller: I still recommend putting, let’s say, one to two relevant hashtags in the profile. Although, honestly, I haven’t seen the return come in. There’s no way to really track if your profile is really being featured under those hashtags.

What I have found is that if somebody tends to follow that hashtag, then you are more likely to show up in the recommended profiles after they follow somebody else who’s been using that hashtag. . So that’s kind of the benefit about putting it in your profile. But keep it short, You know, this isn’t like when you stick those 30 hashtags in [00:12:00] your caption or in your first comment.

This is one or two core hashtags. I recommend one be geographic, right? So for, for us here in Maui, you’re hashtag tagging Maui. If you’re in London, you’re gonna hashtag London, right? And the other one be industry specific. So powder coating. Something very specific to the, your style or aesthetic could also work.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Right, like if you’re just doing break calipers or, certain kinds of rims or, you know, certain kinds of customers that have like, you know, customized, race cars or something like that, that makes sense. Totally, I mean, pander to your audience, really. I mean, who is it that’s coming to your shop and who do you wanna get more business from?

Danielle Miller: Yep, definitely.

 

 

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_shop posts_number=”3″ _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_shop][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott): So do the reels translate into the Facebook feed, or is it just still Instagram stories to Instagrams, to Facebook stories?

Danielle Miller: So Instagram stories to [00:13:00] Facebook stories is the flow. However, with reels, you have the ability when you’re uploading them to send them to your story. So in that way, you can put a clip of your reel into your story and send that also to Facebook.

 And that’s one way to go ahead and reuse that content. And in essence, just think of, with stories for those of you who aren’t using them yet, I wanna encourage you to get ahead of the curve now because the trend is actually to post less and less in your newsfeed and post more and more in stories.

So I’m seeing like the big influencers, the people who are really on top of their Instagram game are posting where they used to post every day in their Instagram newsfeed. They’re now posting. Maybe two or three times a week in their newsfeed and posting every day in their stories. So that’s how much more importance the big players are putting on Instagram stories right now.

And [00:14:00] reels are gonna compliment your stories because you’re able to share them directly to your stories and your feed.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Okay, well, let’s slow this roll down because now I’ve got an issue with that in a sense that it’s harder to track the analytics in stories because the analytics in stories is not as robust as it is in the profile, correct?

Danielle Miller: Oh, very true. Very true. I mean, you, you’re only getting 14 days history, first of all, so that’s tough. And you’re really just seeing about, you know, who tapped forward, who tapped back, But what you will notice is that if you’re more active in stories. Within your insights, those that count of the people who are discovering you and doing profile visits, those numbers change.

Those numbers increase. Especially the profile visits and in direct messages actually. So direct messages and profile visits are gonna increase dramatically as a result of [00:15:00] being more active in stories.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Well, that’s an interesting statistic there, you know, because that’s really where as a powder coater, that’s where you want your people to go, your audience to go.

Definitely start that conversation about rims or how much for this, or how much for that or, and also, you know, click through to my website or my, my landing page or whatever. So that’s actually interesting. So that’s what the statistics, that’s what they’re finding out now.

Danielle Miller: Yeah. That they’re definitely, they have that heightened engagement and the action that you’re taking on them is direct messages. So it instantly moves people from just being a commenter, you know, or just liking your post into starting a private direct message with them right off the bat where you can start talking to them about their needs and answering their questions.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I hadn’t noticed that before, but I’m gonna have to start paying attention to that now because, [00:16:00] you know, I was kinda getting that organically happening just with my profile picks and stuff and my feed. But, that definitely changes the way I’m gonna approach Instagram now.

And what about Facebook’s stories? Does anybody care? Or is that just something that is just another one of those Facebook features that nobody cares about.

Danielle Miller: So the shortened skinny on Facebook stories is that they are, at this point, they’re just so easy to forward your Instagram stories to Facebook, and you’re getting featured at the top of the newsfeed.

So every time someone opens their app, if you’ve posted to your Facebook stories recently, you’re gonna be one of the four or five stories featured at the top, which is an opportunity to get your brand in front of people. So if we’re talking about easy wins. I would call Facebook stories an easy win. It’s not that you’re gonna necessarily get the direct message or get the sale from there, but it’s like if you’ve, if someone’s saying, Hey, I’m gonna give you a [00:17:00] free billboard on the highway, as long as you give me the content that you want me to put on the billboard, would you take it?

Sure. You know, so I think that Facebook stories are an opportunity just to get your brand in front of people again.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, that’s a valid point. All right, let’s move on to Facebook then. You know, we know how difficult it is to have a Facebook business page these days without having to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in advertising every year.

Any changes on that front? I mean I see that there’s user functionality that’s changing for businesses to make it much easier to manage. Other than that, what else has changed in Facebook or is that the change?

Danielle Miller: So, yeah, let’s talk about that because that’s a big one that people might not know about.

In terms of user functionality that’s making it easier for people to manage their Facebook page, go to Google, type in Creator Studio. Facebook Creator Studio is [00:18:00] a free tool offered by Facebook that allows you to preschedule all of your Facebook posts and Instagram. From a desktop computer or they have a kind of wonky app for the phone as well.

And, it’s just really streamlines the process of getting your content posted. Plus it also keeps a record of all of your posts with their reach, their engagement, their comments, that you can quickly look at. So I’ve found that using Creator Studio is a really nice tool for kind of systemizing your social media marketing in terms of like, you’re gonna sit down once a month or once a week and schedule out your posts for Instagram and Facebook so that you know, you don’t have to babysit your Facebook account. You know, you’re just there really to monitor your notifications at that point. And to the other point, yeah, there’s a different change happening.

A lot of business owners are getting super frustrated with the limited organic reach from their Facebook page. I [00:19:00] mean, unless you’re getting shares. It’s really tough to reach people organically. You could have worked your tail off to get a following of a thousand people or 5,000 people and you’re seeing your posts reach, you know, maybe 200, 300 people, out of the thousand that have said, I really wanna see your content.

So the solution, right now, the trending thing, and the thing that I see getting hotter and hotter are Facebook groups. So it’s no longer about having a Facebook business page that puts your business and your brand first. Instead, it’s about being the admin, and being in control of a community of people interested in a topic.

So you create a Facebook group around, you know, well, you could do powder coating in, you know, London, right? So you could have a geographic region and an industry, or you could go specific and be like, you know, amazing rims spotted in [00:20:00] Massachusetts, right? And, and by being the admin of a group where people can feel like they can share content into it and contribute, you’re really building a community.

Which is stronger than just building your own Facebook page, which is all about you.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Become a patron” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ global_module=”20171″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Support the Show

[button link=”https://patron.podbean.com/rosskote” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Click Here[/button]

Get featured content. MPW swag, shoutouts & more.

sponsor the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott): Well, I have to tell you, it’s pretty interesting out there these days with powder coating and Facebook groups. And the reason why they’re exploding right now is because forms are, I don’t wanna say they’re dead, but they’re kind of what people used to go to for information.

But it seems. Powder coating is growing so quickly today that, it seems like the information that can come forward in a group can happen so quickly in order to get the answers to, you know, a post or like a troubleshooting post. Or, “Hey, can you help me out with this?” Or, “What should I try [00:21:00] here? Hey, check out this, project I did”.

It’s kind of an all around for powder coaters to go today, and it seems like every time I look there is a new, powder coating group started. I mean, it’s just changing weekly. I am currently, at the time of this recording, blocked on one of a fast growing powder coating, groups. I just found out. So, primarily because, you know, I think that there are some, sort of approach differences within the group. And, it sort of had been building and maybe coming to a head. And that’s the problem sometimes is you do have someone, that thinks of a group to be a certain way, and then, it maybe changes or people can disagree.

But the thing is that of the reason why I got into Facebook groups. Is not [00:22:00] just to promote my podcast or my content or any of that, it’s just that I found that so many, of the, of the existing groups could turn negative really quickly, because it’s competitive, rather than more helpful and that I felt like there needed to be some kind of a force in there to kind of just answer the questions people had without any kind of slight or agenda or, sales pitch kind of thing. Right. So…

Danielle Miller: Totally.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. I mean, you know, it can vary from group to group about what its content is. Most of the groups that are out there today are just general groups. They don’t really have one slant or the other, but you’ve certainly given us ideas on how to, focus in. Because the whole point of the groups is to be engaging and to get the questions answered or to get the help that you need, quickly.

Because the forums sometimes can take too long to get that answered because you’re based on people logging in or going [00:23:00] there, going to that site. Whereas Facebook is just, the engagement level is just huge.

Danielle Miller: Definitely. And Facebook has been pushing groups like crazy. So you know, if you start your own group, even if you’re starting kind of from scratch, if you can get that first wave of engagement and, and be posting on the regular and getting people to contribute to the discussion, they’ll start recommending your group to everybody who has similar categories and you can get your group to grow pretty fast. I mean, the other thing I wanna tell people about groups is like, you might think like, Oh, I can’t wait to have a group with like 10,000 members in it, or I can’t wait to have a group with a hundred thousand members in it.

Trust me, I’ve been an admin of a group with 10,000 members in it, and it sucks. It’s super hard to manage. So, get yourself to a hundred members, get yourself to 250 members and do a fricking celebratory dance. Because honestly, if you can get [00:24:00] really tight with a hundred or 200 people, think about the referrals that could bring you, right?

Don’t look at the group members as the people who will become your customers. Look at them as people that are going to become your friends and want to refer you business. And that’s gonna take the pressure off for the sale and really do exactly what you said, Kim, which was put your value first.

Put out the priority to answer people’s questions and just be of service first. And from there, the referrals will come in. So, Definitely, I like the idea of smaller, great groups that are, are super targeted in what they wanna talk about.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think that it’s definitely opened up for powder coating, subject matter, and it’s definitely working in a more positive direction.

But, not without, its pitfalls. And I’m sure that we’re working through it. Okay. So what, are there any [00:25:00] other platforms to, that we wanna talk about today that, changes are happening to?

Danielle Miller: Well after that intro, like, how could I not talk about Pinterest?

Right. So, Yeah, I freaking love Pinterest. For those of you who think Pinterest is just for housewives and, and homemakers and people looking up recipes, like you should look at the Pinterest report that most recently came out. They put out Pinterest themselves, put out their holiday guide and the amount of people that are on Pinterest with the intent to shop for things, for products or services or plan big projects like.

Updating their gate at their house or, you know, redoing their car. These things are super popular on Pinterest and all you need to have a really great Pinterest presence is a stream of high quality photos [00:26:00] and videos, which powder coaters are getting all the freaking time. Every single time you guys have a project, you’re getting sick photos of what you’re creating.

Yeah, uploading those to Pinterest, making sure that that image is linking back to your own website and then categorizing your pictures into however you like. You can do it by color, you can do it by, item, like you can have a board just about rims. You can have a board about architectural design.

That method of using Pinterest. Totally helps your SEO. Okay, so for those of you who didn’t realize, a killer Pinterest game is going to improve how you rank on Google, because every time someone’s repinning your images, it’s creating more back links to your website and telling Google your website is full of awesome content. [00:27:00] Pinterest is great.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I think one of the hardest things about Pinterest is just learning the platform and it seemed like they had just done a recent change or update the face of it or to the user experience level where I went there after a couple. I mean, it just, had happened recently.

Everybody, all the platforms are changing their game. Facebook, Instagram. And it just seems like we’re in that time period, or that pattern or that, you know, that time where things change. And I went there and it’s like even the, the app is different, and I just really had to reorient myself around it again.

And I’m like, Wait, this is like, it seemed like it was. Less user-friendly for the business poster or the, you know, and more user-friendly to the, to the pinner, I guess. And it should be, that’s what it’s there for. But, trying to find my analytics or any of that stuff, it was complex.

But I do see some, Instagrammers, [00:28:00] have Pinterest accounts. And they’re succeeding, even if they’re not necessarily selling a product like. A powder or some other related product to powder coating. They’re just posting their Instagram or they’re posting some pictures or a blog post.

And I am seeing some other people doing it pretty well out there too, and are getting that message. So, yeah, I think that’s, that’s a great way to end kind of the update on platforms and social media. It’s a learning curve on Pinterest, just like Instagram and Facebook. But, of the features you’ve mentioned or the benefits.

It’s definitely a playing out in our game for sure. So, talk about partnerships as we switch over, to the next segment here. What are partnerships? What are you talking about?

Danielle Miller: Yeah. Right on. So with partnerships, the important thing to remember is like this discussion is all about organic reach, right?

So we’re not talking about advertising and when, when you’re not dedicating money to an ad budget, you need to find other ways [00:29:00] to quickly reach audiences. And so a partnership could look like you partnering with, let’s say you have some like B2B business, like there’s another business out there that is a client of yours and you wanna talk about their business.

Like that’s a fantastic partnership. And that might look like you’re creating some posts on social media and tagging them in your posts and tagging them in your caption as well. And, Like, take it to stories, right? We talked about Instagram stories. If you are posting a picture of a product and you know, the partners that you work well with, whether it’s like the metal fabricators or it’s somebody else in the whole design process.

Maybe it’s an architect, maybe it’s a designer. You wanna be tagging their accounts in your stories about projects that you guys have worked on. Because it allows them in a single tap to reshare your story to all of their [00:30:00] followers.

So that’s a super easy win for how to get big organic reach without spending ad dollars.

RossKote (Kim Scott): We’ve actually done exactly that in our Instagram and in our blog posts and stuff, and it’s amazing. Especially on a blog post, I’ll look back at the analytics and, and it’s amazing how many people have clicked on, that restaurant website or that welder’s website.

And I can actually add up how many times people have clicked on it. It works and not to get too deep because I know we we’re short on time. But, we will be producing, top 25, ideas that you and I both have proven in powder coating, specific to powder coating.

 And how we can utilize this list of, different post types, for either Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest. And they all work fabulously. But the main takeaway for social [00:31:00] media is that you are educating your client or your audience, whether it’s something like, making an appointment or like how to make an appointment or how to book or how to drop off, rims.

When do you come in? What do I need from you? Are we full service or do you need to take your rims off and bring ’em to us? What’s the difference between someone that you know, doesn’t or does, you know? It also, I think I found that inspiration in inspiring our audience to the potentialities of color or making your rims look new or just giving people that inspiration that they need to like, “Yeah, I can get this done”.

And then also just kind of telling your story is another. Or even just talking about your services, or the backstory behind a project, sort of, you know, just, obsessing about those things. Would you [00:32:00] agree?

Danielle Miller: Oh, fully, these days on social media, it’s all about nailing the story and, and being of service, meaning answering the frequently asked questions.

One of my favorite tips. Kind of collecting those questions is, a lot of us get those questions via email. Like a customer, you know, maybe you’re talking with a customer about a product and either they’ve phoned you or they’ve emailed you and they’ve got a question like, you know, do I need to take my rims off?

Or you guys full service? You do that for me? And keep a little bank of those questions. So whether you are like BCCing another email address, like go into Gmail, create a FAQs for my company@gmail.com and just BCC that email address every time you’re answering a question for a customer that you’ve heard before, that you think other people are gonna have that same question, and all of a sudden you just go to that inbox, that FAQs for my company@gmail.com, inbox and like [00:33:00] it’s full of all of these questions and prewritten answers that you can now copy and paste into your social media content.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I’ve done that. In terms of like, especially sometimes when you have to go through a very lengthy email to explain to a customer; particularly architectural customers, cause they wanna know more about, you know, the durability or longevity of the finish that you’re giving them. And I can’t tell you how many times I have written that same paragraph over and over. And I finally got it straight and realized I should just save this and put it into a blog post, which I ended up doing on our gate post that we just put out on Pinterest about how to get your gate finished. From start to finish, do you get a pre-made gate or do you get a custom fab?

And what, you know, substrate do you use? What finish do you want? How do you do this? And it turned into like a 2000 word,[00:34:00] blog post, which was amazing. I can’t believe I actually had the time to write that thing. The landmark post, happy to have miles stoned it, and I’m ready to put that one off to the side.

So, before we wrap up, let’s talk about one last thing, and that is hashtags, because that’s where I see maybe, a lack of effort, about hashtags. Which hashtag specifically do we use for the powder coater or custom coating? And we can go through, I have a list of them that I use. Let’s talk about hashtags.

Danielle Miller: Yeah, sure. So the quick and dirty on hashtags is number one, you gotta have a strategy. That’s the thing is sometimes I don’t think it’s the lack of effort. I think it’s simply a lack of strategy. People have no idea how to use them. Here’s the, the best tip, simplest tip I can give you for hashtags is stop using hashtags that have over 2 million posts associated with them.

If you’re using hashtag rainbow and it’s got 8 million posts [00:35:00] associated with it. You are wasting one of your 30 hashtags completely wasting it because you will not show up in top posts for that. So all you’re gonna do with a hashtag like that is attract the spam commenters. Instead, what I want you to do is get a little more creative.

Like did you know that when you take a hashtag, let’s say like hashtag. Just powder coating, Right? And then you add an emoji to it that at that point, it’s actually a completely different hashtag. So, You might start to find niche hashtags that have only been used, you know, let’s say 50,000 posts or 20,000 posts, associated with them.

And those hashtags, you actually have a chance of showing up in top posts for them, and that should be your goal. Your goal should be to. Identify the hashtags for which when you use them, your post gets in top post for that hashtag. That should make [00:36:00] up like 20 of your 30 hashtags that you’re using should be ones that you wanna end up in top post for.

So, The other 10 hashtags that you’re using, you’re gonna put a branded hashtag in there. You know, so hashtag Maui Powder Works, or whatever your company is. Make sure you’re branding your hashtag. You’re also gonna do like geographic hashtags. People forget about those all the time. Like definitely for us, you know, it’s hashtag Maui, Hawaii, or it might be a town here or a town where you guys are located.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Use your geographic hashtags. Then I want you to be thinking seasonal. Like what is in season right now? It’s Halloween, 2020, right? Start posting your orange rims and any other products that you’ve done that are black or orange. Like just start posting those pictures right now with hashtag Halloween 2020.

And that’s because right now that’s a trending seasonal hashtag. So those are my core three tips about hashtags.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Oh, you know what? As soon as we post this, [00:37:00] I cannot wait to see and go to Instagram and start to see exactly what you just said. Because I literally can see that sometimes in the groups and on Instagram is the minute we publish something on this podcast, people get right to it cuz that was a brilliant.

And it’s so overlooked, yet so easy, and so like, just like, duh, but you know, we get so wrapped up in the day to day of just even taking a picture or or doing a before and after. It’s really hard just to get that going or get that started. I know that we’ve kind of, slacked off on our Instagram game.

 I’m looking forward to getting kind of right back in. In fact, I have it right on the, my top 10 lists of things to do this week is to get out three new posts and not just rely on a podcast post to put in my Instagram feed, but to really, catch up with all the projects that Ross has done since we [00:38:00] moved into our new shop.

But it’s hard when you get off that horse, that rail line and then you gotta hop back on again. It’s hard to get back into it too once you’ve been off. So it’s, It’s just a challenge, but it’s also okay to just take a break and then listen to a podcast like this where we have an expert in social media.

Get us inspired to do more. Well that’s awesome, Danielle. I think this is a great place to just end, so tell us how do we get on hold of you? What’s your website? All that good.

Danielle Miller: Sure you can find me everywhere at mmm social media. So website mmmsocialmedia.com.

Instagram mmm, social media, Facebook, facebook.com/mmmsocialmedia. Same thing for Pinterest, mmm Social Media. So, and that’s mmm, like, Mm, it tastes really good. So, I can’t wait to see you guys there. And I do a ton of online workshops, so you know, if you guys are looking for some serious [00:39:00] training, that’s pretty dang affordable.

I’m doing livestream workshops at least once a month.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Oh, wow. That’s something new because I’ve been seeing you like locally in public spaces where you have your in class stuff, but I guess because of Covid 19, things have kind of changed up for you.

Danielle Miller: Totally. Yep. We’re doing a lot of online teaching this season.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Well, that’s good because I think your message is, so well put and so easy to grasp. I obviously saw that in a lot of the classes that I attended in, you know, in person where you have completely changed someone’s attitude towards social media. I know we all start up in these classes going, I don’t know why I’m here.

There’s nothing that this pod, you know, that this, Instagram can do for me. I’ve tried, I’ve tried this, I’ve tried that. So, I always walk away with something new and a new understanding if it’s, you know, coming from whatever you’re teaching. So thank you for that. And yes, you [00:40:00] should go check out our website.

I’ll make sure to put a link in the podcast page, so that you can click to it very easily. And we’d like to thank our supportive followers and fellow powder coaters out there. I hope you’ve learned something new about your Instagram game, and your powder coating business. Please, comment, below and, share the podcast, follow us and share it on Facebook groups.

If you have a topic you’d like to discuss, just email us at info@mauipowderworks.com. Aloha!

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”be our guest” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ background_color=”#D6D6D6″ global_module=”20173″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Be Our Next Guest

Do you have a topic to discuss? Product or service? We’re looking for you.  Help us build a community around powder coating.

Contact Us 
Info@Maui Powder Works.com

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.20.2″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Frustrations to Finishing with Jase Kaser

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]In our exclusive interview with Jase Kaser, Owner of Kaser Blastings and Coatings, we uncover some of the everyday frustrations of running a powder coating business and how to overcome them.

We feature an up and coming coater, Jase Kaser. I stumbled upon his blog one day and discovered a fountain of inspiration, like no other. If you’re looking for solace in the life of powder coating this young man lends you a reprieve. He shares pearls of wisdom about the subtleties of coating, from a self-reliant mindset and covers everything from lessons learned in technical problem solving, to managing customers and employee expectations.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I call him the Ralph Waldo Emerson of powder coating. I hope you will call him a friend. Follow along as he melds his life experience with growing his powder coating biz, get ready to level up your powder coater game.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Welcome to episode 10, I’m Kim Scott, your host of the RossKote Powder Coater Podcast. Where we interview influencers in the industry and cover trending topics. So powder coaters can effectively learn and grow their business. Today, we’re reaching out to interview Jase Kaser from Kaser Blasting and Coating he’s out of Nebraska and I was attracted to his story.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0li-E1DqZ3E[/embedyt]

RossKote (Kim Scott): As a powder coater or the wife of a powder coater, because he has an approach on his blog that addresses the subtleties of coating things, the struggles with it, learning the business and addressing his customer’s expectations. And I found it very inspirational. I wanted to bring this podcast to you today because I found it’s almost like he has, it’s a training manual and a journal all in one.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So I’m happy to welcome Jase Kaser to the show. Welcome.

Jase Kaser: Thanks for having me on.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. Now I found you a Tim Pennington. So I’m just going to give a shout out to Tim Pennington of the finishings and coatings online magazine. If you don’t follow Tim, he usually is giving featured focuses and addresses all kinds of coating content in the coatings and finishing from powder coating.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So liquid coatings and beyond. So if you don’t follow Tim or you don’t get his email in your inbox go ahead and head over to his finishing and coating magazine online. Just Google it. And you will find you can sign up to get his newsletter, but recently a Kaser got featured in his magazine and I enjoyed reading it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): What was said in the magazine is just a feature of, they were just featuring you as a coater. But there was one thing that really brought an attention to me was just an introduction to your business and stuff. But I really found something that you said that was really compelling and that you’re grateful for your customers for the positive reviews and stuff.

RossKote (Kim Scott): But later on you said the more transparent and communicative, we are, the more satisfied our customers are likely to be. And that’s the one reason why I wanted to bring you on the show, because I do think that there are barriers to market and communicate. And especially when communicating.

RossKote (Kim Scott): To your customers, the subtleties of powder coating and the struggles that you have as a powder coater to educate customers or shed light on the process. But before we dive deep into that, I want to know how long have you been powder coating in the industry and or how did you get started?

RossKote (Kim Scott): Talk me through it.

Jase Kaser: Okay. My parents started Kaser painting incorporated before I was born back in 1987 and that started as a residential painting company. So it started off with my dad painting houses and then it grew from there and went into more commercial painting. Like new construction, hospitals and schools and office buildings.

Jase Kaser: In 2004, my mom and dad added a blast facility that was just adjacent to the building. If they already. And so they started blasting and then doing, I call it liquid coating. It’s still painting, but it’s just all the painting was done inside of booth. Like high-performance industrial type coatings.

Jase Kaser: And then in 2014 is when we finally started powder coating. And so when I was younger and growing up in high school, I always worked on in the summers, usually in the Kaser painting shop staining and finishing wood.And then I would also work in the blast shop a little bit like in the blast cabinet or if our main blaster was gone or on vacation, I would get in there and try to wrangle the blast hose as a young middle school or high schooler, which can be challenging.

Jase Kaser: Just because it’s, that’s probably the most physically demanding job that we have. And then when we started the powder coating, it was 2014. So I was in college at that time. I had just finished my let’s see, fourth year, it took me five years. I went to the university of Nebraska Lincoln for mechanical engineering.

Jase Kaser: So I’ve always been interested in setting up equipment and how it all works, how it goes together. And so I was interested in helping get all the powder coating stuff set up. So over that summer, between my fourth and fifth year, so going into my senior year of college, we started putting up the powder coating oven and boots.

Jase Kaser: And I sprayed our first part and then we hired one guy to help run it. And then I finished my senior year college. And then it was, I was getting right to the end of my senior year. I was trying to decide if I wanted to go to graduate school or if I wanted to just be done with school and had my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and just go the family business.

Jase Kaser: But it was a tough decision. I was going back and forth because I had done a lot of undergraduate research and engineering. And that particular professor really wanted me to go on and be a grad student and get my master’s and get my PhD. But the powder coating was really taken off and dad really needed my help in the sense that like he was running the Kaser painting.

Jase Kaser: So the commercial, residential painting, also the blast thing, and then the powder coating and he could run all three of them, but it was like he was the limiting factor. You can’t be in three places at once, all day, every day.And so it ultimately, it was my decision, but they really needed help.

Jase Kaser: So I was like, you know what? I have powder coated or putting stuff together. And. I am getting really tired of school. I’m not sure if I will use this master’s or PhD, cause in the long run, I wanted to get into the family business someday and then hopefully take it over. So I decided that a bachelor’s degree was enough and then started helping and jumped right in and help in the powder coating right away on the floor.

Jase Kaser: And then since then it’s grown. So that was 2015 that would’ve been when I started working at full time. That’s been five years ago now, a little over five years. So the summer of 2015 and we’ve grown a lot since then, powder coating has been our fastest growing division ever since that time. And yeah, that’s where we’re at now.

Jase Kaser: Now instead of being on the floor and doing all the work, I’m mostly in the office. Trying to organize all the work and get all of the logistical stuff done. So all of our team members can focus on their craft. Everybody’s really good at what they do. And so it’s my job to get all their obstacles out the way so they can do their job.

Jase Kaser: If our sprayers can come in and spray all day washers can come in and pre-treat all day and not have to worry about equipment breaking and running on the supplies and materials, then they can do their job a lot better. So that’s what I focus on. I’m mostly scheduling an, order being a purchaser and cloning and dealing with customers.

Jase Kaser: I still like to get on the floor when I can, because that’s usually the funest part is when you can get in and work and not have any interruptions and get sweaty and stuff. That’s fun.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. Get lost in the work and just, I always was like that with painting. Let myself work without having any, distractions and stuff like that.

RossKote (Kim Scott): The logistics is hard, it’s not that easy. You have to know it all in order to understand how to logistically set something up. And it sounds like you guys do it all then like liquid and powder you’re out both sides.

Jase Kaser: Correct, yeah. So we have our blast and liquid booth, our indoor there 18 foot wide, 15 foot tall by 50foot long.

Jase Kaser: So we can do like concrete trucks and dump trucks. We do a lot of the 40 foot shipping containers. For construction companies. They don’t have to see those as job trailers. So we have that in one of our, one of our buildings and then our other building is fully powder coating.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And as a family business, are you the only family, the son or are there other siblings.

Jase Kaser: I have a younger brother. He’s not involved in the family business. He is also a mechanical engineer. And he decided to take an engineering job right out of college. It was a really good job. And so he’s still doing that right now. And I don’t know that he has much desire to come into the family business maybe someday.

Jase Kaser: But he really likes the engineering job he has right now. So that’s where he’s at, but yeah, I do have a younger brother.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So do you and your dad, I’m assuming your mom and dad are still seem like they’re young enough, they’re still involved in the business or you’re trying to get more hands-off?

Jase Kaser: So they, I would say, so they still run the Kaser painting side.

Jase Kaser: And then what I say, I run as a Kaser of blasting and coating side. So the Kaser painting as the commercial and residential painting. Like I talked about my dad’s still there every day, there from as I am from five in the morning till five at night. And so he’s doing the day today office running the painting side.

Jase Kaser: And my mom does all of the accounting and bookkeeping for all of the, all of our divisions. So they’re still there every day. They are getting them to the point where they want to slow down a little bit, but as far as the day to daywork and decisions and the blasting of powder coating I pretty much handle all that now.

Jase Kaser: And it’s been interesting. I’ve never, I haven’t thought about it much, but when I reflect on it as I’ve been, I’m surprised how quickly my mom and dad just let me run with it. As I started going but my dad is a very, he’s also very hands-on. He likes to be involved be very particular.

Jase Kaser: But he’s letting me make my own decisions. If we have a disagreement, he’s usually the one that will back down and they’ll just kinda let me learn the hard way. Sometimes other times I’ll step in and say, I know that Idid this before and this way isn’t going to work. But they do a really good job of just letting me go ahead and run with it.

Jase Kaser: And obviously there’s when there’s big, really big decisions to make. I involve them and we all three talk about it and come up with a good decision, but I’ve never felt that I was, I don’t really feel like their son when I’mat work, so when I’m at work, I call them Jay & Sherry. I don’t call it mom and dad.

Jase Kaser: Yeah. I’m just never, it doesn’t feel like it’s mom and dad watching over me at work. It just feels like we’re we have good working relationship if we work alongside each other really well and compliment each other because I look at stuff a lot differently than they do. Cause I’m younger went to engineering school.

Jase Kaser: And I’m interested in technology and every trying to do everything faster and on the cloud and more remote and either technology to help us go faster. And they’re, used to doing this. I don’t necessarily want to say old school, but you know that older way, but they have all the experience too.

Jase Kaser: So there’s, I might have a lot of new ideas that can help, but then when I run them by them, they can give me their input okay, that might work, but don’t forget about this and this, because they’re thinking about things that I don’t think about.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. That you haven’t even, because you don’t have this much experience.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. It makes you think that, what sets Kaser apart from other powder coaters in your area?

Jase Kaser: I would say our. We pay really close attention to detail. And in general, our feed back from our customers is that our quality is usually typically better than other places. And with going along with that, we’re usually more expensive.

Jase Kaser: We hear that as a lot of feedback too, but I would say definitely our quality. We’re very particular about everything that we do and from start to finish. So there’s a lot of intricacies and blasting and coatings that the general customer doesn’t necessarily realize at the surface. And then when it comes to any kind of coating everybody thinks it’s just painting.

Jase Kaser: I can do it myself. I can go to Menards and get an aerosol can and spray paint my car, parts myself, which you can, but it’s a lot different and there’s a lot more to it than people think. When it comes down to it, it’s hard to explain to customers. And that’s what we do. Our blogs started to explain to customers when they’re coming in to drop parts up or get a quote what’s all involved and all the steps that we’re taking to make sure that their coating’s going to look good, but then also have longevity.

Jase Kaser: Cause we’re all the substrates that we coat and the Kaser blasting, coating side, it’s all metal. And so we’re going for corrosion protection is what’s really important. And obviously everybody, when it comes to powder coating, we do a lot of general public stuff, the lawn furniture, car parts, and all kinds of stuff like that.

Jase Kaser: So they’re more looking for the aesthetics, but if it’s going outside, it’s really important to have, make sure the substrates craft properly with the right blast and pretreated properly with the right chemicals or you get either paint or powder coating over the top make sure that they have a good, long lasting finish.

Jase Kaser: So I think all that attention to detail sets us aside from everybody else, but that’s hard to convey to customers really hard.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. I think that’s what I found so compelling about your blog and just for the listeners, you can actually find the blog at Kaser, K-A-S-E-R blasting.com forward slash blog. (kaserblasting.com/blog)

RossKote (Kim Scott): And I feel like when I started to read it it’s a, it’s an ode to powder coating again, if I thought, wow, this could be a training manual for the subtleties of powder coating for both consumers or your customers, and your employees. It’s a journal, it’s a journey.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I don’t know your writing style intrigued me, I don’t know if you’re doing all of the writing. How do you get, how do you get inspired to write? Is it something happens with a customer or an event happens at work, and then that’s the impetus?

Jase Kaser: It’s a combination of things. But if somebody takes the time to go through and read all of our blogs, they might be able to tell that some of them are a little more passionate and ranty than others. So sometimes it’s the frustration that triggers me to record it. Other times. It’s just, I want to help educate.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Listen Now” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ global_module=”20170″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Listen Now

[button link=”https://link.chtbl.com/powdercoaterpodcast?utm_source=chartable+smart+link” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Click Link[/button]

The voice of custom coating.

Listen to the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Jase Kaser: About a certain thing. We’re also, we really try to be active on social media, on all forms and blogging is this one of them that we do on our website. And and I work with we have a couple team members that helped me with that. I can’t take all the credit for writing the blogs. The content is definitely coming from me.
Jase Kaser: And typically the process that we use to do the blogs is I’ll record myself talking. It’s like we’re doing right now. And then I gave that to Chloe. I’ll give her a shout out and she’s the one who watches my videos and then she writes it out. So she’s using all of my words and contexts, but she is a very good writer.

Jase Kaser: And as a good way with words to get some of my long-winded rants down onto the page and actually make sense. So she does a very good job of that. I can’t take credit, for the physical writing, but the. Yeah, the topics just come up. There’s a lot of things that happen on a daily basis. And usually it’s just something that happened in that particular day.

Jase Kaser: I try to just, when I’m thinking about wanting to do any type of social media content, I just try to think about now what happened today, instead of trying to make up something special, that’s usually hard to do. It’s easier to just go off of what’s on my mind, what I’m dealing with, ton of customers calling in and asking the same question in a day or I feel like I’m answering the same thing over and over again, or explaining the same thing over and over. And I just feel like we need to make a blog about.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, that was, that’s pretty much how I got started. Someone suggested to me one day when we first launched our website, well, you need a blog, and I’m like, “oh God, what’s that? Like really?” And it was just quite simply put, what is the most asked question when somebody answers the phone?

RossKote (Kim Scott): What is the question they asked the most and that’s how it all started. And lo and behold, a year later after that blog post was posted, we reached number one in Google. And then it just took off from there. And that’s when I realized we were actually writing to consumer; our consumer based market rather than to other powder coaters or to any other audience, but I think what I like about what you’re doing is.

RossKote (Kim Scott): For those that have thought, “oh, I need a blog too.And, or I need a video log or a YouTube channel or where this and that”. I think what I like best about your approach is it seems simple. You’re just recording yourself. It’s you’re dealing with the day to day. Yes. You have help along the way.

RossKote (Kim Scott): You’ve got people re-crafting or redrafting the message, but it doesn’t have to be, it can be crude. It can be like crude in the sense that it non-processed and still be a great blog or a great blog in addressing to your customer or to your Instagram audience or Facebook, whatever.

RossKote (Kim Scott): It doesn’t have to be complicated. And I guess. The way that they’re writing or the blog that I just don’t feel it, that it’s pressed or not the word. That’s not the word I want to reach, but it’s not a forced thing. You know what I mean? It’s something that happens organically and it can be just that for everybody.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Because as with every job you’re creating content whether it’s a tough job or an easy job, or a shiny, pretty color job or a difficult customer job, or any of the different, that’s the beauty of powder coating is that you’re constantly creating content to write about because with every new project is content.

Jase Kaser: Yes. And the reality of the situation is, and I’m sure you can at test to this as like we’re in a small business. I have a lot of responsibilities that I have to attend to, to keep the business running. So I don’t really have time to sit there and think of these very intricate plans about what we’re going to do on social media and what I need to write a blog about.

Jase Kaser: So it just happens on the fly because I just simply don’t have that much time to dedicate to a long drawn out strategy for it. It’s just, whatever’s popped into my mind that’s all I have time to go with. So I just go with it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And, we talked earlier about using software technology and apps. Can you break down for us? Are you using specific apps to help you, or are you just going straight to the platforms themselves to, maybe dive a little deeper in there? Is there a specific app you’re using?

Jase Kaser: Particularly? It’s, we use a lot of spreadsheets, so like Excel and Google sheets.

Jase Kaser: We just like to keep track of what we’re doing and then scheduling, you could also do that, any type of spreadsheet program. We liked the little sheets because that’s, on the internet and on the cloud. So you can access it from multiple places. You can access it from a phone or a tablet or a computer and in the powder shop with computer in my office instead of having to be at one particular place.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I agree. We use Google a lot too. But when you’re recording, what are you recording just on your phone? Or how does that work out?

Jase Kaser: Oh, for content. Yeah, I just record them. I’m just using my phone.I’ve tried to, they have those kind of like selfie stick things. And also, I think it’s called a gimbal it’ll self balance, the phone, and I’ve used that a little bit, but it boils down to time.

Jase Kaser: So the people that helped me on social media they liked that and they want me to use it because it balances the phone better and get better video. And man, I got, it takes me 30 minutes to get that thing working. I don’t have that. So I’m just going to go with my phone. If I have a full day, like a Saturday or something that I can dedicate to it, then I’ll get out some tripod and set some stuff up and get the lighting.

Jase Kaser: But otherwise now I’m just using my cell phone. Now a days I’m used to it because I grew up with cell phones, but they can do almost everything. It’s basically like a computer in your pocket. So if you have a pretty new phone, you can pretty much take pictures, video record yourself, and all that content is good to put on social media.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I’ve struggled with the gimbal thing too. Maybe someday, it’s just one more thing to add to my list of many things. Yeah, I encourage everybody to check out some of the titles from your blog. And you’re putting out quite a bit of content.

RossKote (Kim Scott): You’ve put out something at least once or twice a week here, so you’ve got lots of content to read through and I like it because, you could be struggling with a project as a powder coater and reading your stories.Here’s one “three rules of training”. I thought that was very valuable.

RossKote (Kim Scott): That’s the most recent one that you’ve put up and, you’re a general manager at Kaser and I’m imagining you make it sound so easy, but I know it probably took you a little while to figure this stuff out. And here you are just right here. Super easy. You’ve got three different points that you’re using that other powder coaters could read to figure out how to work through some of their training issues as well.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Like, there’s never enough over explaining, figuring out the progression of a job and investing in your time wisely and stuff. And I think that’s, this is the valuable stuff that I think powder coaters should be reading on a regular basis and stuff, does it seem to help you to get it out?benco sales b17 ad

Jase Kaser: All of that’s the stuff like that last article that we wrote, that’s a little more, I would say in depth or more process oriented and less about like coating a part or something. That’s just learned, I’ve learned that over time. I definitely managed differently. I think we have a blog about pretty recently.

Jase Kaser: I don’t like it’s that one, but it’s one right for that, about how, when I first started I thought the best way to get my point across was yelling and intimidating. And I learned pretty quickly that, that wasn’t so it’s been a dry trial now really. And so throughout the years, we’ve and I know for me to say that you’re probably thinking, yeah, but you’re still super young, it’s been five years for me, so that’s a big portion of my life.

Jase Kaser: And that’s just what we’ve learned. We finally, I’ve gotten to a point where the team members that we have now have been there for a while.We used to have pretty high turnover and we still do. It seems like when you’re trying to fill a new position. You just gotta be prepared, the closer that you can keep yourself to reality and not get too high and not get too low when things are going bad, then it’s, it goes a little bit better.

Jase Kaser: So when it comes to training and hiring to try to just be realistic.And instead of, when you’re really busy and you’re hiring people, you can be really, you can get frustrated really easy, or really helps that someone’s going todo really good because he got a big project coming up and then you need a couple more, really good people that know exactly what they’re doing and have experienced.

Jase Kaser: But a lot of the time, even if they do have experience, they’re not going to do it exactly the way it, your particular team does it. Everybody has their own hands in the house. So that’s where we came up with the over explaining because when you have someone that you feel like has experienced and you just assume that they know.

Jase Kaser: Most of that, and it didn’t really come across in the article to start, but I can put it better now that we’re doing an interview in words, is that a lot of my background mechanical background comes from, I used to race when I was younger. So when I was nine years old, I started riding dirt track racing all the way until I was 25.

Jase Kaser: But it’s just recently that we stopped doing that. So I’m really mechanically inclined and used to whatever tools called and what’s the size of bolts are and this looking at something and telling if that’s gonna hold or if that’s going to break or if that’s going to work or not just because I’ve been around mechanical stuff my whole life ever sinceI was little.

Jase Kaser: And so we have some team members that come in that maybe have had a coating experience, or maybe don’t. But they, I take for granted that they don’t necessarily have that background if they haven’t used all the tools I have, they haven’t been around all the mechanical stuff I have. In the beginning, I used to not really explain that stuff and just assumed, like they knew exactly what I was talking about.

Jase Kaser: Or, if you go to hang a really heavy thing, really heavy part and you’re hanging it with a forklift because it’s too heavy for two or three people lift it. You have to get the forklift under it. It’s this natural for me to say, Hey, we’re going to need some like really big hooks, probably big chain to hang this because nobody can lift it, little tiny hooks.

Jase Kaser: Aren’t going to hold, it’s going to fall. And if someone doesn’t have experience with mechanical type stuff and being around, things like that, they just, they simply don’t know. That’s not because it’s no fault to them. They just don’t have experience with it. And so those are the little things that sometimes seem obvious to some people because of their experience.

Jase Kaser: And then, but you still got to train on it. And I, we found that it’s easier to over explain and keep saying the same thing and keep explaining stuff and let the person roll their eyes at you and be like, okay. Yeah, I know you told me, he told me, I know that. Of course, I know that it’s better to do that than assume they know something and then something goes wrong or more importantly, like someone gets hurt because the safety thing that someone’s doesn’t know.Yeah.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I think it’s easy. I think most people think I’ve told you once, how many more times do I have to tell you? But not everybody. My, I have a daughter that has a learning issue and, it did take multiple times, but once she got it in her head, it was in there for good, it was just this over coming this learning curve. And then once she learned the task or whatever, It was just, it never leaves it. And it is hard to adapt to your training to multiple levels. And one thing that was said in this blog called “Busting the Myth of Self-Direction” the intensity level ranges from moderate flurry to fog of war.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I love that because that’s exactly what happens in a very busy powder coating shop. It can, it’s this hurry up and wait. And then once it’s in the oven, then you’re sitting there waiting for the timer to ding, kind of thing. How do you keep your people busy during that slow time?

RossKote (Kim Scott): Do they, what are some strategies there? Because I’m sure a lot of powder coaters do have this busy and then hurry up and wait. And they, what do they do with their customer?

Jase Kaser: So we were lucky enough that we have a big enough shop and we have enough equipment now that we try to keep a pretty good flow go on. And we have enough people that someone can be hanging. Someone can be in the wash bay, pre-treating someone could be spraying and then someone can be packing. And so as long as the flow is going pretty well and I do a good enough job at scheduling it, it usually can flow out and obviously you have to have enough work to be able to do that.

Jase Kaser: But if you have enough parts there, usually there’s always something for someone to be doing. We try to keep someone spraying all day long. And we usually do a good job of that. And so usually there’s, there’s always parts in the oven. There’s always parts cooling down and there’s parts that are cold enough that can actually be being packaged.

Jase Kaser: As those are being packaged and carts are being opened up, then we just hang the next job and it just keeps going in the assembly line. It doesn’t always work that smooth. The hardest probably most stressful job at across all three of our divisions is running the shop floor in the powder coating shop. Just because you have to be thinking two or three steps ahead of everybody because you’re right. All of a sudden somebody’s okay, I’m done with that. What do you want me to do now? And that it does happen, or we call it the flow. So how things are flowing through the shop, it gets backed up or messed up or turned around.

Jase Kaser: And now you’re waiting, there is stuff in the oven and there’s no carts to pack. And so now you’re sitting there waiting. We just try to keep everybody busy as best we can. And if you have if you’re super busy, you have plenty of work. Usually it’s not an issue. You can start prepping the next thing or something like that, but sometimes it does get challenging.

 

 

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_shop posts_number=”3″ _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_shop][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Jase Kaser: I spent a lot of time scheduling, normally I’ll schedule for based on due date when the customers need it. And then I looked back and grouped by color, which most power coaters do. And then I’ll look through to try to see okay, how is this actually going to flow through our shop?Are we going to have, we can’t spray three things in a row that take three hours each to spray because obviously if we’re going to set up a guy in there spraying on one thing for three hours, eventually everything’s going to come to a standstill because, so you have to be careful that, and sometimes it just happens to get a lot of big stuff and you have to spray a lot of big stuff and it’s out on the shop floor slows down a little bit, but then all of a sudden, the next day, it’s, it’s usually, it’s funny because sometimes.
Jase Kaser: The mood on the shop floor is like kickback and relaxed a little bit. It doesn’t happen much, but when the flow gets backed up it will. And then it’s everybody thinks oh, we’re ahead finally. And we’re doing all right. And then the next by middle of the next day, it’s a war zone over there and trying to, now that you can’t get enough help on the shop floor to get that package and hung back up. So it just flips back and forth. It can be stressful, but once, it seems like the newer team members get really stressed out by it. After you’ve been there for a while, you just get used to it. You learn to appreciate the days where it gets a little bit slower because the next eight days are probably going to be super, super busy and fast. And you’re not gonna have time to sit down.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. I would agree that’s probably more of an owner’s perspective too. Like when you’re an owner or you’re a single powder-coater with maybe one or two employee, like you’re used to that just because that’s your business. But how do you convey that to make sure that you’re, that you have conveyed that thinking through your team as well. And I liked this one called scheduling backward instead of forward. And I think you were that’s what you were talking about earlier, right?

RossKote (Kim Scott): Is you have to think about the end result first before you can figure out all the different steps in between to make that deadline.

Jase Kaser: Yeah. So I’ll answer the one about our team members, trying to communicate with that with them. That, so recently we transferred a new guy into running our powder coating shop floor. The one guy that had run it has ran it since we started, he was the first person we hired. And we moved him to more of a production manager across both the blasting and powder coating shop. So he’s helping me more everywhere now, instead of just on the powder coating shop floor, as far as like overseeing things. And we’ve been training this, the other guy that’s learning how tor un the floor in the powder coating shop. He’s been with us for a couple of years. And it was really good at all the tasks hanging, backing, sprang washing. So he’s very well-versed and all that. But it was a learning curve when he first started, having to think about the schedule and look farther forward, look farther down the schedule and really his job.

Jase Kaser: Now it’s kinda think about what everybody else is doing and the powder coating shop, instead of worrying about doing the physical. And it was a learning curve after the first week, he was like, wow, I didn’t realize how much thinking that you guys do on a daily basis, thinking ahead, not thinking about what we’re actually doing today. So it’s just, it’s a lot of talking in the mornings before we get started and explain “Hey, this is how I would do this. Don’t forget about this”. If something gets backed up or something, think about a few things that can be a safety valve for you. So somebody can remember, we have this rework that we just set off the side last week, but we still got to get all that re-sanded.

Jase Kaser: So that could be something somebody can do. So to communicate it to the team it’s difficult in, they have to learn by trial and error a little bit so they’re not until they started making the mistakes themselves and realize oh, that’s why we don’t like to do don’t want to do it in that. Know, you can tell him that as much as you want, but until they experience it themselves and they really get it. And then the scheduling and backwards to forwards. So that’s, that kind of comes from my frustration of that. And I think every, you probably can attest to this and anybody in the coating or finishing industry can, is that we’re the last people in the manufacturing chain typically.

Jase Kaser: And we’re the ones that are responsible for making the parts look nice and last a long time looking nice. Yet we get the littlest amount of time to do it typically because we’re, we’re right at the very end. So we’re the last thing before the due date before the customer gets it. And so all of the mess up and extra days have already been used up by the time it got by the time it gets to us typically, or any coater it’s already past due. So you can’t get it out fast enough. And I, that frustrates me cause we have to, it has to be perfect when it leaves our shop because that’s what everybody sees right away.

Jase Kaser: The customer’s going to, if there’s a nik in the finish, are frustrated with whatever it is, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean that the part’s not functional anymore. If they’re just frustrated that there’s a scuff or you missed the weld or you missed this corner. And so my proposal and line of thinking on that is like, why don’t we schedule backwards, not forwards?

Jase Kaser: Why does it that customers go to a manual metal manufacturing place with an idea and they make the prints up and they come up with what they think it’s going to cost and how long it’s gonna take. And then, typically metal companies are contacts, quoting the powder, coating for their customers. Metal companies will ask me, Hey, can you close this? And I do. And so they add that into their quote to their customer. And my thought is like, and it’s totally different. It would be first to do that, but why doesn’t the end customer come to the powder coater first and say, Hey, this is what I want it to look like in the end.

Jase Kaser: And this is what I want, and this is my due date. So then as a coater, you’re like, okay, this is how much time we need for coating. And we start working backwards. And then I contact the metal fabrication company that we already do business with. It’s just normally they contact me to help, but nowI’m contacting them and saying, Hey, here’s a print that my customer wants. This may, this is when I need you to have it done by so I can get it powder-coated and get it to my customer, will that work? And would you have the right material? And can you get that done? And I feel like scheduling that way. You would have a better chance to hit a few days.

Jase Kaser: You’d still have difficulties, but and some of that thinking comes from my engineering background. I like building things and I’m familiar with metal manufacturing. So I feel like I could help the customer if they had questions. And maybe some power coaters don’t feel like they can do that. But I just think it would be interesting to flip it around and schedule that way. Instead of, I feel like the end customer would be happier.Cause it always seems like then customer is frustrated that it’s past due, so yeah.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I, 100% agree with you on those two valid points, because again, it just comes down to educating the customer and growing powder coating and the powder coating experience, the powder coating marketplace.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think that will be the future because people will come to you for their personal projects and stuff, too. It is always, it is frustrating. I know that we’ve been in that same situation where we’re at the end and there’s, it’s just nothing but pressure, a pressure cooker situation to bring it to fruition for the end result. And then, to get back and forth between customers and the welder or the producer or whatever, I don’t know, contractor, it, it just, it can get kind of mucky. And I don’t, we’ve, I don’t know what the answer is at this moment. I guess the only future I see is just training up the customer or the consumer market that you can go to your powder coater.

RossKote (Kim Scott): First I just wrote a blog post on how to How to paint or how to coat your gate. And it’s a landmark posts, so it’s something that could be featured in an online magazine or architectural magazine, somehow it, where it just breaks it down for, if you were a homeowner what substrate do you pick? What codings do you pick? What, let me tell you about this, what is sandblasting? Why do you need it? I just walked people through, choosing a color, choosing a, a contractor, that sort of thing. And it, it really, you have to break it out, but how do you share it with everybody? That’s the key, like how do you get that out? How does your, how does the consumer find your website? That would solve a lot of problems.

Jase Kaser: Yeah, it would. And that’s why we try to post as much content as we can. Like he said we post blogs pretty regularly, but we’re, that was probably where we post the least on our website on the blog. So we post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, pretty much every single day, Twitter and Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn, and we’re posting every day on and trying to as much as possible to keep the content fresh. And I always want to post more. And the people that work with me on all of our content. Always are like, yeah, but then that means you have to make more content, Jase. I’m like, yeah, I know. And I know I don’t have time, but I still want to post more. So just keep bugging me until I get you enough content post more because the more that we post, the more that it helps educate people. And then I just, hopefully in the end it makes our job easier.

Jase Kaser: And that article that Tim wrote on Tim found us because we post on a LinkedIn. So we, I think we shared like an, a blog from our website onLinkedIn, but he read that and then reached out to that, Hey, can I use that blog on my website? And this just put a link to our website in there if you could, and then a few weeks later than he asked to this, write up an article on it. So if we wouldn’t have been making any kind of content and we wouldn’t have been posted on weekends, him would have never found. So it definitely works. It takes a lot of effort and you have to put a lot of effort into it. We’ve been posting on social media for three years now, and that was the first time that someone wanted to write a magazine article on us.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, the coating’s world is huge. Everybody knows that and is, it can be noisy too. So it’s hard to tease out and find these people like you that are doing something a little trend-setting or a little different, or a little I get this as I, navigate the coatings world I find that from an industrial perspective, many of the people that work in coatings, whether they’re middle managers are pencil pushers or phone answers or.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Coders coating, liquid or powder. It’s not much happens. It’s a very slow moving animal, right? I think actually powder coatings move a little faster than just liquid coatings, because I think liquid coatings is just gigantic. We just realized that a couple of weeks ago, when we interviewed Kevin Coursin from PCI and all the, how big they found the liquid market to be and the decorator market to be, it’s just gigantic.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Become a patron” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”20171″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Support the Show

[button link=”https://patron.podbean.com/rosskote” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Click Here[/button]

Get featured content. MPW swag, shoutouts & more.

sponsor the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott): But. Just because it’s big doesn’t mean it moves very fast. So it tends to be on the boring side powder coatings in general, if you’re just doing a single coat color application, that’s just single coat color application. It’s I think where the thing, the movement is happening is a lot of the creative side, whether it’s blog posts or new finishes or new application styles, or artistic level kind of stuff, that’s where there’s a lot of movement, but it’s hard when you’re in such a big industry to when you’re doing something exciting where new or refreshing, it gets hard to get people’s attention to it just because they’re, so it’s such a big place.
Jase Kaser: Right. And there’s kind of two sides of it. And so the, like Chloe, I said she helps. And now we have a new.Team member helping with social media there. They both really like the bright colors and the general public stuff that we do, or a bird bath, a lot more things like that, because those are cool. Look at people like, see those. So there’s, that’s the one side of like the artistic side, like he said, and people latch onto that then like seeing more of that. And I’m more on the side. Like I like the technical sides. So I like, why does pre-treatment work? What chemistries work better than others?And so there’s two different types of consumers of of like content or just two different, I think two different, mainly two different types of people in the coating industry. There’s the ones that are really focused on the aesthetic finishes. And those are usually the paint and pattern company, and the sales people and everybody in that world. And then there’s the surface prep guys. And I would include pretreatment with a surface prep where that’s more like nitty-gritty to underneath the coating, so nobody sees it. But it’s still really important, probably the most important part.

Jase Kaser: And, but that’s how it gets a lot more technical. And I think I liked that sidebar just because I’ve, I’ve always been hands-on and then my mechanical engineering, I understand to a degree. I understand a lot of what’s happening down on that, on a microscopic level with the chemistries and surface profiles and things like that. So I think that’s why I liked that. The other thing that I’m most familiar with. And so I liked to talk about those and take pictures of that and make content on that. Cause I think that’s the most important, one of the most important parts. And I like to communicate that to people because you don’t see that part it’s. But then, like I said, there’s the other side that everybody likes to see the nice, cool looking finish. And I liked that too, but we are more industrial than we are the general public side. And so most of what we do is industrial stuff. So if all we did was take pictures of what we were coding for one is a lot of the same thing over and over again.

Jase Kaser: Or every month we do a run up the same thing and it’s bland stuff, it’s gray and black and stuff like that. And every once in a while we have cool pieces that come through. So we, that’s why our content, I feel like it’s a pretty good mix of both. Sometimes it leans one way or the other, and depends on what platform we’re on, of what we post. And like Instagram. That’s really picturing. So you don’t easily do many blogs and stuff there but he did do bright colors and stuff.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. And you can take a portion of whatever said in the blog and use it as the script for, or the message for your Instagram. I think if you could deconstruct a blog post or a blog post, you could literally, use different portions in each piece could be optimized for whatever the platform is. LinkedIn has its own kind of, what are people wanting from you there? And Instagram is more story type telling. But yeah I like how you are able to grasp and do well with the different kinds of platforms because they are so different. Most of the custom coaters that focus in on automotive parts, of course they thrive in the Instagram realm. But when you are doing other types of jobs, how do you balance that? And you guys do seem to do it pretty well, and you highlight those personal projects that, you can maximize shock and awe on Instagram when you can, and then, and then utilize the LinkedIn for more technical stuff too. It seems it’s not an easy job to do but you seem to doit very well. And I but do you now just to wrap things up, what, is there anything you’d like to see change in the industry, or do you see any trends changing in the industry coming this way?

Jase Kaser: I think that just from a reading I’ve been doing, it seems like that we will be powder coating gun metal, substrates. There’s people that do it now, but it’s not very widespread. I think that’ll eventually someday in the next five to 10 years, it’ll become pretty common that, when someone does bring in their wooden cabinet or something, that’s brand new, we’ll be able to powder coat it. So I think that’s like a technological advance that’s coming. That’ll be, it’ll be interesting. I’m excited for that. I think it’s a little ways off for for a job shop like us to do this because it’ll probably start a big factory scale first.But and then the other thing is just, I wish there were more technical reps available just in all of the things. Exactly these lasting painting and powder coating. There’s always a lot of sales reps. And you have your favorite ones that you’d like to talk to and you have the ones that you wish that they didn’t show up because they were bothering you. I’m sure everybody has their favorites and the ones they don’t like, but it usually seems like when you really have a technical question, whether it be about painting powder coating or blasting, if you’re lucky enough, you’ve met one person along the way, one rep along the way that kind of knows everything pretty good.

Jase Kaser: And so you can call them and ask them and they can be pointed in the right direction, but all your other reps, usually for whatever reason. And they’re like I’m not sure I’m going to have to call the lab or something. And I think that just comes from their sales reps. They’re not tactical reps. So I wish that there was more tactical reps in the industry. I wish it was a little more even seems like there was a lot of, a lot more sales reps than there are technical. And it’s probably hard to find people that want to be a technical rep. They’re usually actually working in production company, but I don’t know if you found that the same, but sometimes it’s hard when you’re having a problem that it’s really hard to find someone to call to even just get a little bit by pretty much, a lot of times I feel like it messed up, but we’re just going to have to try something else and figure it out ourselves, which is fine. But sometimes it’d be nice to have a wealth of information just to call on and say “Hey, we tried this three or four times. It’s not working. Do you have any ideas?”

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think I agree with you. I think we’re in Hawaii, so getting anybody to come out here is just nearly impossible.

RossKote (Kim Scott): We’re lucky if we get a phone call or something or two from people it’s happening now more for us email wise and people are finding the site just in terms of searches and stuff like that. So they’re finding out about what we’re doing and they’ll reach out to us that way. But I agree with you.Yeah. It’s something, maybe you’re just in a centrally located area, so it’s easy for people to drive up and, or contact you or, you’re in a hub area and stuff. I think that I think that there, there are tech people out there that could answer those questions for you, but they’re more in the consulting realm rather than working for the actual company that’s providing the equipment or the, the supplier that’s providing the powder or the liquid or whatever, the materials yeah.

RossKote (Kim Scott): They probably are more focused on sales and tech, but yeah it’s nice to know if that a company a large company that you’re  buying equipment from has, were powder is, has that. Has that tech person you can goto. Most of it, of the time that we’ve called tech people, it’s just plausible deniability.You did it wrong, okay. How did I do it wrong? Oh, you just did it wrong. Follow the directions on the application guide. Yes I did the whole time and it came out wrong, like it’s a, it can be frustrating. Cause it seems like even when you do find a tech person it just, they don’t want to, they don’t want to admit that their product failed.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott):That’s been our biggest frustration, especially when we’ve got, when we’ve got a customer requesting a specific color happened to a certain year this year and it didn’t matter what we did or how we did it. It was wrong. And it’s because they’re there throughout, they probably throughout a powder. Not quite ready for public use, and it’s just, maybe they were driven to, that’s not every powder supplier, but it just, when it rarely does happen, you get frustrated because you feel like I’m buying all this from you and yet you’re not supporting me or trying to help me in any way.
Jase Kaser: You guys been in with you guys being in Hawaii, are there a powder coating manufacturers there, or when you go to order your powder is it a pretty long wait time when you want to get a box of powder ordered in like shipping lines?

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. I mean everything about our businesses based off shipping in terms of what powders we supply, what you know, who we choose and why we choose it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Shipping and humidity. Pretty much like rules our life and it fits equipment

Jase Kaser: In the contiguous 48. It seems like if we run out of powder quick or fast, or we forgot to order something, usually like we’re, since we’re in the middle of the United States, we’re like a two day shift point for pretty much every where or just regular ground, or we could just overnight it in.

Jase Kaser: But for you guys, if you accidentally ran out of a powder or something happened or a box on a box was bad and you had to get that same seller quickly, what is it like for it’s like the capacity for days or…

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, it’s hell because you almost have to anticipate that will happen when you’re in a job, especially something like a huge Gate or railing or architectural level.

RossKote (Kim Scott): It’s it’s almost a paranoia that happens with us because.If we run out, earlier you were saying, because we’re finishers, it’s all on us to perform at the very end, despite all the failings of the, and delays of a huge job.You still have to bring that in on a deadline.

RossKote (Kim Scott): It’s there’s no, they’re not going to give you any extra days because because they brought it in five days late, kind of thing. So basically we have to almost anticipate over ordering powder or be ready to jump on it. If we know something’s going to fall short or read, be redone or something, who knows what the problem is, it’s almost like you have to be paranoid about it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And just go ahead and, and then there is, okay, so say it’s just basic gloss black, even, I have to go to three or four different suppliers and then figure out is it faster to ship USPS from Tennessee or UPS fromIllinois or California, and there’s, it’s different for every supplier and it’s different for every shipping method.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So based on where it’s at and where it’s crazy, like some of the stuff I’ve had to do, I’ve had to order stuff. It came in faster fromTennessee than it did from California. Like in you wouldn’t, you’re like what, so yeah. Mastering logistics in Hawaii is a definite skill you have to have for running any kind of business here.

RossKote (Kim Scott): The other thing is just the cost of equipment. Whatever, usually when you’re in, the regular. Contiguous states it is always usually free shipping or very low price shipping, and it can arrive within a day or two or five days at the most it’s cost as just as much in shipping as it does for the equipment itself.

RossKote (Kim Scott): It’s absolutely crazy. I’ll never forget back in 2004, we ordered our, we were painters back then. We weren’t even, we were just getting started with powder coating and learning about it, but we ordered our open face spray booth cost 2,500 and it costs 2,500 to ship it. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

Jase Kaser: Yeah. There’s, it’s hard enough to keep up with project deadlines and customers. And then when you have that logistical wrinkle and mean that would make them a lot more difficult. I can’t imagine if we, cause I always if I have to overnight something I will I don’t want to, because it costs a lot, it cost more to ship powder than it does for the material itself, but at least we have that option, but yeah, I can definitely understand what you’re saying, where if you’ve got a big project, you’re just going to, over-order just in case we have to rework half of this, we’d better get the extra powder because I don’t have any leeway on fortunately.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Our customers are pretty understanding when it comes to charging them for powder or, including powder or, like making sure that we cover our, cover our ass on the powder expense, including shipping.

RossKote (Kim Scott): We just did a, we’re doing a project for Oprah Winfrey has been building our house here for fricken forever. I think going on three years now, and of course it’s the typical, like they, the spec calls for this or whatever, and then the designer doesn’t like it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So then you’re having to redo it and stuff like that. But generally speaking, like if we order powder for a job like that, we have maybe a minimum order, if, even if it’s just a small thing, but they’ll buy the powder. And we’ll try to use as much as we can have it for that job, but then, pretty much it just stays here and we reuse it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I haven’t really found any kind of way to reclaim that money back or we try to. If it then becomes an in-stock powder for us, I guess as special order, if we don’t have, if we have unused portions of it or pounds of it, and then we’ll make it an in-stock color until we have no longer an in-stock color, kind of thing. Yeah.

 
RossKote (Kim Scott): Oh, that’s good do sell that separately? I think we can order some of that today. Yeah. Okay. We missed I know that in terms of wha twe’ve used in, after burns or whatever is like the silver cream it’s like a cream that has silver nitrate in it, I guess.
 
RossKote (Kim Scott): I don’t know if it’s, I’m saying nitrate, but it does have silver in it. So that actually helps heal the skin. I ended up with a second degree burn on my hand many years ago, not from stripping. Was pouring hot water. It was one of those kitchen disasters.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”be our guest” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ background_color=”#D6D6D6″ global_module=”20173″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Be Our Next Guest

Do you have a topic to discuss? Product or service? We’re looking for you.  Help us build a community around powder coating.

Contact Us 
Info@Maui Powder Works.com

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Jase Kaser: All right. We do the same thing for different reasons, I think. But yeah we have pretty much a set stock color that we have the samples hanging on the wall. And then if someone’s oh, I don’t like any of those and I want to special order something. I’m like, okay, that’s fine.

Jase Kaser: But we buy usually 50 pounds box minimum. So you want to do that. You’re gonna have to pay for the whole box to powder. And some people are like, no problem. I’ll do that. And then that’s cost way too much. I’ll just take one of your stock colors.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think one of the frustrations about customers own merchandise, COM I call it COM.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Like the incident we had earlier this year, where we had a difficulty, it needed a tech rep for for the powder supplier, because we had problems with the application. Is I don’t think we will ever do that again. I get that, they bought their own, special, transparent, or illusion colored from XYZ company or whatever.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I appreciate that. That’s good for you. But I don’t knowhow old you’ve been sitting on that powder. I don’t know where you bought it from. You could have bought it on eBay from a second hand seller, a third hand seller. There’s just too many variables and I just kinda had to put it into it because there’s just too many pitfalls with that, so you pretty much have to buy powder from us.

Jase Kaser: Yeah we don’t let anybody use their own. Cause just like what you said, you don’t know how long it’s been sitting there. And usually they don’t have the data sheets with us and we try to have an SDS for everything on file just in case. And yeah, we usually don’t let people bring in their own patterns because a lot of the times, even if it’s we had one not too long ago, they brought in a really low gloss black and that’s the one they wanted. And I was like, oh, we just, we don’t spray other people’s powders.We just, we use our own, we have our own flat black, it’s going to match just saying oh, I just really want you to use ours. And I understand it looks like it’s the exact same color. So you think we might as well just use yours, but it could spray out totally differently.

Jase Kaser: For some reason it might not like, pretreatment we put underneath it. And we just know that our black blacks that hold it up here. So it is the same color. We know how we need a process, ours, what don’t fix this. We need to put it on. And what spray settings maybe. We can just give you a better product if we use what we know as long as it, and if it’s going to look the same, we’d rather just use ours.

Jase Kaser: And that’s how we try to.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, you get used to it, it’s consistency, you know how to, it’s. Yeah. You just know what you can stand behind. And I don’t know what it is about like these celebrities on Maui. I don’t know. It just seemed like all the incidents has. We have, we have this thing, we just did some stuff for Mick Fleetwood, from Fleetwood Mac.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yes he’s retired here. He owns a restaurant. Very good restaurant. Actually. It’s very popular here in Lahaina and he wanted these lights, sconces for his garden, and he ordered them from the mainland and they were powder-coated very well-made I guess they make their own light sconces, and then they powder coat them as well.

RossKote (Kim Scott): But he, so he got them done, but he, for whatever reason, they didn’t that’s right. He thought he could just order whatever color he wanted. And when we went to match the stock on this and call the lighting company to say, what color are you using? We found ourselves into a bit of a pickle because the sample that was sent from the lighting company, they use a box heater.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And instead of the, a hopper, and because this powder had a metallic flake in it, guess what all the metallic wait floated to the bottom.And so when you sprayed, when they sprayed the color, you didn’t see the metallic end. He liked that because it was less, it was more. But then when we got the same exact color from the same exact supplier and we applied it, we use it, we use the hopper, which kind of keeps the metallic floating and it came outlooking different than, so then he didn’t like that and we’re like what do you want us to do?

RossKote (Kim Scott): We just literally ordered the same exact thing that these people are doing, so it was strange. That was a new one for us, new pitfall in powder coating.

Jase Kaser: Yeah, metallics are always challenging.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. It’s been great talking to you. Thanks for joining us today. So how can coaters get ahold of you?

RossKote (Kim Scott): We talked about your blog, but would you like to throwout maybe an email or a website?

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Jase Kaser: Our website is Kaser, K-A-S-E-R blasting.com. And then on all the social media pages, Facebook Twitter and Instagram, the search Kaser blasting and coatings will come up. And then on LinkedIn, we have a Kaser blasting and coatings, but most of it’s posted on my personal LinkedIn, Jase Kaser, K-A-S-E-R.

Jase Kaser: So you can find us there. I won’t list off my email, but I think it’s on our website somewhere. If you have a question, feel free to give us a call.We’ll try to help if you can’t you can’t figure it out from all the content that we have out there. Definitely call us.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Again, definitely head over to the Kaser website and find that blog.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I found it refreshing. I found it insightful. I found it educational for sure. And I appreciate you coming out on the show today very much and taking the time to talk with us and get to know you.

Jase Kaser: Yeah. It was nice to get to know you too. I really appreciate you have on the phone here, we’d been wanting to do some more podcast stuff we haven’t, and this is the first oneI’ve actually been on.

Jase Kaser: But we’ve been talking about it a lot, so we’re happy when you emailed us and thank you. It was, it’s an interesting to learn about the challenges that you have in Hawaii that I would never think of because when you know, just locationally, there’s a lot of differences. So it was interesting.

RossKote (Kim Scott): All right. We’d like to thank our supportive followers and fellow powder coders out there. I hope you’ve learned something new about your powder coating business. Please comment, share, follow, and like the podcast. And if you have a topic you’d like to discuss, email us at info@mauipowderworks.com. Have a great day.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Industry Insider: Powder Coating Trends with Kevin Coursin

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]In our exclusive interview with Kevin Coursin, executive director of the Powder Coating Institute, we reveal current and future trends for the global coatings market. He’s here to paint a broader outlook to the powder coating market and discuss what its like to be in this industry.

 

 

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX6Efy9_1YU[/embedyt]

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott): Today. We’re talking about the state of our industry. With someone who has their hands, knee deep in it. Kevin Coursin is the executive director of the Powder Coating Institute. He’s here to share some insights and highlights from the recent annual meeting. I’d like to tease out from him, some of the broader strokes, from the data he presented. In the hopes of giving you a bigger picture of our industry and what it may mean for you.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So how long have you been working in the industry and how did you get started?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I’ve actually been in the paint industry for 38 years now. Long time ago after I graduated from college with my engineering degree, I started working at one of the general motors assembly plants and being just a plant engineer, working on various projects.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): My boss came up to me after two years and said, Kevin, I got good news giving you a 10% raise; and I was extremely happy with that. He says, but you’re going third shift. You’re going to be the maintenance supervisor and the paint shop. And that’s how I was introduced to paint. Now it was liquid paint. It wasn’t powder back then that they had, but I learned a lot about the processes about the equipment and what it took to maintain it.

Industry insider kevin coursin on the powder coater podcastKevin Coursin (PCI): So it was quite an education for two years. After that the came up to me and said, Hey, Kevin, you’re an engineer and you’re in paint. There’s a new plant we’re building in Michigan, we would like you to transfer over there, give you a promotion and you’re going to install a new paint shop.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And I went and took it. Then it was again, quite an education that we had put together and working with a group. And then I learned how to design, how to build and manage putting it all in and starting it up. After that the market wasn’t as good in the automotive market. So I decided to change a little bit of direction, and I went to work for one of the system houses as a project manager and worked at myself into a general manager sales, and eventually became president of KMI systems.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So I’ve done a lot over the years. Just recently here in beginning of February, I started at the Powder Coating Institute is the executive director.

RossKote (Kim Scott): That’s quite an exciting career. And I find that most of the people that have been in it as long as, 30 plus years or more 40 y’all kind of start in late.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And it all happens with that. And then it moves into powder. Would you agree?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah, I think it depends which, which direction you, that you go into. I, again, when I first started there really that’s when powder coating was really at its infancy, so it wasn’t as much out there. And the automotive had been primary liquid, so that’s where my experience came.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Then when I came over and started working in the system’s houses. That’s where I started learning about powder and both in just regular powder paint. I learned about powder porcelain enamel but also did some liquid systems as well. Did multiple, different types of systems depending on what the customer would wanted to install at the plant.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I had a very broad education on a lot of paint equipment.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So PCI recently had their annual meeting on the state of power coating, but is there anything that stood out to you from the data that really intrigued you the most?

 

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Kevin Coursin (PCI): I think on the overall market data that it was there. When you see it globally the powder market itself is little over $10.4 billion.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And it sounds like a huge number by itself, but when you compare it against all the other types of coatings that are out there, whether it’s a house paint, auto, refinish, trailers, industrial market, that type of thing; it’s only just a little under 7% of the overall coatings market.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): The largest market itself out there is really the decorative, which is really the house paint with external and internal. That liquid paint type thing is the biggest market itself. So when you compare powder to just that it sounds like, we’re only a tiny little sliver. But when you compare the powder coating to other industrial liquid coating, which is only about 8% of the market, or wood liquid coating is 7%.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So that’s exactly the same as powder. But powder even exceeds the auto OEM original equipment suppliers or manufacturers use of it. And the auto refinish is about 6%. When you compare the powder to those other type markets, we have been growing over the years and have taken more and more of it.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So it is still a growing market.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. I found that right off the cuff, I found that really intriguing and encouraging too. Now on slide 11. In 2019, North America and Europe had negative growth rates. And that was the automotive production, black construction market and a flat manufacturing environment is what this slide is talking about.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And I found that really intriguing because, they were seeing that we were headed for a slowdown in late 2019, but no one really knew what the news articles were referencing. And really you can say that powder was already giving us an indicator that we were heading for a slowdown. Would you agree with that?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah, I would. And what was defined there was, it was working more on the annual basis. But if you would have broken it down and the data that they had on the quarterly basis, you could see that at the beginning of 19, things were moving along pretty well, but it definitely tailed down at the end of 2019.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): You could see that on a quarterly basis. So it was a pretty good indicator of things that we’re up and coming.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, just to continue on this slide 12, and I don’t want to drill down too deep because some of the smaller coaters like ourselves, we’re not really experiencing too much of a slow down locally.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I think that the larger coaters or industrial coaters and line coaters. They are probably the ones that are being affected more on the higher points in the market. Which they’re just basically saying that we were down 1.5%. And overall the year will be down anywhere from 5 to 15%, which is pretty much in line with what national projections are for America in general for the economy.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Correct.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah. And again it can vary by market and like you said, some of the markets that you’re in, you haven’t seen as large of a hit, but in some of the markets that if you were dealing directly for an automotive supplier as a tier one or tier two, and that was a bulk of your work.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And they took a really big hit in quarter two this year because they had shut down all the assembly plants. So they definitely took a larger hit then there. But the overall average, when you take them all into account, it’s probably 10 to 15% down from the market, but again, some are doing better.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Some are not doing as well. So it really is how diversified you are or how tight you are to a single market.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_shop posts_number=”3″ _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_shop][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

RossKote (Kim Scott): I think one of my favorite slides, is slide 20 because it really starts to dig down deeper into the overall custom coater market. And I was shocked by this figure on this slide, when it basically said that globally, there are over 42,000 custom powder coaters out there. Did that number shock you?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): It did shock me also. This was the first year that we had actually started breaking down for the custom coater market. And when I saw this slide, I had to call up the consultant company that was doing all the research for us and I questioned them on it. I said, really? And he said, yeah, that’s what they are finding.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And in North America by itself there was over 6,000 that they had in just North America. And even that number, for just North America sounded quite large. Now what they don’t define is how large of a company it is. So that would include some of the very small, custom coater, little chop shops that are out there now.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): They might only be coating a few wheels at a time, but I think they’re included in those numbers. So sometimes that big number, you gotta take a little bit with a grain of salt and just do not dive down or, do a bigger breakdown into the size of the company. We hope to do that into next year.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): To try and get a better picture of the various sizes of custom coaters and how many there are in different markets and what the revenue in those markets would be.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. And just to note that on this slide, the definition of a custom coater, is a company that primarily custom coats. And that’s, if they are manufacturing a part and then powder coating it that part for another client, they’re not considered a custom (coater).

RossKote (Kim Scott): And they, on top of that, if they were to include those people, that number would double to the amount of custom powder coaters out there. That’s extraordinary.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah, it is a big number. And it’s something, it just goes to show how large of a market it overall is. Even if you just break it down into the north America or the U S that there is quite a big group of those type companies out there.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Anybody into that market, or, you may think you have competitors, to say that you have 6,000 other ones, it can be a little bit leary. But again, we got to dig a little bit deeper into some of the numbers to break it down into size. Because there are some very large powder coaters, but there’s also some very small ones.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So breaking that range is going to be our next step to try and get a little bit better meaningful data.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I think that’s going to be great for us all. And I really liked slide 21 because the majority of custom coaters are using stock colors and that’s like RALs, right?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah, just the off the shelf, nothing special.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And if you think really when you get into a lot of the custom coaters, they’re offering a slate to a bunch of companies or people, if they want something done special and they’re not going to custom and get a formulation because they’re only spraying so small amount of it.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And I think that’s where, the stock colors are pretty much the standard for them to use.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. Now on the same side, it says, certifications play some role in the process. Are they talking about like PCI ones only, or just all kinds of certifications that are out there.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): No, there are a number of certifications that are out there.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): PCI is one of them that we have on the market. There are some others that can be done. And in fact, even some manufacturers have what they call their certification program. If you’re coating a product directly for them, they may have their spec and they’ll come in, even audit the facility to make sure that you are meeting a certification. So it can depend a little bit. There’s a lot of certification requirements out from the department of transportation in a lot of states. You have to get a certification. One might be from PCI, or it could be from one of the other areas that they may have, in order to be able to coat and provide product to them.

RossKote (Kim Scott): After this presentation was over. I started to think about what was presented on the slides and what it all meant for me, which is why I prompted to call you for an interview because I wanted to know. With powder supplies and global supply chains at risk now regarding China and the economy right now facing all nations, not just some, but all.

RossKote (Kim Scott): What does that mean for me as a powder coater? Especially a small guy. Is it going to be harder for me to get powder someday is pricing going to go up? What does that mean?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I guess that can be always a potential issue that could have occure of getting, and it may be a particular color because there is a raw material that might be coming from China.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And there’s a, if it’s a political dispute, there may be a short break in the action when, while they’re trying to solve it. It could be also from shipping standpoint how long it might take to be able to get some of those colors. It is an issue that’s out there. But I still think overall the world has gotten smaller and everybody has to sell to other people.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So there may be some short term as the politicians deal with issues. But overall, we want to sell to China and China wants to sell to us so it still does everybody good to keep the commerce sorta speak flowing.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I agree with that. I hope it does mean that. And because in the end, people are just people, we all want to do and continue about our business. So now the other part of this that got me thinking was like this reshoring of manufacturing in the United States. With potentiality of shortness in the market. What does this reshoring in manufacturing, I don’t even know if you could speak on it, or if much about it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): What does it all mean for us here? If you can comment on it.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): We definitely have seen a number of companies come in to do reshoring and bringing manufacturing back to the states. I think a lot has to do that, when there were a lot of these global companies were able to bring their money that they had over back into the states.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): They’re doing more investment here. Some of the issues that you were talking about the global supply chain disruptions. They feel if they bring it back here, they have more control over it. So they’re hedging their bet a little bit to bring it here. So I think you’re going to see more of that continue.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Again, once we can get through the pandemic side that we have here, that’s put a little bit of pause on some things, but I think you’ll see it pick back up again. Bringing more manufacturing plants into the states.

RossKote (Kim Scott): I think it will be positive for both the smaller guys growing bigger and maybe some of the other guys sharing some of those jobs for us. Now at Maui Powder Works, we’ve been a member of PCI since 2017. And we joined primarily because it’s a late legislative body because we felt that it was important for us to become part of a greater community of coaters as well as to uphold, higher standards in the industry in terms of coating and what we’re bringing about in our product line. But what is PCI and why should other custom coaters care?

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Listen Now” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”20170″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Listen Now

[button link=”https://link.chtbl.com/powdercoaterpodcast?utm_source=chartable+smart+link” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Click Link[/button]

The voice of custom coating.

Listen to the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Kevin Coursin (PCI): The Powder Coating Institute, it is a group of suppliers and users that have come together.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Number one goal is that we want to grow the powder coating market itself. But in doing so we recognize that there’s steps that have to go along with it to make sure it happens. One of them is educating, PCI has a number of workshops and webinars. We work on standards. We have a events like the powder coating week that we put on again for education and where people can interact and network.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): We have our technical publications. We have the Powder Coating Tough magazine, which is exclusively published for the powder coating market itself, and lot of good articles, learning new things, how to to do some items there. We actually are working on the Fifth Edition of the Powder Coating Handbook.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): It’s in the final editorial revisions right now. And it looks like we’ll be releasing it in early January next year. And it’s upgraded with all the latest and greatest new technologies that are out there. A one-stop if your powder coater, and you want to learn something or learn, find out if you have a problem, you can go to it as a handbook.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Those are the big things that we want to work on from a PCI standpoint. The other thing we do is we do have our certification program. Again, we talked a little bit about it before, but it’s really a quality program. We want to make sure that the processes that are being used are being controlled and you’re doing what you say you’re going to do and have all the proper training and documentation.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So you can make sure you’re very consistent going through it. But I think in, for the end users that are certified. With the quality program they do get a more consistent and better quality out. It does save them money in the long run because they have less downtime and can produce more through the system itself.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. And I think one of the most or two of the most underrated things about PCI that maybe people know or don’t know is even if you’re not a member and you have a troubleshooting question or a problem that you need help solving in your powder line, you can actually write the Powder Coating Institute.

RossKote (Kim Scott): And you will actually help try to troubleshoot that problem for that coater. That’s true right?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Oh, yeah. We do get the inquiries in by email or there’s actually a contact us on our website and we get things in, I actually received one today and it does come to me.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So I’m the first person that looks at it. It happened to be from an architect and he had an issue on how it is to do some touch-up for powder coating product that was out in the field. And I was able to go out to some of our powder suppliers. With this particular issue, I get back some results from them. And then I send back and say here’s something that you can do.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Just one little example of what we do. And we get a number of them throughout the year.

 

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Become a patron” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”20171″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Support the Show

[button link=”https://patron.podbean.com/rosskote” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Click Here[/button]

Get featured content. MPW swag, shoutouts & more.

sponsor the powder coater podcast

 

 
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]RossKote (Kim Scott): And I think the other underrated thing, or the thing that I was shocked, I learned this at the custom coater forum when I went a couple of years ago, is that you actually have this thing called, peer groups. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Oh, yeah, I am one of the facilitators for one of the groups, so I am intimately involved with it. And right now it’s jointly managed between the Powder Coating Institute and the Chemical Coaters A ssociation. But we have three groups, they’re built of up to 10 companies and we set them up so that they’re, noncompeting, they’re in different locations throughout the U.S.; different markets, but they all doing the one thing that’s common. They’re applying powder coating to products. So with that in mind, we meet twice a year, typically one of the companies hosts it and the other individuals come in there and it’s two days we’re at the plant.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): We actually do an audit. We walk around and put it into a paint term, it’s an unvarnished information back to the company of what they found and it’s meant to be informative and to help them. Likewise, when you are one of those individuals that you go to the plant and you do the audit, while you’re walking around, you may see something that you can go, that’s a great idea.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I can take that and incorporate that back into my operation. And the individuals that have been part of this find is very good, both from a quality standpoint of learning new things, how to do it, but they also, then they come to know each other. Trust each other, so they can send out an email.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I’ve got this kind of problem. Anybody experienced this before and get some information back from them. So it is a very good program, like I say, we have three groups right now. We are in the process of forming our fourth group. So we hoped we have several that have expressed interest and we hope to find enough more that the starting sometime in 2021, we can get that another group going.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah, I, of course everybody was trying to get me on their group because we were exceptional coaters. It was just that we were in Hawaii.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Stay with us. So they were like, oh no, you want to join my group? No, join my group.

RossKote (Kim Scott): But I really felt wow, this is this is so much more than what I had anticipated as being a member of PCI, was to have this opportunity to do that. And and get to know possibly other coaters that have been in the game a little longer than I have or bigger than me. And how can I scale my business to, it seemed intriguing to me, but also just, having that shoulder to lean on or get confident with, if they’re going to come in and take a look at what I have it keeps you on your toes, but I think it’s a great program that you guys need to maybe get out a little bit more because it seems interesting to be a member of that.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah, we’ve only really got two years of it under our belt. This would have been the third year, but we’ve had to cancel both meetings the spring and the fall meetings because of the issues that we’ve had with the COVID this year. So really next year will be. I guess a repeat.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So we’ll call it year three still. So we are trying to grow it and we are trying to figure out how we can get the word out to people and we appreciate you bringing it up because I think with your podcast again, it’s just another way of getting the information out to people and maybe they’ll get interested to be able to find out some more about it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. So now as executive director, I know this is a new role for you. What do you hope to accomplish, with PCI in the coming years or rather, what do you want?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I guess as the executive director, I’ve got a couple items that are, number one, then two on my list is to grow the powder coating industry and increase membership for the Powder Coating Institute.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): But that’s just the, I think the ultimate goal, if we provide the service, I think all that will we’ll come with it, but we would like to, I want to add and improve the education webinars, things like that. And updating the Powder Coating Handbook, again, getting that out to our members so that they can use that to improve their equipment and their systems.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): I would like to, as you mentioned before, the peer group. We’d like to grow those to the more groups themselves, because we really think it’s important. And it’s a really nice thing for custom coaters to do. Increase the certifications, both for the custom coaters, as well as the OEMs. We think that’s a good quality program that’s really especially made for the powder coating industry. That is, probably very cost-effective overall from a training and learning and making sure that you can do it. And a lot of them use it from a marketing standpoint because they can say that they are certified and try and get additional business. The other areas that I think we’re going to be doing some more work in and we’ve started this year on, is trying to develop more into the alternative substrates, like wood and MDF or plastic and ceramics.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): We think powder coating can really grow into those markets which primarily had been done by in the liquid. But we can do it more efficiently. And then we’ve got a committee that’s dedicated to right now that we’re working on to develop some technical data, some brochures and everything on that.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): The other areas in the architectural market for all the architecture that’s coated and all that, the specifying that comes from architects. And we’re trying to work right now with another association. That’s specifically markets to those for developing specs. But they don’t have any spec whatsoever to talk about powder coating.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So as an industry, we’re going to work on it and hand it to them and say, insert this into your standards. And again, trying to get people to not only grow and choose powder, but also to do it right.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Now in 2021 in February 23rd through the 26th, in Orlando, Florida, you guys are going to have your custom coater forum. But incorporating in that is earlier on in the week and you guys have coating workshops. They’re powder coating 101 workshops. The basics is what this is called. And I went in 2018. I didn’t go to the workshop. I flew in as a presenter and just attended the custom coater forum.

RossKote (Kim Scott): But I was amazed at how many people were actually in that room getting and learning that powder coating 101. It was full.

 

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”be our guest” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ background_color=”#D6D6D6″ global_module=”20173″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Be Our Next Guest

Do you have a topic to discuss? Product or service? We’re looking for you.  Help us build a community around powder coating.

Contact Us 
Info@Maui Powder Works.com

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Yeah we, in this past February we had 75 people that were in for that workshop alone. And it’s a two day workshop and that runs concurrent with the custom coater forum.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And again, there, we have typically around 40 to 50 custom coaters and there’s a whole set of speakers and tracks that are dedicated to the customer coater market and companies. And then some of it is business. Some of it is, we had some round table discussions and we also have some technical presentations and for 2021, we’ve got the program pretty well all set up and have some great speakers coming in.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And we’re going to be talking about certification and peer groups, again, just trying to educate those on there. We have someone coming in to talk about automation for custom coaters. We have another individual that’s gonna be talking about troubleshooting and different ways to do that and solve problems.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So we’re trying to tax different areas and be helpful and very meaningful for someone that’s coming in there to spend their time. After that we do have a two days that follow, which is we call our technical conferences and there we have papers on everything from batch coating, to automation, to new technologies.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So there’s a lot of different sessions that you can pick and choose which one you’re interested in going to, and while that’s going on, we do also have a, a tabletop exhibits that the suppliers will be there. I think we currently have 74 suppliers who hopefully gain a few more that are going to be coming in, during lunch hour, where lunch is served right among there.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): So you can eat and walk around and talk and network and learn what’s new from the various suppliers. Or if you got a problem, go see a supplier and he’d be probably more than willing to help you out.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. If you think it’s going to be boring, it’s not. I wasn’t sure what to expect that first year I went and it was amazing.

RossKote (Kim Scott): We had one speaker was from Mighty Hook. I can’t remember his name off the top of my head, but I was amazed that he had a solid hour, and it wasn’t boring at all. They went really fast and how he could talk about just hooks in an hour. He was a true expert. We’re not sponsored by Mighty Hook today, just so you know, I’m not pumping them in any way, but I was just floored, how much he could talk about hooks and all the different ways to use it.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So it’s cram packed. It’s always exciting. You get to meet the owners of the companies that are there. Steven from IFS and then they’re not just sitting up on a pedestal in their group. In the evenings, you go to the bar or the lobby and you get to have a personal conversation with them too.

RossKote (Kim Scott): It’s not cut and dry.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): And everyone that attends there, you do have the industry experts. So if you have some things or you want to learn some things, they’re there and believe me, most like myself, we all like to talk. So if you come up to them, they’ll share, they’ll help.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): They’ll do whatever you can. And come up to me and if someone’s got a problem, I can point out someone that you should probably go see and talk to, but it is a, great event. And it’s well worth the time there. And I know it’s a struggle for everybody to get out of their business to go to this.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): But believe me, it is worth while.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. And the location, the Renaissance hotel there, that was really nice. I was impressed. I really liked that hotel and it seemed like a lot of the coaters were going to meet their family later that week to go to, Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld and stuff like that.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So I think it’s a great location to have that.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Especially like individuals like myself that come from the Midwest. They have to go to Florida for a few days it’s pretty nice.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Yeah. Everybody was like, oh, don’t leave Kim. What do you mean you’re not staying for the technical conference? And I’m like, oh no, I didn’t know, there was this other thing. So I just came in for the custom coater thing, but everybody was like, no stay with us.

RossKote (Kim Scott): So I was bummed actually that I had to leave. But yeah I really enjoyed it and I look forward to next year to. It sounds like it’s might be happening. If the world doesn’t come to an end. It will happen. Thanks for joining us today, Kevin. I really learned a lot about, more about PCI, especially with the slides from the presentation. I thought it was it’s very nice of you guys to share this data. Others that may or may not be in PCI. So how can coaters get ahold of you, if they have questions?

Kevin Coursin (PCI): Probably the easiest way to get ahold of me would be to just send me an email.

Kevin Coursin (PCI): It’s kevin@powdercoating.org. Otherwise on the website, there is the office number that you can always reach me through that also.

RossKote (Kim Scott): That’s great. We’d also like to thank our supportive followers and fellow powder coaters out there. I hope you’ve learned something new about your powder coating business.

RossKote (Kim Scott): Please comment, share, or follow us on this podcast. And if you have a topic that you would like to discuss, just email us at info@mauipowderworks.com.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Why does powder coating matter for metal and antique restoration?

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Powder coatings & Metal refurbishing

Consumers should know that powder coatings are set to be the fastest growth segment of the coatings world because of an increasing need to make old things look new again.

Powder coatings have been around since the 1950s with the rise of essential industrial coatings. It wasn’t till the 1980s that the everyday consumer caught on to the trend of coating for their own metal refurbishing projects. Today, Powder coaters both large and small offer the world with durable coatings. 

Beyond its durability however, there are other various features that have the potential to attract consumers. Namely, it’s safer and more sustainable for clients, applicators and the environment. 

Antique metal restoration and classic auto refurbishing can be a valuable local resource in the circular economy.  Now more clients have access to getting the things they love restored locally, all around the world! 

 

Smaller custom powder coating shops are better for restoration

That being said it’s no wonder custom coaters grew tremendously during 2020-2021, at the height of the pandemic. Staying at home allowed homeowners, automotive enthusiasts and DIYers to get projects they’d been putting off, completed. People shopped closer to home, to help support local services resulting in the growth of metal restoration, particularly the automotive refinishing market. Local coaters are doing considerably better; they’re not experiencing too much of a slow down despite the setbacks of Covid. 

So why aren’t powder coatings used more everyday? To answer this question we need to address the larger paint coatings market.

Kevin Coursin, Executive Director of the PCI has been in the paint industry for over 40 years, says powder coatings are about 6% of the global coatings market. So it is still a growing market. 

In North America alone there are about 6,000 powder coaters, both big and small using about 181 Kilo tons of powder or $1.3B annually. That’s small when compared to the 27.3B liquid paints that need harmful additives to keep viscosity before applying.

Big conveyor line powder coaters are harder to access for the individual restoration market, because they strictly work based on contract. The everyday consumer doesn’t need that level of service. Most custom coaters have the flexibility and adaptability to handle variable sized jobs, because they use a batch oven – think of an oversized kitchen oven. 

Compared to other coatings, batch coaters in particular have been growing more and more each year. From your neighborhood garage coater to the workshop professional, the message about the process of powder coating is getting out. The peace of mind that clients have about a better coating that is healthier for home, work and play is priceless. 
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Why Powder Coatings Are Safer

Andrew Pace, of The Green Design Center, has been consulting homeowners since the 90’s. Offering resources on healthier options for their home design needs. His clients are people with serious chemical sensitivities; or aware of the health hazards and pollutants found in homes, especially volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

He’s been recommending powder coated materials because they are VOC free, and thus reducing the overall chemical load in the homes of consumers. Andrew says “[for] the powder coatings industry, the fact that it’s going on dry. And it’s been baked in. Means that there are no volatile (organic compounds). Because there’s no solvent to evaporate. So the product is naturally VOC free. The product is by design VOC free.” 

what are vocs graphic

It’s no question that the health and safety of the end user is factored in for custom coaters. And for the long term enjoyment and use, it is also beneficial for the pockets of clients.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][baie_before_after_image src_before=”https://mauipowderworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/before-rim.png” src_after=”https://mauipowderworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/after-rim.png” alt=”before and after image of car rim” size=”width:510px.height:382px.(cropped).” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.22.7″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_module=”6419″ global_colors_info=”{}”][/baie_before_after_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Is Metal Restoration Worth It?

There’s nothing greater than the satisfaction of refurbishing a treasured metal antique or automotive part. When applied, powder coating is more even, and less likely to drip than liquid coatings. Powder coating withstands cracking, fading, peeling, chipping and is chemical resistant.

It doesn’t need maintenance, regular upkeep or re-coating over time. While painting requires longer cure times and fume ventilation; powder can be applied quickly and easily electrostatically, then heated till cured. Once the item is cooled they are ready to be put into service immediately. Powders adhere precisely without waste, unlike paints, so there is no need for a lot of over spray. 
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.3″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][envira-gallery id=”934″]

When a custom coater does a beautiful antique metal restoration job, it can renew the life of a priceless family treasure for a lifetime. The bottom line, it’s simply worth the money when it comes to things that hold intrinsic value or special memories of its owner. That being said, it’s important for consumers to keep in mind price variants. This is either due to location, cost of doing business and/or price increase from ongoing global supply chain disruptions.  Thankfully finding a custom coater has never been easier before with the access of the internet at the clients fingertips.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

How to Find Metal Restoration Near Me?

With a simple search and click of a button consumers can effortlessly find powder coaters readily available.  A great search directory to use is www.powdercoatingnearme.com. 

powder coating near me, powder coating , powder coating directory
A list of qualified coaters will be brought up instantaneously.

 

Consumers can look up shops in their local area and gain buyer confidence with verified listings. They can view photos of a coater’s work and connect instantly with their social media accounts, view maps with shop location, hours and contact information. 

Once on the site, simply scroll down to the map, where you can enter your town, city, state and/or zip code. A list of qualified coaters will be brought up instantaneously. Or maybe you’re looking for a powder coater that knows how to refurbish metal for a particular project like rims, brake calipers etc. Continue to scroll down on the main page where you can find custom coaters based on category.

For example, you need to find a coater that knows how to restore tools for metal restoration in agricultural, architectural or marine sectors. This growing database is easy to use and filled with verified custom coaters. 

Key Takeaways

So there you have it, as a consumer reading this article, you should have a basic understanding of why powder coatings are important to refurbishing metal furniture, car rims or grandma’s favorite antique. In conclusion powder coating is durable, long lasting, safe and green for your wallet and the planet. It’s a growing market and not everyone is aware of the potential that custom coaters can offer no matter the size of the project. 

Finding a custom coater in your local area has never been easier with www.powdercoatingnearme.com

Consumers will be surprised by the knowledge experienced custom coaters have in restoration of metal things. Always ask your powder coater questions, if you want to avoid problems with your custom coater  Lastly, not everything can be restored well, understanding the restoration process of something old is complicated, and is key to spending your money wisely . 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”MPW Guide form mobile” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ global_module=”12668″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

How to find the best powder coating near me?

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.7″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Powder Coating Near Me

Find a powder coating shop near you.

Are you looking to powder coat your wheels or rims? What if you don’t have a powder coating job shop nearby?

Our comprehensive directory of the world’s best custom powder coaters helps consumers find the perfect powder coating for projects.

It’s called Powder Coating Near Me.

We started because we realized Google doesn’t give you exactly what you need when searching for powder coating. 

There are lots of powder coaters that may populate in your area BUT not all will do rims or automotive parts. Some are industrial only. Some are line coaters. Some just do part manufacturing. They can’t help you but their results don’t tell you.

That’s why we created the largest directory of the best coaters on the planet.

..and they all have a story to tell.

Did you know you can powder coat vape pens? I didn’t until I met Ashton Palmer of . He’s in our directory & he’s located in Idaho.

There’s also Victor Pate from in Tennessee who started his own line of powders just for car rim customizing.

You won’t know what you’re missing until you find out that the best coaters may not be near you at all.

Click HERE to use the directory today.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”MPW Guide form mobile” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ global_module=”12668″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Interview with Martin Pageau of Greensolv

by

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Learn how Greensolv helps stay on the leading edge of green tech, reduce burns & yes contrary to what you’ve heard…save money! 

Apple | Google | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | Sign Up 

In this episode, we introduce you to Martin Pageau, President of Greensolv a closed metal paint stripper system. It takes drive, determination & commitment to be at the forefront of bringing green to the restoration industry. This guest is out to change your mind.

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube [/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_text][et_pb_social_media_follow follow_button=”on” admin_label=”Podcast Follow” _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” global_module=”18950″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”dbdb-itunes” url=”https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/powder-coater-podcast/id1521924245″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#ff5e51″ custom_button=”on” global_colors_info=”{}” follow_button=”on” url_new_window=”on”]dbdb-itunes[/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”dbdb-spotify” url=”https://open.spotify.com/show/7FgCAAeRaThYLQ038qtkf2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#7bb342″ custom_button=”on” global_colors_info=”{}” follow_button=”on” url_new_window=”on”]dbdb-spotify[/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][et_pb_social_media_follow_network social_network=”dbdb-soundcloud” url=”https://soundcloud.com/ross-scott-228377209″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#fe3801″ global_colors_info=”{}” follow_button=”on” url_new_window=”on”]dbdb-soundcloud[/et_pb_social_media_follow_network][/et_pb_social_media_follow][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”podcast sign up” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]


[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Interview with Martin Pageau of Greensolv

Greensolv Brochure

RossKote(Kim):Welcome to episode seven. I’m your host Kim Scott. You are listening to the powder coder podcast where we interview influencers in the industry and cover trending topics. So powder coaters can effectively learn and grow their business today. It’s all about saving time and restoration that starts with stripping. There are a few products out there that can do that today and we have one of them right now. I’d like to introduce Martin Pageau from Greensolv. Welcome to the show Martin.

 

Martin Pageau: Well, thank you Kim. Hi, everyone.

 

RossKote(Kim):How long have you been working for green solve?

greensolv, martin pageau, strip metal fast, green business, powder coater podcast, rosskote podcast, podcast, Rosskote, architects, Auto, automobiles, brand, care and maintenance, cleaning, coatings, small business, contracting, cure, powder, curing powder, custom, custom coaters, customer service, design, designers, DIY, exterior finish, hawaii business, home garage, hospitality, hotel, interior finish, Life hacks, manufacturing, metal coatings, metal prep, metal project, metal, restoration, military, motorcycles, performance finishes, powder coating, powder coating hawaii, powder coat timing, powder coat ovens, powder colors, prepping metal, process, Restoration, Rims, sandblasting, shortcuts, specializing, steps to powder coating, troubleshooting powder coating, what we stand for, Wheels, My Mantra, Ross Scott, Maui Powder Works, Hawaii Business, News, Powder Coating, Sandblasting, Hawaiian Islands, Maui, about us, about maui powder works, powder coating near me, powder coating hawaii, powder coating oahu, powder coating kauai, powder coating big island, free pdfs, pdf, free downloads
Martin Pageau, President of Greensolv

Martin Pageau: Almost 20 years. We started the company in 2002. My father was the founder. I was there with him. So almost 20 years.

 

RossKote(Kim):And is that Daniel Peju has Joe

 

Martin Pageau: Yeah.

 

RossKote(Kim):sorry.

 

Martin Pageau: That’s correct. It was an entrepreneur all his life.

 

RossKote(Kim):and you guys are out of and you guys are out of Montreal East Coast.

 

Martin Pageau: Exactly Montreal and Canada were about six hours driving distance from New York City straight up north.

 

RossKote(Kim):Wow, okay. So what’s the story behind Green Salt I says on your website that it was a gel paint remover. You used it for a Japanese client. Can you give us a really brief story behind that?

 

Martin Pageau: Yes, this company is based out of Osaka in Japan. There’s still our customers 25 years down the road. They wanted the replacement the paint Cooper with no metal and chloride or dark little methane and we worked on that for a year or two and then we’ve been selling them a non. Well less toxic paint stripper for all these years.

 

RossKote(Kim):That’s awesome. So it says on your website that you or in your story your about page. It says that you offer a closed metal paint system stripper system. What exactly does a closed metal paint stripper system mean?

 

Martin Pageau: Well, that’s a long-term goal. I would like to have no contamination or no no evaporation in the atmosphere. We’d like to recycle the water that they use for wrenching parts. So we’d like to have a closed system, you know and be able to recuperate even the paint stripper itself. And so that that would be a zero contamination going out of the system. That is our objective long-term though because we’re almost there but not quite.

 

RossKote(Kim):Right, but hey, you’re in that direction and that’s so important which leads me to your core values because I really I really get and stand behind what you’re doing. It’s good for the planet. It’s good for people. But yeah, you know, we’ve got this problem. We want to save. Things that we like right, we want to restore them. We want to be able to bring them back to life and you know, we we’ve got to strike a balance and stuff like that. So what can you say about your core values? What out of all of them you have five listed here: protect the environment, be a valuable partner, promote Excellence always innovate, generate wealth for employees, customers and Community out of all of those which one is the most important to you.

 

Martin Pageau: Well, that’s a very difficult one. I think they’re all very important. We like to protect the environment. We like to be a good partner. Also, we like to help our customers strip more parts and be greener. We’d like to reduce our carbon footprint. Like I said and also create some wealth for for everybody for our employees but also for our customers for just about everyone so that’s that’s a real tough one, but protect

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: the environment might be one of them

 

RossKote(Kim):I think so because when you when you choose that one, it’s like it all the

 

Martin Pageau: might be the most important.

 

RossKote(Kim):others kind of fall in line. You know, it just seems like That’s kind of where we’re all kind of headed. And you know, we do have chemicals out there for a reason because they do good jobs for us and when we need them to and so it’s important. It’s part of the basis of life, right?

 

Martin Pageau: Yeah.

 

RossKote(Kim):And so primarily I guess a lot of you know, because I’m speaking on behalf of the custom coaters. you know, our primary interest is stripping rims, car rims and stuff like that and Before we get into how long it takes to strip a wheel with your product and how much does it cost to do that? Before we do that you have that you are the world’s most efficient and profitable paint system stripping system. What does that mean? I mean like how does a small custom coder? I guess just kind of do that. I mean, how do we strike that balance between being efficient and profitable but yes stripping.

 

Martin Pageau: Yes, that is a ball claim. I have to admit but what we’re trying to do is actually to provide a very efficient product that is predictable and reliable. So you want to have always the same strip time, it might vary a little bit. But you know if it takes an hour or two hours to strip a rim, it’s it takes two hours now and in six months and in 12 months with the kind of the same solution, and also what we want to be doing is to reduce the cost for our customers. So if you can strip a rim for two dollars and you know, it’s reliable, you know, it’s going to be there so you can price accordingly to your customer and it makes you feel you know safe when you make sure your prices and also which your business because if you have a chemical that varies and you don’t know if it’s going to strip in one hour or 12 hours or 24 or not at all, then it could be a problem. You know, you promised something to your customers and you want to be good to that. You want to meet your requirements. So yeah, we try to have something reliable and predictable.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah, you know and I think I you know in our system here in our small shop, you know Ross only leads. he’s the only one that does this dripping whether we’re buying it off the shelf or ordering it or you know, like any kind of stripping that gets done is done by him the owner because we’re so worried about passing that, you know, allowing our employees to take that risk on our behalf for our customer and that is That I know we never felt really comfortable having our you know, so we always tasked them to do other things in the shop, but it’s a it’s taking a toll on my husband. In his health and well-being. So I think this is definitely a product that we would be you know that I would say most custom coaters. and their wives or girlfriends would probably want their husbands to want right, but, you know when looking into the cost of your product It can get kind of pricey at least on the onset. Do you want to talk about like How I know you have a cost calculator on your website, and I’ve used it. And it’s certainly is interesting to know how you know, you can see how it can reduce labor and increase productivity. But how does the cost? How do you how do you justify the cost? I guess because we looked into it for ourselves and it was really expensive.

 

Martin Pageau: Indeed the capital investment is pretty steep. If you want just a tank and the chemical you might be looking at $15,000 or something. But then the advantages are no labor. And once you have it, it’s really the lowest using cost you can ever get with one drum of chemical which is 55 gallons. We can strip 1,000 Wheels the equivalent with the nasty metal and chloride that burns your skin right on contact and also it’s very nasty and it’s banned by EPA for releasing in the air releasing in the water. So this product the competitor it’s 100 Wheels but 55 gallons. So you strip 10 times more with our chemicals that are three or four times less toxic than the other guys. Then you use 10 times less. So therefore the carbon footprint or the the toxicity to the environment is 10 times less plus also it’s the chemicals that we use are a lot greener. A lot of our customers once they they overcome that capital investment. You tell us that the tank is the employee of the month. You’re right because nobody wants to be stripping it’s too dangerous. You get one drop on your skin and you’re burnt for life. This is not the case with ours. It’s very safe and you got no everyone. Labor, it’s probably not the will 30 seconds to drop it in. Take it out and rinse it and there you go. There will strip. You don’t have any scratching no or no scrubbing. So that’s that’s all we can justify it because once you have it, it makes you make money because you can do 10 times more one small tank the $15,000 capital investment will strip for you up to four or five sets a day and you can even leave the wheels overnight. So therefore you save a lot of money and you can do more. You compare with the price of one employee per year. It’s a lot cheaper.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”guest promo” _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#d6d6d6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”|14px||14px|false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ box_shadow_color=”#000000″ global_module=”19814″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”be our guest” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Be Our Next Guest

Do you have a topic to discuss? Product or service? We’re looking for you.  Help us build a community around powder coating.

Contact Us 
Info@Maui Powder Works.com

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Podcast Youtube Playlist” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_module=”19805″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=PL5VhoP4pNEX8E54zcAepfsxnu_yEiytrz&layout=gallery[/embedyt]
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]RossKote(Kim):I think that’s a very very valid point when you’re talking about when you add in that employee. Into the equation I would say, you know, if you are at the if you’re a custom coder and you’re at that level of where you have like at least one two, maybe three employees and stuff to keep them busy. I mean that that can Make the difference in time and maybe replace. I don’t know. I don’t want to say replace an employee, but maybe scale you faster if you can, you know plan that out right in your in your strategic planning. I did see on the was watching the YouTube video that you have. And I like so when you put it in there, that’s kind of get more into the nuts and bolts of the system. So you put these you put rims in you’ve got them. Are they all happening to be the same size or can they be multiple sizes?

 

Martin Pageau: Or they can be multiple sizes. Obviously. If you have a four wheel tank, normally you’ll be your your strip four similar Wheels, but the tank that we that we sell they’re up to 26 inches and with so you can do up to 24 inches rims, but you can turn them around if you

 

RossKote(Kim):I see. Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: if you see some 26 or 30 inch rims,

 

RossKote(Kim):and in that video on the YouTube

 

Martin Pageau: you can obviously turn them around

 

RossKote(Kim):video are these like painted rims

 

Martin Pageau: and do two at a time and it doesn’t happen most of the time. Yeah, so

 

RossKote(Kim):like or they it wasn’t it didn’t say in the video. So I’m just asking are these Already previously powder coated or are they paint painted rims?

 

Martin Pageau: All the rims and well, we’re very lucky. The video comes from wheeler finisher that we have here in Montreal. They do anywhere between 100 and 200 Wheels a day that this trip they have three strip tanks and it’s all OEM Coatings. It’s very rare that they have a wheel that was powder coated. So it’s always the original finish from the the manufacturer and yeah, they take between 90 minutes per batch this trip and they do usually 16 wheels at a time. They want to do 150 Wheels. That’s they need to be very productive and the Coster will is

 

RossKote(Kim):right

 

Martin Pageau: very low it’s about two and a half three bucks. And when you think about it three dollars is about what seven minutes labor and how long does it take if you strip a wheel by hand probably 15-20 minutes and you’re probably used to 20 dollars of paint stripper.

 

RossKote(Kim):Right exact. Hope more than that sometimes so yeah, that’s I guess that’s kind of maybe where? Most of the custom coaters are could be either dealing with a previously powder coated Rim how well does that does your product work on the on a powder coated Rim? Not necessarily a painted Rim. Do you know?

 

Martin Pageau: Oh, yes part according is probably one of the easiest according to be removed. It takes 60 minutes 40 minutes that the strip about recorded around what it could take if you have a BMW with the original finish, it’s usually three codes the base code. Well, you get the primer the base don’t and the clear on top those can take up to 90 minutes the strip so usually yeah part of coding and then when we have coupons that we do our test on in the lab particulating is usually the easiest so it strips Eco product coding any type of liquid paint would they be polyurethane epoxies? just about every cool thing that we

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: know of and even the PVD the new one that they put on the OEM wheels such as the F-150 that takes longer.

 

RossKote(Kim):Wow.

 

Martin Pageau: It’s probably like three four hours,

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah, okay.

 

Martin Pageau: right?

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah. Okay, because I know you couldn’t do

 

Martin Pageau: But it’s strips. Well you leave them overnight.

 

RossKote(Kim):that with like a traditional chemical stripper. I mean you get you know, I don’t know if you you did

 

Martin Pageau: right

 

RossKote(Kim):that overnight. You would probably wake up to and open up the thing and there wouldn’t be anything in there. I’d be gone.

 

Martin Pageau: the Yes indeed. The will would disappear.

 

RossKote(Kim):right All right. Well, so let’s talk about your customer. Let’s kind of backtrack a little bit and go into who is your ideal customer. I know your advertising to like the Aerospace industry and stuff like that. But before we started the podcast you were talking about, you know your custom coder Market. Can you describe who that is? Who is your customer? How big are they? What kind of guys are calling you for this product?

 

Martin Pageau: Our our customers mainly 90% or 95% of our customers right now are either custom quarters or a little bit finishers and the size of the business will vary we have a lot of guys that are it’s a one-man show and some the biggest shops that we sell to are probably 30 40 employees. So it’s usually a small business and they’re located probably 60% of our businesses in America in 42 States even in Hawaii actually and we got Canada, maybe 40% or 35% you sell a bit to Japan and France and England so but yeah, normally it’s the custom quarters that they want to strip and repaint wheels or valve covers or brake pads or bicycle motorcycle frames the usual stuff or even garden chairs. people chairs but all metal Parts, obviously, so this trip the good custom quarters this trip and then the sand blasts for five minutes with a brush blast just to give it a nice profile and after that the particle so and it helps them so much because this is reliable when you get some Wheels coming in you just throw them in the tank and there’s trip within a

 

RossKote(Kim):right, so

 

Martin Pageau: couple hours so you can start working

 

RossKote(Kim):So do you offer some kind of?

 

Martin Pageau: on them and there’s no labor again.

 

RossKote(Kim):Financing or how does you know like do we have to come up with our own financing for this or how do you usually set up your clients when they’re ready to purchase?

 

Martin Pageau: I would try to help our customers anywhere we can and this is one of their methods that we got is the payment plan. The most popular one is probably the eight month payment plan. So we ask for 20% down 20% before we ship which is five or six weeks later because we offer three things we offer the chemicals: the Stripping System including the tank the rinse table, the whole system and also the third thing that we offer is a technical service. So we go see our customers every three or four months the grab a sample and analyze it so you always maintain good efficiency and you never dump your stripper. But to get back to the payment plan. Yeah, we got an eight month payment plan over say 20% 20% and six months of 10% or we get also what we call the paper wheel. It’s over 36 months. So you get a flat fee that includes all the chemicals for the three years and includes also the system and then you hone it after 36 months.

 

RossKote(Kim):And so do you fly out to Hawaii and test my system?

 

Martin Pageau: I’d love to actually never been to Hawaii. I loved it.

 

RossKote(Kim):Allowing me fun. I think we could maybe go on an adventure when we come to Hawaii, too. You might have to take some extra time to test all those chemicals when you’re here.

 

Martin Pageau: Yes, we actually fly quite a bit to Japan once a year, so it would be on the way.

 

RossKote(Kim):Oh you do? Okay. Yeah, okay. So let me look back on some of the questions. I  sent it out to our Group Forum here on Facebook and one guy asked could you make the tank longer? I guess the tank he has is 44 inches and is six inches too short.

 

Martin Pageau: hmm

 

RossKote(Kim):For a full set of four-wheel tank. Do you know what he’s talking about there?

 

Martin Pageau: Yes. Yes, we’ve been making thanks for maybe five six years. And at first the tanks were 44 inches long by 24 inches wide and had years going by will be getting bigger and bigger every year. So we had twice we had extended the tank the four wheel thing I’m talking about. So now it’s 48 by 26. So yes indeed. We make him bigger. We also have the six wheel take which is 72 inches long and that is very good. If you want to do a bumper or motorcycle frame or any kind of long parts, that’s especially good for product quarters or custom quarters.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah, it sounds like it because you know, we have such a variety of parts and pieces and stuff. It seemed like that would be the one to get. And the other guy asked this is he was wanting to know could you make them more affordable? He was a bit shocked because the pricing when he asked was in Canadian dollars, I guess. So is there a plan to make this more aside from your payment program? Is there an opportunity for you guys to make them? Cheaper in the end or your to lower your cost so you can pass it on to the customer.

 

Martin Pageau: We’re trying to and that’s where we’ve been doing for the last year’s but also we have a nice control box. The tanks are UL certified which means it’s up to the electrical code of America and also Canada and now Europe those things are a bit costly and most tanks when we can start looking at them on the web. They’re pretty often that are competitors are like two or three times the price sometimes we try to and that’s all we Mass Market them or we Mass produce them up to maybe 50 60 tanks a year. So I think the price is already pretty good. I know it looks pretty expensive. But there’s a lot of Technology. They’re very well insulated. They get a nice counterweight. They’re like workhorses.

 

RossKote(Kim):right, and I think like he said

 

Martin Pageau: so

 

RossKote(Kim):you’re saving money because you know, it’s that employee exchange, right, you know, so either you you can put your money into this machine that can replace your employee who would be in charge of stripping or you yeah,

 

Martin Pageau: exactly

 

RossKote(Kim):exactly. So that makes sense to me. So if someone had an older tank and wanted to upgrade to the larger tanks, is that possible or would they have to be like buying the whole system all over again?

 

Martin Pageau: We’re trying to get a very great exchange system for that. Normally we give the face value of the thing that was even if it was paid like through two three four years ago. We like to exchange tanks because they’re better built. Now we keep on, you know, making them stronger and better and also wider and longer. So yeah, we kind of try to give our customers face value what they paid a factory years ago against the new tank. So the new tank might be a bit more expensive but still it’s pretty good and also that’s the same thing. We do say something and we like to see our customers grow. So we sell them a four wheel tank and eventually two or three years later. They want a six wheel tank or an eight wheel tank and then we can trade it against the old tank face value again.

 

RossKote(Kim):You know, this is such valuable information and I know you can only put so much on a website. I mean, I really like your website. It’s very clean. It’s very simple. It’s very easy to read and it gets to the point. But I’m so glad that I’m having you on the show because it’s answering a lot of these details that may be inhibiting some powder coaters to reach out to you to get more information. You know what I mean? And it’s been good having you answered some of these ahead of time to kind of peak the interest of custom coaters that you know could be on the fence of you know, maybe buying a trying to decide what to buy if they’re gonna go with a traditional chemicals stripper system or yours. So okay. I want to ask you another question I wanted to ask you and that is I can’t find my notes. Let’s talk about the processor, the chemical process right in itself. How does it work? Could you just I’d like to know more about how it works because I know it’s heated and in and it’s got so bad. How does it start as a chemical and then it’s safe when it comes out you can Not burn yourself.

 

Martin Pageau: Well, we use the way that we came up with that chemistry. Is that normally the cold paint stripper? That’s what we call it. That’s the dichloromethane. That’s the one that burns your skin right on contact and pretty much every paint stripper available out there or most of them although they’re getting banned slowly. They have this molecule, the bacterial methane. This is called so you can use it at a real temperature. So in order there’s no chemical that is as good in terms of paint stripping. So the only way we could do that is by heating the solution to 80 or to 18. I Tour 80 Celsius and that’s how every 10 degrees or every 20 degrees you double the efficiency. So it’s exponential. It’s two four eight 16. And that’s how we can come up with a very efficient solution that is more efficient now than that lower methane, but we’re comparing it 180 versus room temperature. So that’s the first part now the chemistry itself we can rejuvenate it and that’s why we go to see our customers. We try to go see them at least three times a year depending where they’re located but to grab a sample bring it back to the lab and then we can analyze it and we tell our customers. Okay, you can fix your chemistry this way and we have 200 chemicals that are additive and that can bring the efficiency back to 90% So that’s all that’s why we’re saying that the chemistry is very very reliable and predictable in terms of stripping time. The third thing is that we need to clean. Of course the chemical will get saturated with paint because the paint doesn’t go anywhere it stays in the tank So eventually it’s too dense and that’s one of the tests that we can tell our customers when it’s time to clean. But normally if you do say 20 Wheels a day for a four wheel tank you like to clean every month and a half it takes about two hours. What you do is you let your tank cool down, you let the paint settle at the bottom you pump out the chemical and then there 15 or 20 gallons that you have at the bottom of paint. It’s a very fine particle. It’s like clay. It’s a microscopic particle, but because if they the paint is really disintegrated and that’s why it trips too well because it goes into the nukes and crannies and even the places where it’s engraver and boss it’s trips welding those in those Corners. So you remove the liquid and then you shovel out the sludge and you put the liquid back in and you top off the new material. So if you remove 15 gallons of sludge, you have 15 gallons of new paint stripper. So, otherwise you never dumped your chemicals you always reusing.

 

RossKote(Kim):Right, you’re just adding to it. And so you pretty much leave it to the coder to manage it himself date on a monthly level and they’re just adding and taking out sludge and then in between that you’ll come out or you’ll test the sample for them and then tell them what they need to add in or how much to add in.

 

Martin Pageau: Exactly.

 

RossKote(Kim):Okay.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]Martin Pageau: That’s like a blood test. It tells you how much you’ve been taking care of your solution.

 

RossKote(Kim):right, so you

 

Martin Pageau: And there’s some good and some some good systems and some that are not as good. Let’s put it this way.

 

RossKote(Kim):right. I mean it’s it’s so I guess if you’re gonna buy your system, you have to be committed to maintaining it. Otherwise, it may not strip as well as you need it to.

 

Martin Pageau: hmm Indeed. That’s a key cleaning. Your solution is probably one of the most important things. It keeps the efficiency High just removing. This sludge is if you think about having 20% paint and you’re stripping the solution all you probably lose 20% efficiency because it takes the space of good good chemicals. So that’s why you need to remove that paint.

 

RossKote(Kim):so if you have this system and then

 

Martin Pageau: That’s a standard paint and the chemical once in a while.

 

RossKote(Kim):you know say you’ve done X number of Wheels over the month. Will it start to not strip as well? Is that how you know

 

Martin Pageau: Well, if you buy a four-wheel tank again the example, then you do four sets a day after three months. Probably you’ll see some some the efficiency go down quite a bit slowly

 

RossKote(Kim):right

 

Martin Pageau: slowly, but gradually what you want to do is after two months and three months again, you settle down the paint by turning up the tank for 48 hours and then you shovel this ledge out empty the tank. And as soon as you put some new chemical and you remove the sludge the efficiency will shoot right back to 90% of its original oil was when you got it.

 

RossKote(Kim):Okay. So one of the metals that is limited with the substrates that you can put into the Into this system. I mean I would imagine alloy is okay aluminum. D what if you have something that’s like really rusty or

 

Martin Pageau: Well, unlike the dichloromethane or the cold strippers you can put a lot more. The metals and you can use you can strip magnesium. You can strip. So the fancy wheels from Ferrari or even I think Harley-Davidson, that’s some magnesium Wheels. I get the question at least probably once a month. Can I put my magnesium Wheels in there? Yes, they’re very expensive first. So you don’t want to scrap them and you can put stainless steel cast iron any type of aluminum magnesium titanium, even some plastic a little bit. It’s to hit the Miss with plastics.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: It’s plastic is like paint.

 

RossKote(Kim):Right. It probably would depend on its chemical composition.

 

Martin Pageau: Yes, exactly.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: But I get a lot of customers that shook their plugs into in the solution.

 

RossKote(Kim):Okay, okay.

 

Martin Pageau: and the hooks

 

RossKote(Kim):Um well Yeah, there’s never ending there. But a lot of the same, I mean in terms of Maintenance, it’s a lot of the same stuff that the traditional chemical stripper tanks, you know, you still have to you still have to you don’t necessarily have to drain it. But you do have to take out that sludge or it will not be as it fills up and you have to you know, you do have some maintenance there with that tank system.

 

Martin Pageau: yes.

 

RossKote(Kim):So pretty similar in terms of that. Wow. This has been so enlightening. I guess such an enlightening. I learned so much more than I thought I ever would with this interview. I mean I kind of know about the regular I can never say this word methane or whatever system. That’s what I’ve mostly utilized or been around. But I’ve I really am a kind of intrigue Now by your product and I hope our listeners are too because I’m gonna put all the links in this interview like your YouTube video a link to your website and stuff because I think people need to start maybe looking into that because let’s face it. The world is trying to well, they’re regulated. It’s becoming more regulated in terms of nasty chemical usage. You’re trying the industry’s trying to go more green. What is the future of your product? I mean, what’s the what’s the what do you see happening in the future in terms of chemical stripping?

 

Martin Pageau: would like to do again is close that Loop so Reduce our carbon footprint carbon footprinting means the damage we do or to the environment or the what we leave behind, you know, whatever it is rents water or solvents going into the atmosphere. So with we’d like to do is capture everything again and make it more efficient and more and by one of our our current purpose actually is achieving more with less and that’s what we want to do is do more help you strip more for less less pollution less money. And then reduce the cost of stripping we already take it down from dichloromethane. We evaluated. It’s probably $4 per wheel of chemicals with the cold strippers with ours. It’s probably $2 a wheel or maybe 250 sometimes but so yeah, that’s what we want to achieve. It’s just more efficient greener. So that’s what we try to push and we do a lot of R&D. I was in the lab this morning trying to get the new version which is even Greener. We call it the California friendly formulation. So that’s one step further than or the actual paint stripper that we get now and it’s being tested for the last two or three years already.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah, and I think that that research and development part is key because you’re pushing the industry forward with your company. Whereas some of the more traditional older companies that are just selling chemicals. I mean, it seems like their days are going to be numbered. Maybe I don’t know, you know it just with regulation coming down and green earth EPA standards changing all the time getting more strict either by state or by nation. And I think that I think that you guys are definitely on to the Future and that’s something that all coaters. Need to understand in terms of moving and pushing their business forward, you know, despite Maybe. We’re you know, some of the logistics that are happening in supplies and materials for their business. right now with changes in getting products and materials and pigments here to America. It’s nice to know that there is a guy in Canada that’s providing this kind of a system to keep our businesses running. And now you do have a blog post on there that said that you are making things in America now, is that what’s up with that?

 

Martin Pageau: Oh, yeah, that’s right. Well, we try to be a valuable partner. We’ll try to reduce the carbon footprint and that means also reducing the freight. I mean the distance that our drums are going so if we ship from Montreal Canada to California, that’s a long way to ship one drum. So yes, we started blending. It’s a tall blender out of Pennsylvania near Philadelphia and that’s been since March. So every all of our us cells now are made in America by a Pennsylvania company and they’re shipping straight from there to all of the US eventually maybe would like to have a hub also on the west coast maybe in Texas, you know, so in order to reduce or the footprints so less gas that’s being used and we’re trying to one thing that we like to do as a team here is to look at all the regulations from Be for water for air and try to respect them and also be one step ahead in the development that we do just to make sure that our customers are. You know, they’re well served. They can. They can ask us any questions about the regulations. We know them all and if we don’t we’ll look we’ll look them up to make sure that they comply.

 

RossKote(Kim):Well, I think that leads back to your core values about how you’re standing to help your customers and move the industry forward. And I and I it sounds like what you’re saying is what you’re doing, which I like.

 

Martin Pageau: You know, we’re trying as hard as we can.

 

RossKote(Kim):Yeah.

 

Martin Pageau: because one thing is if our customers are happy, we’re happy and if they’re

 

RossKote(Kim):right

 

Martin Pageau: not then we’ll work hard to make a match.

 

RossKote(Kim):Well, I mean everybody could use that

 

Martin Pageau: is that

 

RossKote(Kim):on their side, right? I mean, we’re just there’s a lot of small businesses out there that need the help of others to move them forward or grow their business.

 

Martin Pageau: yes, and if we can there’s nothing more pleasant than seeing an entrepreneur that starts a company and then I get one guy, our first customer in America from Maine Portland. He started in his in-laws garage and he was by himself with one employee and now they’re 12 employees five six years later the can’t be happier and we sold them the first tank. We changed it against a bigger tank and he’s doing more and more Wheels now, he’s up to 60 Wheels a day three vans. So it’s very happy to see our customers succeeding and if we can help them. even better

 

RossKote(Kim):Oh, that’s awesome. I think that’s a great way to end. I mean, it’s nice to know that you know, you’ve got our back if we’re gonna purchase a product from you. That you’re gonna be there along the way to help us maintain it and keep it running so that we can keep our businesses running. So let’s what’s your where can you be found? Why don’t you tell us your website? So the listeners who don’t have the video can be can know where to go on the web. And then also what’s your social media handles and stuff email phone?

 

Martin Pageau: Okay, my well our website is greensolv.com. And we get a platform on Instagram very popular. It’s green solved on this core link and we get we’re also on Facebook under my name Martin Pageau on LinkedIn as well and finally My email is mailto:mp8geau@greentsolv.com  You can write to me anytime. I answer everybody and make a point to that.

 

RossKote(Kim):And it’s greensolv with no e on the end s-o-l-v.

 

Martin Pageau: Yeah, yes V like Victor. You’re right with no E at the end. So green solving or that’s what we’re trying to do.

 

RossKote(Kim):Right, right. Awesome. Well, thank you for joining us on the program today. I appreciate it, and I hope I hope you have. I hope you may get some calls. You’ve certainly enlightened me again, and I’m gonna tell my husband all about this system. So, thank you.

 

Martin Pageau: Thank you man, Scott for having me today. It was a real pleasure to talk to you.

 

RossKote(Kim):All right. Thanks Martin. That was great.

 

Martin Pageau: All right. Have a great day. Aloha.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”guest promo” _builder_version=”4.6.5″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#d6d6d6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”|14px||14px|false|false” box_shadow_style=”preset1″ box_shadow_color=”#000000″ global_module=”19814″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||0px|false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”be our guest” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”]

Be Our Next Guest

Do you have a topic to discuss? Product or service? We’re looking for you.  Help us build a community around powder coating.

Contact Us 
Info@Maui Powder Works.com

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”2022 blog wrap up” _builder_version=”4.17.3″ global_module=”18725″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

About us

RossKote is committed to sharing their experience in metal coatings, painting, and restoration so customers & powder coaters can navigate the process of powder coating and make the best choices for getting their projects done.

RossKote regularly contributes helpful videos on his blog and YouTube channel.

Join us.  As we build a powder coating community online to share our passion for performance finishes by subscribing to RossKote’s Powder Coater Podcast

Connect with us. Comment below. What would you like to know more about? I love to answer everyday questions to the consumer market wants to know about powder coating.   

MAUIPOWDERWORKS.COM
Copyright 2016-2022©
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]