Blog : Products Finishing

NASF, MFASC Award West Coast Bright Design Scholarships

By: Tim Pennington 12. February 2013

Three students from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., received $5,000 scholarships in December through the NASF’s West Coast Bright Design Challenge competition, which was co-sponsored by the Metal Finishing Association of Southern California (MFASC).

Students from the school’s product design, environmental design, fine art and graduate industrial design programs spent the fall term learning about surface finishing technologies and applications. They worked with several NASF member companies to enhance their understanding of processes, including Alan Olick’s Brite/General Plating shop in Los Angeles.

At the end of the class, students presented finished 3D prototypes to a panel of faculty and MFASC judges. The top concept as judged by the panel was a system designed by Wen Han that enables consumers to design and order jewelry online, choosing final finishes such as gold, silver or copper. Second place was awarded to Bruce Ocampo, and Bryce Johnson won third place. Victoria Lin received an honorable mention.

CCAI SoCal Chapter Partners with Marines on 'Toys for Tots' Event

By: Tim Pennington 8. February 2013

The CCAI Southern California Chapter held a ‘Toys for Tots’ golf tournament in December, collecting almost 190 new toys for disadvantaged kids in the area.

The event was held at Eagle Glen Golf Club in Corona, CA, and included 18 holes of golf, lunch, dinner, team prizes, long drive contests, closest to the pin contests, hole-in-one contests, putting contest and a large post-tournament raffle.

Coral Chemical's Ron Lum, the CCAI Southern California Chapter president and CCAI National Board of Directors treasurer, spearheaded the event, which partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps and their national ‘Toys for Tots” campaign.

Any company who would like to partner with CCAI and sponsor the event next year can contact Ron Lumat 951-775-8785 or by email rlum@coral.com

Click HERE to see other photos from the day

MFASC to Exhibit at Largest Conference for Industry Inspectors in California

By: Tim Pennington 30. January 2013

The California Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Forum Board in association with the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and Cal/EMA will hold its 15^th Annual California Unified Program Conference on February 4-7at the Hyatt Regency, Garden Grove in Orange County.

During the Conference, the Metal Finishing Association of Southern California will have a display booth hosted by Executive Director Daniel Cunningham and various MFASC Board Members over the four days of the training conference. It is an opportunity to promote the metal finishing industry and the associations. It is also a rare opportunity to visit with inspectors on neutral ground and participate in some of the same training sessions.

The Unified Program is the consolidation of six state environmental programs into one program under the authority of a Certified Unified Program Agency. These can be a county, city or JPA (Joint Powers Authority). This program was established under the amendments to the California Health and Safety Code made by SB 1082 in 1994, and is normally enforced by the Hazardous Materials Division of the local Fire Department or Environmental Health Department.

In short, The CUPA’s are responsible for implementing and enforcing EPA program requirements.

They are the Hazardous Materials Business Plan/Emergency Response Plan, Hazardous Waste/Tiered Permitting, Underground Storage Tanks, Aboveground Storage Tanks (SPCC only), California Accidental Release Program and the Uniform Fire Code Hazardous Materials Management Plan.

The purpose of the conference is to provide training to the inspectors. Training focuses heavily on enforcement; violation classification, evidence collection, working with prosecutors, etc. MFASC members also participate in training sessions that are relevant to the metal finishing industry. Being in those sessions allows us to learn first-hand how the inspectors are taught to evaluate and interpret the requirements and to make sure the instructors are presenting accurate facts. Metal Finishers are often used as examples; usually not in a good way.

StandardAero Gets Certification for Protective Coatings

By: Tim Pennington 28. January 2013

StandardAero and eight of its aircraft paint technicians have completed the Embry Riddle Aeronautics University/Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) program in aircraft painting. The six week program confers a license in Aerospace Coatings Application (ACA) to those paint technicians who successfully complete the course and pass an examination administered by an SSPC proctor. StandardAero is the first MRO to implement the ACA program into its paint operations.

The ACA program, a joint venture developed by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide’s Office of Professional Education (OPE) and the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC), was developed to verify the knowledge, skills, and abilities of aircraft-specific paint technicians throughout the aerospace industry. The ACA initiative is the very first of its kind; it confers a certification and license to an industry standard for aircraft paint quality, with an emphasis placed upon safety of flight concerns. It teaches core knowledge and promotes a common language regarding the aircraft coatings process.

"For a while now, we’ve been talking about our CompleteCare™ strategy which puts the needs and convenience of our customers at the very heart of everything we do," said Scott Taylor, Senior Vice President, Business Aviation, StandardAero. "This is one of those key foundational elements that quietly supports the strategy. By investing in a team with legitimate credentials specific to their field of expertise, we distinguish ourselves from the rest of the industry; giving our customers a quality of workmanship that is unparalleled in the business and saving them time and money."

Of the fourteen certified Aerospace Coatings Applicator Specialists (ACAS) in existence, eight of them work for StandardAero. The company’s goal is to have 100 percent of their paint technicians ACAS certified within the next 12 months.

"In addition to this new certification for paint technicians, every technician in the company’s Business Aviation sector is a licensed A&P Mechanic. We believe we’re the only MRO that provides the industry with 100% certified A&P mechanics at all of our repair facilities," Taylor added.

BASF and Nissan Announce Streamlined Painting Processes

By: Tim Pennington 10. January 2013

BASF has expanded its partnership with Nissan, now supplying the automaker with coatings and paints for the Pathfinder and Infiniti models at its Smyrna plant in Tennessee, USA.

BASF supplies Nissan with coating solutions from e-coat and basecoat to clearcoat. BASF is also working on more streamlined technologies with Nissan in emerging markets such as China.

“Nissan is a very important customer for us and we have been working closely for a long time,” said Laurent Vaucenat, Global Account Manager for Nissan at BASF’s Coatings Division. “BASF’s innovative solutions and services, as well as our leading-edge technologies, have convinced Nissan to extend their collaboration with us, especially with our 3 Wet waterborne coating technique.”

The most notable advantage of the 3 Wet waterborne system is the elimination of one drying phase. Previously, car bodies required two 30-minute rounds in the drying oven, after application of the primer, and the basecoat / clearcoat. In the new method, these three layers are applied wet-on-wet, and then subsequently dried. This shortened process leads to shorter production time, less energy consumption, streamlined paint lines and – above all – lower emissions.

BASF is the unique supplier of "sprayables" (primer, basecoats and clearcoats) for Nissan’s European production sites in Sunderland (England), St Petersburg (Russia) and Barcelona (Spain).

“We are where our customers are. This is why we are increasingly expanding our presence in growing markets like China, where we currently supply Nissan’s Huadu plant,” says Vaucenat.

BASF also has long-standing supply relationships with Nissan in Japan and India. In 2012, the close partnership resulted in an award from Zhengzhou Nissan Auto Co., Ltd., honoring BASF with the “Excellent R&D Supplier Award” for the excellent quality in the supply of environmentally friendly car paint.

NASF, MFASC Award West Coast Bright Design Scholarships

CCAI SoCal Chapter Partners with Marines on 'Toys for Tots' Event

MFASC to Exhibit at Largest Conference for Industry Inspectors in California

StandardAero Gets Certification for Protective Coatings

BASF and Nissan Announce Streamlined Painting Processes

Recent Posts