New Technology, Equipment Boost Green Bay Anodizing

Last year, Green Bay Anodizing in Wisconsin celebrated its first 10 years in the finishing business. But company officials are still excited by shiny new things, especially those that satisfy an ever-growing customer base and improve quality.

This past year, the shop installed a fifth processing tank for hardcoat anodizing, its third in operation. It also put in new computerized tracking software and a new natural gas dryer that dries parts in less than 10 minutes. That means no more blowing off parts with an air nozzle, which lowers the chance of overspray from acid residue and results in a much better finished product for customers.

“By consistently updating our equipment, we have not had a day we could not run parts,” says Don Schnell, plant manager. “Having the newest technology from Dynatech, Nano, Singleton and Thermo Fisher has given us products that have proven to be reliable and produce very good results.”

Green Bay Anodizing puts about 15 percent of its gross sales back into the operation in newer equipment and technology, which made them the perfect choice to be honored in the Best Finishing Technology category in the Products Finishing Top Shops Benchmarking Survey.

Charles Dunham, company president, says Green Bay Anodizing has always been on the path of reinvestment when it comes to its infrastructure.

“Using the latest technology in rectifiers and controls has helped reduce our rework and limit the downtime for repairs,” Dunham says. “Our dryer has an ease of use that enables our line operators, with only the push of a button, to switch from drying anodizing loads to chromate and back within seconds.”

All preset temps are stored for easy switchover. They also added water-level sensors to their heated tanks that will cause shut off all power to the heaters if the levels drop to a preset point, thereby preventing a possible fire.

“This year, we are adding tracking software that will give us real-time updates on in-house projects,” says Dan Young, sales manager. “Along with that, we are adding on to the facility for shipping and receiving to better handle the workflow.”

The improvements have a direct correlation to increased sales, Dunham says. In 2018, Green Bay Anodizing saw sales grow at about 31 percent; and they are looking at 15 percent growth in 2019.

“Since 2015, our sales have increased an average of 30 percent, and this is directly related to the reinvestments,” he says. “From technology, increasing our staff, adding a second shift in 2017 and then a third shift in 2018, and by keeping our two main goals of quality and lead time, our customer base grows from year to year.”

Being named a Products Finishing Top Shops is an annual goal of company management and its employees.

“It shows our customers and potential customer base that we put a lot of thought and care into their orders,” he says. “We may not have the footprint of some larger competitors, but our focus has always been ‘Customer Focus, Quality Driven.’ When a company has so many anodizing solutions to choose from, we believe being named Products Finishing Top Shops puts Green Bay Anodizing at the top of the short list.”