Peer Group Reviews Micron Metal Finishing

 

A peer group of powder coating shop owners recently inspected and reviewed Micron Metal Finishing, based in Bridgeview, Illinois, as part of a continuous improvement program among several companies in the industry.

 

Micron Metal Finishing is a full service, large volume custom powder coating job shop serving Chicago, surrounding suburbs, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and the Midwest region. It has a 75,000-square-foot facility and three conveyorized lines with automatic reclaim booths and two batch operations. 

 

 

Axalta Coating Systems, a major supplier of industrial coating including powder coating, sponsored the meeting, as all of the participants are customers. The peer review concept goes back to the automotive industry in the 1940s, when auto dealers formed small peer groups with non-competing dealerships. The dealers met together a few times a year to exchange ideas, identify best practices, discover opportunities and discuss challenges facing their businesses.

 

 

Typcially the group meets in the spring and fall. They perform benchmarking exercises, comparing certain aspects of their business and how they perform. Group members are given an audit form and a clipboard, and they rate the different processes involved in the powder coating operation. Later in the meeting, the group openly discusses their findings with the host company.