Trion Coatings Partners with KCH Services

Trion Coatings is partnering with KCH Services for the deployment of its Safe Chrome, an environmentally friendly chrome plating technology.

KCH will act as Trion’s exclusive engineering, procurement and construction provider for the plating technology. Trion, which launched at Notre Dame’s IDEA Center, was formed to develop an environmentally friendly alternative to hexavalent chromium in functional and decorative chrome plating processes.

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Doug Morrison, president of Trion, says his company’s patent-pending process uses trivalent chromium and a proprietary ionic liquid solution that offers faster electroplating speeds, improved wear resistance and higher performance results than traditional hexavalent chrome.

“KCH has demonstrated themselves to be an entrepreneurial company that has an ethic of being on the forefront of technology innovation and environmental stewardship,” Morrison says.

Kyle Hankinson, president of KCH, says his company wants to help make it safer for people who work in the finishing industry. “Trion is well positioned to do just that and we are excited to partner with them to make this a reality,” he says.

Trion is majority owned by Middleburg Capital Development, a family business located in Middleburg, Virginia. Trion sold a minority equity position in the company to Nucor Corporation, which will work with Trion to commercialize the technology by building a commercial facility for the plating process at Nucor Fastener in St. Joe, Indiana. As part of the agreement, Nucor will hold exclusive worldwide license agreement rights for the technology as applied to long steel products.

KCH has more than 80,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and has extensive in-house capabilities and machinery to manufacture wet process lines and ventilation systems for a variety of applications across numerous markets. Its core business strategy is spread across aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, agriculture, construction and many others that utilize electroplating and metal finishing processes.