Looking back on 2023; moving forward to 2030
Even though 2023 ended in an unfortunate slowdown, inline with the United States Manufacturing Index (PMI), Giering Metal Finishing accomplished some major achievements throughout the year. Regardless of soaring interest rates combatting record inflation and a slowing economy, we continued our determination to lead the way as innovative and ingenious finishers.
Giering improved several ancillary industrial systems to solidify our company’s “big-picture” goals. Major improvements targeted the quality, efficiency, throughput, and adjustability of various finishing systems. We designed and integrated alarms/warning systems on curing ovens, added cooling systems, improved spray system triggers and part-turning systems, optimized lighting, and made various improvements to our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Our ERP system was imperative in helping our managers navigate the infamous “supply chain issues” of the past three years.
Giering Metal Finishing enhanced various aspects of the company’s powder coating process including optimizing the regulated air pressure for a specific low-pressure powder coating application; the addition of static neutralizing and static control systems to remove corrugated cardboard dust from incoming parts that were previously cleaned and degreased by the part manufacturer; improvements to powder booth filtration control systems to reduce powder waste and energy consumption; and the development of a process to solidify powder waste so that it could be disposed of more efficiently.
Additionally, we undertook efforts to design and develop new and improved fixtures for holding parts during coating processes. In many cases, parts to be coated also have areas such as internal cavities, threaded holes, or other features that need to be masked off to prevent them from being coated. We strive to integrate the masks and fixture components to minimize the labor required to manually apply tape or other masking materials, saving our customers cost in their products.
Giering Metal Finishing continuously keeps our eyes on the far horizon. Tomorrow is important. But to ensure our company is still successfully servicing our customers in decades to come, we must lay the proper foundation for our growth and improvement for the next several years!