This Indiana-based wire and sheet metal parts maker needed to bring the powder coating part of its operation in-house to save money and aggravation on rework. Since then, the company has reduced its energy consumption, had quicker turnaround times, and made its Mark as a powder coater as well as metals fabricator.

Mid-West Metal Products Co. Inc., Muncie, Ind., has been in business since 1921. Although more known for its Pet Cage business, Mid-West also has an established industrial business as well. One of the major improvements in recent years has been the addition of its first powder coating line, which led to the start of MW Powder Coating, according to Bryan Brand, plant manager of the powder coating company.

Brand says that MW Powder developed out of necessity. “For many years, Mid-West Metal Products outsourced all of our powder coating to a local coater that was pretty much dedicated to our product lines, with the exception of some seasonal products they manufactured and coated themselves,” he says.

The company manufactures custom wire and sheet metal parts for the following industries: point of purchase (POP) display racks and shelves for tanning, sports and leisure, remodeling, industrial construction, foods, and more. They also coat tanning beds and dressing rooms, paintball guns, porch rail support bases, store front awning frames, fan guards, belt
guards, motor mounts for large industrial ceiling fans, mobile caged floor fans as large as eight feet, duck and rabbit outdoor wire pins for domestic and overseas delivery.

Brand says that around 2003, Mid-West started to experience some issues with coatings that had not presented themselves prior to this. “We continued to work with [our] coater to try to work through these issues…but we seemed [to get] nowhere.” Mid-West’s “Plan B” was to outsource to another coater, which was located about an hour away. “[This] meant trucking and time, in an effort to try to form a relationship and see what might come of it,” Brand says. But as time went on, Brand says more and more of their parts were not acceptable. Rework was becoming expensive, and with the extra trucking and time on the road, it became apparent that the company was going to have to do something to rectify the problem.

In late 2004/early 2005, Brand was asked if he would consider giving up his duties as plant manager for Mid-West’s custom wire forming plant, which he had run for the previous three years, to research and study the powder coating industry. The idea was to start up the first powder coating plant for Mid-West Metal Products.

“Seeing this as an awesome challenge and a huge plus for Mid-West, I accepted the challenge and began my research in January of 2005,” Brand says.

During his research, Brand looked for used equipment. He had the good fortune of working with a dealer that found just the system that Mid-West was looking for.

Installing this powder coating line and starting up MW Powder Coating, a division of Mid-West, has provided a very positive impact on the company’s operations in terms of being able to provide shorter lead times, quality parts, and provide on-time deliveries to its customers, Brand says.

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