In 1971, I was working as a spray painter, applying paint to plastic molded headlamp and tail lamp bezels for a large supplier of automotive moldings and die cast parts. At the time, I regarded working with paint and coatings as a temporary job to earn money while I planned a career. But as things turned out, my career moved from there to custom coater and then to a company that manufactured coating systems. I started my own consulting and engineering firm in 1993 and did not expect to make any more job changes. But here I am, starting a new chapter as technical director for The Powder Coating Institute (PCI).

I have always had a lot of respect for PCI and I was interested in working with them but what convinced me to make this change was a list of new services that PCI wanted to add. In my first communication to you from PCI Headquarters I want to tell you about what we are working on and how it can add value to our industry partners, members, and the entire powder coating marketplace.

First, we will offer coaters a broad array of technical services on the design of new systems and the improvement of existing systems. We will provide expertise in pretreatment, application, curing and material handling. We will work with companies on a wide range of issues, including continuous improvement, quality control and energy efficiency. We also have installed a complete lab for testing that includes salt spray, particle size analysis, QUV accelerated weathering and a host of mechanical testing equipment to evaluate coatings.

In addition to these services, we are planning a new certification program to review a coating facility
and help guide them to a successful completion of a rigorous auditing and certification process. This program will identify the critical elements that are needed to meet quality goals associated with different substrates and markets, including steel, aluminum, heat-sensitive substrates and functional coating applications. The certification program will acknowledge existing competencies and provide professional guidance for consistency and quality. This plan is ready to be unveiled.

We also are working on a new electronic program to identify precise steps needed in a powder coating process that will lead to a particular specification and level of performance. The program will allow a coater or specifier to review a list of performance goals and select the level they need for their product. When they complete the questionnaire the program will provide them with detailed direction on what preparation is needed, what coating materials will work and how to process the part to meet the level of performance they have indicated is needed. This program will be in place soon.

The best quality training in the powder coating industry has always been a hallmark of PCI. To maintain that standard and expand it, we are planning a new series of training programs that will cover powder coating topics from the introductory level to the most advanced level. These programs will be launched later this year. We have an exciting group of ideas and services to offer. I hope you will stay in touch with us and take advantage of the tools we are building to contribute to your success as a coater. Rodger Talbert is technical director of The Powder Coating Institute. He can be reached at 616-356-6190 or via email at rtalbert@powdercoating.org.