​What's in your box of powder coating?

A number of years ago I was talking to a friend that was the  production manager for one of the largest powder coating manufacturers in the world. We talk almost on a daily basis. We talked about things like what to do with  waste powder coating, the self-life of powder, and reintroducing bag house fines back into the manufacturing process. But the subject that got my attention the most was the low percentage of profit that powder manufacturers work with.

From my point of view I had a plant manager of a company that had made  powder coating for years telling me that unless you do billions of dollars of business it is basically impossible to make money manufacturing powder. I spent a lot of time thinking about this and came to the conclusion that his statement was 100% correct. But only if the powder coating industry continued to do thing in the way they have done it for years.

I started to ask myself some questions. What do we get included in the package of powder coating that we don't necessarily need included? I'm not talking about a plastic bag and a cool logo. I'm talking about a salesman to come by once a month and takes you out to lunch and give us a new color chart, and did I really need a new color chart? As I dug deeper in the box I found that customer service person that you call once and a while and the technical service rep.

When I got to the bottom of the box I found my competitor that was down the road that went out of business and left me his unpaid debt in my box of powder. Debt is a big percentage of the powder found in the box it happens when you get a large company that goes bankrupt or the medium or small company that just doesn't like to pay their bills as their ritual of how they get ahead in life. I can tell you it’s not like and exorcism they don't invite a priest over to shake some holy water on that debt to make it go away. You the honest guy that pays his bills gets it included in your box of powder.

So what comes in a  box of powder? The salesman, your "free" color chart, the customer service and technical service rep, and the debt of the dishonest slacker. I could go on and on about what is in the cost of your powder.

So let's ask ourselves somewhat if questions!

What if I didn't have to pay for any of these things until I needed them?

Do I really need a salesman showing up when I am up to my neck in parts that need to be coated when I can order  powder coating online?

Would you like to be 100% sure that you aren't paying for some other powder coaters bad debt? It's simple but from a company that only offers credit card payments.

We all need help troubling shooting a problem from time to time. How many boxes of powder have you purchased that it came included in the box and you never used it. I suggest you remove it from the box and you pay for it only when you need it.

I think we have figured out why large powder coat manufacturers have such high prices. When you purchased your box of powder what came in the box? Was it more than good quality powder?