First Posted: 2/18/2015
LIMA — For Lima’s MetoKote Corporation, technological advancement is a core component of its success.
MetoKote is one of the world’s leading companies in custom metal coating, featuring electrocoating, powder coating and liquid paint, with its products used in a variety of products, from electronics to automotive parts. According to Brent Schwartz, vice president of engineering, the company has benefited greatly as the technology behind metal coating improved.
One area of rapid technological expansion, especially in the automotive industry, has been in lightweight metal coating, an area in which MetoKote is an industry leader.
“You’ve seen all the advertisements for new vehicles and the requirements to improve fuel economy,” Schwartz said. “We are truly the leader in the coating industry on lightweight metals.”
Lightweight metal coating covers lightweight steel alloys, magnesium alloys and aluminum. By modifying technology already in place, MetoKote has been able to pioneer entirely new practices, all of which require an extremely precise level of control.
“We are the only coater in the world supplying the coating for this particular technology on what I would call structural components on vehicles,” Schwartz said. “You can’t visibly see the coating. We actually have to burn a small portion of the metal and analyze the light refraction to ensure the coating is actually present.”
Another area of innovation has been in the design of the coating lines themselves.
“We have gone to a modular design, one we call modular and redeployable equipment,” Schwartz said. “That is a decision we made a number of years ago to allow ourselves to have more flexibility, respond quicker and meet needs.”
By going with a modular approach, MetoKote is now able to build its own custom coating lines in prefabricated pieces that can be disassembled and reassembled in a matter of weeks, with the ability to be transported easily by tractor trailer. The design and assembly for these “flex lines” is all done here in Lima, keeping resources and personnel close to home.
“It provides the company common equipment across many platforms, not only in the U.S.,” Schwartz said. “We’ve shipped this equipment as far as Brazil.”
Breaking new ground in coating equipment design and revolutionizing the lightweight metal industry makes MetoKote an exciting place in which to work.
“We are a very close knit group,” Schwartz said. “It’s a great company to work for.”
