Dr. Bob Schnorbus, chief economist and director of macroeconomics at J.D. Power and Associates, will be the featured speaker for the Automotive Symposium at SUR/FIN 2008, which takes place June 16-18 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN.

ACCESSA Coatings Solutions has acquired Louisville Industrial Coatings of Louisville, KY, to expand its market share throughout Southern Indiana, Kentucky, and parts of Tennessee, southwestern Ohio, and southeastern Illinois.

Linetec has posted a number of resources on “green building” in its online Architect Resource Center. The company provides thermal barrier systems and architectural finishes such as Kynar 500® that can assist building projects seeking certification under the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), in collaboration with partners and sponsors, has launched the Lean Registry, a free community connection and collaboration space for lean practitioners. The new tool allows users to post needs/expertise directly to their profile, create virtual groups and make safe connections more easily.

The recent trends in global competition, rising and volatile energy costs, tightening emissions regulations and an overall drive for environmentally conscious manufacturing practices have led many finishing professionals to look for alternative curing technologies. The past several years have brought rapid changes in electron beam (EB) technology, making EB curing a more practical alternative to traditional curing methods.

Seegrid Corp. has appointed robotics industry veteran Mitchell Weiss as chief operating officer and supply chain industry veteran Greg Cronin as executive vice president.

When San Joaquin Helicopters needed to improve the process for stripping and cleaning aircraft components and parts, the company turned to a baking soda-based abrasive. The abrasive has allowed the FAA-certified repair station to cut cleaning time by 50% or more, while also providing a substantial reduction in material costs and hazardous waste.

DuBois Chemicals has launched a new process called Zirconization for paint pretreatment and surface finishing systems that will allow finishing professionals to run their metal pretreatment operations in a high-performing, low-temperature and phosphate-free environment.

Ultraviolet (UV) curing technology is being chosen at an increasing rate to meet industry challenges and improve profitability through lower initial costs and operational expenses while increasing throughput and first-time-quality. Recent advances in raw materials, UV equipment and manufacturing processes have resulted in adoption by industrial coating applications for three-dimensional (3D) parts, including direct-to-metal (DTM) applications.

"We have been asked to powder coat steel parts to match an aluminum anodized hinge. So far we have not had much success. Do you think we’re spinning our wheels trying to match a powder to a plating finish? I know that the “chrome” powders that are available really don’t achieve a chrome plating finish. Would I be better off asking the customer to revise the specification to allow us to powder coat both the steel parts and the hinge if they want everything to match?"