Metal Coating, Engraving & Heat Treating Industry Profile

The US metal coating, engraving, and heat treating industry includes about 6,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $20 billion. Major companies include AZZ, Precoat Metals (a division of Sequa), Pro-Tec, and the coatings division of Valmont Industries. The industry is fragmented: the largest 50 companies generate about 40 percent of revenue.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand depends on the level of manufacturing production and construction activity. The profitability of individual companies is linked to manufacturing process efficiencies. Most companies are small and compete by focusing on a specialty customer niche within a local or regional area.

Competition comes from metal manufacturers and fabricators that have in-house capability. Other competitors are large steel mills and aluminum producers, such as Nucor and Alcoa, that have operations that incorporate these value-added services.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major services are metal surface finishing treatments that include engraving, galvanizing, and coating; electroplating, plating, anodizing, and coloring; and heat treating.

Surface finishing protects a metal product from corrosion, improves resistance and functional properties. For example, electroplating involves coating an object in a solution to improve electrical insulation and/or conductivity. Zinc coatings are commonly used to prevent corrosion of steel products. Major customer industries for metal surface finishers are the auto, aerospace, building construction, highway construction, petrochemical processing, and utility markets.

The basic steps in the surface finishing process include material cleaning; preparing, or priming, the surface; applying coating or other treatments (galvanizing, etching, electroplating, ...