Market-share for different coatings and surface modification technologies

A. I don't think the information you are seeking will be found to be available for free, Pedro. However, the Surface Finishing Market Research Board (SMFRB), a task force put together by AESF, NAMF, and MFSA^^{(those three organizations are now NASF)} recently conducted a pretty thorough study of the North American market. You can contact NASF to find out the exact scope of the studies and the cost of a copy. Good luck!

A. Hi John.

Yes, some information on this is available in the Surface Finishing Market Research Boards reports available from NASF.

But shipping time & cost are critical in most jobshop plating situations so that the only market important to you is the one immediately proximate. While there may be a couple of high-tech exceptions for aerospace and electronics, it would be hard for a retiree, presumably on a tight budget, to get into the most demanding, quality intensive, shipping-cost-be-damned markets.

Marketing studies can be important to Pfizer or American Home Products where they need to insure that there truly is a billion dollar market for some new product before they develop it and advertise it, but personally I've always considered generalized marketing studies for plating jobshop work to be a little silly. Because, on the one hand, the needs are obviously being met by existing shops already; and on the other hand, the customers are invariably very open to a better source should one become available :-)

Best of luck!

A. John, there's only room for a new plating company if you make room. California is not one of the places most people would consider for a new plating company but what do I know, I live in Maryland! You didn't say what size company you were thinking about or what types of processes you were looking at. With the right resources, knowledge, customer base and experienced staff, anything is possible. I can tell you from experience that starting from scratch has taken us 5 years to establish ourselves in the markets we serve, and to train a competent staff. It's also very difficult to show good numbers the first few years because of the high reinvestment ratio needed to grow the business.

If you decide to move to Maryland let me know ... Have I got a deal for you!

A. Hi Stephen. Chrome is being targeted due to its toxicity, and it's slowly dying as replacements are being sought and found. Getting into a dying technology, where you will be harassed to death in the meanwhile, won't make for a very pleasant life in my opinion.

Regards,

A. Some general market studies of this nature are available in the annual issues of the Surface Finishing Market Research Board Reports available from NAMF or AESF (www.nasf.org) at reasonable prices (I think they're something like $100 each). However, really detailed market studies are 5-figure items.

A. Ted is right on the ball but a tad off on the numbers:

For the Surface Finishing Market Research Board reports (available at nasf.org) they are $125 each for members of the AESF/NMFRC and I believe one other organization, maybe the NAMF, or $250 for non-members.

Tip, it costs you 125 dollars to sign up for the AESF & NMFRC together, why not do that, order your report, it pays for your membership instantly then and you have a year's worth of value from the two organizations; it's what I did.

A. Unfortunately that's almost funny, Matthew :-)

Plating involves hazardous chemical products and hazardous waste. When plants were designed in the past with no focus on land pollution problems a few decades ago, waste seeped through the floors and into the ground below the shop (acids easily eat through concrete floors over the years). When "Silent Spring" [on eBay, Amazon, or AbeBooks affil links]hit the best seller list and the EPA was established, the electroplating industry was the nation's very first target. So now, and not without cause, the contaminated earth below these shops has been retroactively determined to be hazardous.

So, while there are some surface finishers earning a good living in newer niche markets, there are many very unhappy people in the business who have been losing money for years now, but who can't retire despite age & weariness because closing down will trigger cleanup costs & responsibilities that will cost them their homes, and leave them without a dime for their old age. When some of your competition is in a situation where slowly bleeding away their life savings is preferable to closing and becoming homeless in a single swoop, it's very difficult to make money competing against them :-(

So there is no "typical" in this business. Just be sure to look to highly technical, advanced plating -- not to commodity work like zinc plating where you must compete on price against people who are established, experienced and desperate. Don't do that!

A. Hi, Baptiste. The Institute of Metal Finishing, based in England, is sort of the European equivalent of the USA's NAMF.

Luck & Regards,