requirements. This gives people a sense of pride and accom-
plishment in knowing that they have done a good quality job."
Strong Partnerships
IPS traces its roots to a college thesis paper written in the mid
1970s by its founder, whose premise was to set up a facility
to provide high-quality decorative metal finishing services to
companies.
Since finishing operations are capital intensive, labor
intensive, require a vast amount of expertise and have very
demanding regulatory compliances to meet, the theory was that
finishing would best serve companies by being outsourced. With
that in mind, IPS was founded in the early 1980s and operations
were started in Baja California, Mexico.
IPS had grown so large in its first two decades that by 2007 it
became one of the largest finishing operations in North America.
Since Mereles joined the operation, he has focused not only
on helping to maintain growth in existing markets, but also on
diversifying into other markets. He has been working closely
with several companies in various industries to bring in work to
IPS that could be sustainable and result in consistent production.
IPS says its success comes as a result of it looking at its
customers more as business partners, and wanting to form
long-standing working relationships with them.
"Over the years, we have built very strong partnerships
with several companies," says Alex Lebrija, sales and project
manager, who first started working for IPS in the late 1990s.
For example, Lebrija points out that IPS is still doing work with
its first customers that have been with it for more than 30 years.
"We are now cultivating and growing new partnerships with
other companies," Lebrija says. "But we continue to maintain
and value what we have built with our existing customers."
For information, visit ipsfinishing.com.
Watch the Video
Take a peek inside the large facility of
IPS, and see dozens of polishing and
buffers at work. Scan the QR code, or
visit short.pfonline.com/IPS
18
JANUARY 2016 — pfonline.com
PLATING/POLISHING P L A T I N G / P O L I S H I N G