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Issue link: https://pf.epubxp.com/i/830013
BY TIM PENNINGTON EDITOR Florida plating shop rebuilds with a unique electrical setup. 22 JUNE 2017 — PFonline.com When Andy Pozin drove a delivery truck and made stops at local finishing shops throughout central Florida, he always noticed something unique about the plating shops on his route. "The owners always drove nice cars and parked them right out front," he says. "That caught my eye, and made me think that maybe I could be one of those guys." A few years later, Pozin became one of "those guys" when in 1986 he became the third owner of Sun Glo Industrial Plating in Clearwater, Florida, a Nadcap shop that offers anodizing, plating, conversion coatings, mechanical finishing and liquid and powder coatings. More than 30 years later, Pozin doesn't drive a fancy car—a nice pickup truck is his choice to go to and from the office— but he has become one of the most knowledgeable finishing owners in the Southeast part of the U.S., and one of the most entrepreneurial owners, to boot. Pozin has grown what was once a three-person finishing operation to one with over 50 employees and extensive certi- fications and capabilities, including opening a machine and stamping operation next door in an adjacent building. Sun Glo's finishing menu includes Type I, II and III anod- izing, silver and gold plating, cadmium and copper, electroless nickel, zinc phosphate and zinc rack/barrel plating, passivation, bright dip copper, tin plating, liquid and powder coatings, and mechanical finishing and harperizing, which Pozin says is a tumbling process that uses high-energy G forces to finish parts. Devastating Fire But despite the shop's extensive capabilities, Pozin's more than three decades in the metal finishing industry nearly came to an end in 2015 when an overnight fire devastated his company and his livelihood. On a warm September night that year, a driver passing by Sun Glo's facility at around 3:30 a.m. noticed smoke coming from the building and called 911. By the time the fire depart- ment arrived a few minutes later, flames had torn through one of the large buildings housing Sun Glo's numerous plating lines. When the dust settled, 19 plating lines went up in smoke, caused by a short circuit in a piece of equipment. "It took out 40 percent of our entire finishing operation," says Pozin, who happened to be on vacation with his wife in Italy when the fire occurred. He had to scuttle the trip and head back home to see how gutted his business was. ABOVE: Sun Glo is rebuilding after 19 plating lines went up in smoke, caused by a short circuit in a piece of equipment. PLATING Sun Glo Industrial Plating Survives Trial by Fire