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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

The Finishing Touch

What do Home Depot hand carts, Orly nail polish bottles and the wall tiles of the subway system under the World Trade Center have in common? The answer: SunDial Powder Coatings. For more than 30 years, the Sun Valley-based company has been in the powder coating business — providing an environmentally friendly powder finish to protect objects from rust and erosion, a coating that is expected to last up to 20 years and outperform spray paint and other coatings. Hasu Bhakta co-owns the business with his son, Naseem Khan, and nephew, Shivie Dhillon. The trio has managed to differentiate SunDial from other powder coating companies in the greater San Fernando Valley region and grow financially in recent years by expanding its focus beyond metal and aluminum products, such as patio furniture and car parts, and developing various specialties. SunDial now powder coats glass, certain types of wood and architectural pieces, and is looking to plastics next. “When the recession hit, the same customers that we had the day before were still there, but instead of picking up 100 units, they were picking up 10,” Dhillon said. As customers downsized their orders, the result was a pricing war for metal-focused powder coaters. “So … we went after industries that we just didn’t have.” The newer business strategy has opened the doors to some high-profile contracts and has boosted the company’s revenue. In 2011, SunDial had about $3.4 million in gross revenue, up from about $2.4 million in 2010, Bhakta said. In 2009, the company’s revenue had dipped down to $1.9 million. The owners are projecting 2012 revenue to be at least $4 million. SunDial is one of approximately 25 powder coating operations in North America to have the Powder Coating Institute’s “PCI 3000” certification, said Michael Wittenhagen, the nonprofit organization’s technical manager. “It’s not something that anyone can get,” Wittenhagen said. “Branding more into plastics and woods is definitely innovative… Anybody who’s doing architectural — they’re more of the elite.” Earlier this year, Dhillon was elected to serve on the Powder Coating Institute’s board of directors. Beyond the PCI 3000, SunDial also has certifications from six powder coating manufacturers to be an applicator for their architectural and other high-performance powder lines. Powder coating power SunDial’s lot in Sun Valley resembles a metal scrapyard. On a recent trip to the site, rusted and damaged Home Depot hand carts, Gelson’s shopping carts and metal stools were stacked high, waiting for their new finishes to be applied. A wrought iron, copper-colored entry gate was wrapped up and ready to go. Inside the company’s nearby warehouse, a 180-foot-long, seven-stage pre-treatment system prepares the objects for coating. The machine, designed by SunDial, degreases the product, puts it through neutralizing bath, rinses it with de-ionized water, applies iron phosphate — which gives the product’s surface the correct texture to improve the bonding ability of the powder — neutralizes and rinses it again, and then seals it. Finally, the product is sprayed with the powder, which contains finely-ground charged particles of pigment and resin, according to SunDial’s website. The electrical charge of the powder allows it to stick to a metal or aluminum surface. The powdered product is then heated in a curing oven to ensure the coating is long-lasting. Dhillon said powder coating is considered to be environmentally friendly because it releases water into the atmosphere instead of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are known to be environmental and health hazards, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Challenges and opportunity SunDial was built by family members who worked their way up in the industry. Bhakta moved to the United States from India in 1970 to study engineering. Years later, he was working with two owners of a powder coating shop in Sun Valley. When they closed down, he took over their space and equipment in 1982, incorporating his own business, SunDial Powder Coatings. By the late 1990s, SunDial had four locations in Pico Rivera, North Hollywood, Canoga Park and Sun Valley. However, by late 2006, three of those facilities had been sold off to customers and a competitor, and only the Sun Valley facility remained, SunDial’s owners said. By that time, Bhakta’s son and nephew had joined him in the family business. They recognized a problem — manufacturing was leaving California. The owners started preparing to move into architectural powder coating to diversify, but construction came to a screeching halt amid the recession. The economic downturn combined with departure of manufacturers dealt a harsh blow. The company, which had 48 full-time employees before the recession, eventually downsized to 22 part-time workers. SunDial would have employed about 12 employees four days a week, if the company kept its full-time schedule, Dhillon said. New projects To bring in new business, the SunDial owners pursued business opportunities with wood and glass manufacturers, Dhillon said. Along the way, the company obtained its specialty applicator certifications along with the Powder Coating Institute’s certification. SunDial landed projects with several major nail polish companies, including Van Nuys-based Orly. SunDial currently powder coats the outside of glass nail polish bottles for Orly’s Gel FX and Smart Gels lines, which are designed to last two to three times longer than regular lacquers, said Jay Josephson, Orly’s director of procurement. SunDial’s powder coating prevents ultraviolet light from entering the bottles, which could cause the nail polish to harden too quickly, he said. “We researched about a half a dozen companies, and SunDial was the most responsive and the most anxious to get involved in an industry that they hadn’t been involved with before,” Josephson said. “We had to do extensive testing with different formulas of powder coating… The whole SunDial organization was very helpful in working with us and setting up outside testing laboratories.” SunDial also started doing business with Home Depot, which had its old hand carts powder coated. The home improvement retailer saves about 75 percent of what it would cost to replace the hand carts with new ones, Dhillon said. “(We) put it back into service for a fraction of the price (while) not filling up the landfills,” Dhillon said, noting SunDial services Home Depot stores located between Texas and Mississippi. In the architecture sector, SunDial landed a contract about six months ago to work on the subway system under the World Trade Center in New York, Dhillon said. The company is charged with powder coating large wall tiles from the underground system, allowing graffiti to be easily removed. SunDial was chosen because it can provide zinc-free powder coating, which complies with environmental guidelines set by New York City, Dhillon said. SunDial’s owners expect the project to start soon. Looking ahead, SunDial’s owners said they plan to keep growing the business through more architectural work and contract coating. They also hope to continue educating the public — particularly through the Internet — about powder coating, which is still an unfamiliar term to many.

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