Chinese
September 24, 2020:
Article on “Larsen bringing Powder Coating In-House” for Powder Coating Institute Sept/Oct 2020 magazine.
For the better part of a year, a light line drawing of a powder coating system was on display in the office of Dave Larsen, president and CEO of Larsen Manufacturing. Not one to rush into a new venture, the drawing served as a subtle reminder for Dave to assess, and reassess, bringing the process in-house. PCT had the opportunity to talk with Dave, along with Jim LaCroix, vice president of operations, about their journey into the world of powder coating.
After looking at the drawing in your office for months, what was it that brought you to pull the trigger to bring powder coating in-house?
Dave Larsen: Larsen was founded in 1999 as a metal stamping company. Around 2008, we added fabrication to our capabilities. Just being around the industry I learned the importance of powder coating and ultimately realized it was the most difficult outside process to handle. We regularly struggled to get parts back from our vendors on time and too often parts were damaged. Add to that, many of our customers wanted to work with a fabricator with paint capability. There aren’t many fabricators our size that powder coat, so we were trying to compete with the big guys, and we could not match their prices with outsourced quotes. Frankly, outsourcing this process was negatively impacting the entire Larsen organization. To be competitive, we had to bring it in-house. So, we did our homework, created the necessary space and, in 2017 we got the ball rolling
Read the complete article on https://www.powdercoatedtough.com/News/ID/5208/Experience-Plays-a-Key-Role-for-Insourcing
