Pioneer Trail How Pioneer Metal Finishing Grew its Business to 11 Shops
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FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM JULY 2021
Pioneer Trail
How Pioneer Metal Finishing Grew its Business to 11 Shops
Electroplating • Anodizing • Liquid and Powder Coating
1 • Pre-Treatment • Conversion • Ecoat • Vacuum
JULY 2021 — FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM
SHOP PROFILE
S
cott Kettler enjoys the
strategy of taking Pioneer
Metal Finishing from
being a what business
– “What finish do you
need?” — to a why busi-
ness.
“Why are you looking for a sur-
face engineered finish?” says Kettler,
president and COO of Pioneer Metal
Finishing, one of the largest metal
finishing companies in North America
from a general processor standpoint,
operating 11 locations in the U.S. and
one in Mexico.
Kettler loves transformation and is
overseeing it at Pio-
neer, where he start-
ed as COO in early
2018 after working
in the high-tech
fields of electronics
manufacturing and
digital printing. The als are similar, but our services are tries, including Australia. In all total,
president title was unique,” Kettler says. “We have the the company finishes over 560 million
added in 2021. Kettler expertise and capabilities to provide parts annually.
The Green Bay, thought leadership in surface engi- Pioneer marked its 75th anniversary
Wisconsin-based Pi- neering and outstanding value to our in 2020, and the company celebrated
oneer has more than 1,000 team mem- customers, instead of simply being an by continuing its growth trajectory
bers working in over 800,000 square order-taker competing on price.” with three strategic acquisitions:
feet of manufacturing space in their • Pilkington Metal Finishing in Salt
various locations. Kettler says their Extensive Geographical Reach Lake City, Utah
focus is serving four primary markets: The company’s growing geograph- • Indianhead Plating in Chippewa
automotive, industrial equipment, ical reach enables Pioneer to make Falls, Wisconsin.
medical, and aerospace/defense. a big impact. Last year, they served • Electrochem Solutions in Union
“Across those markets, the met- customers in all 50 states and 11 coun- City, California.
Pioneer Trail President: Scott Kettler
Headquarters: Green Bay, WI
Web: pioneermetal.com
8
10
1
2 3
5
7
4
6
How Pioneer Metal Finishing
9
Processes: Electroplating, ano-
dizing, conversion coatings,
Grew its Business to 11 Shops
adhesives.
Locations:
1. Minneapolis, MN 7. South Bend, IN
2. Chippewa Falls, WI 8. Portland, OR
3. Green Bay, WI 9. Union City, CA
4. Warren, MI 10. Salt Lake City, UT
5. Monroe, MI 11. Queretaro, MX 11
6. Warren, MI
FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM — JULY 2021 24 25 JULY 2021 — FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM
SHOP PROFILE
performance and delivering on our Pioneer’s growth plans include of tenure and teaming those veterans
promises are key reasons our custom- finding and retaining the right talent with younger personnel strikes a nice
ers come back to us.” in a tight labor market, and Kettler balance.
Its large scale and comprehensive believes telling Pioneer’s story is vital. “We’re all excited to help continue
capabilities enable Pioneer to have “When we talk about our history, building on Pioneer’s legacy, now
conversations with larger customers legacy, and future strategy, it’s easi- 76 years strong,” Kettler says. “It’s a
that can utilize their full breadth er to keep employees interested and continual challenge to get better as an
of services and capabilities. Kettler enthusiastic,” he says, noting that a organization, which is why I get out of
says OEMs particularly are looking to number of employees have 25-30 years bed every morning.”
consolidate their supply chains rather
than working with multiple finishers.
“We can offer redundant facilities
with common IT, ERP, and QMS plat-
forms seamlessly help customers with
risk mitigation and supply chain con-
tinuity if a crisis occurs, either natural
or man-made,” he says.
Pioneer’s centralized engineering
services engage early with custom-
ers in optimizing finish applications,
problem-solving, new product devel-
opment, and onboarding.
The acquisitions were added to says. “Aterian’s leadership helps ensure “We see an opportunity to continue
According to Kettler, becoming a
existing facilities in Green Bay; two lo- we’re making sound investments to stitching together a broader solution
strategic partner also takes a deeper
cations in Warren and one in Monroe keep expanding.” across North America with other facil-
understanding of their customers’
in Michigan; Portland, Oregon; South Kettler says three factors drive Pio- ities,” he says.
problems.
Bend, Indiana; Minneapolis, Minneso- neer’s acquisition strategy:
“We must look through a customer’s
ta; and in Queretaro, Mexico. • Filling a geographic gap in facility Offering Enterprise Solution
eyes at their challenges and how we
Kettler says all three companies coverage. Kettler says size and scalability are
can best solve them,” he says.
acquired in 2020 were healthy with • Increasing presence in certain what differentiates Pioneer from oth-
strong potential. markets, such as medical or aero- ers in the finishing industry. They can
Thanking the Team
“Acquisitions bring us a lot of talent space/defense. offer an unmatched enterprise-level Pioneer processes more than 560 million parts annually, including
Kettler credits Pioneer’s people for
and experience,” he says, adding that • Buying new technical capabilities. solution, he says, with a regional strat- many that require intricate maskings.
the company’s success.
Pioneer’s commercial team, propri- Electrochem Solutions, for example, egy that’s evolved to span an increas-
“They truly care about their jobs,
etary technology, and quality manage- checked all three boxes for Pioneer. ing number of locations across North
their peers, and their customers,” he
ment system help the new organiza- “It had a desirable Silicon Valley America.
says, adding they are always challeng-
tions improve their customer-facing location serving semiconductor “We’re focused on thought leader-
ing themselves to improve in areas like
performance metrics while also manufacturing with surface finishes ship in four core areas: functional
quality, delivery, and responsiveness.
expanding their capabilities. for deposition chamber equipment,” aesthetics, functional surfaces, sur-
Kettler was proud of Pioneer’s
Customers of the acquired firms Kettler says. face enhancements, and tribological
COVID response as an essential busi-
benefit from the ability to tap into After acquiring Pilkington’s exten- management,” Kettler says. “To meet
ness. When two facilities were shut
Pioneer’s enterprise-wide solution, sive Nadcap experience, Pioneer says and anticipate customer needs, we’re
down temporarily due to the automo-
Kettler says, including enhanced engi- it used that skill set to support other continually developing new, scalable
tive downturn, employees at other lo-
neering services and reduced supply facilities’ certification efforts; Minne- solutions leveraging the latest technol-
cations rallied by raising productivity
chain risk. apolis is complete, and Portland is in ogy.”
levels and working extra hours to help.
process. Pioneer’s value proposition is “mis-
When some customers pivoted
Factors That Drive Expansion Kettler sees Pioneer’s growth sion-critical surface engineering,”
production during COVID, Pioneer
Kettler praises the role of Aterian In- continuing both organically and Kettler says, and the company prides
adapted quickly, for example, process-
vestment Partners, the private equity through further acquisitions, with the itself on supporting programs and
ing ventilator components at several
firm that purchased Pioneer in 2018. fragmented metal finishing industry projects where failure is truly not an
locations. Team members showed
“They love our business and are offering many potential targets, espe- option.
resolve to keep working amid other
strong, supportive partners willing to cially serving medical and aerospace/ “We’re not the lowest-cost provid-
potential disruptions like wildfires,
invest and support our evolution,” he defense customers. er,” he says. “But our track record of
earthquakes, and civic protests.
FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM — JULY 2021 26 27 JULY 2021 — FINISHINGANDCOATING.COM
Pioneer: 07.21_PUB_GEN_F
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