Sharretts Plating Company - Plate While You Wait

News

Economy & Environment - July 25, 2008

A lot has changed since the price of oil has sky rocketed. Major OEM’s, such as Siemens, Johnson Controls, Delphi, & Visteon, have taken a major fall due to the state of the Automotive Industry and its relation to “Big Oil.” This has had a profound impact on Sharretts Plating Company (SPC) reducing its percentage of total automotive business down 15-20% from the beginning of calendar year 2008. On the converse side, due to the rise in energy cost and automotive downturn, there has been a frenzy of activity to create “Green Energy,” an alternative to fossil and bio fuels. These new industries include hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, and wind energy technologies.

That’s where SPC has chosen to focus over the last several years for potential future growth. SPC now looks to work and develop new coating technologies that are more environmentally friendly not only for end users but which are processes applied without jeopardizing health of “Mother Nature” or the “Plater.”

From this stance, SPC has taken large measures to reduce its greenhouse foot print by choosing to look for ways to increase operational efficiency thus reducing the amount of electric, water, and gas needed to operate on a daily basis. What’s more SPC has begun to overhaul its 70,000-square-foot facility with energy-saving lighting, flow restrictors to reduce water consumption, and replacement of old equipment and production lines with new ones that can produce more in less time with fewer resources. Lastly, SPC is researching the cost and return on investment (ROI) of a solar installation on top of its building. We think that we could achieve almost 25-50% reduction of electric consumption from the power company while receiving government tax breaks and credits for our efforts.