Douglas Finishing

When Douglas Machine was in its first few decades of existence, machine parts were frequently sent to a variety of metal finishing operations around the state for powder coating and finishing. The process of packing and shipping the parts and waiting for the parts to be completed and returned was not only costly, it also took a considerable amount of time. In 1973, to better serve our customer’s needs, the decision was made to finish many of the parts in Alexandria. This was the start of Douglas Finishing. Finishing operations were set up at another location in Alexandria before they were relocated to the present site in 1975. Original capabilities included decorative nickel/chrome, zinc plating, anodizing and liquid painting.

The ability to manufacture a part in the Douglas Machine facility, walk it across the street to Douglas Finishing, get it finished immediately and ship the part to the customer the same day was extraordinarily valuable to many of Douglas’ customers. This capability was, and still is, a significant competitive advantage Douglas Machine enjoys over other manufacturers of packaging equipment.

Since Douglas Finishing invested in all of the production and support equipment to finish parts, it made sense to offer this service to other local manufacturers as well. Douglas Machine’s parts remain a top priority at Douglas Finishing. Beyond Douglas Machine, there now are many other customers that trust Douglas Finishing to do metal finishing on their parts as well. Over the years, the finishes offered changed slightly – electroless nickel replaced nickel/chrome and powder coat replaced liquid paint. In 2006, a partnership with Alexandria Industries was formed to significantly expand the finishing facility. An addition was built to expand electroless nickel plating and install a new state of the art automated anodize and hard coat finishing line. Our 40,000 square foot finishing facility includes a fully-staffed metal finishing processing area, supplemented by a full service chemical and waste water treatment laboratory. Our regularly scheduled testing procedures ensure that our solutions remain in optimum condition, ensuring a consistent finish. State of the art waste water treatment equipment helps us meet the stringent requirements of our local water treatment facility, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Over the years the sales from outside customers and our partner, Alexandria Industries, has increased dramatically. Douglas Finishing serves the packaging industry, aluminum extruding, material handling equipment, ag equipment, recreational vehicles, power tools, industrial controls and sporting goods industries. Through the work Douglas Finishing does with other customers, we gain experience in aspects that Douglas Machine may not require today, but Douglas Finishing is ready to provide when the need arises.

Douglas Finishing contributes significantly to the success of Douglas Machine in a several ways: providing quick turn finishing services to Douglas Machine, providing finishing services at below market cost, providing quality finishes that meet Douglas Machine’s specific customer needs and contributing margins from the work done for our external customers.

Douglas Finishing has the capability to plate zinc and electroless nickel, anodize, hard coat and chem film aluminum. We offer over 50 colors of powdercoat finishes. We strive every day to improve so that we can meet our mission to Enrich lives by delivering world class quality finishing on time, every time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. You can find out more about us at douglasfinishing.com. Also feel free to email me if you have any questions about finishing (mike.eye@douglasfinishing.com). With our extensive technical expertise and decades of experience in the industry, we can help you meet your metal finishing needs. Let our experienced staff help you evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of the available coating options. If the best finishing option is not one that we offer, we have multiple connections in the industry and we will gladly give you a referral. We truly want to help you find the best solution for your parts.