ABOUT ABQC

America's Best Quality Coatings (ABQC) Corporation is one of the premier metal finishing companies in the United States. Its operation comprises 250,000 square feet, making it one of the largest metal finishing facilities in all of North America.

Formerly the metal finishing department of Milwaukee's Allen-Bradley company (now Rockwell Automation, Inc.), the operation has been providing superior metal finishing services since the 1920's. In 1990 the operation was purchased by its present investor group and became a stand-alone provider of metal finishing services to the open market.
Since then ABQC has expanded its list of customers on a steady basis. Today, its former captive customer comprises less than 30% of the company's annual volume.

ABQC provides zinc, tin, silver, copper and zinc-nickel plating, as well as phosphating, chromate conversion, and black oxide coatings, passivation, bright dipping, vibratory deburring, and wax and oil finishing on 14 automated and 5 manual production lines.

These services are provided primarily to an elite group of customers, many of which are included on or serve the Fortune 500. ABQC primarily services the telecommunications, data storage, automotive, industrial automation, lawn and garden, building products and hardware industries.

ABQC successfully completed the acquisition of several segments of a major competitor in late 2002. In addition to winning large blocks of business on the open market, the company plans to integrate several captive plating operations and competitive acquisitions into its facility during the next several years.

The company's commitment to environmental excellence is unparalleled and ABQC operates one of the largest metal finishing waste treatment systems in the world. ABQC maintains a strong and open relationship with all pertinent regulatory bodies and will achieve ISO 14001 registration by the end of 2004.

The company operates a robust quality system that has been ISO registered since 1996 when ABQC became one of the first metal finishers in the U.S. to earn ISO registration. The company achieved registration to the ISO 9001:2000 standard in 2003. ABQC's quality lab includes all appropriate measuring and test equipment, including a brand new x-ray fluorescence thickness and composition testing unit.

The company places a strong emphasis on process control. All processes and production lines are fully documented and all process tanks are labeled in detail. Chemical additions, adjustments and analysis are performed to predetermined schedules. The company has a stand-alone chemical laboratory, including an atomic absorption unit, a salt spray chamber, a humidity chamber, hull cell and colorimetric titration equipment.

ABQC supports the finishing industry in many ways, including active involvement in the leadership of the American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society. The company's CEO, Matt Kirchner, has served on the Executive Board of the AESF's Milwaukee Branch since 1999.