- 05 January 2007 -
Second Department of Defense Metal Finishing Workshop a Success

The finishing industry participated in a highly successful Department of Defense (DoD) metal finishing workshop in late November in Washington, D.C., according to The Policy Group. The workshop, which was held as a primary technical session at the Pentagon's annual symposium on strategic environmental research and development, was part of a larger symposium that attracted 1,000 attendees overall. More than 120 participated in the two-day metal finishing session.

The November workshop was more industry-focused, following up from a May 2006 metal finishing kick-off meeting of primarily DoD maintenance depots, aerospace users of finishing and Pentagon headquarters personnel. The session featured presentations by industry representatives and others on the impact of regulatory pressures on surface finishing, technology innovation on hex-chrome-free coatings and a status report on adoption of cleaner, greener surface finishing processes for military applications.

The second day of the workshop featured an open discussion on the direction of new coatings technologies, strategies for safe use of traditional technologies and opportunities for collaboration between industry and the DoD. The finishing industry invited in representatives of General Motors and Ford as well, in order to share some recent successes in industry-automaker discussions of EU and global regulatory changes. 

The workshop was so productive, according to The Policy Group, that plans were made for a follow-up session this spring. Among the areas of focus will be the use of hexavalent chromium-free chromates and priorities for a research and development agenda.  More information on this event will be provided as details are finalized.