P.K. Selective Anodizing Finds Software Solutions

By Dee Bauling Spafford

P.K. Selective is pushing the anodizing envelope. It’s one of the largest full-service anodizing shops in northern California with over 25,000 square feet of shop space and over 16,000 amps of rectification. State-of-the-art systems provide uniquely durable, colorful and lustrous finishes. But that’s not the interesting part; the company has also developed two processes that virtually blend art with functionality.

P.K. Selective is an expert in Multi-Color/Splash Anodizing, which gives products a protective coating and gives companies a unique, colorful and artistic way to represent themselves through their products. Multicolor anodizing has been used in a variety of industries, including the paintball market, the semiconductor industry, the firearms industry, custom truck and car manufacturers, and sunglass manufacturers.

Another way the company is striving to expand its process is with Silk-Screening/Anographics. This process allows for the use of brilliant color while maintaining a durable anodized finish that won’t flake, peel or rub off. This finish has been used to create unique product coloration, emphasize a company’s logo on a product, or place lettering and words required by specifications. These finishes are found in a wide variety of markets and industrial applications including, aerospace, medical and dental, computer, and semiconductor.

However, while the company is a progressive shop that stays on top of the technology in its field and handles numerous clients, just doing the work is not all there is to doing business.

Different stages of operation, including processing a job, following it through production, making sure it gets shipped on time, making sure the customer gets what he has ordered, and, of course, invoicing all need to come together before a job is completed. The ability to quote a job correctly, based on documented histories of similar projects, and being able to answer customer questions is also essential.

Finding solutions to these situations should be easy, but can sometimes be time-consuming and frustrating -- for both the shop and the customer.

“We were using another software program that was giving us so many problems,” says Hanna Stickel, accounts payable at P.K. Selective. “This old program crashed three times, and we had to totally re-import data each time. There was no appropriate support. When two people entered an invoice, it would combine the invoices into one, and close out the order -- a real nightmare!”

“We have always tried to be the best in our industry,” says Peter Kellett, owner and president of P.K. Selective. “Our anodizing has been tested by the University of Manchester as being 20 percent harder than anything else ever tested. We anodize at higher temperatures so we can give our customers a cleaner, more vibrant color. So it was just natural for us to seek out the very best solution when we saw this area of our business that really needed improvement.”

The company started looking at software packages and found a product called Visual Shop, manufactured by Cornerstone Systems, based in Crystal Lake, IL, which allowed the automation of the entire activities of a job from the time it comes in the door until it is invoiced.

“We aren’t using the entire capabilities of Visual Shop yet,” says Stickel. “We are mainly using it for invoicing right now, which was our most urgent concern. Order entry is being worked on. Already we are seeing a drastic difference in our everyday work. The program is set up so it kind of forces you to do things the right way. It’s so easy to use … you just follow the screens.”

“The software support has been incredible, both during and after initial setup,” says Alyssa Smith, office manager. “They did such a great job getting us on line and producing. They actually called us to see if we were doing well.”

The Future
“I see a very bright future for our company,” says Kellett. “Anodizing and powder coating are very environmentally friendly coatings … no fumes … no nasty disposal problems. And I know our customer service is very good. We intentionally built over-capacity, and are running 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. Where other shops have a 3 to 4 week turn-around, we keep our turn-around at 1 to 2 days. That is what has helped make us the largest anodizer in northern California.

“We still need to do more work on automating our production, which we will do with the new software. We should be installing the scheduling system soon, complete with bar coding and in-plant tracking capabilities.”

More About the Software
According to users around the country, the creators of Visual Shop know the heat-treating, finishing and coatings business, so the program is very complete, and anticipates the industry’s needs. Marshall Handelsman founded the company in 1993 with the goal to provide commercial heat-treating, finishing and coating shops with an easy to use software package that’s affordable and would help them to manage their business activities more efficiently. Prior to forming Cornerstone Systems, Handelsman spent over 21 years developing and installing software systems in the industry.

Cornerstone Systems, Inc. (CSI) is a privately held company with corporate offices in Crystal Lake, IL and a Customer Support Center in Plano, TX.