Courses & Workshops

Southern Metal Finishing provides quality educational opportunities every year at the annual Conference. Timely issues are covered within a variety of sectors, such as electroplating, powder coating, anodizing, industrial cleaning technology, and other up to the minute industry topics. See below for a summary of the courses and workshops that we'll be offering at the annual conference in Charleston this year. All of these seats typically sell out each year so please make your reservations early.

Introduction to Anodizing Workshop

The Introduction to Anodizing Workshop is designed to increase the knowledge and ability of anyone involved in operating an anodizing line. With an emphasis on quality, the program takes the anodizer though the entire process-beginning with the metallurgical properties of aluminum alloys commonly anodized, and going right through to the final rinse and sealing processes.

During the two day workshop, students will be taught the anodizing process from pretreatment to post treatment. The course will cover bath analysis, handling, quality control and various waste treatment options, along with other hot topics for today's professional anodizers. Following this Anodizing Workshop students will have a well rounded understanding of practical anodizing, supported up by an expanded knowledge about the fundamentals of anodizing in sulfuric acid.

Who Should attend this Workshop?
The program is designed to benefit production personnel-from the line operator to the production manager particularly if they are relatively new to the business. Those who would find value in the program include:

• Anodizers
• Quality Control Technicians
• Racking and Masking Specialists
• Floor Managers
• Operators
• Plant Mangers
• Process Coordinators.

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Advanced Powder Coating Workshop

The LightMetals Institute, a division of LightMetals Industries, in cooperation with the Surface Finishing Academy will present an Advanced Seminar on the Science and Engineering of Anodizing and Hardcoat Anodizing.  This course is taught by two industry experts who can translate what is learned in the lab to practical applications on the production line; because they've been there.

Who Should Attend?

Anyone with a basic understanding of anodizing should attend this course to learn Hardcoat Anodizing.  This course will be a comprehensive study of the metallurgy, electricity, chemistry, and electrochemistry for the processing of aluminum in an engineered way to produce consistently excellent and repeatable hardcoat results, with increased cost savings. This advanced anodizing course is a must for shop owners, managers, engineers, production line operators and anyone with a rudimentary understanding of the anodizing process.

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Electroplating Know How Basics

A Two-Day Training Program in the Basic Principles and Practices of Electroplating

The Kushner Electroplating School is a two day program, based on the world famous correspondence course, Electroplating Know How II. It has been designed for executives, engineers, line managers, line operators and technical/sales representatives who interested in a better understanding of plating operations and the operations they perform.

The Kushner School has been training individuals in the science of electroplating for more than 60 years. The training materials and methods used by Kushner Electroplating School including Electroplating Know How Basics are recognized as the best available in the electroplating industry. All materials are taken from Electroplating Know How II training programs as well as Dr. Kushner's many years of consulting and training experience.

Some of the Many Topics Covered:

• The mathematics of electroplating
• Electrochemistry of electroplating
• Environmental issues in plating
• Plating cycles
• Testing procedures
• Corrosion fundamentals
• Chemistry of electroplating
• Safety in plating operations
• The equipment of electroplating
• Cleaning and rinsing techniques
• Overview of selected metal finishing processes
• Troubleshooting principles

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