Robinson, Inc.
📍 De Pere, WI
When Robinson, Inc. decided to bring powder coating in house with a new 90,000-square-foot paint and coatings facility, they wanted equipment they could trust from a manufacturer offering local support. Bob Whitefield turned to Global Finishing Solutions (GFS) and local distributor ICAFe — and in 2021, two batch powder coating lines were installed, giving Robinson newfound capabilities to fast-track their growth.
Please tell us your story and introduce your business.
“We are a large-scale manufacturer of single-source metal solutions, with about 600 employees. We perform a lot of custom work, mainly with enclosures, product handling and ASME piping and vessels. A lot of our customers are in the power generation industry, both battery backup and diesel generators. We have in-house engineering and design capabilities and build to suit. Different engine manufacturers come to us, and we build packages to meet their customers’ needs.”
How did you decide on GFS equipment?
“We have been using GFS equipment since the mid-2000s and have always had good success with it. We want equipment that we know is going to operate the way that it needs to every day. GFS has a good, reliable product, and that’s what we wanted to bring into our new facility. We’re a high-production facility, and we have to make sure our equipment is going to work when we flip the switch on. That’s a big part of the reason why we chose GFS — because we know the equipment will perform as it should.”
How has your GFS equipment changed your processes and impacted your business?
“Bringing powder coating in house has opened up a lot of new business opportunities. We had outsourced to different powder coaters in the past, but it was small scale compared to what we’re doing now. We’ve gone from small parts — stuff that was a few feet by a few feet — to large products that are 24 feet long, 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide. The GFS powder coating equipment has exceeded our expectations. It has been very consistent, and we have been able to dial our booths in. We put products in, set our recipes, and know we’re going to get exactly what we need.”
What is the plan for the future of your business?
“Green Bay is not a huge market. It was nearly impossible to find enough outsourcing to meet our capacity. It was important for our growth that we had our own paint facility. Having our own facility has allowed us to expand, and we plan to continue to meet our customers’ needs by simplifying their supply chain.”
