Benjamin Nagy and Zachary Gallo

Professor Michel

COMM 391

2nd May, 2022

Chemical Engineering: Involvement with the Coating and Plating Industries

Engineers use many odd terms and abbreviations when communicating with each other.

If an outsider were to eavesdrop on two engineers' conversation, they would find it hard to

follow. Due to the complex nature of engineering, a unique vocabulary has formed around the

topic. John Swales would call this culture a “discourse community”. He would define this as

“groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals” (Borg,

2003, p. 1). Discourse communities also consist of smaller communities. If engineering is a

major discourse community, other sub-communities such as chemical, mechanical, electrical and

industrial engineering exist. Even within these minor communities, even smaller discourse

communities exist. When speaking about chemical engineering, there are many industries you

can speak about, and many interrelate. One such micro discourse community is coatings. A

coating is a thin layer that covers the surface of an object. These coatings often have beneficial

properties that enhance a product such as corrosion resistance, reduced friction coefficients,

conductivity, strength, and most commonly aesthetics. Coatings are used on things as large as

airplanes and battleships, and things as small as smartphones and computer chips. In this

investigation, we will cover the coating discourse community via personal experiences,

professional interviews, and web research to give an overview of the coating’s community and

how it has changed over time. In doing so, we have discovered that chemical engineers rely
heavily on face to face or internet vocal communications, and have a goal of increasing

sustainability, as well as maintaining a safe work environment.

Methods

The study conducted on the coating discourse community comprises anecdotal

experience from our studies as chemical engineers and experiences gained from our co-ops at

large companies such as BASF and Dipsol. To further study the coating discourse community in

the perspective of chemical engineering, interviews were conducted. These interviews consisted

of two engineers from the coatings industry. The first being Brian Harrick, who used to be a

plant manager for his company KC Jones Plating Company. Harrick has over 25 years of

experience with the coatings industry, making him a valid candidate for our research. Another

being Andre Smithson, who oversees technical service for BASF Coatings in Alabama.

Combining the data and information gathered from these interviews helped us to understand the

implications of the coatings industry as a whole.

Findings

-Communication

Chemical engineers use many forms of communication which popularities have varied

over time. Emails are used, but are usually quite brief to give approval or set up a meeting time.

To avoid lengthy emails, video conferences or face to face meetings are commonplace in this

engineering field due to the complex nature of the subject. Smithson thinks that over his nine

year career, Covid-19 was the largest driver of change in communication. Before Covid, three to

seven in person meetings were commonplace. Post covid, most meetings are conducted online.
This has many benefits as he pointed out such as no travel time from one conference room to

another. Less time walking means more time for work. Additionally, cost savings for the

company does add up to quite a large sum when you consider the company pays for the traveling

expenses of its employees. Less travel means less expenses, which leads to larger profits. When

Harrick was in the field, his main methods of communication were “mailing letters, faxing

documents, and ultimately e-mail”. As technology improved over his career, he adapted to using

an Iphone as a means of communicating anywhere. This allowed him to facilitate his

communication with other personnel at all times.

During the interview with Harrick, he was asked about the content that he communicated

about. For example, we asked if there were any technical terminology that coating engineers

would use with themselves only, and how long it took to become proficient in using that

terminology. In the plating industry, Harrick states that terms such as “corrosion resistance, wear

resistance, hardness (HRC), thickness (XRF) coefficient of friction (CoF), adhesion, cleanliness,

activity, titration, hydrogen embrittlement, phase diagrams, anode, cathode, current, and water

break” are most often used in communication with plating engineers. For Harrick, his education

which consists of chemistry, heat transfer, metallurgy, failure analysis, engineering design, ethics,

economics, and physics, assisted him in learning the terminology in the beginning. Despite his

education, it still took him between one to two years of being in the industry to finally become

proficient with all the terminology in the plating industry.

In relation with the previous questions, both interviewees were asked about their main

target audiences, and how much of their technical terminology they had to utilize to effectively

communicate with their audiences. For Harrick, his main audiences were customers and OEM

engineers. For his customers, Harrick answers with “I would use the language mentioned above
but give real world examples on how it related to their parts we processed for them. I would let

them know the corrosion resistance was an OEM specified requirement, but would give them a

benefit that they can relate to. The parts needed plating to meet the corrosion resistance (how

long before they would rust and fail) but the plating we use could actually help them assemble

the part better since the plating would improve their part surface”. For OEM engineers, Harrick

adds, “We would only speak in technical terms of specifications for how the plating would

improve the part performance in terms of corrosion resistance, hours to failure in a humidity

chamber, hardness in terms of a Rockwell hardness tester, and coating thickness in terms of

Micro inches as checked on an X-ray fluorescence”.

For Smithson, his main target audience is non-chemical engineers. His meetings are

mostly with mechanical and electrical engineers that run the automotive production plant.

Another very important target audience for him are “the folks who sit upfront. They are the

people that call all the shots, and most don’t have an engineering background.” This causes

Smithson to change his presentations to be a lot simpler. Chemistry terms often are followed by a

definition or a brief explanation of the process so the managers can understand. An example

would be when talking about the wave scan data on a new trial of primer, it would be explained

that a wave scan measures the smoothness of the coating, and that the lower the number the

better. When speaking with other chemical engineers, we can just discuss what data we found

with the wavescans without wasting time on what it is since chemical engineers have the

knowledge about the tools.

In addition, we asked what types of documents that our interviewees utilize in the

workplace. Harrick replied, “We used many technical presentations from suppliers and scientists

from industry trade shows like NASF (National Association for Surface Finishing) and Sur/Fin,
technical publications that are industry specific (Product Finishing), chemistry books and plating

and heat treating journals”. A great resource he recommended was Advanced Surface Technology

- Vol. 1 by the NASF. With the methods of communication being covered, we can now move

onto the content of what is actually being discussed by the coating discourse community.

-Sustainability

The focus on sustainability has increased over time to an important position within the

coatings industry and its discourse community. In terms of coating, sustainability is preventing

the depletion of natural resources, improving the durability of coating surfaces, and reducing the

amount of health risks that are imposed onto our environment. As chemical engineers, it is our

responsibility to manage our resources without compromising the natural environment. This is

especially important for chemical engineers in the coatings industry, as multiple chemical

reagents are utilized to create new paints, powder coatings, and varnishes. Chemicals that are

used to create these products cause health and environmental hazards if they are not regulated

properly. In addition, these chemicals are expensive. If engineers are wasting chemical resources

using processes that are not efficient (low product yield), then the company will suffer

financially in the long term.

During our interviews, Harrick had information about his goals for sustainability, and

how they relate to the overall discourse community. While at KC Jones, Harrick was responsible

for factors in relation to providing a cleaner environment. First, Harrick focused on eliminating

the amount of hexavalent chromium and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in the

plating process. Although the coatings industry favors these compounds for their beneficial

properties used in plating, they now are banned due to their extremely carcinogenic properties
and their ability to create birth defects, cause liver damage, and suppress the immune system in

humans and animals. In addition, Harrick wanted to reduce the amount of heavy metal air

emissions to the environment. These metals can deposit and build up within the soil, which then

can lead to water contamination and bio-accumulation in plants and animals. Communication is

important here, as Harrick needs to talk to chemical suppliers, OEM engineers, and customers

about environmental and public health concerns. Through the means of communication, Harrick

can collaborate with engineers and environmentalists on suggestions to eliminate as many of

these harmful hazards as possible.

Sustainability also has an economic impact on corporations as well. For Harrick, he

wanted to eliminate the use of solvent cleaners in the plating process, as not only are these

potentially unhealthy, but they are expensive to use in the long term. Solvent cleaners help

remove any contaminants from the plating process, and the more contaminants there are, the

more money is used to restock solvent cleaners. The same was said for the amount of water used

in plating, as finding methods to reduce water usage saved money. Solid waste generated in the

water treatment process was another negative for sustainability, as it cost money to hire a

company to transport and dispose of any generated waste.

Sustainability considers product quality as a major factor. With product quality, Harrick

focused on having corrosion resistance over 1000+ hours in a salt chamber, low friction in the

plated deposit, and high hardness of the plated deposit. Having a long term corrosion resistance

helps to extend the lifespan of a coating tremendously. Moreover, a low friction coating is

sufficient since applications such as boats that are coated will generate friction when they travel

in water. Reducing the generation of friction will cause the boat to use less energy in the form of

gasoline and fuel to travel through the water, which can save money in the long run. Finally, a
coating that has a high hardness makes it resistant to physical damage such as scratching. All of

these factors are considered to help improve sustainability for not only individual corporations,

but the industry as a whole.

As for Smithson, being in technical service means he works at a customer site. This

means that sustainability for him is about communicating suggestions in meetings about what the

customer can do better. He says that “when it comes to sustainability, my hands are kind of tied. I

try my best to help the customer increase their sustainability, but ultimately it is up to them.

Happy customer, happy life.”. Sustainability is the most discussed topic for Harrick, and is still

important to Smithson, but the most impactful subject for both of them is safety.

-Safety

In the coatings industry, safety is the highest priority for our employees and environment.

Chemical companies by law are not allowed to operate if they do not follow the safety

regulations set by the federal and state governments. During our interviews, we asked Smithson

and Harrick about their perspectives on safety in the workplace. For Smithson and BASF, safety

is at the top of the list of goals. The coatings division sees weekly Monday morning meetings

focused on safety. There are upwards of 20 field service teams that attend these meetings. A

calendar is generated at the beginning of each year which displays who will present a powerpoint

on the safety topic of their choosing. Topics previously covered include Covid protocols, fire

procedures, driving on ice, as well as PPE. Safety isn’t just a concept at work as seen by the

examples above. In the coatings industry we have formed a discourse community focused on

safety in our field and lives. Accidents happen not just at work but on the way to work, and at

home. By focusing on these topics, we reinforce good habits. If a safety event does occur at
work, an investigation is conducted. Many questions are asked such as what caused this to

happen? Were measures ignored? Can a new procedure prevent this? Can this hazard be

removed? All this info is then compiled into a powerpoint which is then sent to everyone in our

coatings division. This brings awareness to issues in the hope to have zero workplace incidents

one day. BASF even has “near miss” reports where even though nothing happened, the potential

for something to go wrong did happen. This again results in an investigation, with the info being

put into an easy to understand powerpoint and then emailed to everyone. According to Harrick,

safety is about following proper procedures at all times. This includes the wearing of proper

personal protective equipment (PPE). To him, safety also requires good ethical practice. An

example of this is the “Always report a spill” policy. This dictates that whenever a chemical

substance is spilled, a report must be made. This is crucial for the safety of the person who made

the spill, as well as for the people around him. Certain chemicals are toxic when inhaled but have

no taste or smell rendering detection almost impossible. This makes communication inside a lab

or industrial setting all the more important.

Conclusion

Throughout the coating discourse community, the culture has shifted over time. When

Brian Harrick first entered the coatings industry 25 years ago, the main focus was on product

quality, as well as economics. How can we make a product cheaper and maintain or increase

quality was his driving question. This is in contrast to when Smithson entered the field eight

years ago. The industry was heavily influenced by employee safety as well as maintaining

product quality. Today, through our co-op experiences in the industry, our main goals have been

to communicate efficiently, increase sustainability, and maintain a safe working environment.

Figure One below gives a brief overview of what the coatings industry is about today. This will
continue to change as time goes on. A discourse community is always changing and adapting to

be able to communicate more efficiently.

Figure 1 Coatings Industry Summary
Sources

Swales, J. M. (n.d.). Swales Discourse Community. Ann Arbor; University of Michigan .

Advanced Surface Technology. NASF. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2022, from

https://nasf.org/education/advanced-surface-technology/