I have always believed manufacturing is one of the fundamental methods of creating wealth in society, and have managed my career to allow my heavy involvement in manufacturing. A stable manufacturing base is integral for a healthy community as it creates wealth, rather than passing wealth around.
I have a BS in Chemical Engineering, and after 10 years in the workforce, I also earned my MBA. I spent the first years of my career at National Semiconductor as a Device Engineer, designing process and electronic test structures for HCMOS Logic and Memory chips. I also had the opportunity to manage a group of engineers and technicians responsible for troubleshooting and process improvements.
I then worked in production, operations, R&D and business management for 17 years at Woodgrain Millwork in their finishing division. I worked with painting and laminating processes and developed my understanding of management and operations.
Over the next 5 years, I had the privilege of working as President of Rekluse Motorsports, where I facilitated excellent growth in sales, profitability and process improvements. We were able to develop a positive and productive work culture and implement progressive manufacturing philosophies.
During this time, I had occasion to be frustrated with our anodizing partners. While visiting with a Rekluse Motorsports distributor in Great Britain, it was brought to my attention that the finished components of one of our most basic products, a clutch, were wildly inconsistent in color. As a result, we were losing sales. At the same time, due to long anodizing lead times, I had to keep 5 times more inventory in finished goods, tying up cash and negatively impacting our ability to ship to our customers on time.
As I analyzed this inconsistency of the industry, I began to feel that the anodizing process could be improved. After careful consideration and planning, I decided to leverage my education, skills, and work experience to start my own anodizing company.
At Sapphire, we have learned about anodizing by studying experts, delving into literature, and reflecting on our own experience. We have been able to apply concepts taken other industries and apply them to anodizing. Our consultant has been involved in anodizing for more than 60 years. As he helped us develop our line, he noted Sapphire’s multiple innovations to the anodizing process, leading him to comment, “In 67 years, I have only seen 5 good anodizing lines and this is one of them…but you aren’t number one.”
I replied, “Yet.”
Our vision at Sapphire Metal Finishing is to provide a high quality, consistent anodizing service with short lead times. My goal is to create a wonderful place for people to work and to help our customers be successful through our partnership. We truly care about our customers and I truly care about my employees. We are providing a consistent, high quality product with a short lead time while ensuring that our customers feel loved and valued in our community.
– Dwayne Daley,
Founder of Sapphire Metal Finishing