The PPS-Huntsville crew is quickly adjusting to a significantly higher workload since the plant received a massive equipment upgrade this summer. “The new room looks great, and everything is working well,” said Director of Plant Services Kyle Jackson.
The Huntsville location in particular was already slated for a major upgrade when it was acquired in July 2023. “That was really the point of buying it,” Jackson said. He explained that the former Lee Industrial site was an underperforming business with plenty of space available, and in an area underserved by paint stripping services.
In fact, Jackson said the Huntsville plant’s business has already increased close to 50% since the upgrade thanks to some sizable orders from local companies. He said the Huntsville plant installed three processes this summer—steel chemical stripping, aluminum chemical stripping and an acid dip process was added to remove rust.
One company in particular is reclaiming some rusty parts and was relying on a thermal treatment. “The quality from the thermal treatment is okay, but if you do the acid dip treatment, the parts come out better than new,” Jackson said. “There’s a bunch of stuff we couldn’t do for those companies before that we’re doing now!”
Jackson said the Huntsville plant is now able to chemically strip parts that previously needed to be sandblasted; PPS’ chemical treatment is far less expensive than sandblasting.
A new gigantic 23’ oven should open up business to smaller local customers who may have thought that paint stripping was too costly to consider. “Now customers with smaller loads will be able to share oven space with the larger customers who are not completely filling it up,” said Huntsville Plant Manager Bo Doeg. “We can open it up to the public and small mom and pop companies.”
Of course, new equipment such as three 3,000 psi washers and six voluminous chemical tanks—in addition to the existing ovens and the unique Dinamec Systems Fluidized Sand Bed that were already there—provide Huntsville the ability to service major companies with very large orders. In fact, Doeg firmly believes that in time the Huntsville plant could triple its business. “There is a huge stream of customers or potential customers who are interested in our abilities,” he said.
Doeg said the entire upgrade process was conducted with safety in mind. “Anytime you introduce new equipment there’s an increased chance of injury without the proper training,” he said, adding that MPW Safety and Training people were involved in the process and Industrial Water EHS Safety & Training Coordinator Tim Welsh provided information about the various chemicals used in all the stripping processes.
“If you can’t start safely then you can’t start at all,” Doeg said. “We have never started any job without safety. It’s no good to rush into anything.”
PPS General Manager Chris Hughes said the Huntsville upgrade is a combination of many employees’ experience and wisdom, VP of Engineering Justin Pierce’s engineering team and MPW President Jared Black’s insight. “The entire line, from waste treatment to the mechanical lids on the strip tanks, to the boom arms for the pressure washers, are innovative and first class,” Hughes said.
“Everyone agreed that they got what they wanted—some nice looking, effective and productive equipment,” Hughes said, adding that the line is “above and beyond” anything he has seen in dozens of paint stripping plants. “Our visiting customers echo this sentiment,” he said.