In 1994, Dale VanDyk saw a need for a specialty welding service that could deal with small parts that were hard for manufacturers to integrate into their own facility. He started Smart Manufacturing, a business built with the flexibility of a small job shop. It wasn't long before some of his customers asked him if he could also provide these parts with the coating already applied and ready for assembly or shipment. Two of his larger customers had products that needed to be powder coated and so he considered adding powder to his operation.
VanDyk considered his options and decided to set up a batch style powder coating system that could provide the same flexibility and quick turnaround of his welding operation. One of his two target customers came through and placed orders with him that required coating.