Chicago Plating, Inc.
(630)718-1600 Fax: (
P.O. Box 164
Bill Crawford, President
E-Mail: bill@chicagoplating.com
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Born Into a Plating Family
My Grandfather, Carmi Crawford started a company called Chrome-Rite Co. in 1929. In the beginning he had only one plating tank. He plated Chrome over other platers' Nickel. His first major job was replating the reflectors from locomotives. The Nickel plated reflectors tarnished and had to be disassembled and cleaned often, but Chrome plated reflectors did not tarnish. It proves that if you have a good enough product you can grow a company even during the great depression. During World War II Chrome-Rite Co. had more than 200 employees helping produce military equipment and ammunition.
My brother and I both worked during the summers as we were growing up. Our jobs included racking parts, secretarial work, cleaning, painting and helping with the shipping /receiving. In 1978 I became a full time employee of the company. My added duties included analyzing and trouble shooting the plating baths, pricing invoices, collecting past due accounts and sales. Over the years I was assigned to most of the positions in the company including maintenance man, foreman, shipper, scheduler and truck driver.
An
Orderly Closing With Integrity
By 1983, it was clear
that a
combination of problems made the long term prospects of Chrome-Rite Co.
appear
bleak. The problems included worn out equipment, lack of a special
niche,
pollution control expense and union problems. My father and I
decided
that the company was not likely to be very profitable any time soon and
that
the best thing to do was to close down. We did not file for
bankruptcy,
we had an orderly ceasing of operations. All suppliers were paid
in full,
all customers had an alternate source lined up who had committed to
holding our
prices for at least 60 days.
A New Company Is Born
I started Chicago Plating, Inc. in 1989 based on the idea that a reputable manufactures' representative could make a living helping customers find the best source for their specific need. Successful metal finisher prosper by having a few specialties that they do better than everyone else. This specialization means that most customers need more than one source to fulfill their needs as efficiently as possible. My knowledge of the companies I represent allow me to suggest a finisher who is best suited to run your part. In addition, my knowledge of metal finishing in general will let me answer questions and suggest better and more efficient ways to produce finished parts.
I represent only metal finishers. I do not represent stampers, screw machine houses, precision machine companies, wireformers, 4 slide companies, die casters, or fastener companies, so I will not be your competitor.
As a
customer of Chicago
Plating, Inc. you will get:
Honest
Answers,
Timely Quotes and Personal Attention