The Metal Finishing Company, Inc (MFCO)., Wichita, Kansas, has expanded and recently installed an RFID order tracking system throughout its facilities. The 63-year-old firm is one of the largest finishing firms in the region and offers over 100 pre-finishing and finish processes to the aerospace, agricultural and commercial industries.

Two additional buildings totaling 190,000-sq.ft. now bring the total space for the company to 500,000-sq.ft. These were needed to keep up with the firm's growth. A separate division, Diversified Services, is also located in Wellington, Kansas. The RFID system, which has tags embedded in each order's paperwork, can track the location and progress of each order throughout the company. This is the same technology used in many retail stores for inventory control and theft prevention. Sensors have been installed in all areas of the company. It can track the movement and progress of every order. For example, if an order moves from the anodizing area to the packaging area, the system will know that the order has moved, what equipment was used to move it and which employee(s) was involved. "With a few thousand orders in process on a regular basis, the RFID system will help us with our efficiency and turnaround time," stated MFCO's Sales & Marketing VP Ed Ball, a long-time industry veteran.

"Our customers will be able to track the progress of their orders in real-time online with this system. We believe we are the first custom finishing firm to adopt this technology." Ball also noted that the company is now up to eight full time customer service reps. "Our dedicated and experienced staff is a major reason for our success. All this work is part of our goal of being a one-stop resource for our customers." MFCO is AS9100B and ISO 9001:2000 registered as well as Nadcap accredited.

       In other company news, Richard Smith, a long-time aerospace veteran, has recently joined the firm as VP of Operations. MFCO is owned by the Babst family. Its president, Robert Babst, Jr., represents the third generation of the family to manage the business.