Metal Coating, Engraving & Heat Treating NAICS 3328

Feb 21, 2026 - Automotive Finishing

• The automotive sector’s shift toward electrification, lightweighting, and mixed‑material vehicle designs is expanding demand for advanced metal finishing, coating, and heat‑treating services, Products Finishing reports. As EVs, hybrids, and next‑generation ICE vehicles incorporate more aluminum, high‑strength steels, magnesium, and composites, finishers face rising complexity: each substrate requires different adhesion, corrosion‑resistance, conductivity, and thermal‑management solutions. For metal coaters and heat treaters, this means increased demand for technologies such as electroless nickel, electrocoating, powder coating, advanced passivation, and zirconium‑based pretreatments. EV components, including busbars, connectors, heatsinks, battery housings, DBC substrates, and e‑motor parts, require precision plating and coatings that ensure conductivity, insulation, and heat dissipation. Lightweighting trends and gigacasting also heighten the need for specialized surface prep, bonding‑enhancement coatings, and corrosion‑resistant treatments, especially for recycled aluminum with higher impurity levels. Overall, the industry faces strong growth opportunities but must innovate rapidly to meet new performance, regulatory, and multi‑material finishing challenges.
• Water is a precious resource that can also be a strategic one for metal finishing firms, Product Finishing reports. Strategic monitoring and automated resource tracking (aka SMART) water systems represent a major operational shift for the metal finishing industry. By integrating sensors, automation, and real‑time data analytics, SMART water systems turn water from a consumable into a strategic, controllable resource. For finishers, SMART systems lead to higher, more consistent part quality by continuously monitoring rinse water conductivity, turbidity, and contamination to prevent defects, staining, and adhesion failures. Optimized rinse cycles, reduced drag‑out, and better chemical recovery cut water use, chemical consumption, and rework, lowering operating costs. Automated alerts and wastewater audits help finishers stay ahead of regulatory requirements while supporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, and predictive maintenance and early detection of leaks or equipment issues reduce downtime and extend system life, resulting in greater process reliability.

• Tariffs are raising the cost of raw materials, including steel, zinc, nickel, and other coating and plating materials, used by the metal finishing industry and threaten to disrupt supply chains and the industry’s customers. In June 2025, the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US making those metals more expensive and harder to come by. Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement of reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of imports – including vehicles, auto parts, and appliances – in April (since delayed for 90 days), would have a significant impact on metal finishers' suppliers and customers as well. More broadly, the tariffs threaten to slow economic growth – reducing demand for metal finishing services – and could even drive the US economy into recession. In early April, J.P. Morgan Research raised the probability of a recession occurring in 2025 to 60% — up from 40%.
• Producer prices for metal coating, engraving, and heat treating firms rose 3.9% in November compared to a year ago, after rising 4.5% in the previous November-versus-November annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry producer prices have been rising steeply and steadily since early 2021 when demand for finished metal goods increased with the reopening of the economy following the pandemic. Employment by the industry was flat year over year in November and is stuck below pre-pandemic levels, while the average wage at coating, engraving, heat treating, and allied activities rose 1.8% over the same period to $24.45 per hour, easing a bit from its peak in September, BLS data show.