The Margin Multiplier: What You Gain When You Bring Powder Coating In-House
If you’re still outsourcing your powder coating, you’re not just paying for someone else’s service
you’re handing over your margins, your schedule, and your customer’s loyalty. Considering in-house powder coating ROI can help you retain these crucial elements of your business.
Let’s talk dollars and sense.
In this post, we’re going to break down:
– What kind of margin lift you can expect
– The breakeven timeline for most in-house powder systems
– And how smart shops turn finishing from a cost center into a profit engine
“The minute you coat in-house is the minute you stop giving away your profit.” -Joey Golliver
The Real Cost of Outsourcing
On the surface, outsourcing feels convenient:
No setup costs
No training
No staff to manage
But look deeper, and here’s what you’re really paying for:
$75-$125/hour just in coating labor
10-20% markup on materials
2-5 extra days added to every production schedule
Risk of rework, missed specs, and delayed delivery
For every dollar you spend outsourcing, only 60-70 cents is going to actual value.
The rest? Pure markup and lost time.
In-House Coating = Higher Margin, More Control
Here’s what happens when you bring powder coating in-house:
Your cost per part drops dramatically
Typical in-house cost: $2-$4 per part, including powder, labor, and energy
Outsourced cost: $6-$15 per part, depending on complexity and color
We add 20-40% margin on every coated job
Because now you’re charging for a process you control, not a third-party vendor
You shave 2-5 days off every project
Faster turnaround = more jobs per month = more revenue
You control quality, specs, and scheduling
No surprises. No excuses. Just results.
One Powder-X graduate reported a 6-week ROI by converting just two regular jobs to in-house.
What’s the Breakeven Timeline?
Let’s say you install a basic in-house system for:
Pretreatment: $18,000
Spray booth and gun: $12,000
Curing oven: $22,000
Training, air system, and setup: $8,000
Total investment: ~$60,000
Now let’s look at the numbers:
At this pace, your breakeven point is under 6 months, and that’s before you scale or upsell.
The Hidden ROI: Opportunity Cost
When you coat in-house, you don’t just reduce expenses. You unlock new opportunities:
Quote faster with real control over schedule
Win rush jobs that outsourced coaters can’t handle
Meet specs for salt spray testing, adhesion, and traceability
Capture more value in your core business, not someone else's
And here’s the big one:
You eliminate vendor risk, the delays, the errors, the “we didn’t get to it yet” phone calls that kill trust with your customer.
Can a Small Shop Really Compete?
Yes. Especially when you’re lean, agile, and trained right.
Our Powder-X clients range from two-man operations to large-scale OEMs. The difference?
They stopped bleeding margin and started owning their finish.
And because in-house systems are modular, you can scale over time:
Start with a basic batch booth
Add pretreatment and upgraded curing
Expand to continuous flow as volume increases
Final Word: Don’t Wait to Keep What You’re Already Earning
If you’re quoting coated jobs, you’re already earning the revenue.
The question is, are you letting someone else take the margin?
Bringing powder coating in-house doesn’t just make sense on paper. It changes your entire profit structure.
And the ROI? It’s faster than you think.
