On Thursday, July 30, our Young Professionals Group visited Arcadia’s facilities in the City of Vernon for a behind-the-scenes tour showcasing the processes, technology, and teams involved in bringing architectural aluminum products from fabrication to final finishing.
The day began with an introduction and safety briefing before attendees toured Arcadia’s fabrication operations. Members explored the window, sliding door, and Wilson partition product lines and gained insight into the work of the estimating and engineering teams. The tour highlighted CNC machining and customization capabilities, ADA-compliant hardware and configurations, in-house glazing, product testing and mockups, material handling using crane stations, and the process from fabrication through wrapping and labeling for delivery. Attendees also learned about Arcadia’s inventory management and scrap material recycling processes.
The group then traveled to Arcadia’s finishing facility, where they saw the paint, anodizing, and thermal break operations. Arcadia’s team provided a closer look at surface preparation, coating and anodizing processes, oven curing, quality control, and the maintenance required to keep production lines operating efficiently. The tour also explored the benefits and differences between anodized and painted finishes, including considerations related to cost, color options, durability, and scratch resistance.
The program concluded with lunch and an opportunity for attendees to connect with the Arcadia team and fellow YPG members. The experience offered a valuable look at the full production process and the people, technology, and expertise behind the architectural doors, windows, partitions, and finishing systems used throughout our industry.
We extend our sincere thanks to Arcadia for hosting this informative tour and giving our Young Professionals Group the opportunity to learn directly from the teams behind their operations.