A-dec’s Newberg Facility Cuts Waste, Saves Energy With Major Upgrade

NEWBERG, Ore. — In 2023, A-dec manufacturing engineer Dustin Harper returned from Powder Coating Week in Orlando, Florida, with an exciting opportunity: an overhaul of how the dental equipment manufacturer was pretreating components. The change, he asserted, would result in lower energy costs and greater worker comfort.

But for one of Oregon’s largest manufacturers, change doesn’t come easily. A-dec needed proof it would work. After an 18-month research and development phase, the new systems and processes are now live.

“It took a lot of beating my head against the wall and trying to convince people that this is worth doing,” Harper said. “I knew it was worth it, so we just rolled up our sleeves and got to work.”

The 60-year-old Newberg-based dental equipment company recently completed a major upgrade to its metal pretreatment process, replacing its energy-intensive, chemical-heavy system with a safer, more efficient solution.

The result? An estimated $240,000 in annual savings, a healthier work environment, and a significant reduction in hazardous waste, according to Energy Trust of Oregon, a partner on the project.

For decades, A-dec relied on a standard zinc phosphate and chromate conversion process—common in metal manufacturing but costly in terms of energy use, safety, and environmental impact. Heating chemical tanks to 175 degrees required significant electricity and natural gas, while the byproducts generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual hazardous waste disposal costs.

“Mostly what I got was, ‘Is there enough of a need to change it?’ Which is a fair question,” Harper said. “There’s a lot of risk aversion with our engineering groups when it comes to changing something. But the business case was strong enough that it warranted further investigation.”

The new process uses zirconium oxide, a lower-temperature alternative that significantly reduces energy consumption and eliminates the need for harsh chemicals.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, zirconium is a relatively abundant chemical element commonly used in nuclear reactors for its strength at high temperatures and resistance to corrosion. When combined with oxygen to form zirconium oxide, or zirconia, the material gains increased hardness, thermal stability, and enhanced corrosion resistance.

Zirconium oxide-coated components were put through rigorous testing to ensure they could withstand 20 years of wear and tear in a dental office. Once the team confirmed the new method performed as well as—if not better than—the old process, they rolled it out to the whole department.

A-dec now saves an estimated 457,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually—enough to power about 43 homes for a year—and 4,837 therms of natural gas, totaling roughly $40,000 in energy savings each year, according to Energy Trust estimates.

The company also eliminated its hazardous waste stream from this process, saving about $200,000 annually in disposal costs alone.

“I mean, it has to be one of the most energy-intensive processes in the company,” Harper said. “I can’t imagine anywhere else in the company that does more. We were spending $100,000 a year just heating tanks.”

And the benefits go beyond the bottom line. The shop floor, once hot and humid from steaming chemical tanks, now operates at or near room temperature. That change has improved air quality, reduced discomfort, and created a more pleasant workspace.

“If we were standing here a year ago, you would see this humid environment with clouds of steam,” Harper said. “It’s not fun to work in.”

Energy Trust’s involvement was key from the beginning, said Anna Thames, senior vice president of manufacturing. The nonprofit provided technical assessments, energy modeling, and project scoping that helped A-dec scale a $7.5 million concept into a manageable first phase—one that proved its worth quickly and convincingly.

Energy Trust Senior Marketing Manager Ashley Bartels said the organization began working with A-dec through the Strategic Energy Management program, which focuses on low-cost, behavior-based energy savings. These include turning off lights in unused spaces or reducing equipment runtime when not actively manufacturing.

“They’re a star pupil of manufacturing,” Bartels said. “The fact that they’re able to take the innovation they have and apply it to their manufacturing processes is a great example of how energy can be a significant component of any company—not just as a way to reduce your carbon footprint, but also to save a significant amount of money.

“Change can be intimidating for a large company like this, but they just proved it’s possible.”

Energy Trust also helped validate the technical and financial case for the change. A-dec received more than $83,000 in incentives, covering over 70% of the project cost.

Harper said the success of the upgrade has opened the door for future innovations. Because zirconium oxide is compatible with modern spray systems, the company now plans to shift away from traditional dip tanks, allowing for more efficient recovery of coating materials and less waste overall.

“To be able to say, ‘In 2024, it was this department that owned 33% of all cost savings across the country,’” Harper said. “That’s cool. One department, right? That’s transformative change.”