By David Hood, Induron CEO
Here at Induron, we have an old paint factory—and that’s a good thing.
“Why?” you may ask. “Newer is always better!” But we and our customers benefit from our factory’s age. Let me explain…
Our oldest building was built in the 1930s – “before the war.” Our newest building was built in 1995 and houses our testing lab, offices for the “technical guys” and a conference area (which used to be a library, but now we use the internet instead).
All of our buildings are made of steel and concrete and are up to date on all regulations, as required. But, they all have at least one other feature which counts for a lot – they are paid for. So is the roughly 4 acres on which they stand. The only building not fully depreciated is the newest one, and it is more than halfway depreciated.
“So what !?” you ask. Well, since these buildings are old, paid for and mostly depreciated, they no longer add to our cost. So they are not included in the prices we charge.
Another advantage in their being old is that they were built to accommodate both the architectural paint volume we manufactured (as Indurall Coatings) prior to 1996, as well as the industrial paint volume of Induron Coatings. That means that Induron has the capacity to make much more paint than we currently sell. Since that “excess” capacity is fully paid for, we are ready to add volume at no additional “occupancy” cost. After all, we’ve been making paint here for 70 years. That’s good for our customers as well as for us!
Now, “old” does not mean “antiquated” or “out-dated” – at least not in our case. Our property has been well maintained from the beginning, and our production equipment has been updated or replaced when needed, so it is fully current in design and function.
Give us a call the next time you’re near Birmingham. We would love to show you what you’re not paying for!