Category Archives: Induron In the News

What I Learned About Business from “Moneyball”

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive Vice President

Thank goodness baseball season is here. I absolutely love looking at baseball box scores first thing in the morning. I like following my team (The San Francisco Giants) through the inevitable ups and downs of a long season. I appreciate the intricacies of the game, like bunting a runner into scoring position, the hit ‘n’ run and the subtle shift in fielders’ positioning based on a certain hitter’s tendencies, as well as what and where the pitcher intends to pitch to him.

I was expecting the recent box office hit “Moneyball” to delve into these parts of my passion. However, what I got was an entertaining (thank you, Brad Pitt) business lesson. This article in QP (Quality Progress, which unfortunately requires site login) really digs into the statistical part of the movie and fleshes out some of the real lessons that Billy Beane and his Oakland Athletics learned over the years.

These valuable lessons are:

Focus on measurements to create a culture of success. Quite simply, measure what’s important, because people focus on what it is that’s being measured. In “Moneyball,” Beane focused almost exclusively on “On-base percentage,” instead of batting average and the beauty of a player’s “swing.” This leads to the second lesson… Continue reading What I Learned About Business from “Moneyball” →

The Green Initiative: Coming to Industrial Coatings

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive Vice President

Induron Coatings is happy to see the GREEN Initiative making its way from architectural paint into the industrial coatings realm. As this article from Paint Square describes, infrastructure projects from water lines to bridges to wastewater treatment plants are going to have a new green measuring stick, thanks to Paul Zofnass, a Harvard alumnus and longtime strategic and financial advisor to CEOs in the engineering/consulting industry.

Induron’s line of 100% solids (VOC & HAP free), ceramic epoxies are some of the greenest products on the market. It also helps that they are among the most user-friendly plural component products available today.

This green movement will be good for our nation and the coatings market too, if lifetime costs analysis are part of the equation. A product might be “green,” but if it’s no good and you end up having to paint a structure more often, where is the value, much less the green advantage? For the green Initiative to be considered a success in infrastructure projects, the products used have to be not only green (low VOC, HAP free, sustainable materials, etc.), but they have to be high quality as well.

At Induron, we welcome the green Initiative to the Industrial Coatings market, because we have user-friendly, ceramic epoxies that have stood the test of time and add value to infrastructure projects.

U.S. Failing? Not on My Watch

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive VP

“In need of more than just a shot of Botox or a facelift, our nation’s infrastructure requires an extreme makeover.” Just as soon as I stop laughing at that ridiculous statement, I’m gonna get scared.

The rapidly deteriorating state of our country’s infrastructure is front and center in the March issue of Free Enterprise, a publication by the United States Chamber of Commerce. This article discusses our infrastructure, from inland waterways to energy transmission to transportation. None seem to be a priority, especially when you consider the fact that “U.S. Infrastructure has plummeted from No. 1 to No. 15 in the World Economic Forum’s economic competitiveness ranking.”

As an avid sports fan and business owner, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m naturally competitive. I am, and I don’t like our country’s precipitous fall. Let’s turn it around!

 

 

Distilling Economic Advantages

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive VP

Induron Coatings would like to be one of the first to congratulate William Grant & Sons for their recent innovative breakthrough. Sure, their “2011 Distiller of the Year Award” they recently won at the International Wine and Spirit Competition is great, but I’m talking about their “green” breakthrough.

The distillery recently generated enough energy in-house to power their whole operation. That’s right, not only do they distill award-winning spirits, they do it completely “off-the-grid!” Read about it in the February 2012 edition of WE&T (scroll down for the article).

This type of innovation should be advantageous to William Grant & Sons economically from both an operations AND marketing perspective, and should also serve as an inspiration to the rest of us in both private and public business to go “green” where we can.

Confirming Commonsense

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By Jeff White, Induron Sales Manager

From Materials Performance

Here at Induron Coatings, we have been specifying stripe coats and contrasting colors in multi-coat systems for years as a way to enhance the quality of coating systems.

I don’t know that we originated the idea, but it’s good when other professionals confirm this commonsense approach as one way to help inspectors and owners get a quality coating job. This article from Materials Performance entitled, “The Silent Inspector – Specifying Color to Assist in Inspection,” does just that.

Now you See Me, Now you Don’t

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By Jeff White, Induron Sales Manager

Jeff White with his tanker during Operation Desert Storm

As a former Army Tanker with the 1st Battalion 64th Armor Desert Rogues, this article in Paint Square News caught my eye. Researchers at the University of Texas have developed a coating for Army tanks that mimics the “mirage effect” often seen in deserts.

This could greatly benefit our Armed Forces, especially in desert conditions. And of course, I believe that anything that helps make a tank harder to find for our enemies is a good thing. I hope that this technology continues to be developed and, of course, is only available to the U.S. and our allies.

B for Billion

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive VP

In this crazy year of politics (that’s really just getting going!), I was enthused by the title of this article in Paint Square from the SSPC: “DOT Budget Plan Built on Infrastructure.”

However, I was more than a little disappointed when I saw that $47B was going towards High Speed Trains, and $108B towards “affordable, sustainable, and efficient transit options.” I thought that’s what High Speed Trains were for? And don’t forget, that B stands for Billion… as in $1,000,000,000.I just hope that the Federal Government is willing to spend at least as much on our aging water and wastewater systems!

Too Many Zeros

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive Vice President

Today’s economy is tough. Money is hard to come by in both the public and private sectors. And while you and I are trying to make ends meet and ride out the economic storm, the politicians in Washington are gearing up for “another” election cycle that seems to be another excuse for inaction.

All the while, our nation’s aging water infrastructure – much of which was installed at the turn of the 20th century – continues to deteriorate. But there’s an article entitled “Water Infrastructure Could Burden U.S. Economy, Report Claims” in the January 2012 issue of WaterWorld that puts the cold hard numbers to repair cost. Continue reading Too Many Zeros →

What’s the REAL cost?

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By Davies Hood, Induron Executive VP

When you shop for something, whether it’s peanut butter or a Porsche, you want to know what it costs, right? In today’s uncertain economic times, price points and cost are becoming more and more important in everyone’s purchasing decisions.

Valve Magazine recently published an article entitled “Back to Basics: Life-Cycle Costing,” that gave an interesting angle on tools used to assist this process. This article astutely points out that there is more to the true cost of an item than just its sales price. Other factors that affect the total cost are the cost to install, maintain and repair and sometimes even dispose of the product. Continue reading What’s the REAL cost? →

The Proof Really IS in the Coating

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By Tex Enoch, Induron Water Tank Market Manager

Water and Wastes Digest recently published an article by Tony Stellema entitled, “The Proof is in the Coating.” The article discusses why a quality coating application on a steel storage tank is vital to the tank’s durability.

Stellema touched on many of the points that are important in selecting the proper coating system for protecting steel tanks:

  1. Choosing the correct system to handle the contained liquid
  2. Proper surface preparation and inspection
  3. Methods of holiday detection Continue reading The Proof Really IS in the Coating →