By David Hood, Induron CEO
I have said before that Induron has old buildings. We do. And in thinking about the history of this company, I’m reminded of something else we have that’s old – our “batch books,” which is a log of production batches.
We actually still have our very first batch book. The original batch (batch No. 1) of paint we made was for 10 gallons of TT-P-86 Red and was recorded in pencil by my dad, Induron founder William E. Hood. We still keep batch books today, but now they are in electronic form.
That original batch of paint went through the same process we use on our paint today. It was recorded in the batch book and went through quality assurance. Every batch of paint we’ve made over the past 65+ years has gone through the same process.
Each batch of paint we make is tested in our Quality Control Lab to verify that its properties meet the standards set for that product by its formulator and/or our customer. The results of the tests are recorded on a record card, on the original batch record and into the computer for statistical analysis. The documents and artifacts (draw-downs, color match data, sag charts, etc.) are attached to the batch ticket and filed away. That way, if we need to question the field performance or properties of a product, we can go back to the original record to help resolve questions.
In addition to the above, we keep a pint of the paint as a “retain” sample. These “retains” are kept for a period of time sufficient to address any and all needs (about three years), so we can help resolve potential questions.
The only real change since Induron began more than 65 years ago is that records, batch tickets, color match verification and statistical analysis is computer aided today. It was important enough to do by hand in the past and even more so today, but we have the computer to lighten the load and give us more and better data to ensure our customers are pleased with the results of using our products.