Nicolas Adi Suwiryo, Technical/Innovation
Thor Brown, Communication/Innovation
Craig Horan, Project Manager/Innovation
United States Infrastructure Corporation is
America’s largest provider of utility
infrastructure locating services
 Over 3,000 highly-trained utility locating
technicians throughout 22 states
 USIC is the parent corporation of SM&P and CLS
 Provides contract utility locating services for
natural gas, electric, telecommunications, cable
TV, water and sewer

USIC wants to settle on a single
brand of paint



USIC uses millions of cans paint
annually
Wants the paint brand which has
the best combination of price,
distribution capability, and quality
Need to run this paint testing
project because:
 Previous field tests did not compare this
specific product type
 Manufacturers have made some product
changes, making previous tests obsolete.



Our team will evaluate the quality of
the paint brands
Run tests on orange water-based
Krylon Quick Mark and Rust-Oleum
Industrial Choice inverted marking
paint brands
We will measure 6 variables:








longevity of marking
visibility of paint
resistance to clogging
distance painted per can
line width
speed of paint discharge.
Why us?
What are the results for?

Two distinct areas of interest
 Visibility/Longevity
 Quality/ Efficiency

Develop Methods to test Paints
 6 tests have been designed

Possible consideration of Wand
ergonomics

3 Visibility/Longevity Tests
 Longevity
 Visibility and Fading
 Line Width

3 Quality/Efficiency Tests
 Resistance to Clogging
 Distance Painted per Can
 Speed of Paint Discharge

Applied IE Methods
 Design of Experiment
 Economic Analysis
 Ergonomics

Possible Alternatives to be
tested
 Effect of multiple layers of paint
 Visibility when applied in wet
conditions
 Effect of different climates
(Biology lab?)
 Possible Ergonomic Issue to be
addressed

Ultimate Goal is to recommend a
paint
 Keep any discussion in terms of X & Y
 Analyze Results of tests
 Assign a weighted value to each test
 Sum the weights
 Recommend a Brand

Need to be thorough and
document well
 Document conditions and
weather
 Take pictures at assigned
intervals (48hr + 7days)
 Prepare cans equally
(shaking, mixing, and
storing)

USIC purchases ~2 million
cans per year
 Of these, ~1 million are the
orange
Results could have
significant economic impact
on Krylon or Rust-Oleum
 Absolutely need to be
impartial and THOROUGH

Project Costs
Week 1
Hours
Cost Per Hour
Team Time
Total Cost
$100.00
$0.00
Total Individual Hours
$100.00
$0.00
Total Team Meeting Hours
$100.00
$0.00
$100.00
$400.00
$200.00
$0.00
Total Plant Visit Hours
4
Consultant Time
Account Executive Hours
Total Weekly Cost
$400.00
Projected vs Actual Cost
$35,000.00
$30,000.00
Cost (in dollars)
$25,000.00
$20,000.00
$15,000.00
$10,000.00
$5,000.00
$0.00
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Week
Projected Total
Actual Total
11
12
13
14
15