This morning we went to one of the neatest field trips we have ever been to. A trip to the Sherwin Williams paint Factory in Orlando Florida. We were lucky to attend because the factory only shuts down production for about 5 days out of each year to do maintenance, and today was one of them. The homeschool group I belong to arranged it. We learned a lot, including that they will hire lower level employees, and that they have a college tuition assistance program for those interested in furthering their education and moving up in the company. Just in case you were wondering Chemistry and Engineering are BIG here! We also learned that they are involved with local non profit charity projects- Way to go Sherwin Williams!!
SO ........the pictures, and yes, I asked permission before snapping any photos :)
Welcome to Sherwin -Williams
Because I am a nerd I took a picture of their lobby. The door to the office is cool ... and carved!
Safety glasses in place before touring the facility...Safety first...
A video to prepare us for the tour before going in... you can see it here, it's only 5 minutes but it is exactly what we saw ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Kx3V40bao
Here we are outside looking at the silo's filled with dry/ powdered raw materials
Learning how the raw materials are delivered by freight and pumped through the system
Silo signage
Raw Materials
Mixing a large batch of paint, surprisingly it really didn't smell at all.
We learned that every batch of white paint has a little bit of black paint mixed in which actually makes the white " whiter"
These large factories typically produce only base colors. Dyes are added at the store to make the colors we request
The white hoppers on the right that look like they have chimneys are used to mix smaller batches
Welders Welding ...well, welders who stopped welding so we could take a closer look
More paint mixing
Hoses
The lab!!!
A display of the different paints they produce
A viscometer to test the paints viscosity just like in the video
This machine tests tint strength
The paint is mixed and tested and now goes into cans, they roll down this apparatus
If you look up... lots of cans waiting to be filled. This plant produces something like 9,000 gallons a day
Once your paint is in the can it needs a label and this is the machine that does it
These little chips are glue. They get fed into the machine above and melt
The can rolls through the conveyor and through the melted glue- you can see some dry strands here
And just a moment later, the can rolls further down and a label goes on...... here is a stack
Lids and handles go on here
A coil of metal that will be turned into a handle(s)
Here they were showing us a machine that scans the bar codes to make sure the paint in the can is what the can is labeled with. Sorry, I didn't get a good pic of that machine.
Assorted paint can labels.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. The tour was amazing and they were SOOOO kid friendly. They even told the kids to stop them at any time if they saw something in the plant they wanted more info on or to go see. They brought us back to the break room afterwards for more Q &A's and even gave the kids snacks, drinks, and a souvenir Sherwin - Williams pen. I am sure there is more I am forgetting but a big thanks to Sherwin- Williams, I think they just may have made a new customer out of me.
Did I mention I love homeschooling?
