We like to refer to ourselves as a tribe, which is different from a team
because a tribe is interdependent
Final touches to all exhaust hood installations were scheduled
for completion by May 1.
June 2019 Spray 21
WD-40 still relies on partners for third-party testing, as well as
corrosion testing, such as Petrolube in Lafayette, NJ and Impact
Analytical in Midland, MI.
“Our products are still sent out to a third party, especially if we
need third party claims against a competitor,” noted Dolan.
WD-40 has grown its New Jersey R&D force in the past five
years with five new hires, including most recently Faye Ericka
Ramirez as Scientist, R&D, and Thomas Williams, Associate
Scientist. Globally, the R&D department includes 16 people, with
nine of them in New Jersey.
Richard Dolan (left) and Inez Kowalski exchange ideas in one of the facility’s
three “huddle rooms.”
“We have hired a bunch of smart people and brought them
inside,” enthused Bernaducci.
These hires have weathered and will continue to weather
changes to the industry such as product ingredient disclosures,
e-commerce regulations and other ingredient constraints such as
plastic microbeads. WD-40 is also working with industry organizations
such as the Household & Commercial Products Association
(HCPA) to help make some Statespecific
rules apply nationwide.
“Science is collaborative, and we
have seen the quality of our research
go up a notch by doing our own inhouse
testing,” Bernaducci said.
“We decided to duplicate some of
the external labs we worked with, and
this is honestly the best lab I have ever
worked in. We wanted a training area,
a casual atmosphere where we can
train our sales force. A future goal is
to have larger screens in the training
room, take videos of demonstrations
and offer webinars and presentations.”
WD-40 Global Director Meghan
Lieb added that, although WD-40’s
headquarters are in San Diego, CA,
conferencing via video-phone and webinar
capabilities have made communication
and collaboration seamless.
Visits to California are still sometimes
necessary, but not as frequent as in
previous years.
“We travel less, but we are more
connected than before,” observed
Lieb. Spray
The spacious new laboratory is designed for both developing and fully qualifying new products.