Have you ever wondered how a DIY firm tests out its products to check they do what they say on the tin? Or to find out how long a power tool operates before its battery needs recharging?
Enter Ronan Tod, Quality Manager for home improvement giant Wickes, whose job it is to know the answers to all these questions.
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Reading-based Ronan, profiled in today’s Mirror, is probably one of the few people in the country who can say their job literally involves watching paint dry.
But, as far as he’s concerned, it’s anything but boring. Read more about him here:
I did it my way: How handy Ronan nailed his dream career in DIY
“It might sound simple, but if I’m going to test paint I need to test how thick it is and how well it does its job,” he says proudly.
“We draw a thick black line on a piece of plasterboard and then paint over it with one coat. I’ll watch that dry before putting on a second coat and then I’ll watch it again. I can then gauge the paint’s coverability.”
With around 30,000 products on the shelves of Wickes, Ronan and his colleagues have to test everything from power tools to workbenches, screws to hammers.
“No two days are ever the same,” he says. In the past week he has been to Poland to watch curtain poles being made and then returned home to see bricks produced. Read the full article here…