Meet Amanda Marson, R&D Chemist for Household Product Development in the Packaging Coatings Division

Amanda Marson has worked on three Packaging teams (and one Automotive) in her seven years with Sherwin-Williams, making connections, learning from those around her and relying on those relationships to ensure everyone is doing the best work possible in the interest of the Company’s customers.

“In Household Products Development, and other groups, we work on multiple major projects [at a time,]” explains Marson, R&D Chemist II, Household Products Development. “You may own one project, but we all support one another. We must make sure we’re communicating – results, goals, etc. – and find out if another group did something similar in the past that we can learn from.”

This collaboration across the team will be further enhanced by an initiative Marson is leading to digitize lab records.

“We’re implementing a new electronic lab notebook system that will replace physical notebooks,” says Marson. “The success of the transition from the analog age to the digital age will be hugely helpful. Information will be stored and searchable.”

The system will help make sure information isn’t lost when someone retires and make onboarding new employees more efficient, as they can easily search through notebooks of current and previous employees. 

Getting Started

As for when Marson started, she first joined Sherwin-Williams as a part of the OEM Automotive Group before taking an Associate R&D Chemist role in Packaging Coating’s Maintenance of Business (MOB) team. After a little more than a year working on existing products, she took her first development-focused role on the Food Development team, formulating new coatings for that market. She then applied those skills to her current role on the Household Products Development team, where she focuses on a variety of projects for three-piece aerosol, monobloc and metal closures.

These connections to multiple departments make the collaborative nature of the work easier.

“Just because I’m in a development team, doesn’t mean I can’t collaborate with other groups within Packaging and across PCG [Performance Coatings Group],” says Marson. “There’s a friendliness across the Packaging Global Technology Center – I’m always comfortable going to other groups because I have relationships with them.”

She found the move to Packaging intriguing because, “Packaging truly touches everyone’s lives, whether they know it or not. Who’s not drinking or eating or using dry shampoo? These are products that come in metal containers that you’re using every day, you’re close to it. I can point out items at the store and explain to my family, ‘I’m improving the exterior performance of this product or I’m formulating out any materials of regulatory interest to help make these packages meet ever-changing regulations and customer requirements and improving sustainability attributes.’”

A Long-Term Mission

The sustainability advancements drive Marson too:

“When you look to the future, sustainability is a big focus for Sherwin Williams and our customers. Leveraging the innovative concepts developed by Packaging’s Innovation team will help both Sherwin, and our customers downstream, to meet these goals.”

Personally, Marson touches this work with her support of energy-curable or radcure coatings, which offer unique advantages through ultraviolet and electron beam curing methods. These technologies can help companies lower carbon and volatile organic compound emissions, offering solutions that lower their environmental footprint and save money long term.

When Marson joined the project, she had no experience with these types of coatings, but knew other divisions in PCG did, so she once again turned to making connections to solve a problem. She collaborated with groups in the Industrial Wood and Coil divisions to learn and gain exposure to the technologies and learn about how other divisions are using similar coatings and processes. She then used this information to continue her work to meet customers’ needs.

A Focus on the Customer

And for Marson, that’s what it’s all about: helping solve problems for customers. 

“We have to problem solve and also be realistic,” she explains. “Sometimes, as a chemist, you’re in the lab replicating a defect or improving the performance of a new or existing product, but you need to take a step back because you’re in a ‘perfect’ environment in a lab. You need to look at what the real cycle is that the coating goes through at the customer site and do realistic testing. That’s why visiting our customer lines is critical.”

Marson relies heavily on the Technical Service team for support in bridging the gap between the customer and the lab. 

“They do a ton of work for us,” she says.” “They have a wealth of knowledge.”

This collaboration makes sure the customer knows they are heard.

“We follow up with the customer and give reports with action items – we never want to leave someone hanging.”

At the end of the day, whether it’s with the customer, Household Products Development team, her previous MOB or Food Development teams, Technical Service Representatives, or the myriad of other groups across Sherwin-Williams, Marson knows collaboration is the key to success – and happiness.

“With development, you most times don’t get the reward for years to come – the people, the people make you stay,” she says. “Everyone just wants the best for you and is really looking out for one another. Everyone wants to learn.”

Her advice to anyone new to the Packaging Coatings division follows suit:

“Build your network, not just within your immediate group or team, but within Packaging, PCG, Sherwin,” she says. “Getting those relationships and different perspectives will only help expose you to different ideas and knowledge to help you further succeed as a chemist. One Sherwin!

AMANDA AT A GLANCE

Title: R&D Chemist II, Household Products Development 

Time With Sherwin-Williams: 7 years

Education: B.S. in chemistry from Baldwin Wallace University, minor in international business 

For Amanda, it’s all about helping solve problems for customers