In many companies, research and development is one discrete step in a linear product lifecycle, separate from production, distribution, sales, and marketing.
This step-by-step process can adversely silo information, create expensive and inhibitive redundancies, and wind up being counter-productive to growth. Today’s top manufacturers constantly hone and finesse their processes, investing time and money to safeguard against complacency and competition.
Valspar Corporation’s 200 years of paint development has yielded a systematic product lifecycle that integrates huge chunks of the product lifecycle.
So its consumer paints R&D team must both understand minute research details and take a broad business view. By merging usually distinct phases, one of the largest global paints and coatings manufacturers in the world efficiently conceives and produces a variety of products for a vast consumer base.
Simon Yeung leads Valspar’s consumer paint R&D team, which is responsible for understanding market forces, scaling laboratory formulation science to massive manufacturing, and supporting post-sales services.

His role purposefully requires intimate involvement in each product phase, from development to consumer use. So Yeung must remain informed about his products’ different markets and uses – from outside wood decks and home exteriors to interior walls, commercial and industrial buildings, and underground pipes.
He shared some key elements of his research and development system, which keeps him up to speed throughout the entire product lifecycle and across product applications:
Start at the beginning.
For Yeung and his team at Valspar, the innovation process starts with the needs of the end-user – in their case the consumer. Other Valspar products end up in the brushes and buckets of everyone from Yamaha piano makers to John Deere tractor manufacturers to subway workers to interior designers.
“We need to understand what actually motivates the consumer, and we need to understand what we call ‘the paint journey,’” explains Yeung. “When a consumer thinks about painting a wall, what actually goes through his or her mind? How do they pick colors? How do they decide what color goes with what other colors, their furniture, the feel of their home, and so on?”
Understanding the end-user means absorbing as much information about them as possible, which is why learning plays a critical role in research and development at Valspar.
Yeung thinks about where the paint will be purchased, how it will be used, how it will be experienced. He believes that focusing on every aspect of engagement – from the consumer’s color choice to the tools they use to apply the paint to how they clean their painted walls – must be considered during the development process. Having a learning system that supports these factors is vital.
Incorporate manufacturing and end-use into R&D.
Yeung’s team is also responsible for making sure that Valspar can manufacture its products in large quantities. Successful manufacturing starts at the development phase. For him, this means thinking of his business model as both B2C and B2B. Acknowledging production concerns upfront helps prevent disruptions and ingrains the full product lifecycle into the core of the product. It also strengthens the feedback loop.
Take, for example, Valspar’s packaging coating used in Coke’s aluminum cans. It must be safe for food and beverages, and prevent infiltration of anything unsafe for human consumption.
Developing such a product requires a careful process. Considering end-use and manufacturing in R&D enables Valspar to develop a food-safe product alongside its traditional consumer paint products.
Distinguishing these differences upfront allows Valspar to tackle any challenges head-on, ultimately ensuring a better quality product. Yeung and his team take the same R&D approach for Valspar’s consumer products.
“My team also supports post-sales services, so if there are usage issues, we help our customers through them,” he explains. “If, for example, a home owner is incorrectly applying wood stains for decking, we help him or her understand what our products can truly offer and take them to their full potential.”
Yeung’s involvement in the full product lifecycle further connects him to product use because R&D is considered part of a bigger picture — a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Be flexible and open to new ideas.
Yeung puts a lot of effort into absorbing new information at all stages of a product’s life – from conception to sales. His approach to learning is to be flexible and open to new ideas, then to move quickly and nimbly in response to what he learns.
“When I talk to experts, I often ask them, ‘What are the right questions to ask?’ or ‘What am I missing?’” he says. “I let what I hear guide my research path.”
For Yeung and his team, understanding every aspect of Valspar’s product line – protection, aesthetics, durability – is core to the R&D process. To increase speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality, Yeung advises being flexible and welcoming of new knowledge, from which other ideas can grow.
Every manufacturing company struggles with phases in the product lifecycle. Yeung and his team have developed a systematic approach to developing Valspar’s products that acknowledges both the big picture and the minute details, and keeps the process running smoothly. Ultimately, Yeung advises, conceptualization is as important as end-use, just as the details of each phase matter as much as the full product lifecycle.
John Donoghue is head of corporate markets at GLG. To learn more about Valspar’s R&D process, watch Simon Yeung on GLG’s Leading Learners.