HMI DEMOS NEW HYDROPHOBIC FOAM AT WORLD OF CONCRETE
Las Vegas January 2017
Paul DelFino
A BALLET ON CONCRETE
Philip Cosby, former head of quality at Ford, one of the renowned corporate quality gurus and author of the revolutionary book “Quality Is Free,” frequently compared a quality centered company/production process to a ballet. At his “Quality College” he gave business graduates a conductor’s baton so they would forever remember themselves as orchestration implementers of perfection of repetitive execution of timing, consistent standards, and flawless hand off in a production/process chain.
I recall wishing Phil was watching the HMI team as they conducted nearly 90 flawless demonstrations at the World of Concrete last month. On Friday, the last day of the show a rare storm came over the mountains in Las Vegas introducing chilling temperatures and rain. As many exhibitors were tearing down booths early and leaving, HMI was still being visited by show attendees and giving demos. The process and the product were flawless from presentation 1 in the desert sun on Tuesday thru presentation 89 in the rain on Friday. It was a ballet quality performance.
THE STAR OF THE SHOW
Over years one of the highlights of the show has always been Paul Peltier’s cup trick. When Paul mixes parts A & B of an HMI foam in a cup show attendees normally; smile, gasp and you can hear the WOWS throughout the crowd. Most importantly the visual performance allows everyone to understand what is happening underneath the concrete slab and to understand that it is the foam expansion that really lifts the slab.
In 2017 a new star was born as Jesse injected HMI’s new hydrophobic foam in a clear bucket of water. (View a video of the process HERE ) 89 consecutive times HMI’s new foam set up perfectly in standing water allowing all to understand that the formulation works in environments where moisture or standing water is an issue. A true hydrophobic solution.