Summary
Behr Paint brought formulation development, product records, and production approval workflows together in Uncountable. By connecting R&D with regulatory and manufacturing review, Behr established a more traceable path from experimental formulations to approved production formulas and transfer to ERP.
About Behr
Founded in 1947, Behr Paint Company is one of the largest manufacturers of paints, primers, decorative finishes, stains, surface preparation and application products for do-it-yourselfers and professionals in North America. The Santa Ana, CA based company, and maker of BEHR®, KILZ® and WHIZZ® brands, is dedicated to meeting the project needs of DIYers, designers and professional paint contractors with an unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and value. For more information, visit Behr.com. Professional paint contractors and designers can visit Behr.com/Pro to learn about products, color tools and services. Behr Paint Company is a subsidiary of Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS).
The challenge
Before adopting Uncountable, Behr Paint used separate systems to manage formulation development, product approvals, and manufacturing-related data transfers to ERP. Formulators, product stewards, regulatory teams, and process teams had to consult multiple tools to access the information needed to develop, review, and approve a product.
This fragmentation extended beyond experimental data. Recipes, process steps, and specifications were not always stored alongside test results, while raw material reference information, Technical Data Sheets (TDS), and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) lived outside the R&D platform. Approval routing relied primarily on email, separating production-related reviews from the formulation workflows that generated the product data.
Behr needed a more connected way to manage product information and approvals as formulations moved from R&D toward production.
“Prior to Uncountable, our teams relied on multiple systems to support data management and production related approvals. As our needs evolved, Uncountable helped us create a more connected and scalable foundation that better supports R&D today while positioning us for future innovation and growth,” said Greg Williams, Director of Sustainability & Digital Informatics.
The implementation
Behr and Uncountable mapped the company’s existing processes and consolidated multiple systems into a connected workflow. The implementation brought together the formulation tools used by R&D, checks required by regulatory and manufacturing teams, and approval routing based on site, product type, and other formulation-specific criteria.
These requirements connected day-to-day development with stage-gate reviews and data transfer to Behr’s production systems, making product approval part of the broader formulation workflow rather than a separate coordination process.
"Working with Charmayne [Uncountable's lead implementation manager for the deployment] has been a delight. She works extremely hard to understand our needs, has the science background necessary to work with us, and is always happy to help on issues big or small." said David Chisholm, Scientist.
The solution
Today's Workflow:
Today, Behr scientists formulate in Uncountable, where R&D and production formulas are managed with appropriate tagging and access controls. Teams can find historical experiments and production formulations, then prepare an experimental formula for production approval with a single click.
Connecting formulation records with configured checks and approval workflows gives R&D, regulatory, and manufacturing teams greater visibility into the information supporting product review. Approved formulations can move forward with greater traceability, while integrated workflows help reduce the manual coordination previously required across separate systems.
For Behr, bringing R&D and product lifecycle management together means connecting the work of developing a formulation with the reviews and approvals needed to move it toward production.
Why R&D and PLM together matters:
By consolidating formulation development, product approvals, and production-related workflows in Uncountable, Behr connected R&D with PLM. Scientists can access historical R&D and production formulations, collaborate with regulatory and manufacturing teams, and prepare experimental formulations for production approval within the same platform. Configured checks and approval workflows help reduce manual coordination and provide greater visibility and traceability as formulations move from development toward production.
