Industrial pump and spray firm Graco Inc. is hotly pursuing the consumer market and has launched a new high-tech paint sprayer that will retail for less than $200.
It took a team of engineers, designers, marketers and consultants about 18 months and $1 million to create Graco's new and lightweight spray gun. The TrueCoat 360 was unveiled this month in Las Vegas at the National Hardware Show, which showcases the latest and greatest from Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, Ace Hardware and power tool suppliers.
It's a bold step for Minneapolis-based Graco, an industrial powerhouse best known for making rugged industrial coating equipment. Its sprayers traditionally go into the factories that make appliances, autos, trucks, tractors, as well as auto repair shops across America.
Graco wants to get more do-it-yourself (DIY) products into Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards and other hardware retailers.
Mike Halloran, research analyst with Robert W. Baird and Co., said Graco's reach into the DIY sector is only about 5 percent of total sales. So TrueCoat 360 "would be an additive new product launch that expands their pie of that market."
To do that, Graco researched product demand and made changes.
David Newman, sales and marketing director of Graco's home improvement channel, said: "In doing focus groups and research, we found that the end DIY user said, 'You just have to make it easier to me to use [a spray gun]. I don't want to thin the paint or make a mess.' What they really want is the smoothest finish possible and ease of use.''
After months of research, calibrating and designing, Graco's answer was a spray painter that is 40 percent lighter than its last consumer-oriented model. TrueCoat is also 25 percent cheaper and capable of spraying in 360 degrees. "It will even spray upside down and not lose prime [pressure]," Newman said.
