While traveling on business this month, I arrived at the hotel, opened my suitcase and found a message inside. It’s a message I’ve become quite familiar with now—a note from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) informing me that my bag had been inspected at the airport. Normally I have absolutely no problem with this “invasion of my privacy,” as I feel it is an unfortunate side effect of insuring the safety of travelers everywhere, including me. In fact, I’ve been known to argue with my colleagues who complain about the added airport security these days (and corresponding added delays). I’m willing to take as much time as necessary if it increases the odds of my safe arrival.
But this occasion was different than others I’ve experienced. This time, the TSA officials (or someone else between the time I checked my bag and when I picked it up) had the good sense of humor to lock my bag closed. This prank involved unlocking the lock, placing the lock through both zippers, and relocking it. The painful part of this is that I have never before used the lock and never carry the key. So I had to break the lock on my own bag to get to my belongings… and the TSA notice.
On the TSA notice is a line that reads, “If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks.” Although I did not find it amusing at the time, the irony of this statement now brings a smile to my face. It’s the particular care the security officer took to reassemble my belongings neatly in my bag and include the note prominently at the top before taking the extra steps to lock me out that make me ponder, in a twisted sort of way, the significance of going the extra mile on the job to make sure it is done right.
For a company to get to the top and stay there, each employee should be willing to put out extra effort in the job and be cognizant of customer expectations and what it takes to build strong, lasting relationships with these customers. Companies need to be on a constant search for the latest technology that will allow their employees to do their jobs more efficiently and with higher quality. Together, these efforts help to offset the challenges faced on the job every day and, often, even the occasional mistakes that are bound to occur.
To help you stay on top of the latest advances in cleaning technology, Process Cleaning keeps a close eye on changes in the industry and brings in-depth coverage of products and processes to help you make informed decisions on strategies for keeping your business on the leading edge.
In this issue, we take a good, hard look at medical device manufacturing. Arguably, nowhere else in the cleaning industry is attention to detail more important than it is when cleaning components that may one day find their way inside of the human body. On page 24, Kellie Grob, from Cold Jet LLC, reviews some shops that are replacing manual and abrasive cleaning and finishing processes with dry ice blast cleaning to not only increase production, but to ensure thorough cleaning of medical devices and equipment with no remaining residue.
Beginning on page 28, we take a look at a number of other methods that can cost effectively and ecologically meet the stringent cleaning demands for medical device manufacturing.
These articles are representative of the steps companies are taking to provide the quality products their customers have come to expect. We all have a responsibility to our customers and to our own companies to not only be good enough, but to work to exceed expectations and do a superior job. In an economy such as this, the need has never been greater.
