One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is the opportunity to hear and understand the challenges that our emergency response customers have in doing their jobs. Whether they are an introvert or extrovert, analytical or visceral, verbose or concise, their passion for excellence in what they do shows through when we talk about it. It’s heartwarming because it is an example of someone who finds rewarding work in a field that they care deeply about. It is also exciting for me because it reveals needs that initiate a creative cycle at inFRONT that allows us to pursue our own passion for building a great product.
AllClear Equipped is the latest example of the outcome of this creative process. It began with a conversation several years ago when I reached an AllClear user while he was on a 3 week business trip to every major site in his company’s portfolio. He shared that the company had to implement a valid and environmentally approved alternative to the foam they had chosen as their corporate standard a few years earlier. It was a lot of work and his passion for excellence shone as he talked about how he planned to train each ERT to use the new standard without diminishing their effectiveness. I felt good for the people who worked at these plants, knowing that this person was on the ball. Then the magic happened again.
In a passing comment, he said he found that the legacy foam at several sites was out of date. It bothered him because he dug a little and found that, in addition to the foam, the ERT didn’t have a common understanding of how to keep all of the gear they managed up to date. The inspection process was intact, but the inventory of equipment and the maintenance schedule was buried in their ERP system, which only a few people could access. The paper-pushing was hard to follow too. His passion started to bubble up as he talked about the potential consequences of missing inspection deadlines. “Sure, the gear might be fine anyway, but it might not and we don’t want to find out when we’re on scene. Maintenance schedules exist for a reason.” he said.
He had to go, but I caught up with him a few weeks later and asked him if it would be valuable if he could see, at a glance, whether or not his equipment was up to date and he had a reliable way to carry out the inspections.
“Huge” he said
“Tell me why.” I responded
“Because I won’t have to cross my fingers when I roll my equipment anymore”