Every Opportunity is an Opportunity

Posted on by Jim Patterson

Sir Winston Churchill, as Prime Minister of Britain was faced with the daunting task of leading his country from the brink of defeat to victory. He is noted for many quotes and speeches around 1940 including “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, and “We Will Fight on the Beaches” but none is more famous than the “This Was Their Finest Hour” speech to the House of Commons on June 16, 1940 just one month after he became Prime Minister. He is also credited with the following quote along with many others.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  -Winston Churchill

Is your glass half-full?

Another way of describing people’s attitude in life is the difference between the glass is half empty full vs. the glass is half empty. Churchill, born in 1874 had a good genetic combination that made him the right choice to lead the United Kingdom at a very difficult time in history, especially with Europe under siege by Hitler’s forces. He was a military man who had a British statesman father and a New York born, independent thinking, socialite mother. This combination brought him to the forefront as the right man at the right time in history for not only the British people, but for Europe and the world.

In business, we all want to be optimist and not dwell on the things that are wrong or business that we lost to China or more to the point, complaining about things out of our control. We need to focus on the positive and what we do well to be competitive in the Global Economy. If Churchill hadn’t maintained a healthy attitude and rallied the troops to save his county, what do you think the end result would have been? The landscape of Europe would look much different today. President Roosevelt and Churchill though very much different in so many ways, found a way to work together. Many people believe that the government work programs of the New Deal was the key to our vital economy and getting out of the Great Depression, but it was more about the destruction of the infrastructure in of so many countries including Europe and Japan that made America the strongest economy in the world.

Attitude is everything

The United States with its raw materials and a ready and willing; post- war workforce was up for the challenge. By 1944, the unemployment rate in the US was 1.2%, still the lowest in American history. Even with our military personnel returning from the war, the unemployment rate stayed under 4% throughout the 1940’s. You can see why panic sets in when the US unemployment rate get above 8%. The population of the US in 1944 was less than 140 million people and in 2014, it is 317 million. The math shows a clear picture of our country moving in the wrong direction. How do we turn things around? I asked a very liberal friend the other day a simple question. If you had to pay $10.00 more for a pair of sneakers made in the USA instead of a plant in Asia, would you? His answer was absolutely not and he justified it by saying that it was his job to get the best price possible. If we had a level playing field it might be different, but the US tax burden and regulatory compliance means higher costs to produce goods. Notwithstanding the attitude of my misguided friend, there is a huge under swell of buy American sentiment going on and many companies that went to China are moving manufacturing back to the States. We won’t get it all back, but we will see better days ahead. The bright spot in our manufacturing sector is Medical Device Manufacturing and Static Clean with its key products such as Hepa-Clean Chambers and Medical Cleaning Stations is seeing the benefits from every opportunity presented. Visit us at Static Clean for information on our products. Our hope is for more Americans to think globally, but act locally and hasten the return of American entrepreneurship.

Dad-Daughter Day at 2014 Laconia Bike Week

Posted on by Jim Patterson

Summer kicks off in Laconia with at 91st annual bike week

Laconia Bike week logoLaconia Bike Week is the oldest motorcycle rally in the USA, whose roots date back to 1916, but became official in 1923 as part of the Loudon Classic motorcycle races.  The event is held in June each year and is still called by some of the old timers as the Gypsy Tour.  An explanation of the name was given to an attentive crowd by the lead singer of one of the Rock Bands that played in one of the beer tents.  Today motorcycle enthusiasts call these gatherings “runs or rallies”, but Gypsy Tour is truly an American term that described riders from all parts of America that would meet at favorite destination.   Laconia in New Hampshire, Sturgis in South Dakota and Daytona Beach in Florida are a few of the more popular locations.  Bike riders would travel long distances, with the bikes loaded up with camping gear, sleeping along the roads, sitting around campfires, thus they were called gypsies.

While there are many makes and models of motorcycles at the Laconia event, the predominant bike is the Harley Davidson and it is really Laconia Bike Week 2014exciting to see the antique models with nicknames like Panhead, Knucklehead and Shovelhead.   They were given these names because of the distinct shape of their rocker covers.   In the more recent years some claim that Harley Davidson has paid less attention to “style and quality”, and more on being a marketing machine.  While the brute marketing approach is true, there is still something about the sound of the pipes and the thrill of riding an American Classic. Some of the new 2014 bikes are absolute eye candy.  If you enjoy Motorcycles, there are thousands of them to see during the week and most proudly show them off in various ways.

Making the bling look good

A number of years ago, our company, Static Clean had the fortune to work on Harley Davidson parts with one of their outsourced manufacturing partners.  Besides the Harley sound, the most attractive thing about a Harley is the chrome or bling as it is called today.   The speedometer and tachometer instrument gauges were being manufactured in Connecticut and secondary processing such as decorating or chrome plating were required.   Any debris or particles on the parts would show up in the finished product.   Our ionizing air nozzles were implemented and the reject rates were vastly reduced.   Static Clean helps hundreds of companies towards yield improvements by controlling the particle attraction of static electricity.  The automotive industry in general considers static to be a major problem that needs to be addressed.  It is exciting working on “cool things”.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Restaurants and Hotels in Between

Posted on by Jim Patterson

As a frequent travel I sometimes wonder: Who writes the rules? I’m not just talking about the rules of the road, but the protocol that the service industry follows when a salesperson hits the road for overnight trips. As a salesperson for Static Clean International, if my travel schedule is within 350 miles in any direction from home, I typically drive. The hassle of the airport makes driving more practical and, frankly, more enjoyable. The big tossup is whether to take a car to New York City or take the train. The train seems to be winning the NYC battle, but elsewhere, it is the car.

Rules of the Road

It was interesting to learn that while the Romans had to deal with problems related to horse–drawn chariots, the “rules of the road” didn’t really start until the motoring age. The history of these rules is steeped in British law that dates back to the Highway Act of 1835.

It’s also interesting to note is the “rules of the road” spilled over into the “rules of the sea” for ships to follow when navigating the oceans of the world. Especially alarming is that no one vessel has absolute right of way over another vessel. There can be a “give way” and a “stand on” situation, where the “give way” vessel is burdened and a “stand on” vessel is one with privilege. However, the “stand on” vessel does not have absolute right of way over the “give way.” If a dispute that ends in a collision happens, you have to take it up with the Admiralty. Who’s up for a cruise?

Try driving your automobile on the roads of America using the rules of the sea. I’ve driven in Italy, and the rules of the sea seem fitting when trying to get from the outskirts of Rome to St. Peter’s Square. Nobody has the right of way, so everybody goes, and it resulted in a costly fine that took a year to settle with the Polizia.

The Importance of Eye Contact

Let’s assume that you made it safely to your hotel. After check in, you decide to eat at the hotel or go to a local restaurant. As you look around, you notice other people sitting by themselves, but they are seated so they are not face to face with each other. Instead they are dispersed throughout the eatery in a way that reduces eye contact. Doesn’t that seem silly? Many of the eating establishments of Europe place you shoulder to shoulder with complete strangers, which results in some great conversations.

Feeling Lucky is Relative

These same things happened in 1989 while visiting Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists and is now divided into Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. We found ourselves in the mountains just below Sarajevo without a hotel, so we decided to grab a bite at a local watering hole. The waitress sat us at a long table with complete strangers, so we struck up a conversation with a couple of gentlemen seated next to us. One man was a pilot for Yugoslavia’s national airline. He went on to tell us how lucky he was in life. He said, “You don’t understand — I have 12 hectares of land and a cow. I get fresh milk every day.” With help from our new friends, we ended up finding a clean hotel, and the next morning, as we jumped into our Yugo automobile, we came to realize how lucky we are to live in America, but that it is okay to bend the rules and make eye contact once in awhile.

It’s that personal connection with clients that we believe separates Static Clean from our competitors. Discover more about what we offer by contacting us.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Posted on by Jim Patterson

When my daughter was younger, Paul McCartney came on TV. I said to my daughter, “That’s Paul McCartney.” She said, “Who is Paul McCartney?” and I said he was in the Beatles. She said, “What are the Beatles?”

The Summer of 69

How is it possible that she didn’t know the Beatles? I never wanted to be cynical like our parents, who always claimed they had a simpler life, enjoyed better times — even though they had less, and they thought that music ended with Elvis and Sinatra. As a teen, I saw the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison & the Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Rolling Stones and just about every band that came through Boston on tour. It just couldn’t get any better than the “Summer of 69.”

Then I thought about the first verse of the Bryan Adams song with the same name and it went like this.

I got my first real six-string
bought it at the
five and dime
played it til my fingers bled
it was the Summer of 69

We Can Learn from the Past

Then it hit me… The five-and-dime. Just about every town had one, and some towns had two five-and-dime stores. What about Woolworths, drive-in movies — and to make it more personal to Boston: Bradlees, Zayres, Gilchrist’s, Kennedy’s, Raymond’s, and Grants. Every state in the country has a list of defunct department stores. Maybe our parents weren’t so wrong after all. Instead of strolling through town and spending time window shopping, we no longer have time to spare. Instead we troll the internet to do our shopping. The new generation sees this lifestyle as normal, but it would be nice for them to go back in time and experience what it used to be like. Cynical? Yeah, I’m afraid so.

Two more verses from Bryan Adams’ Summer of 69 sum it up.

And now the times are changin’
Look at everything that’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you and what went wrong

Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

The Personal Touch and Static Clean

Footnote: We can’t stop progress and the immediacy of information technology, but maybe we can slow it down a bit by dealing with a local store or a small company that offers excellent service and a personal touch. At Static Clean, we always try to use local vendors, who very often become our friends. For more information about Static Clean and the services we provide, please contact us.

Who said chivalry is dead?

Posted on by Jim Patterson

When we think of chivalry it is usually associated with King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and days of yore. It seems that those days are long gone, and that chivalry is dead, but it isn’t. Just ask Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Bono, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Julie Andrews, Judi Dench, Tom Jones, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Sean Connery, Tom Courtney, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen and Kate Winslet, all of whom have been knighted by Queen Elizabeth.

At first glance, I thought it was just a British affair, but as I dug deeper, I learned that Bill Gates, Bob Hope and Ronald Reagan along with hundreds of others got tapped on the shoulder by the mighty sword.

As I read through the list of those who received knighthood, I noticed it included some of my favorite musicians. I also noticed the footnote that said that they received an honorary knighthood. I started to think, “did we dilute the true meaning of chivalry by creating the honorary knighthood system?” It seems like the UK has been giving them out like popcorn!

What is chivalry?

The English and American Dictionaries describe chivalry as a noun whose meaning is the medieval institution of knighthood. Chivalry was developed as an early standard of professional ethics for knights. The ceremony usually meant an all-night prayer vigil on the altar before the oath was taken in the morning to:

  • Be brave
  • Always speak the truth
  • Always defend a lady
  • Be loyal to his lord
  • Be devoted to his church
  • Be charitable
  • Defend the poor and helpless

It really was a social code of the times. It could be argued that the musicians and actors mentioned above, especially Bono, have given of their time and money to help the poor, and are therefore covered under the knighthood umbrella, but the general consensus is these celebrities are being honored for their contribution to the arts.

Static Clean and knighthood

How about a company that contributes to solving process problems, improves yields, improves lives, and makes the world a better place for its global citizens? Do these people or companies meet the litmus test of knighthood? Recently Static Clean International started a Going Green campaign, and our first initiative is to move to a paperless system. Maybe we won’t attain knighthood, but our deeds are certainly chivalrous under a code of ethics of professional responsibility.

Contact Static Clean to learn more about our Going Green campaign, and the products and services Static Clean provides.

Will the Big Bang Happen Again?

Posted on by Jim Patterson

Big Bang…Again?

According to the astrophysicists, the Big Bang that expanded and stretched the universe can’t happen again because the universe is still expanding. Will the expansion continue forever or will there be a day when everything stops? What would that look like?  Like an airplane that defies gravity with the speed of forward motion, do we need to worry about all things in the universe just dropping out of the sky without forward propulsion?

Even such, the Big Bang keeps us wondering about life itself and how insignificant we may be in the overall scheme of existence. From science, we know that atoms are the smallest particle of an element. Are we or even the world itself just atoms in a system where math doesn’t exist to explain how little we are on the ladder of life? Scientists say that all of the ingredients that were gathered at the time of the Big Bang can be found inside the human body. We are matter and matter is defined by anything that has mass and takes up space. Come to think of it, my mother used to tell me something about “just taking up space.”

The Law of Conservation

Besides trying to figure out the universe and solar system, science can be very confusing. For example, the Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. However, it can change form, as is realized in changing chemical energy to kinetic energy. Ingredients found in dynamite are made up of chemicals, and once the fuse is lit, there is an explosion. The explosion then becomes the kinetic energy and nothing seems to exist afterward, save maybe a few scraps of debris on the ground.

A rule of the above mentioned Law of Conservation of Energy states that perpetual motion cannot exist without an energy source or power to keep it going. This rule seems to support my point at the opening of this post about the expanding universe and going from the Big Bang to continued expansion. At some point, things stop — unless there is another Big Bang to keep things in motion.

Control Static With Our Products

At Static Clean, we manufacture charging power supplies that apply energy to applicators that attack atoms or air molecules to create ions. Of course, that is not the only reason why we build this type of equipment. We are a static control company, which means we also build air ionizers that are used to control static events and prevent explosions on equipment where volatile chemicals vapors are involved in the process.

If static is not kept to low levels explosions can occur. Like the stick of dynamite exploding, companies have to deal with problems associated with converting chemical energy to kinetic energy. For help in controlling static and preventing fires and explosion, contact Static Clean International for expert advice.

How Are Books Made Today?

Posted on by Jim Patterson

To understand the technology-driven, high speed, book manufacturing process of today, we first have to explore the history of book manufacturing through the ages.

According to Wikipedia: A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of ink, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf and each side of a leaf is called a page.

A Little Ancient History

The Ancient Greeks and the Romans have been long thought to be the first cultures to use available materials to write history. These materials include papyrus, parchment and paper. Parchment, made from animal skins, was the most durable and most expensive. While thin layers from the papyrus plant were cheaper, the material did not hold up very well over time. They absorbed too much moisture and were easily torn. Papyrus was the early material of choice for scrolls and biblical writings because they could be easily pasted together. Papyrus was flexible and could be rolled up for easy storage and preservation.

Who Invented Paper?

The Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in caves in the mid 1940’s were mostly written on parchment, but papyrus was also used. Paper, the least used material in the 1st and 2nd century, was actually invented and used by the Chinese in 140 BC by putting hemp waste in water and beating it to a pulp. From China, papermaking spread throughout Asia and became traditional material for books in Tibet. Around 610 AD, the Japanese used paper at Imperial Palace for official records, but when Buddhism was introduced shortly thereafter, the demand for paper for religious books grew. The spread of the Roman Empire along with the spread of Buddhism and other religions created a demand for books and faster ways to produce them.

Paper Gains Popularity in Europe

It wasn’t until 1450 that paper became the book material of choice in Europe. Now that the demands were there, how did they keep the pages together to make a book? While the process has changed, it is interesting to note that book making technology hasn’t changed all that much between the 15th century and the 20th century. After the sheets were written or printed, they were carefully hand cut and held together by a binding, which was basically created by sewing the cut pages onto leather cords. In the last step, the binding was laced onto a leather cover or decorative fabric to form a book.

How Are Books Made Today?

Today, the process starts with huge pulp and paper mills that create large rolls of paper that are wound onto a master roll that eventually go through automated slitting and sheeting equipment that reduce the paper to a usable format. Then, the properly sized sheets are printed, folded, collated, sewn, bound, stapled or glued and fabricated at high rates of speed. Machines that perform these tasks have replaced the labor intensive slow process of the old days. As line speeds increase, so do the static levels that cause jams and other process problems including poor print quality.

One of the products that we have are static bars, which are strategically placed on the equipment to control the static levels. Also, instead of the painstaking steady hand of ancient book makers to align the sheets to be bound, static generators impart a static electricity charge into the sheets to hold them together. This equipment is especially important in production of daily newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines as well as the Gideon Bible that is found in many hotel rooms.

Remember the Van de Graaff Generator?

Posted on by Jim Patterson

The Van de Graaff generator was invented in 1929 by American physicist Robert J. Van de Graaff. That’s a great fact, but why did he invent such a contraption?

Flashback to Science Class 

Van de Graaff began experiments to find methods to accelerate particles at very high speeds in order to disintegrate atomic nuclei. We’ve all seen these generators with the aluminum dome on top of a long pole in science class, and if not, we’ve certainly heard about them. Is that what we were doing in science class? Trying to accelerate particles and not just create lightning?

When we were young, we thought it was cool to receive and give people static shocks. When belts made of silk rotate on small motors, they create friction, and therefore static electricity. The belts in proximity to the hollow metal domes are insulated from a ground reference. The charged metal domes can store enough energy to produce a visible discharge, but the current is typically very low. Table top versions of the Van de Graaff generator, as used in science experiments, can reach between 200,000 and 500,000 volts.

Time for a Field Trip? 

The largest Van de Graaff generator in the world, built by its inventor in 1930, is on permanent display at Boston’s Museum of Science. This 15-foot diameter sphere stands atop a 22-foot tall column and has the capability of generating 2,000,000 volts. Three or four times a day, the techs at the museum demonstrate how it works. As the generator reaches its peak, it produces sparks, lightning and makes hair stand up. The science techs stand inside the caged dome, which demonstrates lightning. Also, a 20 minute display teaches those in attendance about conductors, insulators, electricity, magnetism and storm safety.

The Dangers of Van de Graaff Generators

It is important to note that Van de Graaff machines, even the table top science lab units, can generate enough energy to stop a pacemaker and destroy sensitive electronic gadgets such as cell phones, laptops and personal computers. Make sure that during experimentation, precautions are taken to keep these devices away from the field of energy that is created by the generators. It is not recommended for children under the age of nine.
Static electricity is a threat that can cause many problems. A whole industry of static control equipment and materials has spawned from the ill effects of electrostatic fields and electrostatic discharge. If you have a static problem, please contact Static Clean and we will offer the best recommendations to keep you and your products safe.

Ions for Health

Posted on by Jim Patterson

I received a call back in 1985 from a guy in South Dakota looking to buy an ion for his brother. I told him that you couldn’t buy just one ion, but that we have ionizers that produce millions of ions. He went on to say that his brother owns a bar and that the Board of Health was going to shut him down unless he put in an ionizer system to eat the smoke in a dungeon of a bar that had a low ceiling.

Even though warning labels appeared on cigarette packs back in the late 1960’s, it wasn’t until around 1985 that the understanding of the harm caused by secondhand smoke started to catch on. In 2000, states started taking measures to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. In fact, in 2002 Delaware was the first state to ban smoking in restaurants, bars and the workplace.

So what about our friend from South Dakota?

Besides the fact that the bar was like a dungeon with low ceilings, it had an inadequate heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC). Even back in the 1980’s, people realized that ions help in the fight against not only smoke, but also odors and other airborne contaminants that impact health.

Today, ionization is a standard tool in the fight to improving indoor air quality. Ionizers are used in many gambling casinos where smoking is allowed. Ionizers are used not only to keep the cooling coils clean on the upstream side of the HVAC systems, but on the downstream side where air enters the gambling halls. The goal is to keep the players healthy.

Hospitals use ionization to fight outside diesel fuel that may enter through the air systems. Gymnasiums use them as a tool to fight odors just as nail salons do to rid the smell of noxious nail polish remover.

For years, boutique stores in major malls have sold single polarity, negative ion generators that claim to have health benefits. There were many who had their doubts about these products. Now, bi-polar ionizers are used in globally renowned institutions with the confidence that it really improves our everyday lives.

You can visit our site to see the Ionizing Blowers that we can provide for your business, whether it is for a casino or a smoking bar.

Cleanrooms: Controlled Environments

Posted on by Jim Patterson

In a manufacturing environment, complete sterilization is more important than you might think.

A cleanroom is a controlled environment where products are manufactured, typically found in electronics, bio-pharmaceutical, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. Clean-rooms are planned and manufactured using strict protocols. Did you know that a particle 200 times smaller than a human hair could cause a major disaster in a cleanroom?

In order to keep that environment sterilized, contaminants that are developed due to people, processes, equipment or facilities need to be controlled to specific limits. Airborne contamination must be continually removed which impacts factors such as air flow rates, pressurization, temperature, humidity and filtration.

There are four principles which apply to the control of airborne contamination in cleanrooms, but we believe there should be a fifth principle added to that list.

The four recognized principles are:

  • Filtration: Cleanrooms need to be designed so that most of the contamination in the air is filtered out.
  • Dilution: Cleanrooms need to be supplied with a sufficient volume of fresh air at regular intervals so that any contamination generated by people working in the room is first diluted and then removed from the room. This is achieved by having a set number of air changes per hour. The minimum requirement is normally twenty air-changes per hour (that is the room air volume is replaced every three minutes).
  • Directional Air Flow: For ultra-clean activities undertaken in unidirectional airflow cabinets operating at EU and WHO Grade A (ISO class 5), the air needs to move in a straight direction so that any contamination generated within the area is removed. This is achieved by having the air enter at a high velocity (normally at 0.45 meters per second ±20%).
  • Air Movement: The air within a cleanroom needs to keep moving so that any contamination remains suspended in the air rather than being allowed to settle onto surfaces. This is achieved by having unidirectional or turbulent airflow.

The fifth principle we would add to this list would be ionization. Adding ionization to the air coming into the rooms or at various workstations where people and plastics are part of the process…and the problem. Ionization will help to dislodge particles, keep particles airborne and reduce static levels on plastics that will prevent the attraction of contaminants.

Preventing any contaminants from entering a clean-room requires a commitment, but the importance should not be underestimated. Follow strict procedures and guidelines for entering and cleaning clean rooms to ensure that your product is not compromised! Check out some of our products to help keep your cleanroom up to the highest standards.