Let's Roll Out the Red Carpet...

 

There’s an awful lot of hullabaloo every year over the Academy Awards. I used to think it was cool, too, when I was younger. But today, as I sit here recovering from one of the worst colds I’ve ever had, I wish a red carpet could be unfurled for the cast of heroes in our plastics industry who have helped to manufacture the medical products available to us today.

It’s not that I don’t like movies anymore, so don’t get me wrong. But for all the pomp and circumstance that an awards show like the Oscars is afforded, what do we “civillians” gain that makes our lives better? A few hours of entertainment? Think instead about how our industry contributes to the packaging for medical products that cut hours out of a horrible episode of the flu, or to the medical devices and instruments that cut critical hours out of a surgical procedure, not to mention the subsequent recovery time.

All I know is that when I get sick, or a loved one has taken ill, I’m not looking for a popular movie or miniseries to remedy it. I’m turning to over-the-counter items like cough syrup and pain relievers that come in plastic bottles with safety or tamper-evident caps—all designed, engineered and manufactured by people in our industry. I use thermometers with instant, electronic read-outs, nasal sprays in squeezable plastic bottles, and even a heating pad with a plastic temperature control on it—all made by very talented folks in our industry. If my asthma is flaring up, I know the dispensing device for my inhaler will work as it should because it was properly designed and engineered by superstars in the plastics industry.

So cheers to the leading ladies and gentlemen of the medical manufacturing industry for their roles as mold designers, moldmakers, machinists, programmers, engineers, polishers, injection molders, quality control and quality assurance, plus so many others working behind the scenes to produce new and improved medical devices and healthcare products for all of us.

No matter who made headlines out of Hollywood last night, you are all, in my humble opinion, much brighter stars. Oh, and I promise not to let the orchestra cut you off in the middle of your acceptance speeches.