Last year Susan Abbott of Customer Experience Crossroads and Stephanie Weaver of Experienceology alerted me to a blogfest they were running to clean up the ladiesrooms of the world. I wrote a blog post letting folks know about the Bathroom Blogfest and this year I was invited to participate in Bathroom Blogfest 2007 where 23 bloggers signed up for the event--Oct 28 through Nov 2--to coincide with National Kitchen and Bath month.
You might ask yourself what entrepreneurship, innovation, loos, and customer experience all have in common. Sometimes, the most innovative solutions are (dare I say it?) right under your nose.
The LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, based in San Francisco, has a workshop in West Oakland - LightHouse Industries - where a tank-size, high-tech machine spews out 61,000 packets of toilet paper an hour for servicemen and women. The military placed a rush order for millions of the little tissue packets for Iraq.
One of their largest customers, the military isn't their only customer.
The business also has contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Administration, pitc
hing in when disasters require backup, as well as a growing list of commercial enterprises. The workers at the Oakland plant--eight employees partially or completely visually impaired--played a big part in helping people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
ABC news aired a short segment on Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired this past August.
George Clark, Chief Development Officer, and Gayle Uchida, Business Development Manager, look forward to expanding the markets for their TP packets with the new $800,000 machine that both improves workers' safety and increases production output. More customer contracts also mean greater profit for the workshop and financial perks for its employees!
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