I was involved at the very beginning of Westar? RU team; at the time I didn’t understand the impact it would have.

I have worked at West for over 20 years now. I started my career at West shortly after finishing college in 2002, with?my biology degree.?I knew someone that worked at West, and he told me about the company.?

My first job at West was as a lab aide?cleaning the glassware in our micro?lab. I like to tell people that I started?as a dish washer and worked my way?up to lead the department. At the?time I?didn’t?plan to stay at West?long-term, I was just pleased to have?a job with my tuition loan payments?coming up.?There are many reasons I?stayed at West all these years and?that’s the people, the personal?development opportunities, and the?importance of our work for the?customers and patients we serve.??

Most of my tenure at West has been?spent in the Quality department as a?Lab technician, Sterility Specialist,?Quality Engineer, and now the?Quality Manager.?One of my most?memorable experiences during my?time was the commercialization and?expansion of the Westar RU Steam?Sterilization process.??

West's first steam sterilizer was?installed at Jersey Shore in 1998, but?the use was limited to two-part?numbers purchased by one customer?at a very limited frequency.?In 2010,?West had an opportunity to?commercialize the steam sterilized?product offerings by changing the?validation plan to a bracketed/matrix?approach.?The successful completion?of this work allowed existing?customers to convert to sterile?products without an extensive?validation period and the regulatory?support of the West Steam?Sterilization DMF.?From then on, our?customers have been able to?purchase sterile products from us –which really changed how we work in?partnership with our customers.?It’s?great for our customers because they?have one less process step and one?less machine to maintain.?

Looking back, I had no idea the?groundwork we were laying, as?Jersey Shore is now running three?steam sterilizers, and?we have?transferred the process to our?business partner Daikyo? and three?other West sites so far.??It’s?amazing?having the opportunity to be?involved in such an important?project, not realizing at the time the?significance this would have on West?globally.?

If I were to share a piece of advice?with new team members:?There are?no small projects, or minor tasks at?West. The work you do at your site?could have the opportunity to change?the industry and impact patients?globally.?Being from our small town?of Jersey Shore, that’s amazing and?something?I am?very proud of.?

Westar? is a registered trademark of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Daikyo? is a registered trademark of Daikyo Seiko, Ltd.