[Good Idea] Creative Thinking

Anyone can find a MagnoGrip pro magnetic wristband nail holder at a Home Depot or Lowe’s. However, perhaps only a pest control professional can seamlessly integrate it into his or her daily routine — with brand new functionality.

Kevin Westfall, a Ventura Pest Control (Ventura, Calif.) technician and inspector, did just that. Westfall came into the pest control industry about 13 years ago when he saw a friend enjoying a lucrative business in the industry. He kept with pest control, however, because it keeps him on his toes. “I like the flexibility and the necessity to think outside the box,” he said. “I like to be stretched to resolve issues.”

Westfall began his career on the residential side working for two well-known pest management firms. But today his focus is on the other side of the fence.

“I kind of eased into commercial (work),” he said. And once he did he found his hands full with as many as 26 bait stations in each of the buildings at a biotechnology facility in California that makes up his current route.

At each bait station he had to stop, flip through his overwhelming key ring and reach down to unlock the station. “Reaching for that (key) every station seemed kind of tedious,” said Westfall. “It was taking more time to do the entire building.”
 

The Light Bulb.

When Westfall stumbled upon the MagnoGrip wristband on a shopping trip, the wheels started turning in his head. “I was just in Home Depot one time and saw this device for holding screws and nails so they would be handy and I just said, ‘That’s perfect, that’s what I want,’” he said.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to modify the wristband. He did, however, have a small handle welded onto the key to make it more ergonomic, in addition to being accessible.

“It saved me some time and it just made it handy and available without attaching it to my key ring,” he said. “It took a key off my key ring which is nice because when you have 100 keys on a key ring it gets a little heavy.”

In addition to lightening his load, the MagnoGrip wristband helps him set the bait stations faster.

When working in a large building with about 25 bait stations, Westfall said his repurposed MagnoGrip saves him about 10 or 15 minutes for every hour he works. And according to Westfall, those minutes add up. The band only cost $6.62 and Westfall said it was worth every cent.

“If time is money, then it’s paid for itself several times over,” he said.
 

Ideas from the Field.

Westfall shared his innovation with a part-time pest control technician that he manages on campus.

“I bought one for him and he likes to use it for interior inspections,” said Westfall. He also thought it was important to share it with the head of his company.

“Simple things like that, they’re not refined or anything, they kind of just have a simple purpose,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I escalated it to the owner of the company — to tell other techs.”

Westfall said he sees a lot of innovation happening in boardrooms and offices in the pest control industry, but not as much out in the field.

“I don’t see a lot of practical solutions like this,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of industry standards and people just stick with it.”

But he hopes to see more technicians trying new things — even if not every idea is a winner. “Sometimes they don’t work so well, but that’s part of being innovative,” he said.

The author is a Cleveland-based freelancer.