The Meaning of Cleaning

Here is a clean shop. MMS Online contributor Todd Schuett took this photo from the shop floor of Classic Die in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The shop’s website mentions the shop’s attention to cleaning, including the daily wet-mopping that brings out the machines’ reflections.

What level of care do you put into your shop’s appearance? True—it should be the end product that ultimately matters, not what the shop looks like. However, it is also true that your shop’s most valuable resources are all human. Specifically, you have human customers—and they will form an emotional impression based on your shop’s appearance. You also have human employees—and they will unconsciously raise or lower their standards to match the standards they perceive around them. In these ways, the cleanliness directly affects the shop’s end product!

Question: Does your shop have cleaning standards surpassing other shops? E-mail me to describe the value your see in these high standards.