September 7 marks the 50th work anniversary for Bengt Eriksson at Cytiva’s Uppsala manufacturing plant.
Bengt is a process operator at the dextran manufacturing facility in Uppsala. He started in the mail department at the age of 17, when the internal mail office handled and distributed papers – everything from pay slips and inter-departmental communications to product documentation and plant news needed to reach the right people at the right time.
“I still remember the mountain of papers that we distributed daily. We were four teenagers delivering the mail across the entire plant,” says Bengt. Two years later, Bengt joined the dextran manufacturing team as a process operator.
Bengt is second from left, looking right at home in the plant.
Bengt’s manager Alfred Daniels says: “Bengt is a real cornerstone of the culture in the Chemical Production in Uppsala. His contribution is not just his 50 long years, but also his positive attitude and mentoring of many new associates along the years. He is our own Dextran-Sensei and has been invaluable in the shift in generation when many other faithful servants left before him, even though Bengt started before many of them.”
In his role as a process operator, Bengt oversees and manages the production process of dextran, used in the manufacture of Sephadex and Sepharose, two of our flagship gel filtration media. Process operators have a critical role in safeguarding product quality and ensuring safety of operations with help of monitoring equipment. Day by day, shift by shift, Bengt is one of the people who witnesses the entire manufacturing journey of dextran.
“In the operators’ room, there’s never a dull moment. We are always alert, working at the very heart of the dextran plant,” says Bengt. This is also one of the reasons why Bengt has never considered another line of work – or another employer. “Working in shifts, with a team of great people, and having diverse responsibilities has given me a sense of professional fulfillment,” says Bengt.
When he is not at work, he loves golfing, exercising, brewing his own beer, and playing ESO, a multiplayer online game. With only a few months left before his retirement in December, Bengt plans to play a lot of water sports.