Diversey and Promatrix are literally and figuratively close. The companies have been doing business together from their bases in Utrecht (Diversey) and Zegveld (Promatrix) for over a decade. Promatrix was involved when Diversey initiated an innovation programme for one of their newly developed hygiene products.
Diversey is an international manufacturer of innovative total solutions in the field of professional cleaning and hygiene. ‘These include concentrated cleaning products, dosing systems, dispensers, floor cleaning and polishing systems, cleaning cloths and cleaning machines. The packages that contain our cleaning products can only be used with our dispensers, which we often loan and install at the premises of our customers free of charge’, explains packaging and equipment engineer Jochem Ramp. ‘We are active in five different disciplines: kitchen hygiene, building maintenance, textile hygiene, infection and prevention, and personal care. We also manufacture products for several other multinationals that we have worked with for many years. We are a listed company with almost nine thousand employees and head offices in Utrecht and in Charlotte (North Carolina) in the US.’
Innovation programme
Diversey is committed to innovation: they introduce new products and solutions every year. ‘An innovation programme starts by field testing our products together with our clients. We use the resulting feedback to improve the product and discover more about their manufacturability. The first phase of this programme involves testing with prototypes. This requires small production runs; an area in which Promatrix excels. We also sell products that require a small number of plastic parts. Promatrix also makes these products for us. For example, they produce a small plastic “spring”, which is fitted to the underside of the suction tube of our 200-litre barrels.’
Diversey believes it is a major benefit that the two companies are physically close. ‘If we want to exchange ideas and brainstorm, we simply get in the car and drive there. We examine the product and mould together, and talk to the technicians at Promatrix. We have a personal connection and use WhatsApp to communicate. Another major benefit is the short lead time. Promatrix can prepare an aluminium mould within a few weeks. Many competitors cannot match this. They also have a pragmatic approach. They always share ideas about product solutions, how to prepare products for mould-making, and how aspects of the product design can be approached in a smarter manner. This allows them to produce the product, but also makes it possible for us to produce it later using a steel mould. They adopt a highly critical approach to how the product will be used, which helps a great deal.’
