“We at Betco and Klinox, see a big opportunity to work hand-in-hand with BSCs by providing them the required programs and the right products to facilitate their customers or the facility in the right way.”
“There is a huge gap between what is required and what is being supplied in the market, especially when it comes to important sectors like pharma and healthcare. We have brought in specific chemicals to meet the requirement of industrial segments and BSCs,” says Hiren Modi, MD of Klinox Marketing, Surat.
An established player for cleaning chemicals in the Gujarat market since 2010, Klinox Marketing is now expanding into other parts of India with innovative products from Betco Corporation. “Betco is an old name in the US market manufacturing over 3000 chemicals for various industrial applications. We have picked up select products to supply in India in keeping with the requirement of the institutional market needs. We focus on the products’ costeffectiveness, specific applications and quality delivery standards,” explains Hiren Modi.
“Initially, we spent over a year studying Betco products in the Indian sanitation and disinfection fields, before we began supplying in 2013. It has been a steady growth with Klinox registering over 50% annual growth.”
Klinox, which has been in operations for a long time, has a strong backing of chemicals knowledge, distributor networking and marketing standards. “We began dealing with chemicals way back in 1997, when I took over as the CEO of the company. Thus, we deeply understand the needs of the customer and the supply-service channel which is key to marketing. We are also well-versed with parent supplier-distributor and distributor customer relationship which has been one of our successes in retaining the same supply chain over the last two decades.”
Product Quality
Commonly in the cleaning process, surface comes first, then the tool used for cleaning and then the cleaning chemical. “Chemicals should be rinse-free or rinse-able; in the sense that it can be removed with water; it does not leave streaks behind or it is bio-degradable. In short, it should not damage the surface under any circumstances.”
A good cleaning chemical should have three key qualities: good emulsification, dispersion and suspension properties. “By good emulsification, I mean the chemical should be able to pick up the dirt from the surface and put it into the media (water), keep the dirt in the water in a dispersed form, and keep it suspended so that it does not get redeposited on to the tool or the surface.”
Many users are not aware of this requirement, ending up making wrong choice of chemicals and cleaning processes. “If the product has these properties incorporated into them, we are working smart rather than hard. For example, if one is mopping with water which has the right chemical dosed, once the mop is submerged into the water after running it on the floor once, over 90% of the muck should get dispensed into the water and the mop should come out dirt free. This not only saves a lot of time but the user too enjoys the job.
“Thus, the chemistry we are working with at Klinox propagates smart work, user friendly processes and sustainable results.”
Cost Factor
Cost is a governing factor, especially for the building service contractors, who are one of the largest consumers of cleaning products, volume-wise. “The BSC segment is a sunshine industry but has a long way to go in terms of right products and trained manpower. We at Betco and Klinox, see a big opportunity to work hand-in-hand with BSCs by providing them the required programs and the right products to facilitate their customers or the facility in the right way.” This will also bring down the costs, as the right product can give BSCs the required or better cleaning results in a lesser processing time. What is achieved in mopping three times, can be achieved in two-time cleaning.
Quality Cleaning
It is important to use the right amount of chemicals for the right results. “There is always a risk of disproportion while mixing and the more the dilution, the more we are compromising on the quality. It is necessary to have the right concentration with perfect dilution ratio for better results and good chemistry. At Betco, we provide good no-touch dispensing systems to BSC customers. This auto-dosing system releases chemicals as per selected dilution for a particular application.”
Free Audit
In order to ensure that the chemicals are meeting the requirements of the end user, be it in the pharma, hospitality or healthcare sectors, “our official conducts an audit of the premises where the chemicals have to be used. In consultation with the facility manager and the end user, the chemicals are recommended to the BSC. This is followed by a training session at the premises. We also perform free audits every month to ascertain that the desired results are being met. This works two ways, as auditing gives the facility head the confidence that the facility is being maintained and we are able to assess our line of chemical treatment and the programme.” There are 12 such professionals doing audits and the number is likely to go up to 25 by the year end.
Certified products
Segments like healthcare and pharma require certified products. “People are still awakening to disinfectants or the parameters to allow a disinfectant into a healthcare facility. Any disinfectant for that matter have VOCs, which in turn could become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. In a healthcare facility, it is important to choose the right products. Betco disinfectants are EPA registered and the VOCs are very much under control and give the right efficacy in a healthcare facility. Our sanitizers are FDA approved too and at the same time we have ETP meters to test how the disinfectants work. It is a fool-proof system.”
Customization
Most of the chemicals products available today have been in the market for over two decades. “Cleaning needs have changed drastically and so has the need for better chemicals. Betco product line is much more dynamic and has evolved with changing cleaning needs. Further, it is not necessary that a product line successfully used on a particular premise will yield the same results in other premises. A good mix of chemicals is required in keeping with the cleaning needs of every premise. Moreover, what works today has to be review and probably further customized few months down the line to meet the required results. This is where our auditing comes into picture.
“Thus, with new products, better chemistry and dynamic R&D, we believe in offering the right cleaning solution with the right programme and knowledge to meet the cleaning needs. In 2015-16, we are focusing on penetrating the south zone and will focus on different industrial segments, healthcare, BSCs and education facilities.”