Newly developed cleaning technology ready for world launch
HTC has developed a completely new diamond-based technology for the cleaning of stone and concrete floors. Lower costs and increased hygiene are two of its advantages over traditional methods. Tests in authentic settings show that floor maintenance costs can be more than halved. A worldwide patent has been applied for and the product is to be marketed as Twister.
The Swedish launch gets under way this month and global launches are scheduled for later this year and 2006. Shopping centres, hotels, schools, hospitals and other heavily used facilities worldwide are the main markets.
There are a number of critical differences between the technology developed by HTC and the method that is presently standard for all machine-based floor cleaning.
Rather than the traditional scouring with pads/brushes and chemical cleaning agents, the new technology uses microscopic diamonds to polish floors. Polishing with diamonds leaves surfaces 100 percent clean. Traditional scouring forms a film of dirt that sticks to the floor surface.
Besides entirely eliminating the above problem, diamond polishing also improves hygiene and gives high-gloss floors. Shops, hotels and restaurants consider these to be factors that have a great positive effect on sales and repeat business.
Compared with traditional floor-care treatments, the new method can more than halve floor maintenance costs. This was established in testing of the new method, over the past year, in some 10 Swedish food halls. The cost reduction is approximately the same for all types of premises with stone or concrete floors that are cleaned daily.
The new method almost entirely does away with the need for chemical cleaning agents. The cleaning fluid used in diamond polishing is nothing more than water with a small addition of an environment-friendly agent that improves water’s wetting ability.
New business area and increased production capacity
The investment in Twister is laying the foundations for HTC’s recently formed business area, Janitorial Systems. Up until now, this has been a rather small-scale operation when compared to the main business areas, Grinding Systems and Floor Concepts. However, the market for the new product is estimated to be worth over SEK 100 million in Sweden and several hundred million in the rest of the EU. In the long term, there will also be further sales growth as Twister creates its own market by making stone and concrete floors more attractive from the economic and functional standpoints. Forecasts give HTC a turnover of SEK 170 million in 2005 and Swedish market coverage for Twister in 2007.
To meet the future demand, HTC is now expanding its factory in Söderköping. Parallel with this, there are also plans for two completely new factories – one in the USA and one in the EU.
Sales will be through general agents. Aquatech AB has been appointed in Sweden and, internationally, negotiations are being held with several players. The goal is to reach agreement with one or a small number of agents with a global sales organisation.
“Diamond polishing is a technological breakthrough that we feel will lead to great changes. We believe that take-off will be fastest in highly competitive sectors where good hygiene and beautiful floors are vital. This includes shopping centres, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants,” states HTC’s CEO, Sten Jeansson.
“It is important that our launch makes property owners and tenants aware that a cheaper and better technology is now available. Hopefully, they will then require their cleaning contractors to use it.
“We also hope that public sector organisations such as schools and hospitals rapidly discover this technology. It can save considerable sums for the municipalities and county councils concerned.”
Twister is being shown for the first time at the cleaning fair in Skövde, 27 – 28 September. It then appears at the technology fair in Älvsjö, 17 – 21 October.