On today’s World Toilet Day, the United Nations is drawing attention to the important role that hygiene plays in maintaining health. Around 2.4 billion people still live without adequate sanitary facilities today. In order to ensure the hygienic cleanliness of bathrooms, Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business unit is continuously working on product innovations – a look behind the scenes of the development of Bref Power Active.
Nov 19, 2015 Düsseldorf / Gemany
Flush with gratitude
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In 2007, an interdisciplinary team of Henkel came up with the idea: a Superior Value Rim Block comprised of four balls, and that, as a premium product, distinguishes itself from other products internationally. With a sketch and a description, Anke Klemmstein, laboratory chemist at Henkel, began working on developing the new successful formula.
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The first formulations take true handcraft: During the process, Anke Klemmstein mixes the ingredients herself, rolls them into balls on her laboratory table and tests them in a flush test. After the first appropriate formulations had been identified, the knowledge of the process team was called upon. How does one produce balls on a large scale? Soon the customized production facility in the technology center would take on this job, so that the new formulations could be checked for their manufacturability immediately.
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3D printing: A suitable basket has to already be developed for the flush test. “During this phase, the cooperation with the packaging technology and the industrial design is essential”, describes Klemmstein. The product development team delivers new baskets from the 3D printer on nearly a daily basis.
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In the Toilet Laboratory: There are more than 5,000 types of toilets worldwide that are all different in their construction, type of flushing, and water flow – this creates a great challenge in the search for the perfect formulation. That is why there are 40 different toilets from all over the world at the toilet laboratory at Henkel’s headquarters in Düsseldorf. “In the end, we have managed to cover 95 percent of all toilets,” said Klemmstein.
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In the end, fragrance and color are crucial to a product’s success. Along with the perfume coordinators, Klemmstein searches for appropriate fragrances – according to the preferences of international consumers.
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The Result: The innovation is a tremendous success. With over 200 million euro in profit, toilet products have been Laundry & Home Care’s strongest growing category in the last eight years. Bref Power Active has been crucial to this growth – it is sold 330 million times a year with 12 varieties in over 50 countries.
In 2007, an interdisciplinary team of Henkel came up with the idea: a Superior Value Rim Block comprised of four balls, and that, as a premium product, distinguishes itself from other products internationally. With a sketch and a description, Anke Klemmstein, laboratory chemist at Henkel, began working on developing the new successful formula.
The first formulations take true handcraft: During the process, Anke Klemmstein mixes the ingredients herself, rolls them into balls on her laboratory table and tests them in a flush test. After the first appropriate formulations had been identified, the knowledge of the process team was called upon. How does one produce balls on a large scale? Soon the customized production facility in the technology center would take on this job, so that the new formulations could be checked for their manufacturability immediately.
3D printing: A suitable basket has to already be developed for the flush test. “During this phase, the cooperation with the packaging technology and the industrial design is essential”, describes Klemmstein. The product development team delivers new baskets from the 3D printer on nearly a daily basis.
In the Toilet Laboratory: There are more than 5,000 types of toilets worldwide that are all different in their construction, type of flushing, and water flow – this creates a great challenge in the search for the perfect formulation. That is why there are 40 different toilets from all over the world at the toilet laboratory at Henkel’s headquarters in Düsseldorf. “In the end, we have managed to cover 95 percent of all toilets,” said Klemmstein.
In the end, fragrance and color are crucial to a product’s success. Along with the perfume coordinators, Klemmstein searches for appropriate fragrances – according to the preferences of international consumers.
The Result: The innovation is a tremendous success. With over 200 million euro in profit, toilet products have been Laundry & Home Care’s strongest growing category in the last eight years. Bref Power Active has been crucial to this growth – it is sold 330 million times a year with 12 varieties in over 50 countries.
