Microban was founded in 1984 by a team of biomedical engineers who wanted to solve a problem related to the odour and itchiness associated with a medical cast. Over the following decades, the organisation has expanded into many different and diverse product categories as well as into every international territory. Today, the global leader in antimicrobial and odour control solutions, and continuously active surface disinfection and sanitisation technologies, Microban has over 800 partners around the world.
The company has a clear purpose – to redefine “clean” for products and surfaces, says company President Michael Ruby. “Microban International is home to the most trusted and well-known global brands in the antimicrobial, odour control, and sanitisation and disinfection markets – Microban® and Ultra-Fresh®. Collectively, Microban and Ultra-Fresh have experienced over 100 years of growth and have revolutionized the industry.”
Cleaner and Safer
Microban has developed the largest portfolio of technologies for treating any substrate and any material surface. Its proactive systems keep products cleaner and control odours by providing lasting product protection against the growth of bacteria, mould, mildew, and algae.
Michael Ruby explains that Microban, as the leading ingredient brand and a global trust mark, is the premier brand in the company’s portfolio with over 65% brand awareness among consumers. The use of the Microban brand on both product and packaging is a point of differentiation for hundreds of leading brands across five major sectors: consumer, building products, textiles, commercial and healthcare. Microban’s customer base includes category leaders such as Procter and Gamble, Nike, GE Appliances and many more.
Microban technologies can be thought of in 3 major thematic areas: 1) odour control for textiles and footwear – managing odour and addressing ‘permastink’ in wearable goods; 2) life-long built-in antimicrobial protection – attacking microbes via multiple mechanisms and inhibiting them from surviving and reproducing; and 3) continuously active disinfection and sanitization solutions for the home, professional, and healthcare sectors.
“Whether it is on the clothes you wear, the bedding you sleep on, the appliances you have in your home, the office equipment you use in your workplace, or the cleaning solutions you use in your home or work, our technologies provide a lasting “clean” that delivers added peace of mind for consumers.”
“In terms of characteristics, our solutions are unmatched. For example, our residual disinfection and sanitisation solutions for home surface care (Microban 24) and hospital cleaning (Sani-24, powered by Microban) both deliver 24-hour performance not available with any other product.”
Environmentally Friendly Products That Perform
Speaking about recent development in global markets, Mr Ruby points out that there are two major changes clearly affecting the business. “As the pandemic rewired humanity’s thinking on viruses and bacteria, many more consumers are ‘germ concerned’ and highly aware of the cleanliness of the products and surfaces they touch.”
The second major change is that sustainability and environmental stewardship are becoming principal topics of discussion. “We have seen a massive shift in demand for technologies which deliver high performance but are more environmentally friendly. This comes at a perfect time for us, as we have spent the last 4 years developing a wave of new technologies that are more environmentally friendly, do not contain heavy metals, and in some cases are nature-identical.”
The results of this product development are a wide range of new technology platforms being launched to market over the next 12 months. These include DuraTech by Microban, a non-heavy-metal textiles treatment for cotton substrates; LapisShield, for water-based coatings systems; Refresh, a non-heavy-metal odour control solution for textiles; Microguard, tailored PVC masterbatch formulations; Ascera, nature-inspired next-generation antimicrobial product protection for both polymers and solvent-based coatings systems; and Microban Reclaim, a cleaning solution specified for use in crime scene response (bloodborne pathogen treatment) and flood remediation (mould mitigation).
To meet increasing market demand for smarter products that stay cleaner and last longer, the company is set to expand its microbial, fungal, and analytical laboratory testing capacity by 50% in 2023.
Solutions for Tomorrow’s World
In today’s continuously changing business world, it is human assets, not fixed or tangible assets that differentiate an organisation from its competitors. Human resources are at the core of any business success and the most essential contributors toward profits and shareholder value. Microban is special in this respect as well – it is an employee-owned company, so its employees have a direct interest in the business performance.
“Microban International is proud to be an employee-owned company. Our team members around the world are proud of our history and excited about our future,” says Mr Ruby, affirming that the human factor will drive further growth.
“Through direct investment in support personnel as well as our work with qualified representatives and agents, Microban will be expanding its activities in various parts of Europe, south-east Asia, and Latin America in the coming 18 months. The aim is to continue to grow its partnerships around the world, providing products to market which have a longer functional life, reduce landfill loading, and deliver a superb end-consumer experience.”
“Microban remains committed to contributing to the advance-ment of material protection and cleaning technologies, to better our world and provide peace of mind to product users. In doing so, we remain committed to all aspects of sustainability – including the development of sustainable products, sustainable working environments, and sustainable partnerships – worldwide.
“With this approach, we strive to safeguard our planet, our people, and our purpose for decades to come. We are hopeful that “Protecting today to live on tomorrow” resonates with some who have read this article and we look forward to connecting with interested parties to develop the next wave of Microban protected products,” Michael Ruby concludes.
