BECOSAN is a multinational company based in Denmark. The company started their activities in the business-friendly Denmark, expanding from there to cover actually almost every corner of the globe.
BECOSAN’s solutions for industrial flooring have been highly recognised, allowing the team to grow every day. In addition, the company has decided to associate with different partners, taking advantage of synergies and making their floors available to everyone.
Interview with Oliver Sanz, Commercial Director / Project Manager at BECOSAN.
Easy Engineering: Why do users choose your products / solutions?
Oliver Sanz: To understand why customers choose our services, we must first understand what benefits BECOSAN® offers, which customers it is intended for and what other alternatives exist in the market.
BECOSAN® offers services of improvement, repair and refurbishment of industrial concrete floors, in order to ensure maximum productivity and safety of employees.
Within the floor improvement we offer 3 different finishes: Matt+, Semi-Gloss and High-Gloss. The difference is the gloss level and does not affect the floor functionality ensuring the same quality conditions for the three finishes.
Our customers are usually owners and tenants of industrial buildings. BECOSAN® offers services for large areas. Our customers are usually large companies with several industrial buildings with presence in different parts of the same country.
They often share the same floor deficiencies (cracks, leveling problems, patches) and look for a dustproof. However, there are some customers who ask us to go further, highly resistant to abrasion, easy to clean and reducing maintenance cost are further requirements. This is what BECOSAN® stands for.
Of course, we can find different types of industrial floor finishes such as epoxy coating, laminate flooring, industrial rubber flooring or vinyl tiles. However, polished concrete floors prove to last longer and are more cost-effective in the long term.
The reason customers choose BECOSAN® is due to the fact that they get a solution that covers their needs. The BECOSAN® system has proven to be a fast and economic solution for all our customers.
E.E: Give us some examples of projects in which your products / solutions were used.
O.S: We have several examples of renowned companies with investments in logistic real state. These companies own industrial buildings and rent most of them to other companies.
For example, one of our clients, IBS is an integrated logistics provider with innovative supply chain solutions, from supplier logistics to order management. The company operates in their global distribution center in Heek, Germany, with an area of 15,000 m2 and 20,000 storage bays.
IBS has to expand their headquarters in Heek and needed an additional floor space of 7,000 m2. The new floor had to resist daily traffic of logistics machinery. In addition, it was necessary to ensure that the floor would be durable, cost-effective and easy to maintain.
Another case, DHL Express, the division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post DHL, which offers international express and parcel services.
DHL owned a large warehouse in Didcot, Oxfordshire, in the UK. The site has a floor area of 18,000m2. For 20 years, the warehouse was in intense use by a logistics company. Ten years ago, it was leased by ASDA, a well-known UK supermarket chain. As a consequence of all these busy years, the floor was in poor condition and very deteriorated. DHL decided to sell the warehouse to a pharmaceutical company. The buyer set as a precondition the refurbishment of the floor in order to have a surface that would meet the company´s needs.
E.E: What products / solutions were used in these projects?
O.S: The solution for these projects was a BECOSAN® High Gloss treatment. In order to be able to carry out works correctly, it is necessary to have a troweled floor. The main goal of BECOSAN® is to protect the floor against deterioration in the long term and to preserve the investment of our customers.
The BECOSAN® High Gloss treatment offers a very fine texture and an intense natural shine, achieved by polishing the concrete.
To achieve these results, we use chemicals that we have been developed exclusively by BECOSAN®:
BECOSAN® DENSIFIER
A BECOSAN® industrial floor treatment combines the use of a state-of-the-art densifier with a patented polishing process that uses diamond discs to improve the performance of industrial flooring.
BECOSAN® DENSIFIER work in the following way:
Concrete, due to its cement composition, contains lime particles (calcium carbonate). The abrasion on floors, causes the lime to detach from the concrete and causes dust.
A concrete floor is porous. By applying a densifier combined with a polishing process solves this problem.
BECOSAN® DENSIFIER is lithium-based. Lithium silicate ions penetrate into the concrete through its pores, triggering a molecular reaction with the minerals.
The lime present in the concrete is unified, compacting the surface and eliminating dust formation permanently.
BECOSAN® PROTECTIVE SEALER
BECOSAN® Protective Sealer is a unique industrial concrete sealer that protects the surface of hardened concrete against the penetration of water, oil, grease and chemicals.
It is a non-film forming penetrating sealer. This will provide a durable solution compared to other products on the market.
BECOSAN® chemicals have been developed under high-quality standards and have numerous certifications.
E.E: What special characteristics do your products / solutions have compared to others?
O.S: BECOSAN® is a complete system for polishing concrete floors. The result is a abrasion resistant, dust-free concrete floor that is suitable for all types of use. This is why BECOSAN® can certify the following characteristics of its treated floors:
- 10 years dust-proof guarantee
- Easy to clean
The penetration of water and other liquid substances through the surface is minimised, allowing a more efficient cleaning. Maintenance costs will be considerably reduced and less time will be spent on daily cleaning.
- Increased wearing resistance
BECOSAN® improves the hardness of the surface and therefore its resistance to heavy machinery, impact and abrasion.
- Durability
Increased resistance will increase the lifetime of your concrete floor.
- Energy saving
An increase in the reflectivity of the floor is achieved, which helps to reduce lighting costs.
- Different floor finishes
The customer can choose up to 3 types of finishes, depending on the desired level of gloss.
- BECOSAN® complies with the following certifications and quality standards:
- HACCP: Food Safety Management.
- ISO 9001.
- CE certification.
- DIN 52617: Liquid absorption resistance.
- BS 7976-2:2002+A1:2013: Pendulum Slip Test & Surface Roughness Survey
- DIN 52108: Abrasion resistance.
E.E: How did your products / solutions improve productivity / efficiency for the users?
O.S: BECOSAN® helps to improve productivity and efficiency of activities within facilities. A high performance BECOSAN® floor helps employees to work healthier, safer, improve vehicle circulation, allowing to reduce vehicle maintenance costs (wheels, etc.) and daily cleaning.
E.E: What was the feedback from users?
O.S: After 2 years we asked about customer experiences with BECOSAN®. They were enthusiastic about their new floor.
They told us that compared to their old epoxy floor, the new BECOSAN floor is much easier to clean and to keep in good condition, as no dust is generated at all they don’t need to be constantly inspecting the floor. In addition, the hardness makes it more resistant to scratches. Despite the intense logistic activity in the building, the floor was in perfect condition.
We use to have similar feedback also from other companies, such as Amazon, DHL, Toyota, Primark, Facebook, etc.
E.E: How do users work better with your products / solutions?
O.S: The presence of cracks and other defects such as patches or leveling issues can reduce the productivity in an industrial building.
E.E: Why is productivity reduced? Some of the reasons:
O.S: Employees are less safe in a poorly maintained environment, so they will not perform their activities as expected
Floor damages make it difficult for vehicles and people to pass through certain areas and to carry goods in the building.
Our professional floor preparation combined with the BECOSAN® System, solves both any issue you may have with your new or existing concrete floor.
E.E: Which are the most successful products / solutions in your lineup?
O.S: At BECOSAN® we offer two services that sometimes end up as one.
We are often contracted only for the repairs and refurbishment of large industrial floors, although clients prefer that we don’t just fix their floor, but also improve it.
BECOSAN® is an efficient and long-lasting green bulding solution that allows our customers to improve the functionality of the floor, while saving on maintenance and cleaning costs.
E.E: How important is sustainability in your field?
O.S: It´s fundamental. We are strongly committed to the environment. Our floors are environmentally friendly as we don´t use any hazardous chemicals.
E.E: How do we achieve this?
O.S:
- By creating a dustproof floor that allows efficient cleaning that needs less water and energy resources.
- All our chemicals are water-based.
- BECOSAN has an EPD and is BREEPM & LEED certified.
- SDG compliance: Our purpose is to bring to society a benefit that help to grow in a sustained way, aligned with 3 of the 17 SDG goals of the United Nations. These are “decent work and economic growth”, “industry, innovation and infrastructure” and “climate action”.
E.E: What are your forecasts for the rest of 2022?
O.S: We are preparing the next Logistics & Automation fair to be held in IFEMA Madrid on the 26th and 27th of October, where we will be delighted to answer all doubts and questions attendees may have and state the benefits that you will enjoy by contracting a BECOSAN® flooring solution.
We are also excited to be performing several projects for large customers and will provide more information and the final result on our social media.
We are aware about the actual situation that affects all production sectors: rising costs of raw materials and the increase of energy prices, mostly caused by the war in Ukraine. We are prepared to withstand this situation and pass on the lowest possible surcharges to our customers.
