Diversey Care, a division of Sealed Air, creates a quality, innovative detergent/disinfectant system for North American commercial kitchens, on-time, on-budget, and made-in-America

OptifillDiversey Care, innovative pioneers in the commercial cleaning and hygiene business, turned to Wisconsin-based Knapp MFG., Inc. and Sussex IM to re-launch the manufacture of their North American supply of the Optifill™ system for manual ware washing.

Development of the commercial cleaning system, made by Knapp MFG and Sussex IM, was moved back to North America to provide Diversey Care’s customer base with a reliable supply chain for a high-performance detergent and disinfectant program that is precise, consistent, safe, and easy to -use and maintain.

Knapp MFG., Inc. is the leading precision molder of liquid dosing and delivery systems, and Sussex IM is the award-winning, one-stop source of design, engineering, lean manufacture and post-molding plastics-related operations for a wide range of global power brands.

The precision Optifill™ system developed for Diversey Care utilizes a sturdy, multi-piece, polypropylene design and was created with durability and recyclability in mind, to withstand repeated, harsh use in a typical commercial kitchen environment. 

“We were gratified to demonstrate how our U.S.-based capabilities deliver world-class, innovative products that truly benefit the end-user,” said Keith Everson, President, Sussex IM. “Our experience allowed us to reverse engineer and improve upon the product’s original design.  As a result, Sealed Air’s Diversey Care team realized supply chain efficiencies in terms of time and cost, as well as a first-rate product that benefits their commercial food customers.

“On-shoring,” Everson said, “is most definitely back.”

“We teamed our expertise in Precision Plastic Injection Tooling and molding with Sussex IM’s decades of plastics experience to create a superior U.S.-made commercial detergent and disinfectant system,” said Knapp MFG’s Vice President, David Horvath.  “Our seamless work is another example of how – when all factors are considered – the pendulum has swung back to domestic manufacturing.”

Diversey Care’s Optifill™ system is designed for easy, hassle-free use right out of the box, without complicated installation or training instructions.  It is one of the only non-wall-mounted systems that can deliver precision dosing and dispensing of ware washing chemicals, use after use.

ABOUT SEALED AIR

Sealed Air Corporation creates a world that feels, tastes and works better. In 2014, the company generated revenue of approximately $7.8 billion by helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals in the face of today’s biggest social and environmental challenges. Our portfolio of widely recognized brands, including Cryovac® brand food packaging solutions, Bubble Wrap® brand cushioning and Diversey™ cleaning and hygiene solutions, ensures a safer and less wasteful food supply chain, protects valuable goods shipped around the world, and improves health through clean environments. Sealed Air has approximately 24,000 employees who serve customers in 175 countries. To learn more, visit www.sealedair.com

Diversey Care is the leading provider of smart, sustainable solutions for cleaning and hygiene. Through the integration of new technology-enabled services and systems, our solutions drive increased productivity, food safety, and infection prevention to ultimately enhance the end-user experience.

ABOUT KNAPP MANUFACTURING

The Racine, Wisconsin-based Knapp MFG., Inc. is renowned for high quality, innovative custom and captive plastic injection molding.  The company, founded by Fred Knapp in 1945, handles precision medical and consumer grade plastics and has created components for a wide range of product categories, from aircraft instrumentation to aerosol dispensing.

In addition they also do in-house mold making, design and contract manufacturing.  For more information on their publicly available components, please visit https://air-logic.com/about-us.

ABOUT SUSSEXIM

Sussex IM is a full-service, fully automated supplier that solves problems to satisfy consumer needs.   Sussex IM has more than 600 man-years of industry experience and its global customer base includes many of the most respected, innovative, and demanding power brands, including Nike, L’Oreal, Dow, Nortek, and more.

These customers benefit from Sussex IM’s ability to accelerate time-to-market, thanks to the company’s accelerated decision-making capabilities and shortened supply chains.  The firm’s in-depth cosmetics business experience delivers highly competitive delivered cost,

99.5 percent OTIF with Six Sigma quality and smooth, successful launches.

Sussex IM’s suite of plastics-related services includes design, engineering, lean-manufacturing, and post-molding value-added operations (including shipping) – D2DC (Design to Distribution Center) – as well as warehousing to support customers’ needs.

Importantly, the company has extensive automation design capabilities and an in-house, dedicated staff of automation engineers.

Sussex IM, founded in 1977, has experienced annual double-digit growth since the completion of a management buyout from Rexam’s Plastic Packaging group in 2010.