( Maintenance Sales News)
Understanding true differences among the different types of ice melter products available in today’s jan/san marketplace remains a vital focus point for distributors and their end-user customers. Helping provide answers to deicing questions are seasoned representatives from XYNYTH Manufacturing Corp.
“It’s important to know how, and where, each type of product should be applied,” XYNYTH President Kevin Wice said. “Education is key. We are involved in educating our distributors in many ways — from in-house training meetings to seminars.”
XYNYTH also offers “Ice Melt University,” an online training program designed to further aid distributor sales reps.
“We are very big on distributor sales rep training. It’s important that these reps know how to properly discuss and sell ice melter, especially those who have never sold this type of product before,” Wice said. “Through our Ice Melt University program, reps learn about the different types of deicers, where they work best, and how to present key information to their customers.
“The objective of this online program is two-fold: improving ice melter knowledge and showing how to sell and promote these products.”
Meanwhile, for the consumer, the “Ice Melt Resource Center” is available on the XYNYTH website.
“It includes constantly updated educational materials and a question-and-answer section, addressing such topics as ice melt’s relationship with the environment, pets and concrete,” Wice said. “The Ice Melt Resource Center covers many questions people have asked us over the years.”
Providing better ways to melt snow and ice — while remaining environmentally focused — continues to lead XYNYTH’s success. In fact, the company has become well known over the years for its mainstay “green” product — Mountain Organic Natural Icemelter™.
This deicer is specifically designed to melt ice and snow effectively while posing no risk to users, pets, concrete or the environment, when used as directed.
“There remains a very strong following for the product 20-plus years after its introduction,” Wice said.
Fertilizer-based Mountain Organic Natural Icemelter™ begins working immediately after application, and is effective to -23°C (-9°F). It also boasts an unlimited shelf life, and is completely safe for those handling the product, according to Wice. Due to its potassium content, he added, Mountain actually helps repair damage caused by long-term use of environmentally harmful ice melters such as rock salt.
Other ice melters from XYNYTH that work fast under harsh winter conditions, but are safer for the planet, are Arctic ECO Green Icemelter™ and Winter Warrior Runway Control™.
“These two products are exciting for both XYNYTH and its customers,” Wice said. “Arctic ECO Green Icemelter™ has been designed with the environment in mind, while also focusing on price. The product is layered with various ingredients to provide many different attributes, such as its anti-corrosive feature.”
There are many people in the marketplace today who want to buy environmentally friendly products, Wice added. The challenge, however, is that a number of these consumers don’t want to spend extra money.
“To answer this challenge, XYNYTH introduced Arctic ECO Green Icemelter™ four years ago, using a special encapsulation process. We take sodium chloride and encapsulate it with CMA (Calcium Magnesium Acetate), which helps eliminate the negative side effects of the sodium. Then, we multi-encapsulate the granules with potassium acetate, so that every granule of sodium going into the ground is buffered by potassium, a major ingredient in fertilizer,” Wice said.
By using sodium chloride, XYNYTH officials are able to bring the cost of the product down.
“It’s not as high-end a deicer as our Mountain Organic Natural Icemelter™, but it’s neutral to the environment, and will not ruin the surrounding soil structure,” Wice said. “One of the things that has made this product popular is the fact that Arctic ECO Green Icemelter™ is truly a manufactured item. Every granule is multi-coated. It’s also dyed green for better application.”
Both Mountain Organic Natural Icemelter™ and Arctic ECO Green Icemelter™ now come in a new 50-pound round plastic pail, along with other sizes.
XYNYTH has been on the “green bandwagon” for over 25 years, and Wice sees the desire for more environmentally friendly products continually growing among both distributors, and their end-user customers. Further proof of the company’s desire for “greener” products can be found with the introduction four years ago of Winter Warrior Runway Control™. This deicer was originally developed for airport runways and surrounding areas, and meets both LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) certification.<
“We received a lot of requests for a product that contained no chloride ions. These ions can cause corrosion on metal, something you don’t want when it comes to the care of airplanes,” Wice said. “XYNYTH came up with this deicer in response. It’s an acetate/formate granular product. Not only is it biodegradable and environmentally friendly, but it’s completely non-corrosive.”
Wice added that this ice melt product is selling well among those in charge of airports, and it’s becoming popular with other property managers looking to guard grounds and facilities from issues of corrosion. This includes metal manufacturing companies, transit platforms, bridge decks, ferry vessels, oil platforms and food processing plants.
“Winter Warrior Runway Control™ and Mountain Organic Natural Icemelter™ are both approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for use in food processing facilities,” Wice said. “They can guard against corrosion in these plants, such as helping to protect expensive refrigeration units.”
A reformulated product introduced last year by XYNYTH is Arctic Orange™ Icemelter. Wice said every granule of this deicer contains sodium chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride. It’s dyed a bright orange for proper surface application.
Although not considered a “green” deicer, Wice said Arctic Orange™ Icemelter offers a powerful, lower-end option. He added the product is effective to -29ºC (-20ºF).
The winter of 2014/2015 was a strong one for ice melter sales at XYNYTH Manufacturing. According to Wice, the season started slow in several geographic regions, but then came on in a fury with harsh weather activity. Many people using ice melter were prepared thanks to successful early buy programs.
Wice hopes the same focus on preparedness is in place for this upcoming winter season.
“I have talked with a lot of distributors over the past few months, and it seems the ice melter pipeline is nearly empty. There is not a lot of carry-over inventory at distributorships and end-user facilities,” Wice said. “Therefore, it’s good for distributors to start talking with their suppliers, working on early booking deals and putting together ice melter promotions for end-user customers.
“Typically, many distributors start talking to their customers about the upcoming ice melter season in late August and September.”
Early buy programs are also in place at XYNYTH Manufacturing. This includes online ordering incentives. It’s all part of the company’s customer service focus.
“We believe in providing customer service through the entire purchasing process. It starts with the point of manufacture, goes through distribution and finishes with the end-user applying the product,” Wice said. “We have helped many end-users make decisions as to what is good for their specific situation. This has been done by either talking with them directly or working with a distributor sales rep. Our strong focus on customer service has made XYNYTH Manufacturing what it is today as a company.”
Part of customer service is making sure distributors and end-users understand that not all ice melt products are created equally.
“There are people who are always looking to cut costs when purchasing ice melter. They don’t realize that when buying a cheap bag of product, all they are often getting is common rock salt. You truly get what you pay for when it comes to ice melter,” Wice said.