ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Currently building up to celebrating its Big Five O is floor cleaning machine manufacturer Comac.

The company will be officially marking 50 years of clean in October. Formed in Verona, Comac is headed up by founder and CEO Giancarlo Ruffo. The business has changed a great deal in the past 50 years, according to marketing manager Paolo Taoso.

"When the company started out in the 1970s, our machines were all made of stainless steel and were shaped like cubes," he said. "Then in the 90s we had the plastic revolution and designs were improved. And now we have robotic cleaning."

Among Comac's latest products is the Self C autonomous scrubber dryer.

"We stuck to our core values and created a scrubber dryer first and a robot second," said Taoso. "As a result our machine offers a particularly high level of cleaning performance. And we don't want to replace human cleaners - we want to free them up from repetitive tasks so that they can devote their time to other cleaning activites.

"So in other words, the Self C is different to other robots because it puts humans at the centre."

Talking of humans at the centre, Giancarlo Ruffo has been a firm fixture of the company's Interclean stand this week. In fact, he is very much a firm fixture in general.

"He was even helping to unload machines for the exhibition on Monday," said Taoso. "We feel very lucky to have him." Comac is on stand 01.421a.