Burlington, ON – July 14, 2022 – Bunzl Canada once again hosted its 22nd annual golf tournament in support of the Arthur & Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, the world’s largest brain tumour research centre of its kind.

On July 12^th, Bunzl Canada, its vendors and customers gathered at Greystone Golf Club in Milton, Ontario to enjoy a day of golf, activities, food, prizes, and most importantly, to raise funds for pediatric brain tumour research. Since establishing the golf tournament, Bunzl Canada and its supporters have raised over $1.6 million to fund the revolutionary work being done at SickKids Hospital to combat these life-threatening pediatric neurosurgical conditions. This week, they surpassed $100,000 in donations in a single event.

Over the last decade, the research team at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, led by Dr. James Rutka, has focused its efforts on discovering less intrusive processes to treat children with brain tumours. In recent years, Dr. Rutka and his team have developed a procedure using Magnetic Resonance Imaging Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) that reduces the rate of medical complications associated with pediatric brain tumour treatment, increases recovery time and drastically improves quality of life for patients.

“We still have many unanswered questions when it comes to the diagnosis, the management and treatment of children with brain tumours … hopefully this will lead to a better prognosis for these children,” said Dr. Rutka. “We’re now able to use the strategy of targeted therapy to enable children to live much better and much longer lives than ever before.”

MRgFUS technology can bypass the blood brain barrier and directly target the brain stem, reaching aggressive tumours like medulloblastoma, the most common type of cancerous brain tumor in children. Dr. Rutka and his team hope to launch a clinical trial of this transformative treatment within the next six months.

“The Bunzl Group has been phenomenal at supporting our research these past 20 years and more,” said Dr. Rutka. “They have allowed us to pursue our research objectives, our research dreams – and we’ve been highly successful at moving the needle in terms of better treatments for children with brain tumours.”

“I can’t thank our vendor partners and customers enough for their ongoing participation and generous contributions,” said Bunzl Canada’s President, John Howlett. “We are honoured to support Dr. Rutka and his dedicated team at SickKids Hospital as they continue to develop treatments to help children conquer this devastating disease.”

Burlington, ON – July 12, 2022 – Bunzl Canada (bunzlcanada.ca) today announced the launch of a pilot project designed to maximize cleaning efficiency and quality in one of Belgium’s newest and most innovative healthcare centres.

The Picardy Wallonia hospital (CHwapi) is an ambitious, innovative hospital project designed to meet current and future health challenges. Its singular mission is to serve its community by promoting “well-being and being well” in a human-focused environment. That environment is comprised of clean, bright and green spaces connected by an ultra-efficient digital architecture that includes a range of “intelligent” solutions such digitized appointment making and signage, geolocation of equipment in real time (RTLS), home automation and telemedicine, a new self-serve maternity support app and more.

“The WandaNEXT^™ IoT cleaning management platform is a natural addition to our state-of-the-art facility,” said Rudy Varenne, Managing Director at Crèche Les CHwa’ptis (ACBL).  “The CHwapi environment has been designed to provide a best-in-class experience for both patients and healthcare providers. This platform supports our ability to do that with better visibility and continuous improvements in quality and efficiency.”

WandaNEXT^™ enables healthcare, education, assisted living and commercial facilities to track and verify cleaning activities, validate quality through regularly scheduled audits, and alert cleaning teams to service requirements (such as discharge cleaning routines). It also facilitates schedule optimization, activity management, consumption tracking, end-user feedback and administrative reporting.

Hugues Robert, Managing Director of Global Net Belgium, a Bunzl cleaning and hygiene company, comments, “We are convinced that through the use of WandaNEXT™, the Belgian short and long stay healthcare market will be able to accelerate the digitization of its cleaning and facility management process in the broadest sense, while simplifying the documentation and audit process. We are all very excited to participate in this project within CHWapi and are already very pleased to see the number of expressions of interest from other players in the healthcare market.”

The pilot implementation at CHwapi began earlier this month and will be evaluated over a six-month period. Cleaning teams use cleaning trolleys equipped with tablets that enable them to refer to specific cleaning protocols required for each room type. Dynamic task assignments are delivered in real time so that cleaning team members are aware of immediate service needs as well as scheduled daily, weekly and monthly tasks. Audit features are used to monitor quality and identify training and support requirements.

“Now more than ever, facilities in critical environments such as healthcare, education, long-term care and assisted living must verify and validate that cleaning and disinfecting is being done correctly and at the right intervals,” said Margo Hunnisett, Vice President, Marketing and Communications at Bunzl in Canada, where the WandaNEXT™ product was developed by Visionstate IoT.

Visionstate continues to work in partnership with Bunzl to develop new system features and functionality. The partners are currently completing a pilot project that includes surface diagnostics using ATP testing technology.

WandaNEXT^™ has a growing installation base that includes healthcare, education, retail, commercial office, conference, airport and distribution facilities across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe.

For more information on WandaNEXT^™, please visit bunzlch.ca.

Burlington, ON – June 8, 2021 – Bunzl Canada (bunzlcanada.ca) today announced an upgrade to its WandaNEXT^™ cleaning management software with Tork^® smart dispenser data, recently implemented at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

The WandaNEXT^™ solution combines comprehensive digital cleaning program management, including traffic monitoring, cleaning scheduling, task management and compliance reporting, with real-time dispenser data powered by Tork^®. This real-time data helps cleaning teams work smarter by targeting immediate needs and proactively refilling dispensing units to improve hygiene and reduce waste.

The pilot installation at Queen’s has the enthusiastic endorsement of the university’s facilities team. “We have always looked for opportunities to innovate to continually improve and enhance the cleanliness of our facilities,” said Barbara Wowk, Manager, Facilities, Housing and Ancillary Services at Queen’s University’s Residence Facilities Team. “We’re excited to work with Bunzl on this pilot installation to help us improve efficiency and enable our custodial team to devote additional time and attention to enhanced cleaning and hygiene protocols that are so critical to the health and safety of our students and faculty.”

WandaNEXT^™, developed by Visionstate IoT and now in partnership with Bunzl, is a cleaning program management system with multiple IoT sensor-enabled data collection components. Its mobile application guides cleaning teams through customized cleaning procedures. The system’s audit function and real-time reporting gives Facilities Management continuous visibility so they can make scheduling adjustments, assign tasks, address training requirements, trigger supply orders and proactively address service requirements.

“It’s a privilege to work in partnership with the Queen’s Facilities Team,” said Brock Tully, Vice President, Bunzl Cleaning & Hygiene. “They are committed to helping create a truly exceptional education experience, and WandaNEXT^™ is an industry-leading innovation to help them do that. By using data from Tork^®, one of the most trusted product brands with state-of-the-art smart dispensing, and a variety of other data collection points, the system tracks, verifies and validates cleaning quality and efficiency against specific cleaning protocols. That gives our customers the confidence that their facilities are healthy and safe – with proven results.”

WandaNEXT^™ has a growing installation base that includes healthcare, retail, commercial office, conference, airport and distribution facilities across Canada and the United States. It has been launched in the United Kingdom and Australia and was recently introduced in the healthcare marketplace in Belgium.

For more information on WandaNEXT™, please visit bunzlch.ca.

Burlington, ON – March 24, 2021 – Bunzl Safety (bunzlsafety.ca) has launched its new website as the first phase in the specialized safety product supplier’s new digital customer experience.

The new website provides customers with updated information and resources that are easier to navigate, search and download. Along with detailed information about product categories and services, site visitors will now have access to an ever-expanding library of educational resources on workplace health and safety, guides to selecting and fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) and more. Customers will also have the ability to source new products and expand product categories through the self-serve portal.

“We’re proud to launch our new website and provide customers across Canada with better service, access to more products and our latest WORKHORSE^® innovations,” said Dave Huck, vice president of Bunzl Safety. “We’re particularly excited to launch our new digital learning centre to enable our customers to access the vital information they need to keep their employees safe.”

Bunzl Safety’s expertise in PPE and safety equipment is unmatched. The company has combined McCordick Glove & Safety, Western Safety and Advanced Mobile First Aid & Safety (AMFAS) under the Bunzl Safety brand banner and has decades of experience. The company provides expert advice and a comprehensive PPE product offering to customers across Canada, including its renowned WORKHORSE^® and STORMFIGHTER^® brands.

The next phase in the company’s digital platform development is underway and includes a new, state-of-the-art e-commerce website. The site will enable Bunzl safety customers from coast to coast to quickly and conveniently browse products, place orders and manage their accounts.

“This pivotal step in Bunzl Safety’s digital development will make it easier for Canadian businesses to build safer, healthier and more productive workplaces – and that’s what it’s all about,” said Lajos Guta, national director of sales.

Bunzl Safety is a specialist division of Bunzl Canada. For more information, please visit bunzlsafety.ca.