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What does innovation mean to you?

For Milliken, it means seizing the opportunity to make people’s lives better. We connect our science expertise with everyday problems. Our goal is to provide solutions that have a positive impact on the world around us. 

Our work is led by a special group of Milliken associates—known as our Community of Innovators—who represent a diverse background of skills, professional functions, and knowledge. They drive our quest for innovative solutions and utilize industrial research to make it happen. 

We had a chance to chat with Sanjeev Dey, global R&D, and marketing manager, and chair of the Community of Innovators steering committee, who shed light on Milliken’s approach to innovation and how it’s infused through every facet of our company.

The word “innovation” floods the market today. How does Milliken define this word?

At Milliken, we are always striving to enhance everyday life. We thrive on ideas that truly add value to people’s lives, improve health and safety, and help make the world more sustainable. From additives that improve the laundry experience to additives that help make plastics more recyclable, from FR/AR fabrics that play a critical role in industrial safety apparel to performance-based military textiles, to clinical wound dressings that heal chronic wound patients and carpets that absorb noise to increase productivity, we are always committed to positively impact the world around us. We believe that, through invention and innovation, we can positively impact the world around us for generations to come.  

Why is innovation important to Milliken? How does it guide our work in industrial research?

If we look into Milliken’s five core values—integrity, excellence, innovation, sustainability, and people—innovation takes the center stage. It is an extremely important value pillar to secure the future vision for our company. Industrial research, unlike academic research in many respects, is deploying research to address the unmet needs of our society or community, or consumers. Milliken innovations are purposefully designed to truly enhance peoples’ lives positively.  
 

Milliken has a “Community of Innovators.” Can you tell us more about that?

The Community of Innovators (COI) is the amazing and talented group of associates who are involved in envisioning Milliken’s future through new product development. We are driven by curiosity to design purposeful products that positively impact the world around us.  

How has innovation come into play during the COVID-19 pandemic?

These are unprecedented times, and innovation is a key driver in steering us through this situation. Because we believe that doing the right thing is as important as doing things right, we focused our efforts on addressing the unforeseen challenges brought on by COVID-19:

• We helped alleviate the shortage of medical and protective face shields by offering proven alternatives
• We partnered with Contec, Inc. to manufacture Sporcidin®—a hospital-grade disinfectant that meets EPA’s criteria for use against the COVID-19 virus
• We impacted the community around us with our innovation—and that certainly continued during this challenging time.