FLOORCARE & MAINTENANCE
but it was far from the end of my sojourn to Switzerland, as after a night of taking in the beautiful sights of Zurich and hobnobbing with my fellow editors from around the world, we were invited to Diversey Care’s 20,000m2 facility in the town of Münchwilen.
Located in the heart of the Swiss countryside, the coach ride to Münchwilen was almost like something out of a postcard, complete with rolling hills, pitched roof farmhouses and cows with bells round their neck (probably), all with the backdrop of the Alps (do you think locals ever tire of that view??).
Once we arrived at the site, we were given a brief overview of the full TASKI range, including their carpet washers, scrubber dryers, and chemical solutions, while Patrick Hanhart explained how they were integrated into Diversey’s laundry and kitchenware systems.
After a quick recap of some of the key points from the previous day’s press conference, we were led on a tour around the manufacturing plant by Global Demand Portfolio and Project Manager for TASKI, Christian Häne, who, after spending 30 years with the brand, said that his ‘blood runs orange’.
Christian gave us a brief overview of their operations, revealing that more
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than 170 on-site employees assemble around 33,000 units per year, and that their Swiss base is the number one distributor for TASKI in the world.
Throughout the tour we saw firsthand some of the popular TASKI machines in various stages of construction, from the 3D printing of computer-designed parts, to assembly of the chassis, right through to the final checks to make sure that everything is in full working order. Perhaps what was most surprising was that, even considering the size of the operation, for the most part everything was still pieced together by hand. Although this is just further testament to the care that Diversey still continue to put into the construction of their machines.
Our final treat on this little trip was a more close-up, in-depth demo of the Intellibot robot, as David Knuth showed off how the machine works before setting it off on a lap of the room, cleaning as it went. Knuth highlighted how it detects obstacles, patiently waiting to see if they are permanent fixtures before moving around them, and he demonstrated how simple it is to operate with its onboard, touch screen control panel that even offers up reminders and training to those who are unsure how to use it.
Seeing an automated cleaning machine scoot around the room certainly seemed, as Ilham Kadri said,
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like a piece of science fiction and while it may be a while before these machines become commonplace, it felt like we were witnessing a little glimpse into the future – although truth be told, the thought of robot cleaners does fill me with a wide- eyed, almost childlike sense of amazement, so forgive me if I appear prone to giddy fits of excitement!
And that, I’m afraid to say, concluded my short trip over to Switzerland. The tour was over and it was back to the airport to get rather vigorously patted down again (maybe I’ve got a suspicious face?) and spend too much money on duty free chocolates – we were in Switzerland, after all.
At the previous day’s press conference, Ilham Kadri said: “The combination of Intellibot and TASKI is a magic formula, a magic marriage. We want to reimagine the way that we service our customers, the way we service our industry, the way we play in the industry. TASKI is already starting to reimagine automation and we predict that the Internet of Clean is going to become a part of the language in cleaning and hygiene.” I guess we’ll just have to watch this space to see if she’s right.
www.diversey.com
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