NEWS
Sealed Air Step Into Robotics with Intellibot Acquisition
At a special press conference in Zurich, Sealed Air announced the acquisition of certain assets of Intellibot Robotics LLC, a US-based privately owned company that is pioneering the development of commercial floor cleaning robots.
The acquisition includes certain intellectual property, the manufacturing operations in Virginia, as well as sales, production and engineering staff. The business will be integrated into Sealed Air’s Diversey Care division and their brand of TASKI floor cleaning machines.
The rapid development of new technology, alongside labour shortages and the need for higher productivity in everyday cleaning tasks, has led to an increased demand for automated cleaning
Busy Month For The BCC
In what has been a busy month for the British Cleaning Council, it has announced that it has become accredited as a Living Wage employer.
The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, and is calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK.
BCC Chairman Doug Cooke said: “The BCC has been a staunch supporter of the Living Wage Foundation for a number of years and we wanted to show our support and commitment by signing up.
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machines in the world’s more developed countries. And Intellibot’s value proposition is based on ‘hands-free’ cleaning robots that improve the economics of cleaning by reducing labour costs and increasing productivity.
Dr. Ilham Kadri, President of Diversey Care, said of the acquisition: “This is another example of how Sealed Air is changing the game and it positions Diversey Care as the first hygiene and cleaning player to enter the industrial robotics arena. Our industry
There are a variety of robust, ethical and pragmatic reasons as to why this campaign is worth backing, and I hope that by signing up, the BCC can inspire many other companies in the cleaning industry to follow suit.”
Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis, and it now enjoys cross party support, with public backing from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
Living Wage Foundation Director, Rhys Moore added: “We are delighted to welcome the BCC to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.”
Research by the BCC has found that paying the Living Wage can actually prove cost-effective in the cleaning
expertise, global reach, design and manufacturing capabilities, combined with Intellibot’s groundbreaking artificial intelligence technology, will help accelerate the development of the robotic floor cleaning machines market – ultimately driving efficiencies and business value for our industry.”
The Intellibot machine is currently being introduced in the US, and Diversey Care expects to roll out the machine across Europe in the next few months.
www.sealedair.com
industry by reducing staff ‘churn’ and absenteeism, and by increasing staff morale, which in turn leads to improvements in productivity. The BCC say that Living Wage must remain voluntary, but wherever companies can, they should pay it.
The London Living Wage is currently £9.15 per hour. This figure is set annually by the Greater London Authority and covers all boroughs in Greater London. The UK Living Wage for outside of London is currently £7.85 per hour. This figure is set annually by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University.
Later in the month, at their Spring Meeting at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, members of the BCC unanimously decided to join
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
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