RISE OF THE
CLEANING ROBOTS
Robotic and internet technology is transforming efficiency and effectiveness in contract cleaning. Christian Berenger, MD of Ezitracker Remote Workforce Management, looks at the potential impact on productivity and results in the sector.
up correctly to optimise the cleaning task. It won’t move furniture and clean under things, but it will increase cost- savings, consistency and the need to repeatedly train hundreds of cleaning operatives in a sector that has a notoriously high staff turnover rate.
We recently collaborated on a project to increase productivity in the cleaning environment with The Perfect Little Company (TPLC). TPLC has successfully developed robotic vacuum cleaning systems for the commercial market, which are already being used to support schools, offices, warehouses and cleaning contractors across the UK.
We are seeing an increase in demand for the latest time and attendance technologies for field-based and remote workers. These new technologies enable employers of large remote workforces such as cleaners and maintenance workers to reduce absenteeism, lower costs via automation, and increase productivity. So, what happens when we add robots into the workforce mix?
The prevalence of cloud-based technologies such as workforce management software has made it significantly easier for service providers to manage teams of staff across multiple sites remotely, whilst providing cost savings and adding to the bottom line. There’s no doubt that new, disruptive technologies are driving greater automation in this sector. By integrating robotics, and embracing cloud- based information intelligence, efficiency and productivity measuring and monitoring can get a whole lot easier.
Robots are now available to perform a number of cleaning functions, to supplement human employees, rather than replace them. We know that not all cleaning tasks can be replaced with connected solutions. A robot is just like a computer: it needs human instructions. It needs setting-
62 | TECHNOLOGY
They are usually rented in groups of 10 complete with a trolley, designed to increase efficient use of the robots. Depending on the size of the site, a single operator will typically use between one and four trolleys (10 – 40 robots) to spot vacuum 4,000 – 6,000ft² per hour. A single robot will typically be able to fully vacuum 800 – 1,200ft² per hour. This means that a single operator (one cleaner) with the additional support of robots can increase the size of area vacuumed from 4,000ft² to 6,000 ft² per hour.
During the time that robots spend vacuuming, the cleaners can focus on other cleaning duties such as removing waste, wiping and dusting. On average it takes 15 minutes per trolley to distribute, collect then empty the robots, so that creates 45 minutes of ‘free time’ per hour for cleaners to carry out other duties.
Through this partnership, we are not only able to provide clients with much more detailed analysis on the reliability of employees, but also their productivity, and it makes it easy for clients to identify those employees that are important to retain and where to deploy them whilst the robots clean. Robots introduce a new level of efficiency that human cleaners are simply incapable of: a person can only vacuum or mop so many square feet per hour. Robots enable cleaning to take place at any time, day or night, and they can also remain operational without intervention for longer periods.
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