ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION – CLEANING
Comment: Will robots take over oor cleaning?
There’s no doubt that new disruptive technologies are driving
greater automation in this sector. The prevalence of cloudbased
technologies such as workforce management software
has made it signi cantly easier for service providers to manage
teams of sta across multiple sites, remotely, whilst providing
cost savings and adding to the bottom line. By integrating
robotics, and embracing cloud-based information intelligence,
e ciency 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; not 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-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 sta 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, o ces, warehouses and
cleaning contractors across the UK. The robots are usually
rented in groups of 10, complete with a trolley, designed to
increase e cient 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 4,000ft2-6,000ft²
(371.6m2-557.4m2) per hour. A single robot will typically be
able to fully vacuum 800ft2-1,200ft² 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-
6,000ft² 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 e ciency 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,
they can also remain operational
without intervention for longer
periods.
Implementing robots into an
existing cleaning programme both
reduces the health and safety risks
associated with cleaning, and improves the
time management of other cleaning duties.
Once a robotic work ow is planned and implemented, a
site-speci c schedule is created, and sta are trained to become
‘robot assisted cleaners’ who are pro cient in the distribution
and management of the robots. This process then becomes
the cleaner’s task. Smartphone, mobile technology and in-app
communication tools deliver added value by allowing them to log
these completed tasks. Contract compliance checks can then
happen in real-time, remotely.
This market will continue to grow exponentially, and we
have no doubt that further technological advances will be
developed to disrupt and transform the sector. The cleaning
sector will begin to attract younger and technically-quali ed
workers who understand the technology used to clean
complex environments, so it is critically important that
cleaning contractors invest in upskilling their sta with the
new technologies that will inevitably come into play during the
next ve to 10 years. Progression in technology is facilitating a
shift for cleaning providers to deliver better value by managing
contracts, mobile workforces; both people and robots, more
e ciently.
Christian Berenger is managing director of Ezitracker Remote
Workforce Management
TPLC rents cleaning robots in
trolleys of 10; each robot can
vacuum about 1,000ft2/hr
June 2019 www.operationsengineer.org.uk 17
/www.operationsengineer.org.uk