ARE ROBOTS REALLY THE FUTURE OF THE CLEANING INDUSTRY?
While cleaning companies have been evolving with technology and adopting new automated machinery into their procedures, there has been a lot of discussion and rising concern around robots completely replacing humans in the cleaning industry.
Over the last year alone, COVID-19 has garnered a spike in new cleaning technologies emerging across the globe and in the usage of robotic cleaning machines. As industrial cleaning service providers plan for the new realities of their cleaning programs, technologies that help their teams clean more efficiently and safely are an important consideration. Our TEAM has evaluated the costs and benefits of robotic machinery as an effective cleaning solution for your workplace.
Finding the right balance between technology and humans in effective cleaning is more important now than ever. Keep reading to learn about the advantages, disadvantages, and our verdict on whether robots are actually as valuable as everyone says they are or if there’s still a crucial need for human labour in the cleaning industry.
ADVANTAGES OF CLEANING ROBOTS
MINIMIZE DIFFICULT, DANGEROUS, AND “DIRTY” WORK Robots can play an important role in making work environments safer by reducing work tasks that lead to accidents and mistakes due to human error. Different technologies can be used to eliminate the need to have humans do some of the toughest and most dangerous cleaning tasks. For example, a robot can eliminate the need for window washers to dangle hundreds of meters in the air, for a human to clean hazardous chemicals such as radioactive sludge, or an inspector to crawl through a tight pipeline. It’s possible to let robots do some of the most hazardous parts of a job while humans stay involved in ways that aren’t as likely to cause harm. COST SAVINGS New cleaning technologies such as Tennant’s T16AMR, ICE and Nilfisk’s robotic floor cleaning machines, can save businesses money while minimizing their environmental impact and maintaining the health and safety of their employees. By providing the option to reduce human hours in strenuous or time-consuming cleaning processes, robots can generate significant cost savings. DATA & REPORTING FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT Data tracking is increasingly important and widespread across business and technology. The best way to optimize the cleaning process for best results is to utilize the tracking and analytics available with certain technologies. Autonomous cleaning technologies such as the Avidbots Neo™ can provide a high level of insight and performance measurement so we can monitor, manage and track their performance in real-time. At TEAM Group, we utilize robots to access detailed reports of every cleaning operation, including precise productivity metrics and sector-level coverage maps. Issues experienced while cleaning, such as areas or aisles skipped because of obstacles, will be highlighted. Additional metrics that can be tracked in these performance reports include:- Total area cleaned
- Total cleaning time
- Productivity
- Water consumption