In recent years, we’ve mostly heard about touchless technology dominating commercial cleaning, with things like traffic counters, automatic dispensers, sensored doors, and more, but part of being a ”smart” building may mean adding robots to your cleaning practices. In fact, experts predict the robot cleaning market to jump 21.5 per cent by 2027, making it something facilities may want to include in their upcoming equipment budgets.
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While sanitation has been predominantly prioritized recently, there are other important issues to address. “We are quickly learning that robotics is not replacing, but filling a gap in staffing needs,” explains Brian Cobb, chief innovative officer at CVG Airport Authority.
One of the important ways these autonomous floor cleaners could help your business is by operating during off-hours when your facility is closed and your employees are off shift. This could improve your productivity during the day, without adding to your labour costs.
They may also be faster, cleaning a large area more quickly than it would take one or two of your staff. If a spill occurs, it means less time for a production slowdown, as workers can resume their duties in that area sooner.
According to Indeed, the average base salary for a cleaning job in Canada is $17.92 per hour. In today’s market, candidates may be difficult to find – and to keep. Robotics can also help with employee turnover, also called churn, which refers to the cost for a company to replace and retrain custodial team members.
In short, technology and innovation are a part of every industry and as a facility owner or manager, you need to look at the big picture. Consider whether cleaning robots could save you time and money, increase efficiency, and allow better allocation for your staff to benefit your facility in the long run.
