Cobots and data-driven cleaning

Staff shortages and rising wage costs do not make running a hotel any easier. To support the hotel staff and also use them as efficiently as possible, there are supporting cleaning technologies available. Mark van Zijtveld, Key account manager at Facility Trade Group, shares two telling examples from practice.

The cleaner has just done his or her regular round at the washrooms and yet we get complaints about empty paper dispensers because more people than expected have visited the toilet and dried their hands in the meantime. A common pain point that Van Zijtveld often hears in his conversations with hoteliers. This is a good situation to deploy cleaning technology: "Using visitor counters and/or sensors in toilet roll, soap or towel dispensers connected to the internet, cleaning staff can see in real time on tablet or phone when a dispenser needs refilling or an extra check is required. It additionally helps with inventory management."

Various sensor- and IoT-enabled dispensers are available in the market. There is always a dispenser to suit visitors' needs and toilet facilities. As every hotel is unique, Van Zijtveld is happy to provide customer-specific advice. "Our customers have good experiences with data-controlled cleaning with Tork Vision Cleaning, for example. Via a gateway, data is collected in the cloud from the various dispensers and from a counter that registers the number of toilet visitors. The user-friendly dashboard contains real-time data and built-in reporting options. Data-controlled refilling saves cleaning staff a lot of time. Nine times out of ten, a dispenser is opened unnecessarily to check for soap or paper, for example. This is avoided by letting the sensors do their job. The time saved can be used by cleaners to do other work."

Another technological development is the use of cobots - cooperating robots - for disinfecting hotel rooms, taking away dirty dishes or serving meals, for example. Cobots can improve the efficiency and quality of cleaning, while making work easier. Think, for example, of heavy repetitive operations like floor cleaning. Van Zijtveld: "Several options are offered in the market to deploy cleaning cobots for specific tasks. Think of vacuuming tasks (Ecobot 40 and Phantas from Gausium), scrubbing tasks (Cobi18 from ICE and the Ecobot 50 and 75 from Gausium) and sweeping tasks, both indoors and outdoors (Ecobot 111 from Gausium). 

Van Zijtveld talks about the advantages of a cobot: "Once the cobot is at work, cleaning staff can perform more complex tasks that have a greater impact on the guest experience. In addition, the cobot cleans independently and based on set programmes much faster and more accurately than a human cleaner. Another advantage is that a cobot always works in the same way, which ensures consistent cleaning results." 

In hotels, Van Zijtveld says cobots are mainly used to clean public areas, such as the lobby, restaurant and corridors. "Cobots have sensors and navigation technology to clean floors safely and efficiently. The type of floor has a big influence on the choice of cobot type. A Cobi 18 is an example of a compact manoeuvrable cobot suitable for cleaning hard floors. Need to vacuum carpet? Then it makes more sense to choose a different type of cobot, such as the Ecobot 40."

Guests often react to cobots with surprise and admiration, says Van Zijtveld. "So they can also be part of hotel branding. Buying a cobot can be a hefty investment, by the way. Nevertheless, using a modern cobot can be profitable from as little as 1 hour of cleaning work per day. Especially since users report that a cobot offers work relief. Also, developments are moving very fast, which benefits efficiency and quality. Facility Trade Group also offers additional services, by the way, such as leasing a cobot."

A cobot or co-robot (from collaborative robot) is a robot designed to work together with humans in a shared working environment. A cobot thus differs from other robots, which are designed to operate independently or with limited supervision. A cobot is lighter, more easily transportable and often cheaper than a larger industrial robot. Cobots are autonomous robots that can also ask for help, for example.