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July 17 2023

Facilities maintenance and janitorial work is the often unseen labor that keeps our businesses, hospitals, schools, and other large scale facilities running smoothly. Few people realize the enormous amount of time, effort and money that goes into battling the daily mess of a high-traffic facility. Without this important work, entropy rules, putting people’s health and safety (not to mention comfort) at risk. 

But facilities and janitorial companies that rely on an army of dedicated cleaning personnel are finding themselves stretched thin amidst chronic staffing shortages. Coupled with the general public’s heightened attention to sanitation standards following the pandemic, there’s never been a greater demand to do more with fewer resources.

Luckily, advances in automation have resulted in robotic solutions that can not only fill these gaps, but improve cleaning standards across the board.

Floor More

One of the biggest “asks” of commercial cleaning and janitorial companies is consistently spotless floors. Large, busy facilities that see a lot of foot traffic require near-constant vacuuming and mopping to keep floors looking good, and not just for cosmetic reasons. Commercial carpet can become a magnet for indoor air pollutants like dust, mold and allergens if not cleaned daily. Hard floors can pose falling hazards if spills or debris are left unattended, and visible scuff marks or dirt will make a facility look unkempt and unsanitary. 

But thorough floor cleaning takes time, and is both physically arduous and monotonous for the person assigned to do it. That’s why there’s been an uptick in the adoption of autonomous floor cleaning technology within the facilities and janitorial industry. 

Take a robot like CC1. It’s an incredibly versatile multipurpose floor cleaning solution that runs autonomously with very little in the way of human intervention. With the ability to vacuum, sweep, mop and scrub, CC1 can handle most types of hard flooring and commercial carpet. It can also be used manually for spot cleaning. Once mapped to your facility it will operate on set schedules or as needed, doing its work automatically without tiring. And when paired with an optional workstation, CC1 will self-charge, empty itself of refuse and dirty water, and refill with clean water, ready to keep cleaning as long as you need it to.

Facilities with a lot of hard flooring might also look into using an industrial floor scrubbing robot like the CC3. Larger than the CC1, this workhorse BoT can cover an impressive 20,000 square feet of flooring per hour. CC3 has both wet and dry cleaning modes for scrubbing and sweeping, and is ideal for most types of hard flooring like hardwood, marble, epoxy, concrete, stone, etc. It also self-charges, empties and refills itself and operates completely autonomously to get the job done. Both CC1 and CC3 provide detailed cleaning reports and are completely safe to use around people thanks to advanced object avoidance technology.

Because they operate continuously, autonomous floor cleaning robots can clean floors more efficiently than a single person. They also help to remove a lot of the human physical strain that comes with pushing a heavy vacuum or floor scrubber across thousands of square feet each day. Companies and facilities that adopt this type of automation not only make up for staffing shortfalls, but improve the morale of existing employees by letting them focus on more specialized and delicate work.

Disinfect with the Best

Facility cleaning isn’t just about appearances, though a sparkling interior will never fail to impress. For facilities that deal with large numbers of people—and especially those that are expected to safeguard the health of customers or patients—janitorial work has to go deeper. Facilities that require regular deep cleaning and sanitization pose an extra challenge for janitorial crews, since this type of cleaning can be very meticulous and time consuming. 

One way facilities and janitorial operators are supplementing their cleaning staff is with the use of autonomous disinfection robots. These types of robots use the industry’s most advanced disinfection technology to sanitize indoor air and surfaces on a large scale. 

A robot like Puductor 2 uses hospital-grade UV-C light and 360° ultrasonic dry-mist to eliminate 99.9% of pathogens from indoor air and surfaces. When used in UV-C mode, the Puductor 2 is ideal for off-hours or overnight use, since people should avoid contact with powerful UV-C light. When used to distribute dry-mist, it’s 100% people-safe, and easily maneuvers through busy environments thanks to advanced object avoidance technology. Dry-mist can also reach areas UV-C light can potentially miss, and is more effective than UV-C against many types of bacteria, ensuring a more complete disinfection solution within one autonomous BoT.

If disinfection is needed in a smaller form, the compact yet powerful BubbleFish could be a perfect solution. This affordable and convenient BoT is completely safe to operate around people, and uses 360° ultrasonic dry-mist to sanitize the environment. Its small size, nimble maneuvering and affordability make it a great option for a diverse range of spaces and facilities. 

“Spray and wipe” disinfection methods are always going to be a part of a rigorous cleaning regimen, and janitorial staff are essential to carrying those out. But imagine a facility where the people cleaning could focus on this type of detail-oriented work while robots handle the heavy lifting. The result is a cleaner, safer space with less employee burnout.

Give Your Facilities a Boost

Cleaning and maintenance are never ending tasks, especially at the commercial and facilities level. With high staff turnover and difficulty recruiting new employees, facilities and janitorial companies would be wise to take a look at autonomous solutions that can keep their businesses moving forward. Adopting advanced autonomous cleaning and disinfection robots could be just the solution to help you delight clients and outpace the competition.

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