Revolutionizing Facility Management: The Role of Autonomous Cleaning Robots in 2024
In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, autonomous robots have transcended their role from industrial assets to integral components of daily life by 2023. With almost every industry exploring autonomous solutions for heightened efficiency and quality, facility management and cleaning service providers have ardently embraced this technological revolution.
The global cleaning and facility services market witness over 54,000 competitors vying for prominence. In this fiercely competitive arena, differentiation is crucial for cleaning companies seeking a competitive edge.
The predominant challenges plaguing the cleaning industry revolve around labor shortages and staggeringly high employee turnover rates. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics highlighted a staggering 102% turnover rate in the janitorial and building cleaning services sector in 2020. Despite the significance and value of cleaning roles, the lack of glamour often leads workers to view these jobs as temporary, contributing to the struggle in retaining staff, exacerbated by the current tight labor market.
This article illuminates how autonomous cleaning machines, particularly robotic floor scrubbers, can effectively tackle these challenges by amplifying current employees' productivity without inducing additional pressure. It also creates a more engaging work environment, fostering employee loyalty over prolonged periods.
Enhance the Productivity of Your Current Employees
Initially, let's dispel the prevailing concern that robots are meant to supplant humans. Contrary to this notion, autonomous floor scrubbers are meticulously crafted to augment human productivity. Collaborating seamlessly with a robotic floor scrubber allows an employee to allocate their time to tasks demanding human attention, while the scrubber efficiently handles the repetitive floor cleaning.
Through the strategic reallocation of your current workforce, the focus can be redirected towards duties necessitating human intervention. This includes responsibilities like cleaning windows, stocking, emptying trash, filling dispensers, maintaining sanitary areas, and various other facility maintenance tasks.
Let’s take an example!
On average a cleaner spends a lot of the available time taking care of the floors (vacuuming, dust mopping, sweeping, scrubbing) and allocates the remaining time on other tasks (cleaning sanitary facilities, filling dispensers, high-touch areas, emptying trash cans, removing fingerprints, window cleaning, etc.).
If we assume that an average worker would perform floor cleaning at the “real-life” speed of an automatic floor scrubber machine, however, the speed of manual cleaning is usually slower than that, it would take approximately 4 hours and 2 employees to clean a 4,000sq.m area.
Initially, the removal of small-sized dry debris such as paperclips, sand, pieces of paper, dust, and hairs is accomplished through manual dry dust mopping or sweeping of the floor using dust mops or brooms.
Subsequently, a walk-behind hard floor scrubber dryer is employed to eliminate stains, fine dust, and any potential presence of bacteria and fungus.
Now, let's envision the impact of introducing two autonomous floor scrubbers into this scenario under the assumed conditions.
The first robot is estimated to spend 2.6 to 3 hours dusting the floor clean, with an additional 10 minutes allocated for the operator to replace the saturated dust mop during the cleaning process (typically performed every hour). Simultaneously, the second autonomous scrubber undertakes wet cleaning, effectively scrubbing and drying the floor along the same route. This wet cleaning process is expected to be completed in about 4 hours, with brief charging intervals in between
Changing the dust mops three times will require approximately 30 minutes, and cleaning the robot afterwards takes the same amount of time as a traditional machine.
This translates to an additional 7.5 hours (8 hours minus 0.5 hours for changing the dust mop) for your workers to engage in other tasks instead of manual floor cleaning. This equates to a daily balance savings of 7.5 hours. If we extrapolate this over 250 working days a year, in a span of 5 years, you would accumulate a substantial total of 4,375 saved working hours.
While it's important to note that these figures are illustrative and not legally binding, the implications are indeed compelling.
The implementation of autonomous scrubbers allows your existing workforce to shift away from manual mopping and floor scrubbing, enabling them to redirect their efforts toward other cleaning tasks. This strategic move empowers your team to achieve double productivity within the same timeframe.
As previously highlighted, robotic automation excels in handling repetitive and mundane tasks, allowing employees to redirect their focus towards more meaningful and engaging responsibilities. When employees perceive their contributions as valuable to the company, their engagement and motivation levels tend to rise.
Simultaneously, the implementation of autonomous cleaning introduces an avenue for employees to acquire new skills that support technological processes. This encompasses tasks such as setting, maintaining, and troubleshooting the technology. By offering opportunities for skill development, companies convey a genuine investment in the growth and advancement of their employees.
Certain tasks or work environments can pose risks or dangers to employees, exemplified by the high infection risk associated with cleaning hospital floors. Robotic automation emerges as a crucial solution in reducing the risk of infection, fostering a sense of safety and security among employees in their roles.
In summary, automated cleaning contributes to employee engagement by presenting novel opportunities for learning and growth, alleviating tedious and hazardous tasks, and enhancing job satisfaction by infusing work with greater meaning and impact.