FOCUS CLEANING
We look at the contribution collaborative robots or ‘cobots’ can make
to e ciency and manpower in cleaning services and how automation
is revolutionising how FMs manage their cleaning regimes
28 JUNE 2022
Collaborative robots, known
as ‘cobots’, designed to work
alongside human employees, have
seen a marked surge in use over the
past 18 months, with more and more of
these autonomous machines deployed
alongside cleaning teams. The BCC
(British Cleaning Council) has described
it as the ‘next cleaning revolution’ while
the Global B2B Floor Cleaning Robots
Market Research Report 2021, predicts
the global market will grow by 16 per
cent between 2021 and 2027, with the UK
market forecast to be worth £105 million
by 2027.
Julie Kitchener, Head of Customer
Service & Marketing at ICE, an independent
provider of cleaning equipment says: “It’s
fair to say that adoption of autonomous
cleaning equipment had been slow over
the last 10 years, with only a few suppliers
in the market. However, this has now
dramatically picked up the pace over the
last few years with companies starting
to understand the benefits that robotic
cleaning can bring, and a whole host of
robotics suppliers entering the market. We
have found that those leading the way with
the early adoption of autonomous cleaning
equipment have been in retail, healthcare,
transport, and education sectors.”
Stefano Bensi, General Manager, So Bank
Robotics EMEA says that the availability
of cobotics technology is undoubtedly
prompting a marked growth in demand
from FM service providers.
“Research we carried out in 2020 revealed
that innovation is a top business priority
for 90 per cent of FM leaders. What’s more,
70 per cent of the supply-side organisations
we recently surveyed said they are facing
increasing pressure from clients to
demonstrate innovation.”
FM services providers in turn are finding
that demand for cobot technology is also
increasing as the range, capability and
intelligence of the cleaning technology
expands.
According to Mauro Ortelli, Managing
Director of 14forty: “It’s all about choosing
the technology that creates e iciency
within teams. We can identify which
tasks are the most repetitive and timeconsuming
and then utilise cobots to assist
with these, freeing up team members’ time
to focus on more important and complex
responsibilities.”
Shaun Robinson, So Services Estimating
Manager & Cleaning Subject Matter expert
for EMCOR UK agrees: “We are finding that
as additional types of cobotic equipment
are brought to market it is becoming easier
and more relevant to integrate cobotic
equipment rather than fully autonomous
equipment into our cleaning processes for
specialised environments.
“This is resulting in significant
productivity gains for our onsite teams
when we are able to align the correct piece
of equipment with the environment we are
cleaning.”
CLEAN TECH