Smart Cleaning Cleans Buildings Efficiently and Sustainably

Compromising on cost but not on cleanliness, Soobr’s new smart cleaning solution optimizes facility cleaning. Companies benefit, as do healthcare institutions.

Many offices are deserted between Christmas and New Year, and not only then. At many companies working from home has relocated the preferred workplace to employees’ homes on a year-round basis. In a recent IHK survey nearly one in four firms polled said they were planning to extend working at home, and nearly half of the respondents aim in the long term to adopt hybrid working models. Office workplaces are also unused when employees are on vacation or business trips. In short, the office is increasingly becoming a place where you are more likely to meet with colleagues from time to time, to build professional relationships and to collaborate creatively.

Cleaning schedules, however, continue at many companies to be based on employees being around during regular working hours. Cleaners even clean rooms that have been empty since they were last cleaned. That not only incurs superfluous costs but also runs counter to sustainability because energy consumption is unnecessarily high, as is the the usage of water and cleaning materials. The problem is that as long as there is no transparency about where cleaning is required, cleaning work is hard to plan efficiently.

This is where the Swiss startup Soobr kicks in with its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) smart cleaning solution. It enables artificial intelligence (AI) to be used to develop optimal cleaning routes. Cleaning is only undertaken where it is needed and in the most sensible sequence in order to eliminate unnecessary routes. Infrastructural facility management, which includes cleaning, can in this way be optimized.

The solution and the compilation of cleaning routes are based on data such as up-to-date room utilization. It can come from different sources and be derived from, say, room plans, existing occupancy systems or from IoT sensors in the offices that record room utilization. At Soobr this information converges on an online platform. Facility management systems already in use, such as occupancy systems, can be linked to the platform via an API interface.

On the Soobr platform itself the ideal cleaning routes are then calculated automatically using AI. Equipped with tablets or smartphones, the cleaners can see the routes on an intuitive app that also shows the floor plan of the building and the cleaning tasks, which can be checked on completion. In the event of uncertainties or off-the-cuff changes, cleaners can use a chat function to communicate directly with administrative staff. The software enables the facility management to follow the progress of cleaning in real time and retrieve data evaluations and reports for documentation.

The technical basis of the system is connectivity in the shape of Telekom IoT SIM cards. It ensures that the data is reliably transmitted via mobile communications at all times.

The benefits of the Soobr smart cleaning solution include, for one, cost savings. According to the company’s figures (PDF) the cost saving per week in operational management is around 30 percent and, subject to country and industry, on average 15 percent per year in execution. That makes facility management and allied services perceptibly more cost-efficient.

For another, digitization of facility cleaning and the Internet of Things can make companies more sustainable. It is not just a matter of saving resources such as water and energy. Less plastic waste is generated because fewer detergents are used, and that helps enterprises or facility managers to fulfill ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria.

Companies benefit from positive aspects of this kind. So do hospitals and other healthcare facilities. For them, however, smart cleaning applications are valuable for other reasons too. Time and hygiene are factors of crucial importance. Patients must be admitted or treated as quickly as possible and health risks due to contamination must be kept to a minimum. Critical delays can occur if facility cleaning is not optimal. Communication between cleaners and hospital staff is often still inefficient. Several phone calls may then be required to clarify which beds are to be made up or where traces of spilt tea must be wiped clean – and then to confirm that the task has been completed. Quality of healthcare may suffer as a result.

Using the Soobr system, hospital employees can notify cleaners directly of acute cleaning requirements by an app – and receive immediate confirmation as soon as the area in question is clean once more. The solution and its mobile app thereby accelerate the entire process and enable medical staff to concentrate on their core tasks and on the patients.

Use cases of this kind demonstrate that intelligent technologies like IoT-assisted smart cleaning make life easier and more efficient – as well as helping to save time and money, to optimize healthcare or to protect the environment.