Cobotics Empower Your Cleaning Business: Here's How

Cobots are collaborative robots that carry out repetitive or strenuous tasks that would otherwise be performed by an employee. However, cobots work alongside individuals or teams, not in their place, as they are instructed and monitored by people at the job site and are there to support workers.

Cobots are typically brought on staff to handle the repetitive and easy-to-off-load tasks so that cleaning teams can focus on more specialized and skilled work and increase efficiency and productivity.

The introduction of robotics or autonomous equipment to a work environment can liberate cleaning professionals and staff from the strain and mental drain of repetitive work. Cleaning staff can undertake more varied and fulfilling work and have the satisfaction of seeing improvements in overall performance.

Not only this, but cleaning teams that work alongside cobots have the opportunity to engage with and manage the latest innovative equipment, enabling them to develop new skills and competencies in some of the newest areas of technology.

Advantages of Cobots to The Cleaning Industry

Cobots Support Increased Efficiencies

By augmenting cleaning staff with robots, businesses can fulfill key parts of their servicing agreements with significantly increased efficiencies, in terms of cost, performance, and consistency.

For tasks such as vacuuming, which is time-consuming and repetitive, on top of being subject to great inconsistencies, adding an autonomous robot to the team can allow staff to use their time in other ways in addition to supporting consistency for jobs like vacuuming.

By automating floor scrubbing, robots like Cobi 18, an autonomous floor scrubber by ICE Cobotics, can standardize the cleaning process across teams and increase cleaning consistency and frequency.

Cobi is manually trained on a cleaning route one time and then can be deployed with a few simple taps each time thereafter. In this case, the robot can be deployed on routes daily, multiple times a day, and it follows the same path. This ensures the job is done consistently and regularly.

On top of that, adding a cobot to the cleaning team can help with issues of high turnover and absenteeism. The cleaning industry continues to face a 200% turnover rate, costing employers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

When employees are sick or simply do not show up, BSCs and building managers are left scrambling to get jobs done. Adding a robot like Cobi to the team can help overcome staff shortages, ensuring that jobs like floor cleaning are done consistently and efficiently.

Cobots can even help boost engagement within teams and as a result, potentially improve retention rates.

Cobots Provide Cost Benefits

On top of augmenting staff and potentially easing some of the financial burden from turnover and absenteeism, cobots can also be cost-effective.

For example, Cobi is available through an all-inclusive subscription model. By subscribing to Cobi, end users avoid the large upfront cost of equipment and pay a set monthly fee. The all-inclusive subscription includes access to fleet tracking technology, parts, and most importantly service, at no extra cost.

Cost savings come in the form of equipment that is at the job site every day, access to data tracking technology that can be used to help improve the work being done, and access to qualified service technicians who are available to troubleshoot and potentially fix any malfunctions remotely.

This cuts down on time and money that would typically be spent on labor and service trips. Autonomous equipment provides an opportunity for less hassle and more efficient processes.

Cobots Provide Important Data to End Users

Cobi also offers real data about each cleaning through i-SYNERGY fleet management software. Cobi utilizes i-Synergy to track usage metrics and other data analytics to confirm performance and improve efficiency and productivity over time.

Fleet tracking software captures cleaning data as equipment works. In the case of Cobi, users have access to reports showing actual routes cleaned each day, how many routes the robot was deployed on, the duration of run time, and any technical issues or malfunctions that may occur during operation. This data is shared and stored through the Cloud so that end users can measure performance, and track and deliver cleaning reports to continually optimize operations.

Adding Cobots Increases Focus on Innovation

Adding cobots to your cleaning team allows you to stand out from the competition. For BSCs and property managers, the gain can be exponential.

Being able to speak to and track data that is collected by autonomous equipment is one way to build a successful business, especially because of the ease in keeping stake holders and property managers involved and up to date, as some fleet tracking systems allow for reports to be emailed to end users.

Beyond that, bringing innovative technology to cleaning teams supports them in performing better and can increase job satisfaction.

Plus, innovative technology stands out to building users, drawing attention to state-of-the-art technology as it works, sending a clear message that the job is being done well and consistently. This supports peace of mind for many who work or visit indoor spaces.

ICE Cobotics is an industry-leading technology and cleaning equipment company specializing in automation and all-inclusive subscriptions.

Reach out to our Automation Experts to learn more.