Smart helper for housekeeping

'Potential cost savings are immense'

In the hotel industry, cleanliness of all areas is an essential part of the guest experience. For housekeeping, however, staff shortages and rising wage costs pose a major challenge. To support cleaning staff in their work, Nexaro - start-up of German multinational Vorwerk - launched a robotic hoover this year. "This is the world's very first compact robot hoover that meets the safety standard for commercial use," says Nexaro general manager Dr Henning Hayn.

Cleaning robots for cleaning large surfaces in airports and office buildings, for example, have been around for much longer. But these devices often cost tens of thousands of euros, making them unprofitable for most companies in the hospitality industry, Dr Hayn knows. "However, we are now introducing a completely different concept: instead of one large cleaning machine, we are deploying an entire fleet of smaller and cheaper robotic hoovers, called the Nexaro NR 1500. A big advantage of this robot is, among other things, that you can effortlessly place it on every floor of your hotel. The robot can automatically clean the lobby or corridors at a pre-programmed time - at night, for example - so that everything looks spic and span in the morning."

Drop & Go

Originally, Nexaro developed the compact hoover robot - of which the company Alpheios is the distributor in the Netherlands - with the idea of using it exclusively for the lobby and corridors of hotels. "But at some point we were asked whether it was also possible to clean individual hotel rooms with our innovation," Dr Hayn continues. "For that, we then came up with the Drop & Go solution, where cleaning staff can carry up to four robot vacuums on a trolley at the same time. While the robot vacuum takes over floor cleaning, the housekeepers can perform other tasks in the room. After cleaning, the robot, which is switched on at the touch of a button, automatically returns to its starting position. The robot does its work quietly and unobtrusively. It effortlessly reaches places that are difficult to reach as a cleaner. Think of corners under tables, sofas and other furniture."

Fast payback time

Although the introduction of the Nexaro NR 1500 is currently still in its early stages, the company did test the new invention extensively, working closely with Dutch cleaning company Vebego. This also revealed the immense cost savings the investment in robotic hoovers can bring to a hotel. Dr Hayn gives a calculation example: "Suppose cleaning a hotel room normally takes a total of 20 minutes, of which 2.5 minutes for vacuuming. Well, with our robot, you can save that 2.5 minutes per room, allowing staff to use that time for other tasks, making the cleaning process significantly more efficient. In a medium-sized hotel, this can save up to several tens of thousands of euros per year in labour costs for cleaning staff. So the purchase costs are recouped within a very short time." 

Safety standard

Where robot vacuums are becoming increasingly popular in private households, Dr Hayn says you absolutely cannot compare Nexaro's with them: "For example, our robot has a much long battery and lifetime. But above all, the Nexaro NR 1500 is the world's first compact robot hoover that meets the safety standard for commercial cleaning robots and has been tested according to the European Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Our robot also has many pluses from a technical point of view. For example, the accompanying Nexaro HUB web platform makes it easy to remotely control, manage and monitor an entire fleet of any number of robotic hoovers. Also, the robot vacuums operate independently of Wi-Fi; therefore, there is no need to integrate them into the existing IT infrastructure."   

Fresh scent

For a hotel guest, a clean room is a prerequisite. "The great thing is that the guest will actually notice when our hoover robot has been in the room," says Dr Hayn. "Not only because the floor or carpet is so clean, but also because it is even possible to use the Nexaro NR 1500 to diffuse a fresh scent in the room. This all contributes to a better guest experience."