Cleaning Technology Innovations during the Corona Crisis
In this article I try to discuss opportunities that lie ahead for commercial cleaning companies in terms of cleaning innovation and technology. I certainly have a double feeling about this, given the number of victims and seriously ill people. But also personally because some of our employees have been directly affected by Corona and not so much further away even with fatalities. And also as an entrepreneur. Our newly opened esports gaming center (H20 esports campus) is not open at all for the time being and lies completely still. Our online marketing agency is being dealt a heavy blow, as marketing budgets are being slashed. But it's cleaning that can make a difference now – and in the near future. Because at some point the world will have to open up again, and it will have changed permanently.
It took me some time to find a new way, because my work has changed completely from one day to the next. Everyone will have to do their utmost to get through this time. Meanwhile I'm in a 'what can be done now' mode and I'm trying to create perspective in this blog for cleaning entrepreneurs. Cleaning companies active in hospitals and food production are busier than ever. For those who are active in, for example, hotels, holiday parks, government buildings and transport, it is a different story. Maybe it's time for them to rethink their business and prepare for the future?
Branches that grow are 80% online/tech businesses
All around us we see entrepreneurs seizing opportunities. I have them in my own network. From an entrepreneur who had hundreds of thousands of mouth caps made in various factories around the world, to entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry who switched to online sales within one day. But also initiatives and ideas that now need to be implemented faster, for example in education or sports. Where the need is greatest, people and entrepreneurs become creative to deal with these tough circumstances.
Where are the opportunities in cleaning during the Corona crisis?
You don't have an influence on everything, but you do have influence on a lot of things. Maybe there will be projects that you now suddenly have time to work on. Below are a number of things that, based on my own experience in recent years, may be ready for an acceleration. Of course, this is partly corporate propaganda, but whether you do this through the FacilityApps app platform or through colleagues (Leviy, CleanJack, LOSK), it doesn't really matter now.
Opportunity 1: Corona extra reason to say goodbye to paperwork faster and start working 100% digitally
It has been proven in recent years that replacing paper with digital tools makes business operations more efficient and cheaper. Often something important is overlooked, namely speed. The processes in your organisation can be accelerated, so you can react more quickly to complaints and problems. Reacting faster to incidents and then reacting faster with your workforce. Despite these advantages, we still see a lot of paper work orders, work programs/tasks, product information sheets, HACCP/inspection forms, questionnaires and checklists. Paper is easy, flexible and can also be filled in afterwards. It is easy and therefore still sticks to this 'old-fashioned way of thinking'.
We also understand that there is a business case that is not clear to everyone, because we do need to invest in digitisation. Mobile devices, software, training, etc… As one of our customers (who did implement the whole company) said in an interview the other day: Would you have done it again? I would have done it much sooner and faster throughout the entire organization.
Now with Corona there's an extra reason to say goodbye to paper. Because the virus can also be passed on through money/paper and 'survive' for some time. We see the "contactless delivery" everywhere, so we certainly don't exchange paper and pen. We ourselves have experienced that a courier had to put his signature on a delivery note, because we were not allowed to touch his paper. So this is an extra reason to let your employees make the change, because it remains a change process.
I have even seen a number of entrepreneurs in the cleaning industry who are able to operate with a much smaller office.
Remote signature
One of the things FacilityApps had on the roadmap was the remote signature. This means that, for example, a work order or quotation is made on the work floor, but the customer is not present to sign it directly on a tablet. In that case, the customer would receive an email with the request to approve it. There are already separate tools for this, but for cleaning companies it would be useful if they could draw digitally and safely from anywhere without printing, drawing and scanning.
Often the costs of the paper solutions are not correctly estimated. The amount of time that is lost by paper forms that are retyped in other systems, information that has become unread