ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam, the world’s leading exhibition for cleaning professionals, opened today with the announcement of the winner of the Amsterdam Innovation Award. The overall winner – out of a total of 110 entries – of the Amsterdam Innovation Award 2016 is Augmented Reality: Suma Revoflow from Diversey Care. 

The jury has decided to give the overall winner prize to the Suma Revoflow using Augmented Reality, from Diversey Care. This is exciting and inspiring technology that has not been seen in the professional cleaning sector before and it brings with it many opportunities and possibilities. With the use of Augmented Reality facilities managers can perhaps go some way to tackling a number of the problems associated with the industry’s high employee turnover – which include training, knowledge transfer, development of skills and reduction of errors.

Augmented Reality can be used on mobile phones and tablets to self-train, self-troubleshoot and get remote support directly from Diversey Care. This brings many benefits in terms of reduced downtime, more skilled employees and cost-efficiency. And it has so many other potential applications for the future.

New products are incorporating ‘smart’ technology

Michelle Marshall, chair of the Amsterdam Innovation Award 2016 jury comments: “There were 110 entries in this year’s Amsterdam Innovation Award, with products from all parts of the sector being covered. This year was probably the most diverse, and difficult to judge, we have ever seen.

“The most striking observation is the number of new products now being developed that incorporate ‘smart’ technology in its various forms – whether it is to save on energy and water use, produce real-time data about staff and cleaning machine fleets or monitor room occupancy in order to streamline cleaning operations. Or indeed to carry out the cleaning operation autonomously, in the case of robots.

“Having said that, we were also impressed with many of the manual cleaning tools and products that are being developed to provide the operative with more ergonomic, sustainable, cost-effective and practical solutions to everyday cleaning challenges.  After all, cleaning is still a labour-intensive sector so the evolution of more user-friendly manual methods remains vital.

“So many of the products we have seen have been designed with sustainability in mind, both in terms of using less water, energy and chemicals and in the way they are manufactured. Total life cycle impact, and ‘Cradle to Cradle’ are terms we are now commonly seeing being put into practice.”

The Winners of the Amsterdam Innovation Award 2016 are

Machines, accessories and components

Category winner - Robot RA 660 NAVI from Cleanfix

The jury voted the Cleanfix robot as the winner of this category because the company has worked closely with users over many years to develop a machine that is now in use across Europe – many units have been sold. The jury was particularly impressed with its navigation system, which uses laser, and its efficiency in mapping rooms, putting in place virtual walls, and ease of use for the operator. And it can clean to the narrowest of corners. In summary, a robotic cleaning machine ready for the real world.

Equipment/tools for cleaning, care and safety

Category winner: Quick & Easy System from Werner & Mertz Professional

The jury was impressed with the ultimate portability, simplicity and practicality of Quick & Easy. The operator wears the system on a belt and can move from room to room with five different chemicals, interchanging between them quickly and easily. There is no need for installation and the operative does not come into direct contact with the chemical, making it completely safe.

Cleaning management and training solutions

Category winner – Augmented Reality: Suma Revoflow from Sealed Air Diversey Care

Augmented Reality is an exciting and far-reaching technology being brought to the cleaning sector for the first time by Diversey Care with its Suma Revoflow. The plan is to expand its use to many other areas, with mobility and the increasing use of mobile devices being the key driver. It enables upskilling of operatives through the use of IT, with knowledge transfer made significantly easier.

Kärcher wins the Visitor’s Choice Award

The visitor’s choice prize is awarded to the nominee that is voted as the most innovative by ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam visitors. With 45 percent of the votes, is BRC 40/22 C from Kärcher winner of the Visitor’s Choice Award 2016.

Other nominees in the category machines, accessories and components

BRC 40/22 C from Kärcher – This is the cleaning sector’s first walk-forward carpet cleaning machine with a 200 degree rotating brush and vacuum head. Traditional carpet cleaning machines operate backwards so this new development brings about significant productivity gains.

Sealed Air Diversey Care TASKI Swingobot 755 – This is a robotic scrubber dryer launched by Sealed Air Diversey Care following its purchase of Intellibot in 2015. Compact and user-friendly, it is designed to cut wastewater and chemicals by 85 per cent.

Other nominees in the category equipment/ tools for cleaning, care and safety

Lumecel Microburst 3000 Air Care Dispenser from Rubbermaid Professional – This is a fragrancing system that never requires any batteries, as it stores energy generated by ambient light. There are numerous benefits associated with operational costs, replacing and disposing of batteries, and of course the environmental advantages.

SpillEx from Vileda Professional – Vileda has developed a super-absorbent floor cloth, originally aimed at the healthcare sector in operating theatres to tackle large amounts of blood. It also has many other applications in care homes, public areas etc, where spillages of any kind must be dealt with safely and effectively.

Other nominees in the category Cleaning management and training solutions

Connected Cleaning from Kärcher – With Connected Cleaning Kärcher is pulling together the many aspects of running a cleaning operation under one digital platform. For managers this is an all-encompassing management tool – it covers machines, staff, quality monitoring and is continuously evolving.

Tork EasyCube from SCA – For optimisation of cleaning schedules in the washroom Tork EasyCube works via smart dispensers linked to a cloud-based system. It enables managers to monitor traffic and usage, thereby anticipating cleaning and refill needs. This means cleaning can be carried out when and where it’s needed, a much smarter way of working for the cleaning team.

The total list of innovations that have entered the Innovation Award competition is available online.

The international jury:

Pierre Deschamps  Chief Editor Batiment Entretien – France

Dick van Zomeren  Dutch industry expert and editor Servicemanagement - Netherlands

Rob Geissler   Publisher Sanitary Maintenance – USA

Michelle Marshall – Chair Chief Editor European Cleaning Journal - United Kingdom

Ton van der Riet  Managing Director Senzora - Netherlands

Paolo Pellizzari   Editor Pulizia Industriale e Sanificazione - Italy

Reinhard Knittler     Publisher Reinigungs Markt - Germany

Cor van der Velden   Chief Expert at Skills Netherlands – Netherlands

Antonio Borreda        Director Revista Limpiezas - Spain

Amref Flying Docters received Euro 16,500 for their African water project in Kilindi, Tanzania

During the ceremony a donation of Euro 16,500 was handed to the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) Flying Doctors. Their project ‘A healthy future for girls in Kilindi’, a remote area in Tanzania, is set up to improve the health of girls and young women by introducing the alternative rite of passage for female genital cutting and increasing the access to safe drinking water, good sanitation and hygiene.