Syddjurs Municipality has found a way to optimize the cleaning routine. The information from sensors placed in an administration building has led to a daily one-hour reduction in working time for the cleaning staff. The municipality is expecting a positive economic outcome when it is scaled to other buildings.
Digital solutions and innovation are a central part of creating a sustainable future and a good life for the citizens in the Danish municipality Syddjurs. For many years, the municipality has focused on the use of IoT (Internet of Things), and several IoT-projects have been conducted with the goal to find solutions, that can support the daily work of the employees. One example is a pilot project, where data helps the cleaning staff in their task to clean an administration building in Hornslet, the second biggest town in the municipality.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, effective cleaning has been a top-priority in Syddjurs Municipality. The focus on cleaning under the pandemic led to a collaboration between the municipality and the Danish cleaning company LOMWAS. Together with the private company Syddjurs Municipality developed a data model, that could give more information about the need for cleaning in the different areas of the administration building.
The project has been running since February 2022, and the results from this period are positive. With the use of sensors, placed in toilets, desks, and conference rooms, the cleaning staff can get information about how the building is used by visitors and staff. The cleaning staff receive the information through an app before their daily cleaning routine, and it helps them to get an overview of which rooms, that must be cleaned the current day.
One-hour reduction
This data driven cleaning-solution has led to a reduction in work time and a more efficient cleaning. Cleaning of the administrations building usually took 5.5 hours but can now be done in 4.5 hours.
The one-hour time reduction means a monthly profit of 4000 DKK. On the other hand, the technology is not free. There is a monthly cost of 5000 DKK related to the rent of the sensors, and therefore the pilot project has a monthly total loss on 1000 DKK.
Despite the loss, Syddjurs Municipality expects that the solution will have a positive outcome, when it is scaled to more buildings and the municipality is able to invest in its own sensors.