ICE is the UK’s largest independent provider of industrial cleaning machines. We pride ourselves on the unique service we offer our customers, providing everything from equipment purchase or rental to asset management and maintenance. We have a team of 45 engineers nationwide, and we manage over 26,250 sites and 106,000 machines across the UK and Ireland.
Julie Kitchener, Head of Customer Service & Marketing at Industrial Cleaning Equipment (ICE), speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What are your best-known products/solutions/services?
We have a huge range of scrubber dryer and sweeping machines suitable for all types of industrial flooring, from standard robust equipment or high-end machines equipped with the latest technology, to robotic floor cleaning machines.
Our market leading equipment includes some of the latest innovations in the industry such as autonomous floor cleaning equipment that has been used successfully for the last 4 years, and a new range of machines with on board water recycling capabilities.
Which industry sectors are your customers in and which ones are growing fastest?
Our customers are predominantly in the retail, healthcare and warehousing/materials handling sectors. Currently the sectors growing faster in terms of cleaning requirements are healthcare, food retail, and warehousing. Once the world starts to return to normal after the COVID-19 outbreak we believe that these sectors will continue to grow and will have additional cleaning requirements such as sanitising and disinfection – the cleaning world is likely to change significantly as businesses and people place more focus around hygiene and cleanliness.
What are your most recent product innovations?
Our most recent innovations include cleaning machines with water recycling capabilities, which dramatically reduce the volume of water used during cleaning operations. This in-shift water-saving technology, which is contained in a number of ICE machines, optimises operator time, cleaning time and machine utilisation along with delivering productivity benefits of up to 70%. The sustainable solution recycles the water whilst the machine is in operation, giving freedom to clean with unparalleled output and efficiency. Plus, this self-cleaning filtering system can result in savings of up to 90% on water costs associated with cleaning.
Other innovations include our new sanitising and fogging equipment, which effectively sanitise and disinfect floors and the surrounding air, ensuring a safe and hygienic working environment.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers, and how are you responding?
The hot topics in the floor cleaning industry are all around introducing robotic cleaning equipment to work alongside the cleaning teams, saving water, and more recently sanitising & disinfecting.
We first launched our robotic equipment back in 2016, so have extensive experience in this area. We are now seeing real increased focus in the market, with many more machines being launched into the market, indicating that there is real benefit in this area.
As mentioned above, we have also launched cleaning machines with water recycling capabilities, and equipment suitable for sanitising floors and the surrounding environment, so we are fully responding to the industry trends and developments.
Can you tell us about any recent customer contracts and how you helped the customer meet their challenges?
We recently supplied a whole range of different cleaning machines to the NHS Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham. The challenge faced by the customer was the speed needed to get the facility up and running during these unprecedented times. We helped by sourcing the equipment extremely quickly, along with delivering and training all the staff on how to use them effectively, including our new sanitising equipment, which has proved to be a real success.
How does business in 2019 compare to previous years? What’s your strategy for succeeding in the current climate?
In 2019 we saw more competition for robotic cleaning equipment than ever before, and far more focus on the environmental impacts of cleaning.
Our strategy is to continue to be ahead of the game, to put the customer at the heart of everything we do, and to be market leading innovators – something we have always been and are extremely proud of.
What’s the latest news from your company?
During the month of May we will be sharing some really exciting news, so please check out www.linkedin.com/company/industrial-cleaning-equipment-ltd for further details!
Are you investing in staff training and skills development?
Yes absolutely. We have a National Training Centre in Peterborough for our engineer and sales teams, where regular product training takes place. Additionally, as part of our commitment to continuously improving customer satisfaction we put our managers and team members through a range of Customer Service courses and qualifications.
Are you involved in any major trade shows or other industry events next year?
We will be at IMHX 2021 and we look forward to meeting you there!
Industrial Cleaning Equipment (ICE)
t: 0800 389 3869
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