ICE is the UK’s largest independent provider of industrial floor cleaning machines. We pride ourselves on the unique service we offer, providing everything from cleaning machine purchase or rental to equipment management and maintenance.

Julie Kitchener
Head of Customer Service & Marketing at ICE

Our customers are primarily in retail, warehousing/logistics/manufacturing, healthcare and transport, and we offer a nationwide service across the UK. We have a team of 40 engineers nationwide, and we manage over 26,250 sites and 106,000 machines.

Julie Kitchener , Head of Customer Service & Marketing at Industrial Cleaning Equipment Ltd spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.

What products or services does your company offer?

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 autonomous floor cleaning machines.

We are probably best known for our range of autonomous cleaning equipment – ICE Co-Botics – that launched in May 2020. We have extensive experience in this area as we have been involved in the development of robotic cleaning machines for over a decade. Things have moved on dramatically since then, and we now have a complete range of autonomous floor cleaning machines that can be easily managed by cleaning teams on site and integrated into the daily cleaning regime.

Additionally, we offer a variety of sanitising machines, from hand-held foggers to ride on scrubber dryers that clean the floor and sanitise the environment simultaneously.

How did the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown affect your business?

Like many businesses, it was clear that our business plan for 2020 was going to be materially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE have always operated a very agile and flexible business model – it’s one of our strongest USP’s – so we immediately set out developing a range of equipment to support with sanitisation and infection control to aid our customers in the fight against the virus.

We also launched the above mentioned Co-Botics line – the industry’s first comprehensive range of autonomous floor cleaning machines. We believe that automation will help shape the way cleaning operations and functions are carried out in the future, but in a collaborative and cohesive way. The range includes an industrial sized scrubber dryer and sweeper – both ideal for use in warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing environments.

The Co-Botics equipment has been designed to integrate into cleaning team operations, picking up the manual and repetitive tasks, which will then allow operators to focus on hygiene and sanitising activities to promote cleaner and safer environments.

It’s not about replacing people it’s about embracing technology to deliver higher cleaning standards, infection control and ‘proof of clean’. Using autonomous cleaning is a very natural and progressive way of how we can help support and deliver these measures and improve wellbeing for hygienic environments – to Co-Exist, to Collaborate, and to work Cohesively within the workplace to drive standards, efficiency and sterility.

These machines are as close to human activity as anything available. They are extremely intelligent and can be fully operated, controlled, and managed by the cleaning teams on site. The features ensure the delivery of the following key requirements when using autonomous equipment in day to day cleaning activities:

• Safety and efficiency – safe, consistent, and easy to map and control.

• Intelligent – it will clean any area without the need for technical intervention.

• Environmentally friendly – water recycling capabilities and a run time of up to 5 hours.

• Proof of clean – fully integrated telemetry and cloud-based reporting on a clean by clean basis.

We currently have machines installed and operating alongside cleaning teams in manufacturing/ warehouse facilities, schools, airports, train stations, hospitals, hotels, and retail environments across the UK. And we are already seeing how the introduction of Co-Botics is helping facilities to provide hygienic and safe environments for both employees and visitors.

Going forward, will the industry be permanently changed as a result of Covid-19 or will it return to how it was pre-Covid?

With the pandemic still very much in the forefront of our minds, there is now an even higher demand for automated and socially distanced cleaning, and we believe that the hygiene anxiety created from COVID-19 will certainly impact the way in which cleaning is carried out in the future.

It’s highly likely that there will be a greater demand for ‘proof of clean’ as businesses will need to prove to both employees and visitors that their facilities are hygienic and safe. They will be looking for guidance from their cleaning providers around the activities that should be carried out to ensure standards are met. This will enable them to provide a guarantee to their customers and staff that their facilities are safe.

As we have seen through the media recently, the profile and importance of cleaners and the cleaning industry as a whole has increased dramatically. We believe that this will continue, and the public will look to cleaners as the visible resource to give confidence that all environments are clean and sanitised.

The demand for autonomous floor cleaning equipment is really gathering pace, possibly fueled by the heightened priorities for infection control at an appropriate distance. To clean as we have always cleaned will not be good enough as the world around us changes and we are always looking for ways to innovate and develop. Facilities service providers must achieve more, both in terms of productivity and quality, without compromising financial budgets. Therefore, we believe that investment in automated cleaning is not just pioneering, but essential for future cleaning.

What products or services will you be introducing next year?

We will be adding to our already extensive range of outdoor industrial equipment with the addition of two new machines – one pedestrian and one ride-on sweeper.

Plus we will be building on our use of video technology to fix equipment issues, with the introduction of virtual reality glasses to help onsite repairs without the need to send an engineer.

What is the company’s commitment to social responsibility?

ICE have a range of initiatives based around environmental social responsibility. These include:

• Reducing engineer visits by using video technology to fix simple equipment issues.

• Providing a range of scrubber dryers with water recycling capabilities, reducing water consumption by up to 70%.

• Recycling 84% of returned parts and 100% of batteries.

• Our ICE Direct division recycles and refurbishes equipment returned to us at the end of contracts.

• We also sell a range of chemical free cleaning products that take regular tap water and process it into a powerful natural surface cleanser.

Are you involved in any major trade shows over the next year?

We are planning to attend the IMHX 2021 and we look forward to meeting you there!

How would you sum up your company in three words?

Fast-paced, innovative, passionate.

ICE

0800 389 3869

enquiries@ice-clean.com

www.ice-clean.com

Comments are closed.