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GETTING SMART What’s on the horizon for smart restroom solutions? by John Strom
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mart restroom technology is now well into its early adoption phase, and more and more facilities are leaning into the opportunity to leverage data to improve their customer experience and optimize their cleaning program. As each new customer ultimately achieves successful deployment, additional facilities in various segments are buying into the value proposition. At the same time, based on how each facility and segment is using the technology and applying the data, equipment manufacturers and technology providers are gleaning important insights into key areas of restless discontent impacting facilities. Those insights are informing a number of innovations, business decisions, and trends that will
drive higher-stakes customer benefits in the coming three to five years. There are a few themes that are gaining traction in the marketplace: SMART WILL BECOME SMARTER
The greatest output of smart restroom technology is the sheer breadth and depth of data it generates. This data helps facilities pinpoint maintenance inefficiencies, recognize product waste, understand traffic patterns, mitigate product outages, and otherwise elevate and optimize cleaning and maintenance operations. Generative AI’s greatest output is insight into data. In the case of smart restroom solutions, GenAI will make them even smarter by delivering more accurate,
20 / FACILITY CLEANING & MAINTENANCE / WINTER 2024
robust, and actionable insights faster than any human or any existing technology ever could. In so doing, GenAI will help the next generation of smart buildings achieve unprecedented adaptability, predictiveness, and responsiveness. According to research, the global AI market grew from $428 billion in 2022 to $515 billion in 2023. And it is expected to reach nearly $2 trillion by 2030. These numbers indicate that this is a transformative, disruptive technology that businesses of all shapes and sizes will need to leverage in the near future to remain competitive. For their part, smart restroom suppliers are already in deep learning mode, and customers will begin to reap the rewards of this learning in the nottoo-distant future.
