Bjorn recently returned from a trip to Europe where he visited CMS Berlin – a huge, annual trade fair that attracts over 20,000 international guests from the commercial cleaning and hygiene industries.
With more than 448 exhibitors covering an expo area of 31,000m2, there was no shortage of new products, tools and systems to check out and consider over the course of three days. We noted some small innovative advancements for simple processes like window cleaning, surface scrubbing and pressure washing, and the move to more hand-held and battery powered equipment.
Some of the new product highlights included: a hand-held steam machine for gum and sticker removal; a battery powered cart for carrying large loads; cool PPE footwear solutions, drone-powered window cleaning equipment, a reticulated particle cleaning machine for graffiti and very sensitive surfaces; and a handheld, battery powered scrubbing mechanism.
It was good to observe that cleaning is still a big requirement all around the world, and the number of people involved, from suppliers to equipment manufacturers, continues to grow, particularly products produced in China.
New Zealand is well up with industry trends when it comes to products and equipment available, but we generally use less equipment requiring larger investment items like sweepers and pressure washing equipment compared with our global counterparts. These items are costly in New Zealand and the step change required is not yet in motion in the New Zealand industry.