Vivek Mata
Vivek Mata, Managing Director, Charnock Equipments Pvt Ltd examines how customer preferences have evolved after the churn of the pandemic, and why the industry can expect an all-round increase in cleaning machine procurement.
Which aspects and areas of housekeeping will see the most focus in the days to come?
With the increase in hygiene standards worldwide, the focus is shifting to automation that can engage in a variety of cleaning tasks. Efficient and high quality cleaning is what is expected today, with very less or no intervention from humans. Thus, the focus is on saving manpower and energy, yet achieving impeccable standards. But India being a price-sensitive market, the growth of robotics and automation in cleaning faces challenges and will see a very slow but steady growth in times to come.
In the coming year, demand for what categories of products is expected to rise, and why?
As stated earlier, costs involved in deploying cleaning robots are a major factor restraining market growth for a majority of the FM community. Still, technological innovation and modernisation coupled with changing lifestyles will see cleaning robots in the form of vacuums, floor scrubber driers, window cleaners, sweepers etc., that can be used for both industrial and residential purposes. Besides robots, demand for battery-operated machines will increase as well.
What features will clients want to see in the equipment they buy?
Along with automation, durability, energy efficiency, manpower efficiency and cost will be other features that clients will look for.
How do you expect FM service providers’ investment in cleaning equipment to increase in the coming year?
Businesses in various verticals have started opening up now and there is tremendous growth that is anticipated in the near future. The importance and necessity of cleaning and maintaining the highest hygiene standards is understood in the Indian market.
The increase in outsourcing has given rise to even small players entering the FM market, turning it into a more organised sector. FM companies are not putting all their eggs in the same basket and are having a broader range of clients. Thus, their requirement for cleaning equipment is also anticipated to rise in the years to come. As FM companies multiply, their spend on machines will also multiply, and this is where we will partner with them to provide state-of-the-art smart cleaning solutions.