Interclean Amsterdam, the world’s leading tradeshow for cleaning professionals, started today with the announcement of the winner of the Amsterdam Innovation Award. The overall winner – out of a total of 89 entries – of the Amsterdam Innovation Award 2018 is: KIRA B50 from Kärcher.

This first autonomous cleaning machines presents the whole package; a step forward in robotics technology for the cleaning industry and overcomes some of the obstacles of similar machines.

Size and design is what make this machine much more attractive to a wider range of applications. So far, robotic scrubber dryers have been most suitable for extremely large areas, but the KIRA B50 is even suitable for areas under 1,000 square metres. Also the fact that KIRA B50 can take itself to a docking station to charge the battery as well as fill and empty tanks, means that the level of human intervention is minimal – and that is what true autonomous cleaning is.

Michelle Marshall, chair of the Jury: “As with every Amsterdam Innovation Award the jury was tasked with evaluating a high number of entries – the real challenge was to compare the impact and originality of products from such diverse parts of the industry.”

“It was interesting to note the two key focuses for the companies that have been nominated as finalists across our four categories in the development of their new solutions – the end client or service provider, and the operative.”

“As far as the client is concerned, they can now enjoy the benefits of so many solutions incorporating ‘smart’ technology in its various forms. In general many products are now capable of gathering data that can impact on productivity and profitability in a very real way. This brings transparency that can help clients to reach their targets on sustainability, energy use, quality, cost, efficiency and performance. Which can only improve the interaction and valuable partnership between client and supplier while also raising the perception of professional cleaning.”

“When talking about smart solutions we must, of course, mention robotics. This is not the first year we have seen autonomous cleaning machines, however each year we observe the technology moving forward and overcoming some of the barriers to them becoming more attractive for real-life cleaning operations.”

“In any cleaning operation the staff play an invaluable role and as a jury we were pleased to see they are not being forgotten in the development of new solutions. Manufacturers of cleaning tools are developing products designed to be more ergonomic and cause less fatigue, and to make everyday cleaning challenges more manageable.”

“So many of the products we have seen have been designed with sustainability in mind, both in terms of using less water, energy and chemicals and in the way they are manufactured. It’s extremely positive to see that those aspects are now seen as a given. Total life cycle impact, ‘Cradle to Cradle’ and the circular economy are terms we are now commonly seeing being put into practice.”