We often take the cleanliness of our surroundings for granted. It's all too easy to overlook what goes on behind the scene when we see a spotless stadium, a freshly mopped clinic waiting room, or a mall that smells faintly of detergent, with floors that glisten after a thorough scrub. Some might even say that the journey to a pleasant public space begins beneath our feet.

In the aisles of a Danish butcher shop, a young lad named Finn Schmidt Holm found himself pondering an ordinary question with extraordinary implications. How could floor cleaning be made more consistent and efficient? Little did he know that this curiosity would lead him on a journey to entrepreneurship, creating a cleaning company that would go beyond the bucket and the mop, and introduce robot helpers to tackle even the toughest messes.

The Butcher's Epiphany

"I noticed something fascinating," Finn recalls with a glimmer in his eye. "When ten people mopped a floor, you'd get ten different results. But with a floor washing machine, the result was always the same, no matter who operated it." This observation sparked a passion for cleaning technology that would define Finn's career.

About 25 years ago, Finn decided it was time for a change. So he left the butcher's knife behind and started his own cleaning company, CurantTeknik APS.

Diving into the Cleaning World

Finn's transition into the cleaning industry was easy thanks to his technical skills honed from years of repairing tractors and motorcycles on his father's farm. He began selling floor washing machines in 2009 and quickly realized that his customers needed more than just machines—they needed solutions.

Before recommending any product to a client, Finn and his team conducts interviews and site visits first to understand needs. Coming from the cleaning industry, Finn's team posesses expertise that enables them to act as cleaning consultants rather than just a sales organization. "We would like to give them what they need to have and not necessarily what they wish to have." By evaluating the site's size, layout, floor types, foot traffic, cleaning frequency, and chemicals used, the CurantTeknik team is able to suggest the best combination of cleaning products, chemicals, and dosing systems for each client.

The CurantTeknik Workshop

Reliability is paramount. "[Clients] always call us so we can keep the machines running", explained Finn. For commercial property management teams, any down time of their cleaning machines could mean scrambling to staff a cleaning job, or failing to meet hygiene standards until they can get someone to fix the machine. With the CurantTeknik team a phone call away, clients can rest assured that their operations won't be interrupted.

However, Finn's vision extended beyond meeting immediate customer needs. He saw a larger industry challenge looming on the horizon.

The Robot Revelation

The European cleaning industry faces a double-edged sword: stricter regulations and a labor shortage. This makes maintaining high cleanliness standards a challenge.

Source: https://www.ela.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2023-03/eures-labour-shortages-report-2022.pdf

Regulations, like those from Denmark's Working Environment Authority, ensure safe and healthy workplaces such as laboratories and factories. Additionally, the global ISSA Clean Standards promote consistent cleaning practices to improve cleanliness and hygiene across indoor spaces worldwide.

Heightened public health concerns, driven by recent pandemics, add pressure to maintain cleanliness despite staffing limitations.

Finn saw automation as the answer to this challenge. "If we can't find enough people, why not use robots?" he mused. Robots could provide the consistency in cleaning quality he valued and address the labor shortage all at once.

Traditional deep cleaning methods, which require significant labor input, are becoming increasingly impractical. However, there's a shift towards consistent maintenance cleaning. By using technology like floor-scrubbing robots, companies can implement regular cleaning routines without relying heavily on human labor. This approach not only saves time and money but also improves air quality and overall hygiene, creating a healthier work environment for employees.

Finn's conviction in the move towards automation is palpable. "If you don't start thinking about robots now, you will have an extremely big problem in five years."

Finding the Partner in (Getting Rid of) Grime

One day, while scrolling through Facebook, Finn stumbled upon an announcement from Sveabot, a sub-brand of Sveaverken. Intrigued, he decided to test the Sveabot M100E and S100 cleaning robots. He worked closely with the team and found Sveaverken's customer service unlike anything Finn had encountered. The team was responsive, collaborative, and always ready to listen. "I could send them a picture of an issue and get a response in hours, if not minutes," Finn marveled. The opportunity to shape the product for more application scenarios and effectuate new iterations also strengthened the partnership between Sveaverken and CurantTeknik teams.

Today, CurantTeknik serves as an authorized distributor and service provider for Sveabot cleaning robots, offering them to businesses and facilities across Denmark and the Nordic region.

For a Cleaner Future

So, is a future where humans and robots share the cleaning load a utopian dream? Not quite. It's a practical, achievable reality that's rapidly taking shape. With forward-thinking minds like Finn's at the helm, we're creating a cleaner, more efficient world scrub-by-scrub. Imagine a future where humans can focus on creative pursuits, while robots tackle the mundane tasks. It's a partnership that promises to benefit us all. Let's raise a virtual glass to a future where sparkling clean spaces and happy humans go hand-in-hand (or rather, hand-in-processor).

Learn more about the Sveabot M100E and S100.