The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on the importance of cleaning. Trax Analytics’ smart restroom system collects data in airport restrooms to help operational teams create cleaning plans and support an airport-wide data-driven cleaning approach. The system can also help plan future airport improvement projects.
“A lot of airports and facility management companies are utilizing our smart restroom module to have an understanding of when to clean, how to clean and where to clean,” said Patrick Trevino, vice president of sales and marketing for Trax Analytics.
“COVID has definitely emphasized the importance of cleanliness, disinfecting, the importance of people feeling safe in a facility and all that being said, our system is designed to accommodate those demands,” he continued, citing the technology can analyze all touchpoints in a restroom, monitor consumables and give front-line workers the information required to perform their cleaning tasks effectively.
The smart restroom system tracks a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) like passenger throughput, passenger feedback, how and when employees clean restrooms and more. Airports can export reports on this data or see the data on live dashboards.
Each airport’s needs are different, which is why Trax Analytics offers fully customizable plans to its customers. Some airports choose to give each employee their own smart device to monitor their cleaning while others opt for Bluetooth technology in the form of BLE badges and lanyards.
“One of the greatest values of our system is it’s both software and hardware agnostic,” Trevino said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. We work closely with the client to identify their unique use cases and draft a plan to help improve their operations. If the operation calls for everyone to have a device, then we can use that process and that workflow. If that’s not feasible to an airport, there are other solutions that we offer.”
The smart restroom system can be fitted to the needs of larger-scale airports or smaller airports, according to Trevino. Large hub airports like Hartsfield-Jackson, LaGuardia and Houston Airport Systems are all using Trax Analytics’ smart restroom technology, but smaller airports are beginning to express interest as well.
“One of the biggest misconceptions when somebody hears the terms data analytics, system integrations, or IoT, is that it has to be a massive investment upfront and ongoing. However, the opposite can be true,” Trevino said. “We have successfully provided customized modules and solutions for clients who are just looking to begin their process of digitalizing their cleaning operations. A large portion of our clients plan to start small and then grow into larger-scale IoT programs and our teams are experts at managing that process for them.”
The smart restroom system is not only used to measure the cleanliness of restrooms but can also aid in airport planning projects.
“Since our system is able to monitor activity of staff as they go in and out of restrooms, live passenger traffic and cleaning durations, that data can be effectively used to understand the amount of fixtures or square footage needed, if their staffing levels are sufficient and if the airport has the right operational plan in place to enhance cleanliness. This is especially important as travel begins to increase, requiring an airport to re-evaluate its operational and staffing plans,” Trevino mentioned.
He said some airports use the data to understand how many bathrooms are needed in an airport building and if the bathrooms are big enough. The smart restroom system can even determine if there are consistent wait times to use stalls, especially in female restrooms.
“This data’s all being collected and analyzed by our team. Because there is so much value in the data we collect, whether for airport planning or operational management, it’s important to equip our clients with a team to support them throughout the duration of the contract. We have a client success division of our organization that works closely with the stakeholders to assist in processing that data and then making it actionable. We believe in real-time data analytics, as well as historical and predictive data to provide a wholistic view on an operation and our teams are equipped to provide guidance to clients along the way,” Trevino said.
Trax Analytics also partnered with a third-party company to develop a touchless technology to help passengers give feedback about the state of the restrooms.
“It’s no hardware required and it’s strictly just an NFC [Near Field Communication] tag that sends a push notification to an individual’s device,” Trevino said. “It’s the same technology you would see at Mall of America. When negative information is collected it also gets distributed out in the format of a cleaning alert or dispatch for someone to mitigate the problem immediately.”
Trax Analytics is also working to expand its cleaning and tracking abilities to other areas of the airport.
“Last year, we launched one of our newest modules, Clean and Inspect, which works in parallel with smart restrooms to give airport operators the ability to monitor performance facility-wide. Our solution and offerings no longer limit clients to focusing only on the cleaning of restrooms, but now they can use the same solution to manage cleaning and quality control in every area of the facility.”
CleanConnect is another module that will connect important janitorial assets throughout the facility with work order management and facility mapping.
“We can show the airport managers where their assets are, where their team is and allow the front line to open and close work orders seamlessly by dropping a pin on a map. Our integration into an airport’s enterprise system allows janitorial teams the ability to open up a maintenance work order without having to access the EAP system directly,” Trevino said.
“Really our goal is to give a positive experience to passengers from the time they get out of their car to the time they get on that plane. Impacting them in a positive way and enhancing their journey throughout the terminal comes in various different ways. So we now are looking at the technology from as granular as ‘let’s find out what this one stall is doing’ to ‘let’s see if your PMing has to be serviced for your baggage claim belts,'” he concluded.
