Product innovation from around the world
CIRI seizes innovative thinking high ground
Dateline: 19th June 2008
CIRI has now run a very successful second International Scientific Congress and the fledgling organisation looks well placed to continue leading discussion on the best thinking for innovation within the cleaning industry into the future. Greg Whiteley reports exclusively for INCLEAN.
Imagine writing a cleaning specification and contract that focused on objective outcomes such as measurable microbial counts; measurable dust measurements; measurement of carpet cleanliness; defined levels of moisture and moulds; and defined and measurable levels of floor dirt. That is an achievable quest for our cleaning industry.
The second meeting of the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) was held in Washington DC over three days in June at the University of Maryland University Centre just outside of the District of Columbia. The meeting’s host was Dr Steven Spivak, chairman of CIRI’s Scientific Advisory Council and Emeritus Professor (former Professor of Fabric Engineering) at the University of Maryland.
In launching the congress some very clear messages were presented by a group of the undisputed leaders in this global market. Bobby Cohen, past president of ISSA and president of Penguin Care Corporation, speaking on the very first night of the meeting declared to all “CIRI is the future for our industry. It will be ‘where it’s at’ from now on for anyone who wants to know where the cleaning industry is headed.”
The following day in launching the congress, CIRI foundation president Jim Harris said, “I came into this sector as a contractor originally, although a long time ago. But I have never seen as much opportunity as I see today. Science is sharpening our focus and understanding on the linkages between cleaning and health.”
In response and as chairman and Congress host, Professor Spivak went on to say that the role of the Science Advisory Council “was to create the themes and manage the program for CIRI”. And with that the congress kicked off with a very eminent scientific speaker, the principle editor in chief of the International Journal of Hospital Infection, Dr Stephanie Dancer.
Over the three days 14 scientific papers were presented, ranging across the latest issues in cleaning for health; equipment developments; new findings on carpet and fibre care; and proposals for properly and scientifically defining ‘clean’.
A range of discussions took place during most sessions as the focus of the leaders of the industry was directed to how to improve cleaning and the cleaning sector overall. Participants were represented from most parts of the US, Canada, Puerto Rica, the UK, India and Australia.
The panel of speakers was quite mixed with at one end some very eminent scientists including various professors in their fields from some of the most prestigious institutions in the United States. There were researchers from various companies including most of the global players.
Most of the major carpet manufacturers had at least one technical representative including Interface, Shaw and Tandus. The Carpet and Rug Institute and IICRC were also present. Several of the elite members of the building service contracting sector were present, as were several of the professional organisations represented.
The papers varied in quality as is usual with these types of gatherings. The key note speaker, Scotland’s Dr Stephanie Dancer, spoke on new approaches for the control of infectious organisms in healthcare and hospital settings. She presented a great deal of research showing that the common positioning of cleaning services and the clinical understandings of cleaning required substantial revision. The audience was gripped by fear, soothed by new findings and learnt to properly wash and dry their hands each time they go to the bathroom, or visit a friend or relative in hospital.
Dr Dancer, in referring to work in which she has collaborated and published, including some data that is currently ‘pre-press’, stated that it has now been conclusively proven that visual inspection models of managing cleaning are meaningless, particularly in the healthcare setting. In fact, research has shown that visual inspection is totally unable to detect the key dirt.
Another important UK researcher, Dr Griffith, has demonstrated that what often is masqueraded as cleaning is just shifting the dirt from one place to another within the same institution, thus aiding spread of germs rather than removal or even killing of key infectious organisms.
Other presentations included sessions on measuring the dirtiness of carpet in a ‘quantitative’ and ‘scientifically defensible’ manner. Another paper dealt with steam killing fungal spores without distorting nylon carpets. Another paper dealt with the issues of risk associated with the cleaning process and the necessity to evaluate risk in a health outcomes manner.
The Congress’s overall quest was to determine whether cleaning and health outcomes can be linked in a more practical and scientific manner through the development of better measurements of cleaning outcomes as and when the cleaning is done, through more than just the discredited visual inspection methods.
The funding for CIRI is somewhat sketchy at present. The Institute has received some seed funding from a limited number of companies and ISSA is a fiscal supporter of the fledgling organisation. The founding president of CIRI and long time ISSA member Jim Harris advised that CIRI has now been granted ‘Tax Exempt’ (not for profit) status from the IRS, which will allow more formal fundraising to now be commenced. He has committed the next 12 months of his commercial time to almost solely raising funds for CIRI to allow the science to continue and grow with its mission, and not to let the absence of funding slow down the progress being made towards creating new objective performance and outcomes based standards for our cleaning sector.
A major project that has already been commenced by CIRI and its Science Advisory Committee is the development of the first ever objective standard for cleaning of schools in the K to 12 bands. This work will look at developing, vetting, sponsoring the research of, and validating objective scientific measures to define ‘clean’ in the context of a school classroom. This task, if successfully completed will have enormous ramifications for the entire cleaning industry.
Imagine writing a cleaning specification and contract that focused on objective outcomes such as measurable microbial counts; measurable dust measurements; measurement of carpet cleanliness; defined levels of moisture and moulds; and defined and measurable levels of floor dirt etc. The days of the policeman mentality monitoring head counts and just checking toilet smells might be given over to technical definitions of cleanliness and the measurement of the outcomes of the cleaning process and not just the physical presence of the cleaning staff.
The next meeting is not yet planned for 2009 but the Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Professor Spivak, will select a suitable location and organise the congress program during the next few months. The intention is to make CIRI’s annual congress the premier internationally coordinated research and scientific forum for cleaning technology and practice.
CIRI has now run a very successful second International Scientific Congress and the fledgling organisation looks well placed to continue leading the discussion on the best thinking and forum for innovation within the cleaning industry into the future.
www.ciri-research.org
CIRI has now run a very successful second International Scientific Congress and the fledgling organisation looks well placed to continue leading discussion on the best thinking for innovation within the cleaning industry into the future. Greg Whiteley reports exclusively for INCLEAN.
Imagine writing a cleaning specification and contract that focused on objective outcomes such as measurable microbial counts; measurable dust measurements; measurement of carpet cleanliness; defined levels of moisture and moulds; and defined and measurable levels of floor dirt. That is an achievable quest for our cleaning industry.
The second meeting of the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) was held in Washington DC over three days in June at the University of Maryland University Centre just outside of the District of Columbia. The meeting’s host was Dr Steven Spivak, chairman of CIRI’s Scientific Advisory Council and Emeritus Professor (former Professor of Fabric Engineering) at the University of Maryland.
In launching the congress some very clear messages were presented by a group of the undisputed leaders in this global market. Bobby Cohen, past president of ISSA and president of Penguin Care Corporation, speaking on the very first night of the meeting declared to all “CIRI is the future for our industry. It will be ‘where it’s at’ from now on for anyone who wants to know where the cleaning industry is headed.”
The following day in launching the congress, CIRI foundation president Jim Harris said, “I came into this sector as a contractor originally, although a long time ago. But I have never seen as much opportunity as I see today. Science is sharpening our focus and understanding on the linkages between cleaning and health.”
In response and as chairman and Congress host, Professor Spivak went on to say that the role of the Science Advisory Council “was to create the themes and manage the program for CIRI”. And with that the congress kicked off with a very eminent scientific speaker, the principle editor in chief of the International Journal of Hospital Infection, Dr Stephanie Dancer.
Over the three days 14 scientific papers were presented, ranging across the latest issues in cleaning for health; equipment developments; new findings on carpet and fibre care; and proposals for properly and scientifically defining ‘clean’.
A range of discussions took place during most sessions as the focus of the leaders of the industry was directed to how to improve cleaning and the cleaning sector overall. Participants were represented from most parts of the US, Canada, Puerto Rica, the UK, India and Australia.
The panel of speakers was quite mixed with at one end some very eminent scientists including various professors in their fields from some of the most prestigious institutions in the United States. There were researchers from various companies including most of the global players.
Most of the major carpet manufacturers had at least one technical representative including Interface, Shaw and Tandus. The Carpet and Rug Institute and IICRC were also present. Several of the elite members of the building service contracting sector were present, as were several of the professional organisations represented.
The papers varied in quality as is usual with these types of gatherings. The key note speaker, Scotland’s Dr Stephanie Dancer, spoke on new approaches for the control of infectious organisms in healthcare and hospital settings. She presented a great deal of research showing that the common positioning of cleaning services and the clinical understandings of cleaning required substantial revision. The audience was gripped by fear, soothed by new findings and learnt to properly wash and dry their hands each time they go to the bathroom, or visit a friend or relative in hospital.
Dr Dancer, in referring to work in which she has collaborated and published, including some data that is currently ‘pre-press’, stated that it has now been conclusively proven that visual inspection models of managing cleaning are meaningless, particularly in the healthcare setting. In fact, research has shown that visual inspection is totally unable to detect the key dirt.
Another important UK researcher, Dr Griffith, has demonstrated that what often is masqueraded as cleaning is just shifting the dirt from one place to another within the same institution, thus aiding spread of germs rather than removal or even killing of key infectious organisms.
Other presentations included sessions on measuring the dirtiness of carpet in a ‘quantitative’ and ‘scientifically defensible’ manner. Another paper dealt with steam killing fungal spores without distorting nylon carpets. Another paper dealt with the issues of risk associated with the cleaning process and the necessity to evaluate risk in a health outcomes manner.
The Congress’s overall quest was to determine whether cleaning and health outcomes can be linked in a more practical and scientific manner through the development of better measurements of cleaning outcomes as and when the cleaning is done, through more than just the discredited visual inspection methods.
The funding for CIRI is somewhat sketchy at present. The Institute has received some seed funding from a limited number of companies and ISSA is a fiscal supporter of the fledgling organisation. The founding president of CIRI and long time ISSA member Jim Harris advised that CIRI has now been granted ‘Tax Exempt’ (not for profit) status from the IRS, which will allow more formal fundraising to now be commenced. He has committed the next 12 months of his commercial time to almost solely raising funds for CIRI to allow the science to continue and grow with its mission, and not to let the absence of funding slow down the progress being made towards creating new objective performance and outcomes based standards for our cleaning sector.
A major project that has already been commenced by CIRI and its Science Advisory Committee is the development of the first ever objective standard for cleaning of schools in the K to 12 bands. This work will look at developing, vetting, sponsoring the research of, and validating objective scientific measures to define ‘clean’ in the context of a school classroom. This task, if successfully completed will have enormous ramifications for the entire cleaning industry.
Imagine writing a cleaning specification and contract that focused on objective outcomes such as measurable microbial counts; measurable dust measurements; measurement of carpet cleanliness; defined levels of moisture and moulds; and defined and measurable levels of floor dirt etc. The days of the policeman mentality monitoring head counts and just checking toilet smells might be given over to technical definitions of cleanliness and the measurement of the outcomes of the cleaning process and not just the physical presence of the cleaning staff.
The next meeting is not yet planned for 2009 but the Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Professor Spivak, will select a suitable location and organise the congress program during the next few months. The intention is to make CIRI’s annual congress the premier internationally coordinated research and scientific forum for cleaning technology and practice.
CIRI has now run a very successful second International Scientific Congress and the fledgling organisation looks well placed to continue leading the discussion on the best thinking and forum for innovation within the cleaning industry into the future.
www.ciri-research.org
The seven megatrends of cleaning
Presented by ISSA’s Keith Baker, in partnership with Giraffe’s John Delaney, this lively seminar at ISSA Interclean in Amsterdam included an interactive workshop that enforced the message to business owners and managers: Here’s what’s coming, hide or make hay – formulate a strategy to make you different.
1. E-enables Cleaning
E-factories, E-machines, E-maintenance, E-learning
E-commerce - Machines are becoming smarter. In the future they will tell us what is wrong with them. We will have to accept that more learning will be done online as opposed to traditional methods. People will always be in touch, but communication will be more abbreviated, and less face to face, while at the same time still getting the message across – witness the young generations’ preoccupation with text messaging.
2. The global stage comes to you
G-sourcing, G-sales, G-partnerships, G-referrals
Commoditisation is upon us. There will be new players from previously inactive markets, imitation products and, consequently, more trade disputes.
3. New partnerships, new relationships
Mergers uniting, ally and compete, partner for sale
Business owners and managers will need to ponder when to acquire and when to ally in order to build strength. Relationships will become more fuzzy and there will be conflicts facing businesses. For example, your biggest competitor could cross the sector boundary and buy your major supplier. You will then have to face the prospect of buying from your competitor.
4. More diverse diversity
Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers, New Millennials
There will be greater diversity in the workforce with a wider mix of generations, ethnicities, cultures, religions and values which will inevitably bring some conflict. Witness the attitude of the ‘new millenials’ (those entering the workforce now) – they will expect to get rich without doing anything.
5. Power to the occupant
More cleaning awareness, newly literate and more skittish clients.
Clients are becoming rapidly more savvy about cleaning and more vocal about their expectations. As a result they are demanding more involvement in how their buildings are cleaned and more aware of health issues which could impact on their staff as a result of inadequate service.
6. Cleaning becomes a science
Definitions, measurement, facts, cleaning for health
Cleaning is becoming more scientific and there is greater requirement for measurement of cleaning outcomes, resulting in a demand for more returns on investment as clients become more aware of what they want and what they expect.
7. Re-invent the business
Cleaning, maintenance, security, blurring of lines
There will be more service bundling and greater demand for value, a professional image, innovation and risk management. The cleaning industry will have to generate new value for costs.
www.issa.com
www.giraffevision.com
1. E-enables Cleaning
E-factories, E-machines, E-maintenance, E-learning
E-commerce - Machines are becoming smarter. In the future they will tell us what is wrong with them. We will have to accept that more learning will be done online as opposed to traditional methods. People will always be in touch, but communication will be more abbreviated, and less face to face, while at the same time still getting the message across – witness the young generations’ preoccupation with text messaging.
2. The global stage comes to you
G-sourcing, G-sales, G-partnerships, G-referrals
Commoditisation is upon us. There will be new players from previously inactive markets, imitation products and, consequently, more trade disputes.
3. New partnerships, new relationships
Mergers uniting, ally and compete, partner for sale
Business owners and managers will need to ponder when to acquire and when to ally in order to build strength. Relationships will become more fuzzy and there will be conflicts facing businesses. For example, your biggest competitor could cross the sector boundary and buy your major supplier. You will then have to face the prospect of buying from your competitor.
4. More diverse diversity
Gen Y, Gen X, Boomers, New Millennials
There will be greater diversity in the workforce with a wider mix of generations, ethnicities, cultures, religions and values which will inevitably bring some conflict. Witness the attitude of the ‘new millenials’ (those entering the workforce now) – they will expect to get rich without doing anything.
5. Power to the occupant
More cleaning awareness, newly literate and more skittish clients.
Clients are becoming rapidly more savvy about cleaning and more vocal about their expectations. As a result they are demanding more involvement in how their buildings are cleaned and more aware of health issues which could impact on their staff as a result of inadequate service.
6. Cleaning becomes a science
Definitions, measurement, facts, cleaning for health
Cleaning is becoming more scientific and there is greater requirement for measurement of cleaning outcomes, resulting in a demand for more returns on investment as clients become more aware of what they want and what they expect.
7. Re-invent the business
Cleaning, maintenance, security, blurring of lines
There will be more service bundling and greater demand for value, a professional image, innovation and risk management. The cleaning industry will have to generate new value for costs.
www.issa.com
www.giraffevision.com
Interclean's innovative products deal with environmental issues
Dateline: 1st April 2008
The ISSA/Interclean Innovation Award for the most innovative exhibit will be presented during ISSA/Interclean Amsterdam 2008 (6 to 9 May). An international jury has selected a shortlist of nominees from more than 70 entries competing for the ISSA/Interlcean Innovation Award 2008.
Category winners will be presented in each of three categories: Machines; Utensils, cleaning systems/solutions/concepts/chemicals; and Management and training solutions. One of these three winners will then be chosen as the overall winner of the 2008 ISSA/Interclean Innovation Award.
The Awards will be presented on Tuesday 6 May during a special presentation at the Show. All nominated products will be on display in the Innovation Award Pavilion.
Judgement criteria are originality, impact, practicality, sustainability and profitability.
Category A: Machines
Kärcher BRC 50/70W, a powerful, duo carpet extractor that can be operated in two modes, deep extraction and encapsulation (interim cleaning). www.karcher.com
Nilfisk-Advance AX 651 Multi EDS, a multi-surface cleaner for both hard and soft floors, which features ECO Dosage Solution (EDS) - for longer running time and precise detergent metering. www.nilfisk-advance.com
Ultra Clean Ltd’s UltraClean, a patented no-touch towel dispenser with an internal self-laundering system.
Category B: Utensils, cleaning systems/solutions/concepts/chemicals
Baudoin Glas’s City Washer, a compact automobile, equipped with a light (2.5 kilogram) and ergonomic ‘Carbo Clean Pole limited lite’ pole. www.baudoin.nl
OspreyDeepclean International’s ProVap Hygiene System, a fully integrated Dry Steam Vapour (DSV) cleaning system using new tools developed and tested in co-operation with healthcare and infection control industries. www.ospreydc.com
Van Houtum Papier’s Satino Towelex, a concept for the disposal of paper hand towels without the need to ever empty a bin.
Category C: Management and training solutions
Alpheios B.V’s Alpheios Diensten voor Diensten 2.0,
Pancomp Electronics’ Pancomp Building Site Cleaning Management Tool. www.pancomp.com
Vermop Salmon’s Vermop Soft Pictoplan. www.vermop.com
The ISSA/Interclean Innovation Award for the most innovative exhibit will be presented during ISSA/Interclean Amsterdam 2008 (6 to 9 May). An international jury has selected a shortlist of nominees from more than 70 entries competing for the ISSA/Interlcean Innovation Award 2008.
Category winners will be presented in each of three categories: Machines; Utensils, cleaning systems/solutions/concepts/chemicals; and Management and training solutions. One of these three winners will then be chosen as the overall winner of the 2008 ISSA/Interclean Innovation Award.
The Awards will be presented on Tuesday 6 May during a special presentation at the Show. All nominated products will be on display in the Innovation Award Pavilion.
Judgement criteria are originality, impact, practicality, sustainability and profitability.
Category A: Machines
Kärcher BRC 50/70W, a powerful, duo carpet extractor that can be operated in two modes, deep extraction and encapsulation (interim cleaning). www.karcher.com
Nilfisk-Advance AX 651 Multi EDS, a multi-surface cleaner for both hard and soft floors, which features ECO Dosage Solution (EDS) - for longer running time and precise detergent metering. www.nilfisk-advance.com
Ultra Clean Ltd’s UltraClean, a patented no-touch towel dispenser with an internal self-laundering system.
Category B: Utensils, cleaning systems/solutions/concepts/chemicals
Baudoin Glas’s City Washer, a compact automobile, equipped with a light (2.5 kilogram) and ergonomic ‘Carbo Clean Pole limited lite’ pole. www.baudoin.nl
OspreyDeepclean International’s ProVap Hygiene System, a fully integrated Dry Steam Vapour (DSV) cleaning system using new tools developed and tested in co-operation with healthcare and infection control industries. www.ospreydc.com
Van Houtum Papier’s Satino Towelex, a concept for the disposal of paper hand towels without the need to ever empty a bin.
Category C: Management and training solutions
Alpheios B.V’s Alpheios Diensten voor Diensten 2.0,
Pancomp Electronics’ Pancomp Building Site Cleaning Management Tool. www.pancomp.com
Vermop Salmon’s Vermop Soft Pictoplan. www.vermop.com
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CIRI seizes innovative thinking high ground
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