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As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), O₂ Telefonica will in future equip every NR 1500 vacuum robot from Vorwerk subsidiary Nexaro with a Telefonica IoT SIM card. The connectivity solution from O₂ Telefonica is the prerequisite for intelligent real-time management of the autonomous vacuum robots in commercial properties. Thus, O₂ Telefonica is helping the start-up to revolutionise the European facility management market and the cleaning industry with the use of these cobots. Cobotics stands for genuine cooperation between humans and state-of-the-art, autonomous robot technology, where cleaning staff are relieved by the elimination of particularly strenuous floor cleaning and early or late working hours.

“Nexaro is an innovative company that is sustainably revolutionising its market with this digital solution. We are proud to support Nexaro as an IoT partner in this pioneering achievement,” says Karsten Pradel, director B2B at O₂ Telefonica. “For us, this first-party partnership has a special significance: it makes it impressively clear that ‘O₂ Telefonica inside’ is increasingly becoming synonymous with the digitalisation of industrial products with an outstanding price-performance ratio. This is an important step in securing our fair share of the market in the business customer segment,” Pradel continues.

The cobot system solution from Nexaro

With the Nexaro NR 1500 and the associated Nexaro HUB software solution, Nexaro is launching a robotic vacuum system solution (cobots) that enables an increase in efficiency and quality while reducing costs. Model calculations show 35% cost savings compared to structures with traditional personnel deployment. Using numerous sensors and artificial intelligence (AI), the environment is automatically recorded by the cobots. Floor cleaning is documented in real time. Cleaning personnel are thus supported in their daily work and professional building services are brought to a new level of quality.

The professional cobot was developed by Nexaro at the technology site in Wuppertal and can be used autonomously anywhere thanks to an IoT mobile connection from O₂ Telefonica. The so-called Nexaro HUB is responsible for controlling the cleaning robots. This holistic software solution not only guarantees the reliable and autonomous operation of the NR 1500, but also enables the coordination, control and documentation of all cleaning services, thus significantly increasing efficiency. Only German servers are used for the Nexaro HUB.

The reliable connectivity of the NR 1500 to the Nexaro HUB is ensured by the integrated mobile radio connection and the Kite SIM management platform from O₂ Telefonica this means that the devices can be used permanently online and flexibly without a WLAN connection. The costs for Europe-wide mobile data usage of the cobots are already included in the price for the Nexaro system.“We are convinced that our innovative cleaning solution will lead the facility management industry into the future and make a significant contribution to improving the quality and profitability of companies,” explains Dr. Henning Hayn, CEO of Nexaro. “To make this possible, we need a proven digitalisation and networking partner which is why we chose O₂ Telefonica.”

The market

Robots are vital for the cleaning industry. As part of facility management, the cleaning industry has an enormous backlog in digitalisation and, at the same time, high cost pressure. Rising wages, a shortage of cleaners and a digitalisation backlog are putting pressure on the industry. The cleaning industry is an attractive market: In Europe, it generates annual sales of almost 130 billion euros and employs more than four million people. In Germany, 1.2 million cleaners in over 40,000 companies generate sales of just under 34 billion euros.

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