Smart Facilities Management - TCC Case Study

CASE STUDY

SMART FACILITIES
MANAGEMENT

Smart Facilities: Taking the Guesswork Out of Public Toilet Management.

Tauranga City Council implemented a COGNETEX smart facilities system to improve cleanliness, maintenance and reduce costs. The result: a general public that can see the difference.

Martin says; “I quickly realised that Roger and COGNETEX could build a better management system for the public toilet facilities. They immediately took my idea and made it better. Working with COGNETEX became a partnership to deliver a smart facilities management system for Tauranga City Council.”

“We now get feedback about the cleanliness of our facilities. This was unheard of. The public have noticed the benefits of the system we have built with COGNETEX and implemented here at Tauranga City Council.”

“Loop have the attitude and expertise to deliver this amazing technology. And they can support it. It was great to work with a company like that.”

Martin Bellingan oversaw almost 90 public toilet facilities in Tauranga when the opportunity for a smart facilities management system presented itself with the development of the brand-new Mount Maunganui Surf Club building. Always one to look to the future and with a deep understanding of electronics and technology, Martin had the idea that he could simplify and better manage the toilet facilities around Tauranga using technology and data.

Public toilet facilities are usually known for all the wrong reasons, graffiti, vandalism, and homeless people using them as accommodation etc. Management is often difficult and expensive. Martin came across Loop Technologies’ COGNETEX team at a conference and immediately responded to their Internet of Things message. Making an enquiry on the stand and chatting to Roger, Martin realised that what he had been thinking about could be brought to reality in working with a COGNETEX smart facilities solution.

At the time, Martin only knew what he wanted out of a smart facilities system. Roger could see what he wanted and importantly knew how they could do it and make it better.

EASY ACCESS TO USAGE INFORMATION LEADS TO BETTER DECISION MAKING AND CONTROL.

One of the biggest problems and areas for improvement in any new system was the ability to lock and unlock toilets remotely. Sending staff out to manually open all the toilets around the city was expensive and time consuming. The ability to open and shut the facilities remotely was the first and most important function.

Another area of concern was monitoring the use of the facilities. At the Mount, Martin had no idea of the usage numbers, being a high traffic area, particularly during summer, the ability to monitor the numbers of people using the facilities would mean that planning cleaning and maintenance would become a breeze.

During off-peak times high usage cubicles can be remotely locked to encourage use of the other cubicles, ensuring more even usage and therefore longer useful life. Cubicles can be automatically locked off at any time when high usage indicates servicing is required to maintain cleanliness.

“The smart facilities system has been built using radar sensors, infra-red sensors, and automatic locks so that we can monitor usage and plan around peak times and seasons. This means we gain enormous efficiencies and savings as a result.”

One noticeable thing for Martin is the feedback from the public.

A REMOTE SMART FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT DELIVERS SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS OVER THE LONG-TERM.

For Martin and Tauranga City Council the implementation of a COGNETEX smart facilities solution has meant big improvements in all areas, from facility management and cleaning to planning for peak usage and maintenance to saving money on operational expenses.

“I can now unlock and lock a specific toilet cubicle or entire facility remotely, from my phone. The system incorporates an App that collates the data. I can see when a facility is in high use and plan for a cleaner to turn up when it is needed. There is no longer any guess work and I can make informed decisions.”

COGNETEX ROLLS OUT ACROSS THE CITY’S PUBLIC TOILETS.

In the future Martin sees this type of system only becoming more common, “We are rolling out the system across all of our public toilet facilities and we are beginning to look at other areas where Tauranga City Council and the public could benefit from this type of system. The great thing is, the COGNETEX system is flexible, and we can apply it to so many other areas within the council realm using different technologies.”

CASE STUDY