Use-Case – Commercial Floor Scrubber J45

The Challenge

A multi-store retail chain in southern Germany operates a typical medium-size supermarket format of 4,000 m² sales and back-of-house area per store. Floor cleaning was outsourced to a night-shift contractor using manual wet mopping and basic single-disc machines. Each store was billed a flat fee regardless of actual time spent.

The approach created several issues: long drying times caused morning slip risks for early customers, quality varied by crew, and contractor rates had increased to €410 per store per night. With 6 days of operation per week, cleaning was a significant fixed cost and difficult to scale as more stores opened.

Manual Process

The operations team mapped the real effort needed to wet mop and detail-clean the 4,000 m² store floor each night.

Before Automation:

• Daily volume: 4,000 m²/day
• Cycle time per m² (manual mopping and drying): 6.5 m²/minute (including wringing, repositioning, and warning signage)
• Total daily time: 4,000 m² ÷ 6.5 m²/min ≈ 615 minutes (≈ 10.25 hours/day)
• Labor cost equivalent at €25/hour: 10.25 h × €25 ≈ €256/day
• Actual contractor cost charged: €410/day per store
• Rework/issues: 2–3 slip-risk wet patches reported per week per store, plus frequent visible streaks around high-traffic aisles

The contractor typically sent two cleaners for around 5 hours, but the retailer paid a fixed nightly price that had risen over time. Because floors stayed visibly damp for 20–30 minutes, opening crews often had to add extra warning signs and re-mop areas with dirt drag marks.

Automated Solution

The chain decided to bring cleaning in-house using the Commercial Floor Scrubber J45. Each store received one cordless unit and trained a small in-house team to clean during low-traffic daytime windows and immediately after closing.

After Installing Commercial Floor Scrubber J45:

• Machine operates at 60% of maximum capacity for reliability
• Rated cleaning efficiency: 2,100 m²/h ⇒ used at 60% = 1,260 m²/h
• New cycle time: 1,260 m²/h = 21 m²/minute
• Total daily time: 4,000 m² ÷ 21 m²/min ≈ 190 minutes (≈ 3.2 hours/day)
• Labor cost (in-house at €25/hour): 3.2 h × €25 ≈ €80/day
• Quality improvement: floor dry to the touch in 3–5 minutes, reducing wet patches and slip complaints by an estimated 70%

Thanks to the J45’s 4-hour battery runtime and 45/55 L tank capacities, a single operator can complete the full store in one continuous run, with only short pauses for quick checks. Noise under 65 dB(A) allows cleaning during trading hours in quieter aisles without disturbing shoppers.

ROI Calculation

Investment:
Machine price: €1,549
Previous daily cost (contractor): €410/day
New daily cost (in-house labor only): ≈ €80/day
Daily savings: €410 − €80 = €330/day

Monthly savings (22 working days): €330 × 22 = €7,260/month
Payback period: €1,549 ÷ €330/day ≈ 4.7 days (under 1 week)

Even if the retailer allocates an additional €170/month per store for consumables, maintenance, and occasional brush or squeegee replacement, the net savings remain above €7,000 per month per store. With multiple stores, the group-level payback for a fleet of J45 units was effectively achieved within the first month of operation.

Conclusion

By replacing outsourced manual mopping with the Commercial Floor Scrubber J45, the retail chain reduced daily cleaning time by more than half and cut per-store cleaning costs by around €330 per day. Floors are now consistently clean, dry within minutes, and can be maintained during the day without disturbing customers.

“Switching to the J45 let us move from a €410/night contractor to an in-house process that costs about €80/day in labor, while cleaning the same 4,000 m² in just over 3 hours. We recovered the €1,549 investment in under a week and have seen noticeably fewer slip-risk wet patches at opening.” — Martin Weber, Operations Manager, Südmarkt Retail Group / Munich, Germany