We have heard a near unanimous message from our customers in the field: they are being asked to “do more with less.” Labor shortages, cost pressures, new safety requirements and added workflow are creating challenges across markets. Even within hand hygiene, you likely have far more hand sanitizer dispensers to maintain than ever before, and there is a good chance those dispensers are touch-free.
GOJO has spent thousands of hours in the field with our customers learning about their workflows to design solutions that help make them more efficient. Below are some of the key takeaways from our experience in the field.
1. Workflow Disruptions Are the Biggest Source of Inefficiency!
In “Lean Manufacturing,” eliminating waste is key to increasing the efficiency of a process. There are many sources of workflow disruption within soap and sanitizer dispensers that lead to a lot of “waste.” These can include dispensers that break, batteries that run out, and complaints from patrons. In all these examples, someone had to stop what they were doing, travel reactively to the source of the problem, and fix it. These types of workflow disruptions are highly inefficient, especially when resources are spread so thin!
Where our customers have focused a lot of their processes, and where we have in turn focused much of our solution design, is around better ways to proactively address (and even anticipate) these inefficiencies. As you evaluate your internal processes and consider the solutions for your facility (including soap and sanitizer), ask yourself: Is this helping me do my job more effectively? Does this solution equip me with tools to proactively address issues?
2. Touch-Free Dispensers Can Create Unique Challenges to Workflow
We hear from end-users more than ever that touch-free is the new expectation. As an organization that has put a lot of time and energy into developing new touch-free solutions, GOJO is a big supporter of this evolved thinking. However, touch-free dispensers add new workflow challenges to maintenance teams, such as battery maintenance. However, what is much less obvious is just how complicated that maintenance can be to proactively predict.
Batteries in a touch-free system are a function of both time (due to sensors always being on) and usage (more energy required to dispense). Think about how different the traffic is at each of your restrooms. Some may service hundreds of people an hour and others may service ten per day. Now, consider how even within a restroom, each dispenser gets used at a much different rate. The sink closest to the door gets used significantly more than the last sink in the room, and sanitizer and soap dispensers get used in different rates, too. When you cascade this difference in usage across hundreds or thousands of dispensers, you get a very complicated battery maintenance problem!
Internally at GOJO, we call this issue the “popcorn effect.” Dispenser batteries are dying in a seemingly random pattern across a facility that makes it extremely difficult to stay on top of. You either have to change batteries proactively before they are dead, leading to unnecessary battery waste (and more battery cost), or you have to wait until they die and experience one of those inefficient workflow disruptions! This key insight is why we spent years developing and inventing Energy-on-the-Refill, the only solution that turns battery maintenance into a proactive step with every refill change.
3. Dispensers Should Be Designed to Last
It can take great effort to select, install, and implement a new hand hygiene solution. While GOJO has spent tremendous time making this process as seamless as possible for our solutions, the fact is that once you are implemented, you do not want to go through this process again every year. What we have found over time is our customers expect the dispensers they select to last for 4 to 8 years!
Just like any other product, not all dispensers are created equally. Before implementing a new solution, ask: How has this solution been tested? How much experience and demonstrated success does this manufacturer have of dispensers in the field?
We have learned lessons from experience, rigorous testing, and trusted manufacturing strategic partners to ensure our dispensers work once installed. All of our dispensers go through impact testing, open and close cycle testing, chemical compatibility testing, climate stress testing, in depth electronics testing, and dispense lifecycle testing in our uniquely built development lab.
For more on the benefits of dispensers, read our other blog posts: