They have automations in their toilets 🚽 😳

It could have been a parking lot, but no…

It's actually a bathroom.

I took these photos on my most recent trip to the United States.

As I sat on the royal throne, I marveled at the technological wonder in front of me.

"Surely they didn’t install these sensors just to indicate if a stall is free or occupied, that wouldn’t make much financial sense."

"What are they measuring with these sensors?"

"How many people sit here per hour? (Do I even want to know? 😅)"

The real question is:

"How much am I going to save by having these sensors?"

At an airport like JFK, where over 27 million people pass through each year, the cleaning expenses for bathrooms must be considerable.

I made an approximation of the annual budget they spend on bathroom cleaning and maintenance:

Estimated Annual Cost for Bathroom Cleaning at JFK Airport

Number of Bathrooms:

• JFK Airport has six main terminals, each with about 10-15 bathrooms.
• Estimate: 6 terminals × 12.5 bathrooms/terminal = 75 bathrooms

Frequency and Cost of Cleaning:

• Cleaning 10 times a day, cost of $75 per cleaning.

Daily and Annual Cost:

• Daily cost: 75 bathrooms × $750/day = $56,250/day
• Annual cost: $56,250/day × 365 days = $20,531,250/year

The estimated annual cost for cleaning bathrooms at JFK Airport is approximately $20.5 million.

What are the benefits of installing sensors in the bathrooms?

Cleaning Standard

• Clean high-traffic bathrooms more frequently and low-traffic ones less often.
• Avoid unnecessary cleaning in less used areas, reducing labor and material costs.

Resource Allocation

• Allocate the cleaning team more efficiently, focusing on high-use areas.
• Optimize shifts based on the estimated number of flights.
• Reduce cleaning material waste by using them only when necessary.

Maintenance Management

• Proactively maintain bathrooms based on usage data, preventing wear and tear.
• Optimize stock levels of cleaning products, reducing storage costs and waste.

What is the investment value?

Let's assume the following:

• Cost per installed sensor: $200
• Number of stalls per bathroom: 6
• Total number of sensors: 6 X 75 = 450
• Total installation cost: 450 X $200 = $90,000
• Maintenance and Software Cost = $75,000/year
• Total investment value, year 1 = $165,000

What is the return?

Going back to the initial question:

"How much am I going to save by having these sensors?"

Let's imagine we can save between 3% to 5% of the annual budget:

• 3% = $616,000
• 5% = $1,026,000

Let's be conservative and assume 3% annual savings.

• Savings in the 1st Year: $616,000 - $165,000 = $451,000
• Savings in subsequent years: $616,000 - $75,000 = $541,000

It doesn’t seem too bad to install automation in the bathrooms 😁

Sometimes we don’t see the gold hidden under our carpet.

We do things because "they’ve always been done this way!"

And we leave money on the table because of it.

If you want to take the next step in your entrepreneurial journey and learn how you can automate your business, click the link below and join the waiting list.

🤙
Jorge

P.S. They measure how many times their customers go to the bathroom, so what are you waiting for?