When and Why to Buy Autonomous Floor Care Equipment

Key Takeaways:
• Lithium-ion batteries are rapidly replacing traditional wet-cell and AGM options in floor care equipment.
• Lightweight, cordless stick vacuums are gaining significant popularity among building service contractors.
• Corded janitorial equipment remains irreplaceable for heavy-duty, aggressive deep scrubbing applications.

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Batteries play a major role in floor/carpet care equipment operation, and battery preference has shifted over the years. Wet-cell batteries were once well-liked but have moved out of favor due to maintenance needs.

“I had a customer that didn’t take good care of their wet-cell equipment. I switched them to AGM batteries, but that technology needs maintenance too,” recalls Schneringer. “Finally, I got them into lithium-ion batteries, and that solved a lot of problems."

Schneringer admits that lithium-ion has its detractors, but he points to how forgiving the technology is.

“You could run the charge down to zero, recharge for an hour, and run it down again without harming the battery,’ he says. “Lithium-ion can take a lot.”

Improved battery technology is helping make cordless “stick” vacuums more popular, too. The CRI is monitoring the growth of these machines.

“We see stick vacuums as likely the next category in terms of growing technologies,” says Hagan. “They're gaining in popularity as they are lightweight and easy to use for quick cleanups between deeper cleanings.”

But don’t get rid of corded equipment just yet. Yes, battery-operated machines offer convenience, maneuverability, and freedom from managing a cord, but corded equipment still has a place.

“For extremely aggressive, deep scrubbing, continuous cord-electric power will be difficult to replace,” says Thompson. “The application must determine the machine and power source."

Like batteries, the technology for fully connected IoT equipment has been here for some time. But is it a must-have feature for BSCs and their clients? That depends on the BSC.

“There are certain building operators that would find connected equipment valuable,” Schneringer says. “But some people don’t look at reports every day. In those cases, all that data just becomes noise."

Schneringer advocates for more simplified data that notifies commercial cleaning operations of current, critical issues, as well as problems that could arise.

“I think equipment that sends a red light for critical issues or a yellow light to caution that an issue is coming up would be very valuable,” says Schneringer. “It’s a helpful reminder to service the machine to extend its life.”

While advanced connectivity that reports on machine use, location, battery condition, or maintenance information can be worthwhile, Thompson feels that connectivity is best when it benefits the frontline worker the most.

“Every machine should carry a scannable code that takes the employee directly to the correct operator’s manual, training videos, parts information, maintenance schedules, troubleshooting instructions, and battery procedures,” argues Thompson. “The manual should not be missing or sitting in an office when an employee is standing beside the machine. Immediate access to operation, training, and maintenance information should be a must-have.”

Time to Buy

Deciding when it’s time to invest in new technology can be tricky for BSCs. In fact, results from Sanitary Maintenance's 2025 End User Purchasing Trend Survey, a sister publication to Contracting Profits, prove that BSCs and other buyers remain on the fence. The survey says that 52 percent of buyers planned on purchasing or researching IoT products in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, only 20 percent reported their plan to buy or research robotic floor equipment.

In comparison, over 60 percent of BSCs in that survey shared they planned to buy brooms, brushes, mops, and mopping equipment.

For things to change, management will have to take a stand.

“As long as employees have access to the old technology they have always used, many will return to it,” says Thompson. “Management must define the process, provide the right equipment, and establish how the work will be performed.”

Management must also address worker resistance. Schneringer has some advice on how to handle that issue.

“I make it clear that we are not here to cost anyone their jobs, but trying to make jobs easier,” Schneringer says. “With autonomous floor machines, the custodian is now a computer manager. The robot does the physical job while the custodian manages and takes care of the detail work. I explain that these machines turn a good cleaning situation into a great cleaning situation.”

Griffin theorizes that a move to autonomous floor equipment may actually help draw more workers to the field.

“If there is no tech or robots, younger employees are not interested,” Griffin says. “There is still a lot of competition for talent. Showcasing technology says your company has a culture that attracts the right talent.”

That new talent, according to Thompson, comes with no entrenched habits, making them the perfect cohort for new ideas—even if those ideas are not really that new.

“Many people entering the industry today do not have decades of bad habits. We should not begin by teaching them outdated methods,” says Thompson. “If a new employee is taught to use a no-touch restroom system, an autoscrubber rather than a mop bucket, or an oscillating machine rather than a rotary swing machine, the better system becomes normal.”

Amy Milshtein is a freelancer based in Portland, Oregon. She is a frequent contributor to Contracting Profits.

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Comparing Robotic Floor Care Tech to Traditional Equipment