Kimberly-Clark Professional adopts Bluemix for toilet app

Kimberly-Clark Professional has chosen IBM's cloud technologies, including its Bluemix platform, to help digitally transform its intelligent facilities management app to help clients keep tabs on their toilets, in a bid to improve the customer experience and lower operating costs.

Sensors integrated into soap dispensers, air fresheners, entrance doors and other amenities monitor what's happening and this data is sent back to managers who can then address any issues more quickly, such as an air freshener not triggering often enough to keep bathrooms smelling fresh or dispensers running out of soap.

Everything can be viewed and managed from a single dashboard, making it a more time-efficient way of checking up on multiple sites. Both mobile and desktops are supported, so facilities managers can check up on their bathrooms while on the move.

"The restroom and supplies management have always been important factors in facilities management, however, we now know they're critical to maintaining the business itself," said Bryan Semkuley, Kimberly-Clark Professional's vice president of global innovation.

"We wanted to help our clients reduce tenant churn, lower costs, and improve the customers' experience along the way. That's when we turned to innovations in cloud and IoT from IBM that can be operated from facilities managers' smartphones."

Initial results show the amount of supplies needed in the toilets reducing by up to 20 per cent, demonstrating its power to keep customers happy and businesses saving money.

"Kimberly-Clark Professional products are used by one fourth of the world's population on a regular basis," added Rachel Reinitz, IBM distinguished engineer and CTO, IBM Bluemix Garage. "IBM Cloud, from development platform through IoT, enabled them to develop and deploy the innovative Intelligent Restroom from the ground up."