Case Study

ARAMARK Improves
Healthcare Cleaning,
Productivity with Ergonomics
Overview:
Managed services leader ARAMARK makes integrating ergonomics into its cleaning processes and procedures a priority.
The company relies on Tennant Company’s ergonomically designed FaST™ and ReadySpace® technologies to improve
worker efficiency and productivity for one of its healthcare customers.

Situation:
Gordon Buntrock has worked for managed services leader ARAMARK for 25 years and is currently the director of program
management for environmental services within the healthcare market. “Housekeeping is incredibly labor intensive work,
particularly in a healthcare setting where the standards are so high,” he said. “If we can reduce the physical demands on
our workers, we not only make them safe, comfortable and happy, but we can improve their efficiency and productivity.”
ARAMARK Healthcare performs extensive equipment testing to evaluate performance, run time, dry time, impact on
employee fatigue, noise levels, and other factors contributing to the overall effectiveness of cleaning a healthcare setting.
“Our goal is to replace less efficient tools with more efficient tools. Then, the service workers are trained on the proper useof the tools that are now a part of the cleaning system.”

Solution:
To boost worker efficiency and productivity, ARAMARK now uses Tennant Company’s T7 Micro-Rider automatic riding
floor scrubber. The T7 was designed using a “Jack and Jill” software that ensures the cockpit is comfortable for the fifth
percentile of female users and the 95th percentile of male users. The T7 also offers simple to use, intuitive controls andadjustable seats that increase operator comfort and help to decrease fatigue, and it has fully cleanable Hygenic™ tanks
that allow users to quickly and easily access and sanitize the solution and recovery tanks.
The T7 also relies on Tennant’s FaST technology that applies a pre-mixed foam detergent to the floor surface and greatly
reduces the amount of water used to clean the floor. “From a purely ergonomic standpoint, using less water means ourworkers are spending far less time on fatiguing empty/fill cycles,” said Buntrock. “And using a pre-mixed foam detergent
means our workers aren’t lifting heavy chemical containers. In essence, with this type of automatic scrubber, our workers
can exert less energy to get the job done, thereby improving productivity and efficiency.”
ARAMARK also uses Tennant’s ReadySpace technology, which uses less water to leave carpeted spaces clean and dryin about 30 minutes or less. “Carpet care is incredibly fatiguing, particularly when the carpet is stained or heavily soiled,”
said Buntrock. “There’s a lot of carpet in healthcare facilities, so it’s imperative that our workers can more quickly andeasily clean those carpets. This technology allows our workers to speed up the carpet care process by reducing fatigue
and being highly effective in one pass.”

Outcome:
ARAMARK has found that incorporating ergonomics into its cleaning processes and procedures offers a wide range ofbenefits, including improved worker comfort, safety and happiness as well as improved efficiency, productivity andcustomer satisfaction. “By improving ergonomics, we’re improving virtually every aspect of our workers’ jobs for theirbenefit, our benefit and the benefit of our customers,” said Buntrock. “The positive impact of ergonomics seems limitless.
It’s something that every business should invest in.”©2006 Tennant and Nobles are registered trademarks of Tennant Company, whose products are sold and serviced through Tennant Sales and Service Company.