Retail Business Services, the services company of the grocery retail group Ahold Delhaize USA, is utilizing UV robots from Ava Robotics in two of its affiliated distribution centers to support enhanced cleaning procedures during the pandemic.

"2020 was an unprecedented year for grocery retail," said Chris Lewis, executive vice president of supply chain for Retail Business Services. "As we delivered an exponential volume of products to grocery stores and their customers to provide the nourishment families need, ensuring the safety of associates in our distribution centers has been a top priority. In addition to other robust health and safety measures, the robots have enabled us to further enhance disinfection procedures at two sites to protect our greatest asset - our people. We were pleased to be the first in the industry to support the testing of this technology."

Promoting employee and customer confidence in the workplace through new health and safety standards is a prominent business priority for 2021. That is why Ava Robotics, which creates intelligent robots for the workplace, recently launched its UV disinfection robot to manage COVID-19-related and other cleaning needs.

Allowing for autonomous UV disinfection in workplace settings, including corporate offices, warehouses, and other work spaces, the UV robot features:

  • Applications that disinfect both air and surfaces;
  • A disinfection rate of approximately 9,000 square feet per hour with 99% effectiveness against COVID-19;
  • Full autonomous operation and safe navigation;
  • Remote access to the robot for facilities managers or other users;
  • Emailed reporting, automatically sent to managers, confirming appropriate dosages for assigned areas;
  • Integration of screens and speakers for disinfection-related announcements; and
  • Easy integration with cleaning best practices and existing protocols.

The robots have also been piloted at other organizations, including Steelcase and Boston City Hall. Ava's UV robots are expected to become widely available and ship in early Q2, 2021.

The UV Disinfection Robot is the newest addition to Ava's total workplace solutions, focusing on workplace health and safety. Ava's embedded technologies are already proven in the company's Cisco Webex-enabled telepresence robots, which help global enterprise businesses drive workplace collaboration initiatives.

"With this timely expansion of our technology, we are bringing an intelligent UV disinfection robot with autonomous mobility to a market in great need," said Youssef Saleh, co-founder and CEO of Ava Robotics. "Businesses must make employees, customers - and really anyone coming into their place of work - feel confident that all that can be done to keep them safe and healthy is being done."

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