Articles

Paper Problems?

Categories: Cleaning Best Practices, Innovations, Trends & Technology, ISSA Member Spotlight

It happens all the time. You are in the restroom. You have thoroughly washed your hands. They are dripping wet. You go to grab a paper towel to dry them and….they have run out. Or worse yet…paper jam!

One solution to this issue is the Tork PeakServe® Continuous™ Hand Towel System.

With the new recessed cabinet adapters, retrofitting existing units is easy. Unlike time-consuming renovations, the new innovation takes five minutes to install and can result in up to 40% increased towel capacity, compared with using Tork Advanced 1 ply folded towels in recessed cabinets.

The Tork PeakServe Recessed Cabinet Adapters was an Innovation of the Year award winner at ISSA Show North America Virtual Experience 2020, grabbing the top spot in the dispenser category.

The industry has welcomed Tork PeakServe Recessed Cabinet Adapters by Tork, an Essity brand. This new paper towel dispenser adaptation is just next in line in a long history of innovation at Tork.

From the very beginning, with the launch of their first disposable wipes in 1968, Tork has become a world leader in professional hygiene.

The brand’s passion for helping shape the future of professional hygiene resulted in the launch of Tork PeakServe in 2017. The award-winning Tork PeakServe Continuous Hand Towel System is a whole new hand towel category that uses compressed bundles to offer the highest capacity on the market, save on storage space, and reduce transportation environmental impact. With dispensers that can be quickly and easily refilled at any time, the continuous towel system reduces runouts and waste, thereby freeing up time for cleaning and speeding up restroom flow. The system features connected towel bundles that latch onto each other when loaded and dispense with no interruptions. Because towels are compressed by 50%, they can fit twice as many towels using less space. The entire Tork PeakServe family enables clients to meet the needs of their patrons with better restroom flow for high-traffic situations.

A fitting adaptation

The Tork PeakServe Recessed Cabinet Adapters are the latest paper hand towel dispenser innovation from Tork. The adapters come in two sizes, allowing users to retrofit existing stainless-steel recessed cabinets into a high-capacity, high-performing dispensing system. They can be installed quickly and are designed to fit a wide range of recessed hand towel cabinets.

Compatible with Tork PeakServe Continuous hand towels, taking a towel is always smooth and easy. The system can hold up to 1,230 towels, depending on adapter size, according to Rachel Olsavicky, regional marketing manager, Commercial and Public Interest of Essity Professional Hygiene.

These towels can be dispensed one-at-a-time within three seconds and without interruption to keep the flow of people through the restroom, allowing for improved social distancing. The compressed refills are fast to fill, can be topped up at any time, and are easy to store and transport, enabling staff to focus on cleaning, not refilling.

“Tork PeakServe Recessed, along with the entire Tork PeakServe product line, helps businesses support handwashing, which is critical to preventing the spread of germs. In today’s environment, Tork PeakServe Recessed also helps the cleaning industry by facilitating the compliance of the CDC public restroom guidelines by allowing people to get in and out of the restroom quickly, and thus promote social distancing,” claims Olsavicky.

Research and development

Recessed paper towel cabinets in restrooms are costly investments and often chosen and installed for the sleek, high-end aesthetic look they deliver. Over 40% of office buildings have them. However, performance issues can occur with tabbing, towel tearing, and limited capacity, among other things.

Thanks to the strong relationships Tork has with their distributors and customers, they became aware of these problems. They recognized the need to improve the performance of recessed cabinets while still maintaining the sleek, high-end look that drew customers to purchase them in the first place.

The development of Tork PeakServe Recessed involved a cross-functional global team that spent three years conducting an extensive study of the recessed hand towel dispensers in the market.

“The team learned which cabinets were most prevalent in the market and their common challenges—costly and time-consuming renovations to retrofit a unit—within those systems in order to best address issues,” explains Olsavicky. This work defined the target market, determined the utility of the two new adapters, and uncovered the best means to apply the PeakServe platform to recessed hand towel cabinets.

Olsavicky continues, “With numerous rounds of development, lab and field testing, and revisions following customer feedback, we are very proud of the unique concept we deliver that simplifies our customers’ lives and improves their guests’ restroom experience without compromising on design.”

Innovation challenges

As with any new innovation, a few obstacles needed to be overcome. Olsavicky reveals, “One of our greatest challenges, when Tork PeakServe was first introduced, was needing to educate the industry on this market-changing product innovation with entirely new features: High capacity continuous towel dispensing achieved via compressed towel bundles that attach to one another. Another challenge was not having a recessed solution when we first introduced Tork PeakServe in 2018.” Tork teams worked tirelessly to bring these solutions to market in April 2020.

But their greatest challenge was yet to come, and it was one that they welcomed: Meeting customer demand. “Now, more than ever, people are paying close attention to their handwashing habits and the products that support them,” says Olsavicky. “Tork PeakServe continues to outperform our expectations, which means it is improving customers’ day-to-day operations and creating better and more hygienic guest experiences.”

A game-changer

What makes Tork PeakServe Recessed a game-changer is that, now, the cleaning industry can have the same system throughout an entire facility, using the same refill, without having to worry about managing different types of products.

“In large facilities, it is common to find multiple dispensing options. As a result, a facility manager must carry multiple refills, and the cleaning staff must decipher which refill fits which dispenser, leading to inefficiencies. The entire Tork PeakServe dispenser family uses the same refill. This reduces the number of products a facility needs to handle and store. It also makes the ordering, training, and refilling process more efficient,” claims Olsavicky.

Created for restrooms of all types within a high-traffic venue—no matter the size or layout—the solution is applicable across industries and public spaces, whether an airport, office building, higher education facility, health care building, industrial facility, etc. Best of all, the adapters are compatible with many types of recessed cabinets. And because of its high capacity, the risk of run-outs are decreased.

“The solution also provides staff an opportunity to maximize their cleaning time by not having to spend time checking restroom refill levels,” mentions Olsavicky. “Today, cleaners must worry about meeting a new standard of hygiene, so it’s a relief knowing they can use that extra time to keep up with cleaning other areas of the building or facility.”

Another advantage is the cost savings. Because Tork PeakServe Recessed takes just five minutes to install, customers and distributors have an opportunity to save time and money by not having to worry about expensive and time consuming renovations.

Olsavicky concludes, “Moving forward, we believe this solution will be at the forefront of new trends in the industry: Converting to one dispensing system throughout a facility, avoiding costly renovations, and keeping guests feeling safer in a hygienic restroom.”

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