Nabuurs turns autonomous cleaning into a warehouse process
Autonomous equipment is often judged by whether it can complete a task. At Nabuurs Supply Chain Solutions, the more important question was whether it could become a dependable part of a live logistics process. The answer has been demonstrated at the company’s 60,000m² warehouse in Oosterhout, where a Tennant T16AMR has operated since July 2025.
The autonomous scrubber is estimated to have reduced labour requirements for routine floor cleaning by 60–70%. Nabuurs was already achieving the required cleaning result with a Tennant M17 ride-on machine; the operational issue was that an employee had to drive it for several hours every day.
Preparing the system and the workforce
Nabuurs and Tennant began with a trial and ROI assessment. The selected T16AMR can clean large areas autonomously, operate manually when needed and use a cylindrical brush configuration. BrainOS supplies navigation and safety functions.
The project team treated preparation as part of the technology deployment. An internal cleaning team programmed and tested every route during the trial, adjusted schedules and developed familiarity with the machine. This meant the routes were already validated when the investment was approved, reducing the gap between purchase and productive use.
That approach also gave employees a practical role in the transition. Rather than separating automation from the existing operation, the trial enabled the team to define how the equipment should behave within the warehouse’s established routines.
Safety and measurable utilisation
Traffic management was a central concern because the scrubber operates around warehouse vehicles and people. BrainOS updates allow stopping points to be specified in busy areas and warning signals to be configured near junctions and crossings. These controls supported deployment without disrupting daily activity.
The machine cleans an average of 1,774m² per day, equivalent to 12,420m² per week and more than 54,000m² per month. It runs autonomously for an average of 5.57 hours each week and more than 24 hours each month, with autonomous operation accounting for almost 63% of total usage.
The result is a practical Industry 5.0 lesson: automation does not have to remove people from a process to create value. In this case, employees helped shape the system, while the machine absorbed repetitive driving time. Nabuurs is now discussing a possible rollout at other Dutch locations with Tennant, as it considers how to standardise cleaning across the Nabuurs network.
