TOTO Announces a Collaboration with Comcast’s MachineQ on Smart Restroom Integration

TOTO, the world’s largest plumbing manufacturer with more than $5.45 billion in annual sales, announced that it is collaborating with MachineQ, a Comcast Company, to increase its IoT smart restroom products’ installation opportunities in high-traffic public restrooms across the US.

“For more than 100 years, TOTO has improved public restrooms with revolutionary products and technologies that provide a consistently clean, comfortable experience for people,” said Hidemi Ishikawa, CEO of TOTO USA. “Utilizing MachineQ’s fully integrated device-to-cloud platform enables TOTO to further increase the value our IoT smart restroom products provide to facilities managers. With MachineQ’s LoRaWAN network, which interoperates easily with other networks, TOTO’s IoT-enabled products easily integrate with facilities’ smart restroom monitoring systems or building automation systems across the US.”

Whether these facilities are airports, stadiums, hotels, or office buildings, MachineQ’s cloud-based IoT connectivity platform will enable TOTO’s smart restroom solutions to help more facility managers solve real-world business issues. With TOTO’s IoT-enabled smart restroom products, facility managers can better supervise their workforce by reducing needless restroom audits, significantly decreasing restroom downtime, and increasing employee efficiency while managing costs. This solution can increase consumers’ satisfaction with their public restroom experience, regardless of where they travel for work or play.

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Steve Salata, vice president and general manager of MachineQ adds, “We’re thrilled to work with TOTO. TOTO’s innovative restroom products expand the available offerings within the connected restroom space, benefitting customers seeking modernized, ‘smarter’ buildings. With our robust platform and network management in place, TOTO can focus on further delivering exceptional public restroom experiences.”

TOTO’s Smart Restroom Solutions

TOTO offers an array of IoT-enabled products for smart, fully connected public restrooms, which include:

• IoT-Enabled ECOPOWER Smart-Sensor Flush Valves for Toilets,
• IoT-Enabled ECOPOWER Smart-Sensor Flush Valves for Urinals,
• IoT-Enabled ECOPOWER Smart-Sensor Faucets, and
• IoT-Enabled Auto Soap Smart-Sensor Dispensers.

TOTO IoT-enabled products are designed to connect seamlessly with GP PRO’s KOLO Smart Monitoring System, a facility’s smart restroom monitoring platform, or building automation system to provide real-time updates on their status to a dashboard that facility managers monitor via phone, tablet, or computer. For example, facility managers and their custodial staff will receive real-time updates or alerts on:

• the number of toilet and faucet activations and their water consumption,
• operational abnormalities such as leaks or product malfunction,
• user safety, alerting staff to check a toilet stall when an occupant has remained in it for more than 30 minutes, and
• consumer traffic to determine optimal periods for cleaning and repairs.

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Facility managers can harness this information to dramatically increase consumers’ satisfaction with their public restroom experience and solve real-world business issues to manage their workforce better and manage costs in their restrooms’ operation.

Plumbing Functions’ Independent Operation

TOTO IoT-Enabled Products’ plumbing functions operate independently of their IoT capability. That is, if a facility’s Internet service is lost and WIFI communication is disrupted between a TOTO IoT-enabled plumbing product and the IoT monitoring system, or an IoT hardware issue occurs, the TOTO smart-sensor flush valves, faucets, and soap dispensers continue to function properly as high-performance plumbing products with no loss or disruption in functionality.

ECOPOWER Technology: TOTO’s proven smart-sensor ECOPOWER technology creates its own electricity every time water spins a small internal turbine (no need for hardwiring to a building’s electrical system or for routine disposable battery replacement, which is costly and toxic to the environment). There is no minimum daily usage requirement.

Because TOTO ECOPOWER faucets and flush valves generate their own energy, they continue to operate without interruption if the building loses its electricity. If the building’s internet service goes out, they continue to collect data on their usage to be transmitted when the internet connection is restored.

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