Commercial facilities like airports, office buildings, and shopping malls struggle to maintain toilet paper supplies in restrooms. Current manual checking methods waste staff time when dispensers are still full, yet still allow periods when they run empty. This creates unnecessary labor costs and frustrated visitors.

How a Smart Monitoring System Could Work

One approach would be to create a sensor-equipped toilet paper holder that could:

• Track remaining paper using weight or optical sensors
• Send wireless alerts to cleaning staff only when refills are actually needed
• Provide usage data to help managers optimize supply orders and cleaning schedules

The hardware might use long-life batteries and durable, humidity-resistant components, while software could range from simple alert routing to detailed analytics dashboards. Unlike existing solutions that track general restroom traffic, this would specifically solve the paper supply problem at individual dispensers.

Implementation Pathways

The simplest version could start as a Bluetooth-enabled sensor with a basic alert app. Piloting with a few local businesses could validate whether:

1. Facilities are willing to pay for such a solution
2. The technology works reliably in real restroom conditions
3. Staff actually use and benefit from the alerts

If successful, subsequent versions might add cloud connectivity, predictive refill scheduling, or integration with other facility management systems. The system could potentially expand to monitor soap and towel dispensers as well.

Business Considerations

The concept might generate revenue through hardware sales supplemented by subscription analytics. The main value for facilities would come from staff time savings and improved visitor satisfaction. Cleaning companies might adopt it as a service differentiator, while large venues could use the data to optimize their operations beyond just toilet paper management.