RIPON, Wis. — When managing an on-premises laundry (OPL) operation, it’s important to find a distributor that will provide you with the right equipment to meet your business needs, as well as reduce operational costs and maximize efficiency.
However, beyond providing equipment, your distributor should be a trusted partner who provides additional support and services to help you run a successful laundry operation.
Whether building a new laundry room or managing an existing laundry operation, your distributor is a laundry expert who can help you manage every aspect of your laundry room.
Read on to learn more about how your distributor can help you determine the best equipment mix and laundry room design; improve efficiencies and lower utility costs; finance the operation; as well as provide service and maintenance to help machines run efficiently.
EQUIPMENT SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE
Your distributor is your resource for any maintenance and service required for your equipment and will offer original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, as well as trained service personnel to provide you with the support you need.
Whether it is a regularly scheduled service visit or a sudden issue that arises, your trained service personnel can offer assistance over the phone to diagnose the problem and help problem-solve, or they will provide in-person assistance to fix the machine as quickly as possible, so that business is affected as little as possible.
Distributors will also schedule preventative-maintenance visits, which can be on a monthly or quarterly basis. During these visits, service personnel will clean and lubricate equipment, adjust belts and much more to ensure that the equipment runs smoothly and efficiently. These preventative visits can ultimately help extend the life of the equipment.
“The service department has the most contact with our customers, as once a sale is made, it will be many years before the equipment needs to be replaced,” says Mark Hubbard, president of Universal Laundry Machinery, Westland, Mich. “Because of this, we spend a lot of time training our service personnel, and it is critical to ensure that they are friendly and provide customers with the help they need during each visit.”
Your distributor can also provide recommendations on when it might be time to replace equipment. If older machines continually break down or have issues that require service, it may be more cost-effective to replace them with new and more efficient equipment. Your distributor can help break down the costs to show the difference of servicing versus purchasing a newer model.
FINANCING
There are many financing options to consider when investing in equipment, and your distributor can help you with this process. From deciding between a commercial bank, leasing company or financing through your equipment manufacturer, your distributor can help connect you with the lending option that best suits your unique needs.
There are many benefits to choosing a lender in the laundry industry to finance your operation because they have an understanding of the industry and the needs of your laundry room. They may also be able to offer financing options that a bank could not.
It’s important to use your distributor as a resource when making this decision, as they can serve as the liaison with your financing lender to make sure you have all of the information you need throughout the process.
FINDING SUPPORT IN YOUR DISTRIBUTOR
When it comes to laundry room management, you are not alone. Your distributor can advise you on almost every aspect of your operation, and their support begins before an equipment purchase has even been made by working together to determine the best equipment mix and laundry room layout, and extends throughout the lifetime of your equipment.
“When working with a customer, I put myself in their shoes and think through their needs. This helps me better understand the customer—their questions, concerns and expectations—and helps my team exceed those expectations,” Hubbard says.
As equipment and technologies continue to evolve, it is even more critical to work with your distributor and turn to them for service and support to ensure you stay ahead of the latest innovations and understand how these advancements can improve your laundry room operation.
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Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].