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Survey: When Power Goes Out, Most Have Backup Plan

CHICAGO — Two-thirds of laundry managers and administrators surveyed via the Wire this month (66.7%) say they have reciprocal processing agreements for another laundry to provide textile services to their customers or end users should their operation be halted by a power outage. One-third of respondents (33.3%) don’t rely on such an agreement.
Roughly 39% of managers and administrators are fortunate in that their businesses or institutions utilize backup power sources that keep their laundries operational while others in their immediate area may be down. Some 61% do not.
For most (61.1%), their longest, unplanned service interruption lasted less than 24 hours. One-third of respondents saw their service interrupted for one to three days, and 5.6% suffered interruptions that lasted more than a week. No one who responded said they suffered interruptions of between four and seven days.
A common power outage was the primary reason for the longest service interruption among 47.4% of respondents. A natural disaster was the cause for 21%. For 15.8%, it was a major piece of equipment going down. Another 15.8% selected “Other” as the reason, and these related more specifically to water service or utility upgrades. No respondent cited a labor strike as having caused their longest service interruption.
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Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].