VERSAILLES, Ky. — By now, you’ve probably seen the Super Bowl commercial featuring a 1994 clip from The Today Show. Hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel are perplexed by the concept of the Internet and are even unable to pronounce the “@” symbol.
There’s a comparable analogy—networking—that’s emerged in the laundry industry.
While this concept is still unfamiliar to many on-premises laundry (OPL) managers, I predict it will be common practice in the future.
Just as there were early adopters of the Internet, smartphones, and countless other technologies, more and more laundry operators are seeing the benefits of networking their facility’s laundry room, analyzing machine usage, and giving their distributor access to this information as well.
With the ability to view data that shows machine performance, laundry room efficiency and even employee productivity from any Internet-connected device, networking is evolving how managers do their jobs. As a distributor, being remotely linked to customers’ systems is also improving the quality of support our company can provide to them. We have visibility to quantitative data that allows us to make recommendations to improve efficiency.
NETWORKING IN ACTION
As I write this, I’m sitting at the computer in my Kentucky office, observing the status of the laundry room at a beach resort and spa in Destin, Fla. Of the hotel’s seven washer-extractors, one has a load of clothes ready to be unloaded, one is empty, and the others are mid-cycle. I can see there’s one tumble dryer running at 180 F, and the load has 5% moisture left in the linen. When the load is finished in five minutes, I’ll be able to tell how long it took staff to unload and reload the machine. I am able to view the laundry room with such detail because the facility’s state-of-the-art control system is wirelessly networked to our system.
The hotel’s chief engineer can also view this information in real time. As the laundry room is just one of many areas he oversees throughout the resort, the data helps him determine at a glance if it’s running as efficiently as possible.
Networking allows him to pull up an overview of the entire laundry room from anywhere on-site and look for colors that represent each machine’s status and time remaining. This customer views the reports from computer monitors housed in the hotel’s control room; they also show everything from water temperature in water heaters to the status of the building’s elevators. He also checks in remotely using his iPad while dealing with matters throughout the resort.
In many facilities, machine status information is also typically displayed on a large monitor in the laundry room, allowing staff to quickly reference the screen rather than manually checking each machine.
With guest satisfaction top-of-mind, it is important to not only ensure equipment throughout the entire facility is working properly and efficiently, but also to analyze performance data and make improvements where necessary.
Before the laundry room was networked in 2011, the resort’s team could only make educated guesses on how to improve productivity and throughput. Now, it is using detailed performance snapshot reports to view information including machine usage, and to ensure the poundage-per-hour goal is met. It also can confirm workers are selecting the proper cycles when processing the resort’s bedding, linens, towels and other items that are used at a facility that offers a variety of services. Making sure correct procedures are followed ensures articles come out clean and soft, and therefore that guest expectations for quality are met.
Check back Tuesday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].