A well-optimised linen and laundry management process are critical for ensuring that your linen rental service delivers clean linen to its clients on time while minimising losses. However, the management process is held up by several external factors that, if changed, could undermine the company’s management process. This is the reality that many linen rental service companies are facing as they struggle to bring management costs under control.
Despite the troubling prospects, there are ways for companies to work around this issue. In this blog, we will discuss how to improve linen management to ensure that clients get the linen they need on time without seeing a dent in critical revenue streams.
Rising costs are hurting profitability
Exogenous factors have triggered a marked rise in operational costs. Since February of this year, there has been a dramatic increase in energy prices. The rise in crude oil has led to an upward surge in fuel costs, which means that linen rental companies are facing a massive rise in operational costs.
All businesses have seen increased fuel charges of 35% and more, which has significantly increased operation and distribution costs.
Furthermore, there is no end to this problem in sight, for it would take months or even years for the solution to rectify itself. Hence, linen service companies are faced with the unpleasant prospect of shrinking profits for years to come with little option on how to resolve them.
While there are some solutions, such as optimising delivery routes or investing in vehicles that use a different power source, these operations could take time and substantial investment. Considering the amount of work involved, it might not be worth the hassle to some managers to accomplish their goal of cutting costs.
However, it is possible to cut costs without investing in ventures that are too ambitious or extensive. It is possible to cut operating costs by exploring other avenues, which would lead to lower operating costs while improving productivity.
Can automation resolve these issues?
In the past few years, we have seen several innovations that have seen automation become more prominent, with various companies pushing for new developments that could improve operational costs, allowing you to reduce costs without undermining productivity.
We have talked extensively about automated and business intelligence solutions to optimise linen and laundry management. However, they could also be used to correct another critical factor: energy use.
Prominent manufacturers are investing in technology that would allow them to reduce energy consumption while completing linen operations. Managers can replace older, inefficient machines, which would empower companies to complete operations, such as sorting and washing, all which can cut costs.
This would help you reduce energy use and consumption and help you successfully navigate an industry where costs are rising. Furthermore, you can invest in solutions that can help you streamline management operations to double productivity and reduce operating costs.
Moreover, investing in automation can help smoothen out administrative and management processes that, otherwise, raise costs, such as linen utility tracking. This would allow you to streamline processes and smoothen out the procedures that come with sorting, washing and drying, making the process smoother, which leads to lower production costs while also improving productivity.
Optimising linen and laundry management during hard times
With operating costs rising and profits shrinking, discovering ways to optimise linen and laundry management can help you navigate a rather turbulent environment where there is no end in sight.
Furthermore, investing in automation would allow you to stay in tune with where the industry is heading in general, which is to move in a direction that is more tech-driven, for analogue and manual systems are rapidly being replaced by automation and business intelligence systems.
As technology plays a bigger role in linen management operations, investing in this technology would allow you to modernise your management processes.
This would accelerate productivity and innovation, improving your chances of growth and innovation during a time when costs are rising and are eating into profits. Automation will play an integral role in managing linen in the future. Hence, it is best to invest in these systems to mitigate rising costs.