American Laundry News, the US magazine offering specialized covering of the news of the textile care sector has recently published findings concerning what the industry considers necessary improvements and changes the following years. Laundry managers were asked how the industry could be improved and their reply mostly involved training.
When asked, “In what areas do you think the industry needs improvement,” almost 36% of survey takers indicate training needs improvement. That’s more than double the next closest response of “sustainability,” with 17.3%. Behind sustainability, more areas of improvement include cost management at nearly 14% of survey takers, certification/accreditation (11%) and labor relations (nearly 10%).
One way to figure out what training is necessary is to look at where laundry/linen operators have heard the most complaints from customers. Just over 32% indicate that customers have complained the service “doesn’t fill orders correctly or runs shorts on items.” That’s followed by high service costs at nearly 25%. Quality complaints, in the form of not cleaning or pressing/ironing goods well enough, came in at 11%. “Doesn’t deliver on time” was indicated by 7.4% of survey takers.
While the Your Views survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%.