Can you please share with us your current position/job and profile of the organization you work for?
Becca Anderson — Publisher/Editor of Fabricare Canada Magazine, a digital publication covering the fabricare industry in both Canada and the US. The magazine was in print for 100 years, and then went digital in 2020. We publish weekly news and articles from around the industry, and have a monthly focus that we build articles around. (For example, “Behind the Tech”, “Sustainability”, “Liquid Side of the Industry”, etc.) We have 4 columnists on different aspects of the industry, as well.
2. In which countries and market sectors of Professional Textile Care did you work and did you gained experiences?
Canada and the US, through magazine work over the last 26 years.
3. Could you please describe the most important characteristics and trends of the current PTC markets in terms of customer/market demand characteristics and trends?
The industry in North America took a tremendous hit during COVID (dry cleaning) and also a boost from it (laundry) because of the emphasis on hygenic processes. Approximately 1/3-1/2 of the Canadian dry cleaners closed permanently. Industrial laundry and personal laundry has expanded, with company consolidations/acquisitions being primary right now.
Consumers are more price-conscious in a tough economy, and dry cleaning has suffered from that. But they are also more open to utilizing services like wash-and-fold or pickup and delivery for their laundry in order to better utilize their time, and are willing to pay for the convenience.
4. What do you see as the most important success factors for todays PTC companies?
Those that recognize the market has changed post-COVID, and who are looking to the future by bringing on fresh talent with an understanding of a new generation will succeed. Those who are still trying to get back to “the old normal” will not. The companies that embrace newer technologies (robotics, AI, virtual assistance) show themselves to be forward looking. Those that resist these as “fad” are like the guy in 1988 who said, “These personal computers will never catch on!”
5. What are your organization objectives and when would you consider your organization to be successful?
Our objective has always been to showcase the best examples of companies and individuals in the PTC that are using top technologies, modern solutions, and understanding their customers’ needs and wants. From that standpoint, we have always been successful. We will continue to do this, with an expanding mandate to cover the US as well as Canada since over half our readers are from the US.
6. What do you consider the most important future demands of clients in PTC markets?
Figuring out what the upcoming generation wants in terms of both service and sustainability, and learning how to deliver it and market it in a way that is comprehesible to them. For instance, Gen Z doesn’t want verbage; they want examples. They don’t want promises, they want to see you meeting their particular needs. It’s a more practical-based understanding, and has to be marketed accordingly.
7. What are key issues for the PTC companies to fulfill future demands of clients and PTC markets?
Marketing products that are produced in a responsible and sustainable way, including the solvents, detergents and other supplies that go with them. Giving their clients turn-key operations, with 24/7 accessible assistance and information. Finding ways to look ahead to future needs, not just fill the ones on the table when they sit down to negotiate sales.
8. How important is sustainability / circularity for your current business performance and what do you do to improve your performance as an organization?
My organization is a magazine. We’re digital. We don’t have issues like PTC companies do. However, finding companies who are doing sustainability/circularity well and are willing to talk about it and share what they’ve learned can be a challenge.
9. Do you see sustainability as an important driver for (new) business or as a factor for saving costs?
Most of the time, sustainability will cost more at the outset, and that puts companies off. They need to take the longer view, and embrace technology that truly is sustainable (not greenwashing).
10. Do you see technical innovation as a key factor to enhance your business performance, and what technologies are essential to provide sustainable and profitable PTC services in the future?
My personal business (a digital magazine) is being enhanced by access to AI, used for research purposes, proofreading and suggesting changes to articles, helping craft interview questions, and even create illustrations.
A regular PTC business is confronted by an array of new technical innovations, like robotics, use of AI in support, planning software, and more. Over time, those who embrace these things will find them improving their business when they learn how to use them well. Those who do not, will continue to use too much time and energy doing what their newly-technological competitors are more efficient at.
11. What do you see as the most important innovations of the (near) future and how do you believe these innovations will change the way the industry operates?
I think I’ve already answered this a couple of times here. Robotics, AI, etc.
12. According to many publications, a transformation of the PTC industry towards more customer and IT driven processing, is seen as essential to be successful in the future. What is your policy to adapt your business/service model to changing market demands?
Doesn’t apply to me. These are topics we cover, however.
13. We have seen an enormous increase in scale of operation of PTC companies. Do you see there will be attractive opportunities also for the more smaller companies and what is needed for small companies to be successful?
It’s great to go to a Clean Show and see all the bells and whistles on display, but they are mostly for the big operators. However, smaller companies can still take advantage of things like better utilization of the tools their suppliers offer, making use of AI in any way possible to streamline tasks and save time, and watching to see when the “big” advances are scaled down to fit them. It’s like when electronic calculators first came out and they were very expensive and took up half a desk. Now they are throw-away devices, fit easily in a pocket, and are installed on every cellphone. Anybody can access new technology, once it comes down in price and shrinks to fit the need.
14. How do you feel the PTC industry can take more market share in the markets of textile cleaning, compared to domestic washing?
Consumers who want to wash their own stuff will always wash their own stuff. When a company emphasizes the time savings to consumers, some will opt to outsource this unpleasant chore. The growth in wash-and-fold is an example of this. The upgrading of laundromats (self-serve) also cuts into home washing, since a pleasant, productive environment at least lures some home washers out. People who have never had anything dry cleaned aren’t going to suddenly start, no matter what you do. The pivot point for the next generation is TIME. Sell them a service they can set-and-forget, and they are all over it.
15. What do you see as major opportunities for the professional laundry and cleaning industry for the longer term future?
Not sure I have an answer for this. Find a crystal ball and we’ll talk.
16. What do you see as major threats for the PTC industry in the coming years?
Political situations that impact costs, the reliance on AI and no solution so far to the massive water use necessary to sustain it, and any failure to transition from the current generation of consumers to the next in an appealing way.
17. What would you say industry (inter-)national associations should do to support the PTC industry professionally, now and in the future?
Offer targeted conferences and online exchanges that focus on real-world issues and practical solutions. One that I’ve seen recently doing this is Waleed Cope’s “Laundry CEO Forum”. Offering “general” information (like at a Clean Show) is nice, but something where people can interact and hear from those who have been-there-done-that is invaluable.
They should leverage their influence to make an impact on those in government who hold the key to either crippling or helpful legislation. The TRSA in the US is doing this well, as is the Canadian Fabricare Association in Canada.
Many associations are simply in business to recruit and keep members. It’s not enough.
18. What is your vision on the future perspective of the industry?
I think the industry (at least in North American) will continue to consolidate in some areas (like industrial laundry or equipment manufacturers) and will continue to be rather loosely affiliated in others (individual dry cleaners, or laundromats). I don’t see the overall structure changing in any dramatic way. The big guys will continue to evolve technologically, the little guys will still struggle to make ends meet, but they are right in the thick of the community and meeting customer needs day-in and day-out.
19. What is your key-message to your professional PTC colleagues for now and in the future?
Keep up. Study what is going on in the culture and be ready to meet the needs that present themselves. Assume that things are NOT going to go on as they are, and get ready to act, not just react.
