“Excellent Global post-Corona Perspective for PTC”

Peter Wennekes, CINET’s CEO, received an invitation from the German magazine WRP to present its international perspective over the evolution of the Professional Textile Cleaning sector.

 

WRP: From your international perspective: Will Covid-19 change the PTC business?

Peter Wennekes: Despite the unprecedented impact of the Corona pandemic, we foresee a fantastic long term perspective for the Professional Textile Care industry all over the world. Most naturally, the current crisis will leave marks and signs of important structural changes can be already seen. Solid, big, efficient companies will increase their market share, while the challenge for the smaller companies will be to adopt digitization and innovation and adopt new markets and/or new business models.

 

WRP” Which countries are less affected by Covid-19, which more?

PW: Since the beginning of the pandemic, CINET, , with the support of reputed experts, has opened a global open-platform for sharing knowledge and experience with the Professional Textile Care professionals in its network and beyond. From the reports and data we have received, countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and The Middle East region seem to be the less affected and have shown also a faster recovery path, while Europe, North America (especially USA), South America (especially Brazil), North Africa, India are among the areas that were affected the most since the beginning of the crisis.

 

WRP: Will Covid-19 change the direction of investment?

PW: Absolutely. We already see a growing investing trend in the direction of innovation, IT systems, big data, increasing efficiency, providing higher quality and improving the convenience towards the changing customer’s needs. Mass-customization, hygiene will be on the top at the priorities, both in terms of delivering hygienically clean textiles and ensuring safe working conditions. And, as in most of all other domains, sustainability is becoming more important than ever, a key USP in the eyes of the consumers. Last but not least, certified companies will increase their competitive advantage, which results in higher revenues even in times of Corona.

Peter Wennekes, CEO of CINET, during the Global Best Practices Awards Program 2020. The event was streamed online from Amsterdam (NL) on Nov 4th and 5th, 2020.

WRP: Will the textile service be able to return to its old level if there is significantly less travel?

PW: Indeed, the ITS laundries serving the hospitality industry were the ones that were affected in a dramatic manner. Despite this, as a signal of how will the global recovery materialize, we’ve seen several examples of laundries in China and in the Middle East operating now at the same levels (or even higher) than before the pandemic, thanks to increased domestic travel. Supportive measures from national governments (higher in some regions, such as Western Europe and North America, less in other regions), together with the “essential sector” role granted helped easing the PTC companies’ pain in some extend. However, the full recovery will take time, it will require agility, operational efficiency, as well as an innovative approach towards new market segments. Eventually, an impressive growth is expected once the Corona virus will be over won.

 

WRP: How do you see the future prospects of the textile service worldwide?

PW: As mentioned, we see an outstanding future perspective for the Industrial Textile Services sector, as well as for the PTC industry in general, in fact for all segments Retail and present and many (new) B-to-B segments. Sharing knowledge and experiences, applying best practices in all aspects of the business, agility and innovative approach towards new market segments will play a decisive role for the Professional Textile Care companies’ recovery, regardless of the maturity level of the regions’ sectors.