Rui Torres – Wash Lavanderia – Interview

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    1. Can you please share with us your current position/job and profile of the organization you work for?

    I am Rui Torres, I have almost 30 years of experience in the PTC market, in retail, as a franchisee at first, and as an independent operator over the years, and I own a small/medium RTC operation in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I also work offering training courses, especially on management, for Brazilian PTC operators.

    2. In which countries and market sectors of Professional Textile Care did you work and did you gained experiences?

    I have only worked in Brazil but have had the opportunity of exchanging information with the PTC community from different countries.

    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?

    • Balance between productivity and specialization
    • Cost control
    • Workforce availability
    • Adequate service profile

    4. What do you see as the most important success factors for todays PTC companies?

    • Clearly understand market demands
    • Innovation
    • Decision-making based on numbers and indicators
    • Extra-special customer care

    5. What are your organization objectives and when would you consider your organization to be successful?

    • Profitability
    • Customer Care
    • Productivity and innovation

    6. What do you consider the most important future demands of clients in PTC markets?

    • “Tricky” fabrics
    • Specialization
    • Customer centricity
    • Sustaintability

    7. What are key issues for the PTC companies to fulfill future demands of clients and PTC markets?

    • Trained staff
    • Good equipment
    • Access to latest washing techniques

    8. How important is sustainability / circularity for your current business performance and what do you do to improve your performance as an organization?

    • In Brazil, for the PTC market that subject is still secondary
    • However, it may represent a business opportunity for retail in terms of people keeping their clothes longer.

    9. Do you see sustainability as an important driver for (new) business or as a factor for saving costs?

    Not for the time being.

    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?

    • Although high technology equipment is important, systems and IA maybe at the moment more important.

    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?

    • Very practic ways of dealing with AI

    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?

    • Better use of data
    • Implementation of day-to-day small innovation
    • Use of AI

    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 smaller companies and what is needed for small companies to be successful?

    • Operation centers for small retail ventures maybe an opportunity

    14. How do you feel the PTC industry can take more market share in the markets of textile cleaning, compared to domestic washing?

    • The biggest challenge is cost
    • Advertising is another challenge

    15. What do you see as major opportunities for the professional laundry and cleaning industry for the longer-term future?

    • For retail, having more standardized operations can be a factor in sustainable growth

    16. What do you see as major threats for the PTC industry in the coming years?

    • High costs
    • High taxes
    • Lack of people willing to work in industry

    17. What would you say industry (inter-)national associations should do to support the PTC industry professionally, now and in the future?

    • The basics, but unfortunately, we are far from this

    18. What is your vision on the future perspective of the industry?

    • Becoming more professional is imperative

    19. What is your key-message to your professional PTC colleagues for now and in the future?

    It is time to look at our business in a more professional way. Developing people is essential, having processes well designed might be the difference between profit and loss.


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