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

In which countries and market sectors of Professional Textile Care did you work and did you gained experiences? Industrial textile services

Could you please describe the most important characteristics and trends of the current PTC markets in terms of customer/market demand characteristics and trends?– Market is increasingly driven by reliability, hygiene assurance, cost transparency, and service integration- Clients expect measurable performance, flexible delivery models, and service providers that can cope with labor shortages, rising hygiene standards, and sustainability requirements-Price pressure remains high, constant tension between service quality and cost efficiency-High need of data support

What do you see as the most important success factors for todays PTC companies?– customer proximity- operational excellence- process reliability- ability to scale efficiently- combine industrial efficiency with service flexibility>

What are your organization objectives and when would you consider your organization to be successful? Long term, I consider an organization successful, if it can combine profitability with sustainability and innovation, while remaining attractive to employees and customers

What do you consider the most important future demands of clients in PTC markets? Comprehensive: Future demand will move from “clean textiles delivered on time” to “data-enabled textile service with guaranteed performance and sustainability proof. This needs a lot of different performance indicators, because transparency will be key for service evaluation

What are key issues for the PTC companies to fulfill future demands of clients and PTC markets?– ability to industrialize processes without losing customer-specific service quality- automation, ergonomic workplace design, and staff retention essential- investment in modern technology is a key

How important is sustainability / circularity for your current business performance and what do you do to improve your performance as an organization?– Sustainability is already highly relevant to current business performance, although its importance varies by customer segment and country. In some markets it is already a decisive factor in tenders and customer selection. This will be spread.- textile services: the strongest sustainability lever might be a professional lifecycle management and circularity

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

Sustainability has moved from being mainly an internal efficiency topic to becoming both an operational necessity and a strategic commercial argument

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?

Technical innovation is a key factor!

• automation in sorting, finishing, folding, and internal transport
• digital production control
• RFID or comparable textile tracking systems
• advanced dosing and wash process control
• heat recovery systems
• water recycling where feasible
• predictive maintenance tools
• software integration between production, logistics, customer service, and inventory management

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?

• automation
• digital transparency and tracking
• self interacting machines and systems along the production chain;“there is (or will be) an AI for everything” except for human value decisions

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?

In general: move from a reactive laundry model to a proactive service model. This includes among others investing in digital tools for textile tracking, order and inventory visibility, KPI reporting, and better forecasting

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?

The future for smaller companies lies in specialization, regional intimacy, and speed of decision-making: focus, focus, focus

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

By communicating value more convincingly and making professional care more convenient

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

• (1) in many countries: outsourcing of textile provision to reliable and effective textile service companies
• (2) – Healthcare and care services will remain important growth fields in many countries due to demographic change. Industrial workwear and protective clothing services also offer long-term potential, especially where compliance, traceability, and garment functionality are important.
• (3) Demonstrate that company/industry is part of a circular economy

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

• – labour shortage
• – underinvestment
• – increasing costs

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

Industry associations should strengthen the sector in five areas: representation and lobbying, knowledge, standards, and communication

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

The future belongs to companies that combine industrial efficiency with service intelligence

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

There is a bright future, if you shape it!

Geert Böttger