When it comes to keeping a facility clean, a great team is essential. A great team is also very expensive. Actually, a not so great team can be even more expensive! With labor costs always on the rise, it’s incredibly important to maintain maximum efficiency to insure time and money are being well spent. This goes for laundry, housekeeping, kitchen, janitorial and more. Especially in the hospitality, foodservice and healthcare industries.

There are many ways to optimize operations and keep labor costs down. Here’s a list of our top 3, but if you’d like a custom tailored assessment of your specific needs, please contact us here.

First, training is key. This goes for training between management and their staff AND the program or chemical provider with management. It’s so important that information travels clearly and correctly from the vendor to management, and then from management to staff. This should happen regularly. Also periodic training sessions involving the vendor communicating and training directly with staff (with management present) is important- especially at the beginning of the relationship. We’re going to assume you’re working a professional, knowledgable vendor. The bottom line is, without proper communication and training, there will be a lack of information, expectation, protocol, safety and efficiency. This translates to wasted time and money!

Second, product usage should be monitored and adjusted to maintain levels that achieve maximum results with minimum product. This is especially important for on-premise laundry operations, kitchens and situations where product is being diluted and dispensed- or even used in ready-to-use form. I know you may be asking “but how does this affect labor?” Stay with me. More is not always more in terms of results. More laundry detergent won’t help clean linens if the water quality or temperature is not right. More rinse aid won’t remove the film on your glassware coming out of the dishwasher. More glass cleaner won’t get rid of the streaks on your windows. I think you get the point. “Band-aid’s” are a terrible idea in the cleaning industry. It’s important to have a professional assess your needs and address all underlying issues to make sure you’re getting to the root of the problem- not just throwing more chemical at it. Most often, a few extra steps and some digging will allow you to use much less (of the correct) chemical while actually improving overall results. This, you guessed it, translates to money! This is a two-fold savings, both chemical and labor.  It mean’s less laundry and rewash loads, less time cleaning rooms, less time washing and rewashing glassware, utensils and pots, etc. This savings on time directly results in a savings on labor.

For the third way to keep labor costs down, we’re going to cheat a little and discuss laundry specifically. Did you know on most commercial laundry equipment you can make incredibly specific adjustments? Some of these adjustments can actually help reduce labor costs! For example, optimizing your chemical system for your specific wash needs (whites vs colors, light vs heavy, cold vs hot water) will reduce rewash and the labor required to rewash. Also, wash cycle times and drying times can be reduced to reach optimal results without wasting time (labor). This may even allow you to get an extra load done each day, or save by not having to go into a new shift or overtime. Also, having the correct number of machines and capacity for each washer and dryer could save a tremendous amount of time if a machine goes down and needs repair. It can also help to make sure you have the appropriate setup to ensure all laundry gets processed without additional shifts or overtime.

These are just 3 ways to optimize operations and keep labor costs down. There are many other tips and tricks you can implement, even within each of the 3 ideas mentioned above. Sani Wash can help you identify other opportunities to reduce labor costs depending on your unique operation. Whether you do laundry (in-house or send out), have a dishwasher or kitchen staff, housekeeping staff that cleans rooms or any other cleaning industry situation, let us know and we can provide expert advice!