Cut Costs by Limiting the Number of Times Employees Handle Each Wash-Dry-Fold Order
Do you mind if we get a little touchy-feely this month?
Over the last six months or so, I’ve had numerous conversations with some of my colleagues from all across the country as to what we can do to become more efficient in our wash-dry-fold operations.
When it comes to processing wash-dry-fold laundry, one of the keys is keeping employee “touches”to a minimum. The more a garment is handled during the process, the higher the cost to you of laundering and packaging that particular item.
Let’s take a look at how many times a wash-dry-fold order is touched – from the moment it’s brought into the store by the customer until the time that customer returns to pick it up. Here is the procedure at my laundry; of course, you can add or subtract the number of touches listed below based on your own operation:
1. Checking in the order from the customer.
2. Staging it to be processed.
3. Tagging it and prepping it for washing.
4. Sorting and separating it.
5. Loading it into the washers, tagging the washers and washing the load.
6. Transferring it from the washers to the dryers.
7. Transferring it to a laundry cart to be folded.
8. Folding it.
9. Storing it for customer pickup, after it has been processed.
10. Transferring it to the customer.
Clearly, if you’re offering pickup and delivery, those wash-dry-fold orders are being touched even more often. How many more touches does your delivery service add to the experience? It adds at least the following:
1. Picking it up from the customer.
2. Bringing it into the store.
3. Staging it.
4. Loading it onto the company vehicle.
5. Delivering it to the customer.
These are five touches being added to the procedure. It’s certainly something to consider if you offer – or are planning to offer – pickup and delivery to your residential customers.
What do these touches cost?
Although you’ll have to determine specific numbers based on your own operation, I’ve mentioned in previous columns that an average employee should be able to produce 33 to 50 pounds of product per hour, including those touches from the time a load begins the production process to the time it is staged for customer pick up. The production time for folding and processing laundry is a major cost factor.
As we break down these numbers and attempt to better understand the process, I’m reminded of the movie, “The Founder,” which tells of how Ray Kroc first met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy and efficient production model for making its food.
Similar to the McDonald’s example, I’d also like you to consider a well-organized drycleaning plant, where the touches and movement of the team are minimized so that the employees can produce as much product per hour in as comfortable of an environment as possible.
How can you create that experience? And what costs you can save by doing so? Those are the questions many of us in the wash-dry-fold business are thinking about every day.
In fact, some of us have actually created production facilities that purposely limit the number steps, for example, between the washers and dryers and the areas where we process wash-dry-fold loads. We’ve developed paths through our stores and procedures for how we move items through the process so that our employees don’t have to do much walking to move and handle the laundry.
In addition, many of us try to tackle the full-service segment of our businesses as early as possible, sometimes even before we open or overnight. This way, we’re not in inconveniencing our self-service customers, and we can take complete control of an area for producing finished wash-dry-fold products.
Also, we will equip our employees with tool bags that include all of the items necessary to produce a finished wash-dry-fold order – everything from chemistry and folding to packaging and labeling – so that these attendants don’t have to unnecessarily leave their work areas.
Here are some ideas and systems to consider as you think about creating a more productive, streamlined wash-dry-fold work environment:
- Use large carts to move multiple orders of wash-dry-fold loads to be staged for washing so that your employees don’t have to walk back and forth pulling individual orders.
- Perhaps consider the possibility of adding chemical injection to some of your washers. This will save your attendants a lot of time, and it could represent a huge cost savings in the long run, especially once you start producing a large volume of wash-dry-fold laundry.
- If you’re still not sure about chemical injection, at least create a bulk laundry detergent cart, which employees can move efficiently through the store as they process wash-dry-fold. This cart should include all of the supplies required for washing – including detergent, stain-treating products, and whatever items you use to tag the washers and dryers to control inventory.
- Train your employees to transfer three or four orders at a time by rolling four carts to the dryers, versus one cart/one order at a time.
- Provide your attendants who are responsible for folding with taller, more ergonomic carts so that, when they’re folding laundry, they’re not forced to bend over and move around as much. The garments are right next to them, and less movement is needed to grab, sort and fold garments.
- Create a finished product packaging staging area. At my business, this includes a plastic, restaurant-style dish tub, which holds everything an employee needs to produce a finished wash-dry-fold order.
- Develop an extremely neat, organized finished product storage area. This is critical to help reduce the time it takes your employees to locate finished products for your wash-dry-fold customers. In addition, you need to consider how this area can be expanded as your full-service laundry business grows.
All in all, the underlying message with regard to limiting employee touches is simple: how can you best increase the efficiency of your wash-dry-fold operation? The answers to that will mean more wash-dry-fold orders moving more quickly and smoothly through your store.
