[box type=”shadow” ]Intelligent resource allocation to achieve the best cleaning results in your facility[/box]
What does it mean to optimise resource allocation?
How much time does the typical owner or manager of any property give to its cleanliness and appearance? In general, it depends on what the purpose of that facility is. If it is a hotel or lodging establishment, the appearance plays an incredibly large role and will command prime importance. However, even when it comes to industries and corporate properties, we often overlook the importance of cleanliness, but you can be sure that an unclean and unpresentable working environment is just as much of a drag on your bottom line as a major product failure. According to occupational health research:
From the organization’s perspective, the quality of the workplace is an important consideration that can give rise to substantial direct and indirect costs: direct such as energy and waste treatment costs, and indirect such as non-productivity and sick leave.
Whether explicitly or implicitly, every good manager knows that maintaining a clean environment is absolutely essential. However, the bottom line of every business is just that – the bottom line. So how do we find that optimum point at which we maximize our productivity while also squeezing value out of every penny spent?
It is imperative to follow the principle of tailoring every customer’s solutions to their specific needs. What this means is that we strive to look at the larger picture, incorporating the essential functions of cleaning in such a way as to optimize every other facet of the organisation’s expenses.
It is abundantly clear that the approach to cleaning and hygiene is simply an extension of the philosophy of the organisation. A luxurious hotel will obviously have a very different approach to cleaning and maintenance than a budget lodging property or a corporate business park.
However, when it comes down to it, the resources required to maintain a well-kept property can be once again summarized by Sinner’s Circle. Each of these factors is required in the right proportion to maintain the optimum cleaning performance; only when applied together do they provide the optimum performance. Reduce the effect of one, and you must to compensate by increasing the effect of one or more of the others.
What many of us often overlook though, is that Sinner’s circle actually has some very striking economic implications:
• Increasing time means you reduce your turnover and raise your labour costs. This may work in places where labour is cheap, but not necessarily everywhere.
• Increasing temperature implies a greater use of energy and utilities. Again, if your electricity is cheap and reliable, this could be the solution for you, but it varies by location.
• Increasing the mechanical action implies investing money in sophisticated equipment or hiring outside contractors who could provide specialised services.
• Increasing the chemical effect means your consumables costs could go over budget.
It is absolutely crucial that every person responsible for cleaning understands the trade-offs involved and learns to pick the ideal combination of chemicals, equipment, labour and energy.
For every manager of an establishment, the goal is always to effectively plan for and respond to the changing landscape of cleaning and laundry demands throughout the year. It is not simply enough to set a system and leave it at that. What makes a really efficient system tick is its ability to adapt and be flexible as the situation requires. Speaking of Buzil-Rossari, we are not just chemical providers but more a consultant offering a suite of services that will work in tandem with our research and development efforts to achieve the optimum outcome for our customers.
When it comes to resource allocation, our combined experience in the Indian market has led to some key insights.
Preventive Maintenance can bring big rewards
That old adage, “a stitch in time saves nine” rings very true when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. If you have the right mix of products and processes in place, then the upkeep of your facility is simplified to a large extent. Take for example the thorny issue of removing handprints and smudge marks from metal and glass surfaces. Traditionally these would take a lot of elbow grease and operator time, but with products such as Buz Finesse or Buz Leather, a one-time preventive application imbibes the surface with anti-soiling properties and makes the process of routine cleaning that much shorter.
This even applies to machines and equipment. If improperly maintained, the efficiency of single-disc machines, foam generators and laundry machines drops exponentially thus leading to poor or failed results. It is fiscally prudent for managers and owners to invest in the upkeep of their machinery to ensure that the damage to their property is limited.
Staff training is key
Investing in a robust staff training program is vital when it comes to getting the most bang for your buck. Having staff that are able to work across sectors to fill in the gaps when they are needed is a huge advantage and will enable managers to be flexible in the way they plan maintenance and cleaning activities. It is also incumbent upon the vendor companies to provide a product that is just as flexible. Our multipurpose neutral cleaners like Blitz Citro and Ross FCS allow housekeepers the flexibility to work upon multiple surfaces with little headache of switching between many different specialised products. When it comes to large properties like hotels or corporate offices, this flexibility is the difference between achieving the best coverage and cutting corners to finish a shift.
Keep your inventory lean
Every production manager who has ever set foot in a factory knows the cardinal rule of keeping their inventory levels low. Having to store large stocks of material for regular activities is a drag on resources and also a large driver of logistical costs. This is why at Buzil-Rossari, the products are always offered in high concentrations. Most of our products require dilutions of just 5ml per litre which is 4-5 times lower than the industry standard. This means that our customers require less space to store them and spend less money on transportation leading to greater savings. An added bonus is the lower overall carbon footprint of the product – a product is only ever as green as its supply chain, from raw material all the way to its application.
Find the right system
As we saw in Sinner’s circle. It is not just one factor that affects the final cleaning result, but a blend of all four factors in the circle. We always recommend a thorough study of the customer facility to provide a holistic and customised solution which suits their needs. It is important for us to analyse the factors at play in any facility, large or small, and arrive at a solution that requires the least input of resources to achieve the best outcome.
A good example of this is folding activities in the laundry. It is generally a time consuming and tedious activity to fold bed linens in a laundry only to have a housekeeper undo the work minutes or hours later when the same linen is deployed. Similarly, linens are often discarded when their appearance deteriorates. However, with our strong grasp of the chemistry of laundry, we have been able to provide customised solutions wherein linens were recovered and restored to extend their life and save valuable capital costs for our customers.
Pick your battles wisely
Often a manager will over-specify the cleaning requirements for certain parts of the property:
Does that corridor really need disinfection?
What is the cost vs benefit analysis of adding in new carpets in the conference room?
Can we automate a system such that requires one operator in the laundry instead of two?
These are questions that are worth asking because the cumulative effects in terms of the bottom line are profound.
At the end of the day, managing any space is an exercise in balanced resource allocation. As a provider of customised solutions, Buzil-Rossari is always looking to facilitate the best path forward for every one of our customers. We constantly seek to learn and implement the best possible solutions when it comes to achieving the best results with the lowest investment.
[box type=”shadow” ]
It is absolutely crucial that every person responsible for cleaning understands the trade-offs involved and learns to pick the ideal combination of chemicals, equipment, labour and energy.
– Edward Menezes
Director, Buzil-Rossari Pvt. Ltd
[/box]