Daytime Cleaning C&
M Going with the flow Daytime cleaning - building profits whilst delivering better services
Cleaning contractors, suppli- ers and their customers are coming to recognise more and more of the benefits of daytime cleaning and how it contributes to an integrated bottom line that draws together business and clean- ing performance improve- ment to add value, generate growth and cut costs. The objective for all is to build profits whilst delivering bet- ter services.
The most visible aspect of daytime cleaning is that it takes places during normal working hours. Occupants who see cleaning at first hand come to understand that the business cares about its employees, guests and visitors, the appearance of the building and the working environment. This adds value to the business through improved employee perceptions, responsibility and goodwill. Embracing daytime cleaning reduces costs for the customer because there is no need to keep buildings open out of hours simply for cleaning. This can lead to savings in electricity, heating, air- conditioning and security, which also reduce the business’s carbon footprint. The contractor benefits from daytime operations
because they are more visible to the customer. Cleaning’s role and importance is enhanced which can have a positive impact on the business relationship, adding ‘brand’ value with tangible benefits on both sides. This helps to build stronger partnerships that lead to repeat business. Everyone knows it is easier to build or retain business with an existing customer rather than finding a new one and starting over.
Daytime cleaning helps contractors to save costs. Staff work at convenient times which means there is less pressure to pay premium wages, travel costs and meal subsidies. Most contractors recognise that all of this helps to recruit and retain the best staff who can then strike a better balance between work and home life. This clearly has a big implication for service continuity and quality and the implied value to clients. Costs saved can go straight to the bottom line as profit or shared with clients in the form of reduced charges that help to build stronger business relationships. Some of the biggest savings can be made at operational level in conjunction with
changes to procedures. Cleaning staff can see which parts of a building are being used and allocate their time and resources accordingly. Unused rooms or desks, for example, can be cleaned less rigorously or missed out altogether to save time and costs. Cleaning out of hours on the other hand usually results in everything being cleaned whether it needs it or not.
Other procedural changes can be more subtle. Diversey, for example, supports its customers and their clients by working with them to identify the most appropriate and sustainable ways of working. This can include, for example, technical support or consultancy that helps contractors and end users to improve their procedures and the training and
documentation that ensures the best efficiency and results. It also includes the supply of products such as concentrates and ultra microfibre systems that can reduce or eliminate chemicals and control cost-in-use, or cleaning machines that reduce water and energy consumption. One area that is
increasingly important is greater emphasis on
workflows and process optimisation. The new Taski Trolley, for example, can be configured for different cleaning applications with products and tools arranged in a logical sequence that allows staff to access items with the fewest and shortest movements to complete each task. Adopting ultra microfibre to clean without chemicals eliminates all of the processes involved in the preparation of chemicals and the refilling of spray bottles and buckets. It is surprising how much time and effort this can save during a normal working day, allowing employees to complete more work at no extra cost. Productivity is further improved by optimising the way operatives move around a building, from room-to- room for example, to minimise the distances involved.
In this way cleaning contractors, suppliers and clients can work together to build stronger relationships based on better
understanding of each others’ needs and driven by performance improvement programmes that deliver that all-important integrated bottom line.
www.diversey.com
Meeting the demands of daytime cleaning
Daytime cleaning is not a new idea, in fact in most European countries it is far more common than it is in the UK. Anybody who has worked in Sweden or Germany will know that work- ing to the sound of a scrubber dryer or a vacuum cleaner is routine. In the UK, cleaning businesses have been promoting the idea of daytime cleaning for years, but with only limited success. The people who have decided policy in businesses, especially white-collar and financial businesses, have seen dis- ruption of their schedule by people with cleaning machines as just not on.
Things are changing, however. The increasing acceptability of sustainability as a virtue and a key competitiveness issue has given a new impetus to daytime cleaning. Sustainability provides cleaning contractors with an opportunity to explain to their clients how daytime cleaning can help them achieve their own sustainability goals.
If, for example, a business wanted to reduce its energy usage (and who wouldn’t, at current energy prices), introducing a daytime cleaning regime in place of night cleaning would significantly reduce its power requirements at night and thereby reduce overall energy consumption. Daytime cleaning in many ways puts cleaning operations on a
Continued on Page 18. Truvox
launched - at Interclean in April - a new addition to its range of
scrubber dryers - the compact Orbis battery scrubber dryer, powered by a minimum- maintenance rechargeable 24V gel battery.
July 2010 C&M17
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