Special Report Cleaning up facilitiesmanagement
As the year progresses, companies are taking stock of their procurement requirements, while also looking at what products are entering themar- ket to facilitate their operational needs. Nicki Stewart, head of facilities supplies and furniture at Office Depot, discusses her expectations for the cleaning market, and the buying trends likely to influence purchasers over the course of the year.
According to the Office of National Statis- tics, the UK cleaning industry (domestic and industrial) in 2012 had an estimated turnover of £4.7 billion.Mid downturn, the industry was holding its own and indica- tions are that it will keep on growing. The Industrial, or commercial, elements of this market are perhapsmost protected thanks to the regulations that govern hygiene re- quirements and the use of chemicals - reg- ulations that cannot be compromised regardless of the state of the economy. The Industrial Cleaning ActivitiesMarket Re- search Report 2013 predicts that, despite the recession, revenue in the industrial cleaning sector is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 1.8%through 2014. The benefits of effective commercial
cleaning are tangible. The spread of infec- tion can beminimised, reducing absen- teeism, good office and building maintenance can help improve returns on property development and reduce dilapida- tion costs, and good cleaning can create a safer working environment. According to the National Institute for Clinical Excel- lence, infections cost the NHS an estimated £1 billion each year. £944million of this cost relates to hospital based infections. The introduction of one new cleaner into a hospital ward can achieve savings of be- tween £30,000 and £70,000. Similarly, ac- cording to the Confederation of British Industry, UK employers lose over £14 bil- lion each year due to employee absen- teeism, and independent research by online retailer, Viking, revealed bacteria were fre- quently found on office desks, keyboards and phones. Regular cleaning can reduce the spread of illness, especially in the win- ter flu season.
Drivers for change
So where next? There are twomain drivers pushing the industry forward, both of which remain significant FMissues: the green agenda and costmanagement. • The green agenda: The ongoing focus
by business on sustainability is having a marked impact on the disruptive technolo- gies being developed for commercial clean- ing use. According to PIRA International’s ‘The Future of Green Cleaning Products’ the environmental status of products is changing. This is in part due to governmen- tal legislation, partly due to a drive byman- ufacturers to reduce their own carbon footprints and bemore environmentally re- sponsible, and also due to customer de- mand for products that are sustainable and less ‘harsh’. At Office Depot, we are already seeing increased demand fromcustomers for cleaning products that contain natural ingredients - such as the Ecover range - especially by customers which have strict sustainability targets likeMarks and Spencer. This demand is likely to become
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www.cleaninghub.net
more discerning with some natural ingredi- ents that have experienced a backlash from environmentalists, like palmoil and co- conut oil, being replaced by new ingredi- ents or even those produced as a result of developments in biotechnology. However, environmental developments
Nicki Stewart, head of facilities supplies and furniture at Office Depot: “The continued drive to reduce costs without compromising deliverywill ensure that the market remains competitive and, ultimately,make the facilities management administration tasks associated with cleaning less arduous.”
are not restricted to cleaning solutions and chemicals. One development likely to have amarked impact on the commercial clean- ingmarket ismicrofiber and demand for completemicrofiber trolley systems is rap- idly increasing as enlightened facilities managers look for products that can de- livermore for less. Microfiber can dramatically reduce - and
even eliminate - the need for cleaning chemicals. Each fibre is thinner than a human hair, enabling it to penetrate and clean cracks that traditional cleaning cloths andmops cannot. Themassive sur- face area of the fibres also enables themto absorb up to eight times their weight in liq- uid, resulting in dryer surfaces that are less hospitable tomicrobial growth and the static electricity created by the fibres in- creases thematerials’ capacity for holding onto dust. The sustainable benefit comes in the longevity of the product. Eachmi- crofiber pad can be washed at 95 degrees Celsius 500 times before it needs replacing. All of these benefits create a product
that, even in the absence of chemicals, can have a dramatic impact on cleanli- ness. For example, research by the Uni- versity of California found a cotton-loop
mop reduced bacteria on the floors by 30%, whereas a microfiber mop reduced bacteria by 99%. • Costmanagement: Despite the fact that
the commercial cleaningmarket has been protected fromthemost severe impacts of the downturn, it is not recession proof and the continued pressures on the industries it servesmeans that cost remains amassive driver shaping themarket. However, pro- curement driven cost savings are reaching their limits and as the UK has its first expe- rience of growth for a number of years, so the procurement pressures on the cleaning industry are likely to lessen. Focus is likely to shift towards innova-
tions such as effective dilution control sys- tems andmulti-use products. Dilution control systems, such as bring a degree of automation to dilution, providing cleaning operatives with the ability to dilute concen- trated cleaning solutions for use in trigger sprays or amop bucket without the need for complex calculations. This not only helps to save product by limiting overuse but it also helpmaximise the standard of cleaning as incorrect dilution can result in the deposit of oily residues on surfaces. Similarly,multi-use products can help businesses reduce costs byminimising the administration investment involved inmul- tiple risk assessments and storage.
Implications for facilitiesmanagers
Ultimately, all of these developments will benefit facilitiesmanagers by enhancing their company’s environmental credentials while delivering optimised cleaning and all of the benefits associated with that. The continued drive to reduce costs without compromising delivery will ensure that the market remains competitive and, ulti- mately,make the facilitiesmanagement administration tasks associated with clean- ing less arduous.
www.officedepot.com
ISSA launches CIMS certification in the UK
After a thorough evaluation of many different countries and regions, ISSA has chosen the UK and Republic of Ire- land as the first two countries outside of the US in which to launch its Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS). CIMS is a consensus-based management standard that is geared towards validating and improving the professionalism of cleaning service providers. The standard lays out a framework based on management princi- ples that are universally considered hallmarks of successful cleaning organisations, namely: quality systems; health, safety and environmental stewardship; service delivery; management commitment; and HR. The CIMS standard was originally created through a consensus-based process. Led and managed by ISSA, this
involved top organisations from the cleaning, facilities management, and purchasing communities, in a collabo- rative effort that represented the interests of more than 100,000 industry stakeholders. The standard was first introduced in the US in 2006 and to date 186 organisations have achieved certification.
CIMS is also the subject of a fast-growing ISSA subgroup on LinkedIn which already has over 1200 members around the world. Keith Baker, director of EMEA services at ISSA, said: “To my mind, CIMS works so well because it is based on
universally accepted management principles and applies these elements to an entire organisation rather than to an individual, product or process. The use of specific products and cleaning techniques is not required, or actually even recommended, and each organisation keeps the flexibility to choose the products and cleaning techniques that best fit its needs.” The new standard is also set to be a significant asset to facility managers and others responsible for selecting a
cleaning service provider in that certification helps to identify quality providers that are completely in sync with the facility manager’s needs and expectations. Facility managers can therefore gain an increased confidence in their chosen contractor by using CIMS as a powerful tender or bid pre-requisite. With this function in mind, the standard provides specifications that fit seamlessly into most existing tender frameworks. The next ICE workshop and certification session will be held on 16/17 September 2014 at the Highgate House
Hotel, Groom's Lane, Creaton, Northampton, NN6 8NN. The fee for attendance is £650 + vat per person and reg- istration should be made by email to:
cims@bicsbusinessservices.com.
www.issa.com
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