INNOVATION: THE SECRET TO CLEANING SECTOR SUCCESS?
Here, Ceri Vaughan-Jones discusses an area that is often overlooked by the cleaning industry, but one where companies like Arrow County Supplies are thriving: innovation.
Delivering cost savings, increasing efficiencies and delivering KPI compliance; innovation is the force that keeps the cleaning sector moving forwards. Constantly evolving processes and practices, it is the forward-thinking service providers that are oiling the wheels of the industry with their creativity. Without those that prioritise thinking ‘outside of the box’, we would surely be at a standstill.
Innovation in cleaning is linked to wider strategic and business objectives and should not be simply thought of as a concept that just champions swapping the products that you use or altering the methods used to apply them. The thought process behind change reaches much further and encompasses each aspect of business progression. As a broad definition, innovation is the acceptance of a different way of thinking to achieve greater business benefit combined with the adoption of the latest products and processes. Completing each other and working in unison, fresh thinking and the constant adoption of fresh methodology is at the heart of innovation in the cleaning sector.
Cleaning as a function is a simple task where a cleaning service provider performs against a set of agreed KPI’s. What isn’t always appreciated by those outside of the industry are the countless other factors that cleaning service providers must consider and manage, as part of the delivery of that cleaning function: workforce management, service delivery standards, labour costs and a whole host of other overheads to name but a few.
This is where the necessity of innovation is really highlighted. What other way does a cleaning business
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
maintain standards whilst reducing costs? How else does a cleaning provider deliver an exceptional and compliant service in half of the time, with fewer cleaning operatives? There is no getting away from that fact that savings in terms of time, effort and financial, will be increasingly derived through a greater emphasis on innovation.
Not having
innovation built into business strategy could
place many at a disadvantage.
Although a powerful strategic tool, having the time to dedicate to ‘innovative thinking’ is a luxury that many business leaders cannot afford. Yet not having innovation built into business strategy could place many at a disadvantage. In today’s competitive environment, the difference between a service that provides the innovative thinking/innovative way of working for the client and a service that simply delivers a cleaning function is vast and could ultimately spell the difference between business death or survival.
With the majority of cleaning contracts being outsourced in the UK, the need to differentiate your business from the crowd is vital. Through demonstrable innovative thinking to enable the provision of a unique offering to clients, companies such as Arrow
County Supplies are realising the benefits of this more holistic way of working. Engrained into the company’s own culture, the convergence of bespoke review, implementation and evaluation techniques has enabled Arrow to develop a customer-centric way of working that goes above and beyond the usual services of a janitorial supplies company.
Working with customers to understand their issues and objectives, to then develop solutions or deliver bespoke products to resolve and achieve, Arrow has expanded their offering from a simple supply provision into one that enables business efficiency and development. Changing the way that an organisation works to allow a more focused level of customer service to, in turn, provide a service or a product solution that fits the need exactly, is a prime example of innovation at work.
Achieving a more flexible and efficient service delivery for the long-term, Arrow County Supplies is just one of the forward-thinking companies succeeding where others within the cleaning sector are not. Using innovation as a tool to bring about a step change, organisations with innovation at the heart of their business strategy are positively contributing to the future growth and development of the sector. In a business environment that does not stop, to choose not to innovate is to stand still.
Arrow is holding one-to-one innovation sessions for a limited time only, to showcase the latest products and technology currently in the pipeline. If you would like more information on these events, please call 01743 283600 or alternatively email
richard.turner@arrowcounty.com.
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