ALEXANDRIA, VA.—Organizers of the new Hotel & Resort Laundry-Linen Community are launching the group by inviting hoteliers to participate in landmark research to establish key benchmarks to improve the efficiency of hospitality laundry and linen services.
This Hotel & Resort Laundry-Linen Benchmark Study and subsequent activities will enable individual properties to compare by segment, size and location their practices against national norms, facilitating quality improvement and cost control. The community will foster information-sharing focused on key metrics for evaluating costs and improving quality, achieving greater energy conservation, reduced water consumption, improved labor management and more.
Community founders are suppliers of products and services to the industry supporting successful initiatives launched by leading hotel brands over the past five years to reduce energy and water consumption typically by 20 to 30 percent by 2020. Extending such efforts to hotel and resort laundry is expected to be more prominent in similar initiatives for 2025.
Joining the Community is Free
There is no cost or application process to join the Community. By simply participating in its first survey, a property becomes a member and, in turn, receives the research report that provides these benchmarks:
- Linen replacement rates and costs: such as cost per occupied room and cost per pound;
- Linen serving ratios or “turns” per item before it needs to be replaced;
- Utilization rates such as “pounds per occupied room;”
- Linen loss and discard rates; and
- Physical linen inventory practices, frequency and par levels.
TRSA, the association for linen, uniform and facility services, is the Community’s primary organizer. Based in Alexandria, Va., TRSA is supported by Greystone Marketing Group, Annapolis, Md., an independent firm specializing in hotel industry research initiatives. Other founding suppliers are:
- G.A. Braun, Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., design, build and manufacture of laundry and textile equipment and support services;
• Ecolab Textile Care Division, St. Paul, Minn., wash products, programs and dispensing; energy- and water-saving solutions;
• Victor Kramer Co., Seaside Heights, N.J., insourcing specialist in laundry-linen management, consultants in processes; and
• Western State Design, Hayward, Calif., equipment selection and installation designed for a property’s space for laundry and housekeeping.
Distribution of the research questionnaire began the week of August 12. For a copy of the survey, contact Larry Wilhelm, Greystone Marketing Group,
lwilhelm@greystonemarketing.com, (410) 849-2177.
