Industry Innovation Brings Change, Growth Equipment can help drycleaners slash labor costs and streamline workflows, but tech tools and careful management are just as important to operations By Ian P. Murphy LET’S FACE IT: DRYCLEANING IS — AND ALWAYS WILL BE — A LABOR-INTENSIVE BUSINESS. Unless every article of clothing somehow stops attracting dirt and/or wrinkling, it will require the attention of a garment care professional. But labor costs money. And any drycleaner worth his or her (water-soluble) salt knows this is the first place to create efficiencies that can actually cut costs. That’s why many are seeking new equipment and streamlined workflow-strategies to save on costs and increase profits. Having the latest and greatest equipment is no guarantee that a plant will operate efficiently, though. “Years ago, you could afford to pay minimal attention to productivity, because volume forgave a lot of our sins,” said consultant Don Desrosiers, president of Tailwind Shirt Systems. “This is no longer true.” “You must be poised to make money on every piece,” he said. “If you don’t, you will run out of pieces to process before you run out of bills to pay. Even with automated assembly, you need somebody to look at the garment. It’s a labor-intensive business that requires the skill set of a human being.” EQUIPPED FOR EFFICIENCY Some equipment options that emerged in the industry over the last decade have helped streamline operations. Tensioning equipment has earned a spot on almost every plant’s production floor, for example, by helping operators deliver a reliable level of quality with minimum training. “Tensioning equipment has become almost standard these days when it comes to buying new equipment,” 16 FABRICARE COVER FOCUS continued on page 17