Because better facilities cleaning can make a huge difference (including to the bottom line).
Facility managers know that the increased focus on cleaning, disinfection and sanitation that started in 2020 hasn’t gone away: Study after study shows that facility tenants, visitors and staff all have higher expectations of ‘clean’ than they did a few years ago.
But while facility managers may have recognized these new expectations on the part of facility users, some common cleaning-related myths still persist. We’re here to debunk them!
MYTH #1: Facility cleaning isn’t a big enough part of the budget to matter.
On a simple balance sheet, commercial cleaning, products and restroom supplies may not look like a huge proportion of expenses, especially in comparison to wages or rental costs. However, as any supply chain expert will tell you, any reduction in expenses go right to the bottom line. If you’re managing a large facility, or multiple locations, effecting a 20% savings could add up to more than you think.
MYTH #2: You don’t have to apply VMS best practices to cleaning-related expenses.
Many organizations overlook the cleaning budget and processes when they’re thinking about implementing Vendor Managed Services. As with other areas of your business, applying efficient, effective, continuous-improvement VMS systems to your janitorial and restroom supplies not only reduces your costs, but also eliminate rogue purchasing and wasted employee time.
MYTH #3: It’s fine to use household products in an industrial environment.
As we’ve discussed before, household cleaning products just don’t cut it when it comes to cleaning commercial or industrial spaces. What’s more, they aren’t cost-effective (and neither is having to let employees take 2 hours out of their workday to do a Costco run for restroom supplies).
MYTH #4: “As long as they throw some bleach on there, it’s clean enough.”
Giving your employees a gallon of bleach and some paper towels and expecting them to be able to clean the store, office or warehouse just won’t deliver the results you need. Effective disinfection and sanitization involves using the right product, on the right surface, in the right way. Otherwise – as your parents used to say – you’re just pushing the dirt around, not actually getting stuff clean.
MYTH #5: Your employees know what to do.
If you’re running a facility that requires washrooms or other areas to be cleaned throughout the day, you may have assigned some cleaning duties to employees. That’s fine – but did you give them any training? Each year, employees are injured or even killed when the wrong cleaning chemicals are used, or are used improperly. If you have employees doing any of the cleaning at your facility, ensure they have the proper training (and PPE!).
MYTH #6: You don’t need a ‘strategic partner’ for your janitorial and paper products.
As a property or facility manager, you probably have strategic, long-term relationships with many of your suppliers, from IT services to maintenance and security – it’s the way you get the best solutions, service and pricing. But don’t overlook the value of a strategic partner for your sanitation and restroom supplies. Partnering with an expert delivers all kinds of benefits, from better product pricing, to improved inventory management, to training that can help with #5 above.
We can help.
For more than 80 years, we’ve been helping small, mid-sized and large organizations across southern Ontario spend less while doing more when it comes to their janitorial products, sanitation and cleaning equipment. We can help your business, too. We look forward to hearing from you.
