It wasn’t too long ago that the Internet of Things (IoT) seemed like a distant vision. What once felt like a utopia has now become reality—and the textile care industry is undoubtedly one of the key beneficiaries of ongoing digitalization.
What once sounded like science fiction has become reality. Robots are taking over human tasks, machines communicate with each other, and sensor technology increasingly handles monitoring functions. The digital revolution owes its success to two key factors: the exponential growth in computing power predicted by Carver Mead and the rapid advancement of the internet. At the same time, improved and newly developed sensors now enable the collection of physical, chemical, or biological data from the environment, while RFID systems make tracking objects easier. But it was the combination of these components that truly brought the Internet of Things (IoT) to life. Among the early adopters: the textile care industry. It is already using automation and machine learning to develop new services, streamline processes, optimize resources, ensure compliance, and improve working conditions.
Clean Laundry in Just a Few Clicks
Traffic jams on the way to the dry cleaner can easily turn into a nerve-wracking ordeal—especially in megacities. But digital customer platforms are putting an end to that stress. Around the world, on-demand services now offer mobile door-to-door textile care. Customers can use an app or the provider’s website to schedule pickup, 24-hour cleaning, and delivery—and even pay online. Digitalization has also made its way into shared laundry rooms and laundromats. Networked machines display available time slots, allow advance bookings, and send notifications when a load is finished—effectively reducing the long queues typical during peak times.
Improved Customer Service Through Smart Systems
Digital customer relationship management proves especially valuable in textile services. Rental service customers can use an app to check the status of their garments, contact their provider 24/7 to report forgotten valuables, request repairs or size changes, and much more. These apps can also notify staff when towel or soap dispensers are running low.
At the same time, artificial intelligence is streamlining administrative communication—reading and forwarding incoming emails, while chatbots handle customer calls.
A more advanced service concept is found in machinery maintenance: predictive maintenance. Sensors monitor the condition of laundry equipment, and specialized software analyzes machine and process data to forecast maintenance needs based on existing information. This enables issues to be resolved before they arise—helping to prevent costly downtime due to equipment failure.
Relief Through Process Automation
In many countries, the textile care industry is struggling with a shortage of skilled labor. The solution? Modern digitalization concepts and robotics are taking over more and more tasks in laundries that were once done by hand. Today, terry towels can move through a facility almost as if by magic: cameras and smart sensors detect incoming laundry items and assign them to the appropriate washing process. Conveyor systems then transport the load to the washing unit, and belts move it to the dryer. Intelligent feeding systems fold the laundry, bundle it for the customer, store it automatically, and retrieve it at the push of a button.
While the fully automated cycle still has gaps when it comes to handling bed linens and workwear, robotics and AI are already being used there as well. They take on high-risk and physically demanding tasks such as sorting soiled hospital laundry or inspecting clean items for defects and quality control.
Resource Optimization and Efficiency Gains Across the Board
The days when laundry managers had to record machine data with pen and paper after hours—and only discovered process errors much later—are long gone. Today, digital monitoring systems track key machine, consumption, and process data, analyze it in real time, and automatically respond to any issues as they arise. AI can also support workforce planning and fleet management: using real-time traffic data and GPS tracking, it can optimize delivery routes on the fly. In short, digitalization is enhancing both operational efficiency and environmental performance across many areas of textile care operations.
Transparency and Regulatory Compliance
Every day, large industrial laundries process tons of textiles. To keep track of it all, laundry items are increasingly monitored using RFID or NFC technology. Transponders attached to each item communicate with a reader that guides them through various processing stages while keeping precise track of their location. (NFC technology works via "bulk detection" and is used selectively in specific operational areas.)
Seamless traceability—especially through RFID—offers major advantages: it handles complete inventory management, documents hygiene compliance, and ensures proper handling of protective clothing. It also records textile usage cycles and captures rewash data.
In addition, data-driven analysis of process information provides key performance indicators that can be used to optimize workflows and turnaround times. RFID technology also paves the way for new services—such as rental textiles available for self-service pickup. In the future, tracking could take on an entirely new role, especially when usage and care data are integrated into a textile’s Digital Product Passport (DPP).
Venturing into Virtual Worlds Brings New Challenges
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is in full swing—and the textile service industry is right at the heart of it. Pioneering companies are already proving that efficient, self-organized production is possible, where machines, systems, products, and people communicate and collaborate seamlessly. This transformation generates vast amounts of data that must be processed quickly and securely, while being protected from unauthorized access. As a result, two key elements are becoming increasingly vital in delivering customer service: data protection and cybersecurity.