The day-to-day business of textile service companies can be summed up in a simple formula: they supply customers in trades, industry, healthcare and hospitality with textiles. By definition, the sector therefore belongs less to the service industry and more to logistics: Dr E. Grosvenor Plowman described logistics as making the right goods available, in the right quantity, in the right condition, at the right place, at the right time, for the right customers, at the right cost. And this is precisely what rental laundries deliver: at scheduled times, they provide their customers with freshly laundered, ready-to-use textiles, collect soiled items, process them in-house, check quality, repair them or replace defective pieces. Finally, the goods are picked and delivered to customers exactly on time.
To ensure smooth operations, two logistical cycles are always running in textile rental services: internally, operational logistics manages the full control and allocation of goods, while delivery logistics—put simply—organises routes to customers and back to the facility. Established processes exist for both systems, but they are continuously evolving and must be adapted in response to technological and regulatory developments.
