Choosing the best RFID tracking devices for laundry asset management

Imagine managing a bustling commercial laundry operation where countless linens, uniforms, and textiles cycle through your facility daily. Without precise tracking systems, inefficiencies creep in, leading to lost items, manual errors, and unhappy customers. Enter RFID linen tracking system, a game-changing technology that offers unmatched precision, streamlines operations, and reduces losses.

Statistics back up the transformation these devices can bring. Companies that adopt RFID technology often see their inventory count accuracy soar from 63% to 95%. This leap in accuracy means fewer misplaced items, improved inventory management, and significant cost savings.

In this blog, we’ll explore how an RFID linen tracking system addresses the unique challenges of laundry asset management, its benefits, and how you can implement them effectively to position your business for growth.

Why RFID linen tracking systems are essential for laundry management

Managing large-scale laundry operations is no small feat. Items often move between facilities, customers, and storage, making it easy for inventory to become misplaced or miscounted. This complexity is compounded by:

• Manual counting errors that lead to discrepancies
• Time-intensive processes that slow down operations
• High replacement costs for lost or untracked items

Smart tracking devices offer a robust solution to these challenges. By embedding RFID tags into textiles, every item can be tracked with precision, reducing errors and saving time. Real-time data provides instant visibility into the location and status of each item, enabling better decision-making.

For example, a hotel managing thousands of towels and bedsheets can quickly identify shortages and eliminate overstocking by scanning RFID-enabled items as they enter and leave the facility. This ensures every client receives what they need without unnecessary delays or losses.

Benefits of using RFID for laundry asset management

Electronic counting

With RFID technology, electronic counting becomes a seamless process. Counting frames with RFID readers can scan hundreds of tagged items in seconds, eliminating the need for manual counts. This speed not only saves labour hours but also ensures greater accuracy.

Imagine conducting a quarterly inventory check without halting operations. RFID readers allow you to scan all tagged items in a matter of minutes, providing a detailed report of your inventory status.

Real-time tracking

Smart tracking devices empower management teams to make informed decisions by offering real-time information. The linen management system ensures that you always know the exact location and status of your assets. For instance, a hospital can track uniforms moving between wards and the laundry facility, ensuring timely delivery and avoiding shortages.

Unique stock control

RFID-enabled systems provide unique stock control functionalities, enabling detailed utilisation and reporting for every customer’s linens. These insights reveal usage trends, allowing you to optimise stock allocation.

For example, if a particular client’s linens consistently underperform or are returned damaged, you can use this data to adjust allocations, renegotiate terms, or address inefficiencies.

Benchmark monitoring

Monitoring linen utilisation against benchmarks is crucial for maintaining efficiency. With RFID, your linen inventory management system can flag issues like excessive losses, giving you the tools to address these issues proactively. Over time, this level of insight can significantly improve your profitability and client satisfaction.

Steps to implement an RFID linen tracking system in your laundry operations

Introducing smart tracking devices into your laundry operations is a straightforward process if done methodically. Here are the steps to ensure a smooth implementation:

• Assess your business requirements and inventory volume – Begin by evaluating the size of your inventory and the specific challenges you face. Determine whether you need a basic tracking solution or a comprehensive system with advanced analytics.
• Choose a vendor offering industry-proven solutions – Partner with a trusted provider specialising in RFID technology for the laundry industry. Ensure they offer robust hardware, software integration, and support services tailored to your needs.
• Train your team to use the new system effectively – Employee buy-in is critical for successful implementation. Provide comprehensive training to ensure your staff understands how to use the RFID readers, manage the software, and interpret the data.
• Regularly monitor and optimise your RFID implementation – After deployment, monitor the system’s performance and address any issues promptly. Regular optimisation ensures that your RFID solution continues to deliver value as your business grows.

For example, a commercial linen rental company that recently adopted RFID might start with a pilot program to test the system on a smaller scale. Once the initial rollout proves successful, the company can expand to cover all operations, ensuring a seamless transition.

How smart tracking devices can help you grow your business

RFID technology doesn’t just improve your daily operations; it also positions your business for long-term growth. Here’s how:

Enable better decision-making with real-time data

With access to accurate, up-to-the-minute information, you can make smarter decisions about inventory allocation, resource management, and client servicing. Real-time tracking ensures you’re always one step ahead, reducing delays and improving operational efficiency.

Reduce operational costs

Lost or misplaced items can quickly add up, both in replacement costs and client dissatisfaction. Smart tracking devices minimise these losses while streamlining processes, saving you money.

Increase scalability

As your business grows, so does the complexity of your operations. RFID technology scales effortlessly, accommodating larger inventories and client bases without straining your team. Whether expanding into new markets or taking on additional clients, RFID ensures you can handle the growth.

Driving success with RFID-enabled laundry management

RFID tracking devices are transforming laundry operations across industries by delivering precision, reducing losses, and streamlining workflows. From improved inventory accuracy to real-time insights and scalability, RFID technology offers undeniable benefits that go beyond day-to-day operations.

For linen rental businesses, investing in laundry asset management systems is not just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic move toward greater efficiency, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth.

Practising effective linen control in commercial laundries

 

Linen control is one of the most high-priority processes for any commercial laundry, regardless of size and scale. For facilities that rent out their own linen, however, this is arguably more important as mismanaged linen can impact service delivery and customer service – two factors you can’t afford to be careless about.

What goes into effective linen management? What does it take to ensure that linen flow and inventory is maintained with high levels of control and efficiency?

In our post, we unravel this topic and discover what it means to practice effective linen control and the tools and strategies that can help you stay on top.

Calculate your par stock levels and maintain them at all times

Par stock levels refer to the minimum quantity of linen necessary to ensure service supply according to your existing requirements. While this is a crude definition, there are actual calculations that can help you estimate the appropriate level for your commercial laundry.

According to the Laundry Forum, this takes the form of unit par level = Daily average usage X a safety stock (1.25) X the number of days supply is needed.

With certain commercial laundry management systems, you can digitise and automate this part of your laundry. Certain systems even feature RFID tags, which help you identify each item of linen, telling you either at what stage of the washing process each is in or with which specific client it’s with.

This ensures that at any given time, you know exactly where your linen is. Setting par stock, then, can be formulated with details as specific as the individual items of linen to be maintained as a part of your par stock.

Establish clear linen rental and customer guidelines

Another way you can practice effective linen control is by laying down clear guidelines and policies about how your linen should be used and returned.

This way, you ensure that clients don’t get reckless with linen that’s not even theirs, to begin with, and return your linen on time and in good condition. These policies can include late penalties for delayed returns and the costs of damage so that you have a clear framework in place if something goes wrong.

A seemingly small step like this will help you with two things: (1) Maintain your stock and guarantee the durability and long-term use of your linen and (2) maintain complete linen control regardless of how big your operations are.

Invest in RFID garment tracking

Linen control also becomes a dream when you have RFID capabilities within your commercial laundry.

Radio Frequency Identification tracking, as it is known in full, can be leveraged as a standalone solution or one that’s part of an overarching commercial laundry system. Regardless, this tool is inventory control’s best friend, given that it can identify where each item of linen is at any given time.

Through the functionality of the handy little RFID tag embedded onto your linen, you can even automate certain laundry handling processes that otherwise take significant manual effort. This includes directing each item to the right part of the cleaning cycle and increasing efficiency and speed within your facility.

Together with a comprehensive commercial laundry system, the degree of linen control you’re likely to enjoy is unparalleled.

Leverage laundry automation and industry best practices for effective linen control

At Bundle Laundry, we believe that linen control and the overarching component of inventory control is one of the most important things for long-term success in a commercial laundry.

In fact, we’re not alone in holding this belief. Facilities all around the world are adopting the latest technology and incorporating best practices into their work to ensure that their stock, as well as those of their clients’, are accounted for and delivered without a hitch.