Report Predicts BSC Growth
Demand for cleaning services and supplies will grow steadily, according to a new report from the Fredonia Group, “Cleaning Services & Supplies.”

The report suggests demand for contract cleaning services and supplies in the United States, including building cleaning and carpet/upholstery cleaning, is projected to grow 7 percent per year through 2007 to $50 billion. Freedonia points to “growth driven by a recovery in the economy that will loosen budgetary constraints for cleaning services and spur the purchase of new cleaning equipment.”

It further states that ongoing downsizing and cost-cutting by corporate, institutional and government entities will continue to result in outsourcing of non-core operations, a trend which will spur demand for cleaning services.
The report also states that cleaning service revenues are forecast to advance more than 7 percent through 2007 to $45 billion, with residential services growing more quickly than commercial services.

In addition, Freedonia predicts that office buildings and institutional markets will remain the largest segments for both cleaning services and supplies, together representing more than 60 percent of demand in 2007.

Blackout Takes Toll On High-Tech Toilets, Faucets
Darkness shrouded a significant portion of the Northeastern United States last month during America’s most widespread blackout in history. There were the predictable problems — people stuck in elevators, traffic backups, overheated homes and overheated temperatures.

Passengers, employees and janitors at airports in Cleveland and Detroit, among other places, found they couldn’t even operate sinks, toilets and urinals. The problem? Electronic faucets and flush meters, connected to the building’s main power, that don’t offer battery or manual backup.

“Early on, the technology didn’t have good battery life — they’d fail every couple of months. So, people went with hard-wired systems,” explains Jerry McDermott, vice president of marketing for Technical Concepts, a manufacturer of automated restroom products in Mundelein, Ill. “But the problem with hard-wired systems is that once the power’s out, you’re out.”

Airports were among the early adopters of automated technology, McDermott says, so it’s not surprising that they have the hard-wired fixtures. Newer models have a much longer battery life, so most new installations tend to be of the battery-operated devices.

NFSI Introduces Non-Slip Label
The National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), a non-profit educational and research organization in Southlake, Texas, has recently developed a product certification program. Floor-care products passing a rigorous testing and certification process will bear an “NFSI Certified” logo on their packaging.

“A growing number of floor care manufacturers are stepping up to address the slip-and-fall problem and have supported our voluntary labeling system,” says Russell Kendzior, NSFI’s founder and executive director. “Consumers only need to look for the ‘NFSI Certified’ logo on product packaging. It is their guarantee that the product will not create a slippery condition."

For more information about floor-slip testing, see “Don’t Slip On Floor Safety”.

IICRC Launches Registration Drive
The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) has launched an aggressive registration drive. The effort is to boost organizational growth and to ensure that the industry’s cleaning and restoration firms are aware of their entitled benefits as IICRC-registrants.

The IICRC Firm Registration Drive aims to address the differences between firm and technician certification while informing businesses of the various benefits offered by the non-profit certification registry.

Those companies employing one or more IICRC-Certified Technicians may be eligible to become an IICRC-Certified Firm. For more information, contact the IICRC at (800) 835-4624.

Mergers & Other Moves
• Soft Vac, Silver Spring, Md., recently announced an agreement with Wholesale Vacuum Supply Co., a distributor in Eustis, Fla., to provide privately labeled Soft Vac facility protection covers for one of the distributor’s customers, I H Services Inc. of Greenville, S.C.

•The Electrolux Group, an international producer of electrical cleaning appliances and equipment, recently signed an agreement to sell its shares in Danish company Vestfrost A/S to the Esbjerg Group, also of Denmark. The Esbjerg Group will thereby increase its shareholding in Vestfrost from 50 percent to 100 percent.

Industry Accolades
• Several cleaning organizations and industry members were honored for their use of the (OS1) cleaning system, at a conference for that system’s users recently in Austin, Texas. The top award, Best (OS1) Program, went to Sandia National Laboratories, of Albuquerque, N.M. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst was awarded Best (OS1) Pioneer.

Other honorees included the University of Texas at Austin for the Best Training Program and Boeing’s Puget Sound group for the Best Communications Program. Paul Condie of California-based GMI was named Best Peer Influence.

In a special presentation, Marvin Klein, President of PortionPac Chemical Corp., Chicago, was named winner of the 2003 Pinnacle Award for outstanding contributions to the cleaning industry.

The (OS1) cleaning process was developed by John P. Walker of Managemen, Salt Lake City.

• Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific was recently presented the Grainger 2003 Customer Focused Quality 1 (CFQ1) Award at a special ceremony held July 21 in Chicago.

Study: Microfiber Tops Conventional Mops In Hospitals
Arecent study conducted by the Sustainable Hospitals Project (SHP) found microfiber mops to be more beneficial from an environmental health and safety standpoint when compared with conventional loop mops in hospitals.

A microfiber floor-mopping system was piloted in a Boston-area hospital and SHP compared the system with the conventional wet loop mop-and-bucket cleaning system.

SHP concluded that the microfiber system is effective, is more comfortable for workers, prevents cross-contamination and reduces ergonomic problems. The group reported that the initial cost for the microfiber system is approximately twice the cost of conventional loop mopping systems. But, the microfiber mop head lasts approximately 10 times longer than a conventional mop and uses fewer chemicals, resulting in a lower life-cycle cost.

Also, read the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s fact sheet, “Using Microfiber Mops in Hospitals.”

Health-Plan Costs Rise Again
A Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research Educational Trust survey released eariler this month confirms what many Americans already knew — health-insurance premiums are going up.

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased almost 14 percent between spring 2002 and spring 2003; since 2000, that annual premium paid by employees to insure themselves and their families has increased nearly 49 percent.

In 2003, the employee's cost for family coverage increased 13 percent to $2,412 a year, which accounts for 27 percent of the total premium. Premiums for single coverage increased by less than 8 percent to $508 a year.

Additionally, employers are raising deductibles; in spring 2003, workers paid an average deductible of $384 (up 30 percent since last year) for single coverage and $785 (up 12 percent) for family coverage. Drug co-payments and out-of-pocket limits also have increased.




POSTED ON: 9/1/2003