How Does RFID Tool Tracking Cut Costs In A Laundry Business?
For those in the laundry and linen services industry, the term “RFID tracking” may have surfaced every once in a while, especially regarding inventory management. RFID is essentially an abbreviation for Radio-Frequency Identification, its primary function is to track and identify items and people by collecting and transmitting data. While RFID tool tracking systems can be used for multiple purposes, including creating a smarter retail shopping experience and increasing hospital efficiency, it also benefits the laundry business due to its ability to withstand frequent wash cycles.
Read on for a clearer understanding of how RFID tool tracking can help a laundry business save time and effort, cut costs, and increase its profit margin in the long run.
1. Eliminates manual sorting procedure
Since employees in a laundry business are no longer required to manually sort through and record all the products, this saves much time and effort, allowing them to channel their energy into other tasks and responsibilities. This is especially important as a laundry business tends to deal with a considerable load for each client, so a fast and efficient turnover rate can significantly increase profits and expose them to a more extensive clientele base.
RFID tool tracking works by utilising radio waves to transmit signals and data to activate the tag. Once the RFID tag is activated, it sends radio waves to the antenna, translating these waves into data for the reading device.
In the case of a laundry business, the tag is embedded into each product, allowing the owner or employees to receive real-time updates of where the product is located and the status. It is a handy tool for cataloguing, reporting, and general stock arrangement.
2. Prevent products from going missing
If a product goes missing, is stolen, or is mismanaged or misplaced, it can be challenging to locate it. During busy hours, it’s practically impossible for employees to look for every product, especially when there are many customers in the store and with other tasks to attend to. However, with RFID tool tracking, the owner or employees have a transparent record of the product’s movement, allowing them to easily trace and find out the location of the item.
3. Ensure efficient inventory management
An efficient inventory tracking system is one of the most significant advantages of RFID tool tracking. As the tool automatically transmits data of each product’s information to the reading device, the owner and employees can use this feature to connect real-time information to the business’ inventory account. Whether this is looking to manage the volume of stocks better or predict future orders based on past statistics, it can help a business avoid possible surplus and shortage, so this will improve wastage or expenditure. In addition, this tool eliminates the need for manual updating.
4. Guarantee accurate customer information
Considering that there are many linens, garments, and other products to manage, it can be taxing on employees to oversee such a massive load. This is why it’s also relatively common for some laundry businesses to mistakenly give or deliver the products to the wrong customers. As a solution, these businesses may turn towards hiring more employees to manage better the workload, which, of course, increases costs.
A straightforward solution to ensuring that all products are handed to the right customers is to embed each product with an RFID tag. Each linen, garment or other product is securely attached to a client’s name, contact details, and address if delivery is requested. Aside from providing location details, this tool can also store each client’s personal information.
5. Allow for a quicker billing process
The RFID tracking tool can track the item at each stage of the cleaning process, including the billing at the end. Once the item is ready to be given to the customer, all the invoices are instantly recorded and reflected on the customer’s account. With that system in place, the business should not worry about billing errors due to human error.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, all businesses across various industries, including those in the laundry industry, are aiming to increase their profits and revenue. While one of the effective ways to do so is to cut costs, it’s also crucial for the business to run efficiently and smoothly, which is where RFID tool tracking comes in handy.
