The digital transformation sweeping across hospitality is reaching deep into hotel laundry operations, driving significant improvements in efficiency, sustainability and cost control. From on-premises laundries (OPLs) to large-scale commercial facilities, technology is modernizing nearly every aspect of laundry operations—and hotel owners are taking notice.
“People are amazed at the technology used today in commercial and OPLs when they tour large facilities,” said Sheldon Anderson, president of laundry management consulting services company Anderson Textile Services. “Every area of the laundry is being impacted and improved with technology, especially given a climate of increasing labor rates and escalating costs.”
In recent years, automation and data integration have become the norm across laundry systems. “Sorting technology has gone from manually tabulated weight counts to inexpensive automated scales with cart bar code tracking and digital readouts,” he said.
These tools, when connected to a local computer, help managers monitor linen flow and track processing time—all with minimal investment, according to Anderson.
Laundry machines themselves—washers, dryers and folders—now offer operational production monitoring either through onboard processors or integrated software systems.
“On the production floor, laundries now use equipment displays or integrated systems to manage production rates per person, per hour or per day,” Anderson noted. “For larger laundries, software is available to track and monitor production in real time.”
Preventative maintenance is another area seeing gains. “Laundry equipment can now be added to each hotel’s maintenance system and tracked on asset lists,” he added.
With real-time data, managers can prevent costly equipment failures and improve uptime.
“We often see excessive untracked labor inefficiencies directly related to deferred or delayed maintenance,” said Anderson.
Rising utility and labor costs are making automation investments easier to justify.
“Automation leads to easier, more predictive workloads and schedules,” he said. “It provides ROI on technological improvements to better manage heart-of-the-house departments.”
A key enabler of this shift is the declining cost of RFID tags and software. “Uniform tracking with bar codes and RFID is becoming more common and allows real-time data to track uniform location, inventory and costs of all items,” said Anderson.
With RFID, hotels can also better manage linen loss and fill rates, leading to tighter cost control and more accurate inventory planning.
Anderson emphasized the power of real-time data for improving performance across properties. “Digitally tracking production rates, labor costs and utilities places data in the hands of the leaders that effect change and manage hotel costs,” he said.
While traditional systems collect mountains of operational data, he sees the next wave of innovation to be artificial intelligence. “AI will be a game-changer to the laundry operation,” he said. “Companies in the market are now developing AI tools to track linen loss and useful life.”
In the near future, AI systems could help hotels anticipate their laundry needs days in advance, automatically generating staffing and production schedules based on historical usage and occupancy forecasts.
“Knowing how many pillowcases and sheets you need to produce next Thursday and how much labor will be needed is not a question anyone would ask today,” Anderson said. “But, with AI, it becomes an accepted schedule and practice.”
Digital transformation is also enabling better benchmarking. “With minimal investment, hotel owners now have easy access to pounds processed per day—easily translated to pounds per occupied room—coupled with the labor hours used to process those pounds,” he said.
That distinction is important. Rather than focusing solely on cost per occupied room, which can fluctuate, he recommends monitoring the true output of laundry operations.
“The laundry is a production facility,” said the Anderson Textile Services executive. “Because volume fluctuates based on business mix, seasonality and F&B use, KPIs should be based on the trackable processed weights.”
Interoperability between systems remains a challenge but is improving. “The speed to compatibility is improving as proprietary software applications understand that their growth is limited without integration,” Anderson noted.
Most vendors are now building on large commercial platforms, allowing easier integration across systems and departments.
While the increased control provided by these systems have great financial benefits, they also support hotels’ environmental initiatives.
“Integrated systems tracking utilities will lessen the carbon footprint and lower resources needed to operate the laundry,” said Anderson.
RFID and AI can track the true lifespan of linens and compare how different products or chemicals impact that duration.
“We can now easily compare the life of a sheet or napkin between vendor A or B and can confirm or reject how a change in chemistry will prolong linen life,” he added.
Anderson highlighted the financial significance of hotel laundries.
“They are one of the only departments that is fully financially allocated,” he said. “Every dollar a laundry saves (or spends) is realized (or charged) to another department within the hotel. It is in everyone’s best interest to ensure the hotel laundry and team is fully supported to ensure a successful operation and bottom line for the operators and owners.”
