SERIES: Big Tech for Small Spaces

By Becca Anderson

Throughout the month of June 2026 we have focused on Big Tech for Small Spaces. Our columnists have chimed in on the topic, and many manufacturers and suppliers have given their input. But what have we learned in all this dialogue?

As I read, edited and published this month’s articles, several common themes emerged: 

• It isn’t the amount of equipment you have, it’s having the right equipment for the work you do.
• It isn’t the size of your plant that matters, but having a plant layout that is efficient and productive.
• Technology advances can be big, and yet come in a small package. 
• Adding technology that is not properly understood or maintained is worse than staying low-tech.
• The purpose of adding newer technology is to reduce daily friction for customers, employees and managers, and increase efficiency.

Next year is a Clean Show year, and you can be sure that hundreds of companies have been actively planning what will be in their booths ever since the last Show closed. There are advances taking place in our industry across the board—dry cleaning, wet cleaning, industrial laundry, laundromats. I’m already anticipating stepping on the floor in Las Vegas (July 15-18) with my eyes wide and my pen ready.

The fact that exhibitors are already planning their Clean Show displays should tell you something: preparation matters. If suppliers are spending years preparing for the industry’s biggest event, operators should be spending the coming year preparing for what they hope to learn from it. 

Every operation is different; your plant is not a mirror image of the one down the street, or the ones hundreds of miles away. So root your planning in your reality.

Checklist time

In the quiet season before you even consider buying anything new, you have the opportunity to review where you are and where you want to be. Make a list of the following items:

• Are you in the right location? Or is there one you have your eye on?
• What is the actual workflow through the plant and is it as efficient as it could be?
• Exactly what equipment do you have (from the front door to the back door, including vehicles)? 
• Which pieces of equipment are nearing the end of their useful life? 
• Are there ways to upgrade aspects of your current equipment to incorporate better technology and improve efficiency?
• Should you invest in reworking the flow of your plant?
• Have you had someone mystery-shop your company and detail the friction points in interacting with your staff and technology? What needs to change?
• What is your maintenance plan, and where is the most recent report that it’s been completed? (If you don’t have one, now is the time to make one.)
• How will you introduce new technology to your employees so that it is embraced and maintained properly?

Take a half day off

The questions I just listed should take you some time to answer. Some of them will require that you start something new (like a maintenance program) or to do some research (like adding technology upgrades). That kind of work demands concentrated effort. So give yourself a half day off—but don’t go golfing. Lock yourself in a room with a computer and a pad of paper, and be intentional about evaluating where you are.

This is not a vacation day. It will probably be the hardest you work all year.

Once you have a good benchmark on these areas of strategic planning, then you can get a fresh cup of coffee, lean back in your chair, and dare to dream about where you want to be in two years, five years, ten. Just dream. Don’t be sidetracked by difficulties involved in achieving those dreams. List the things you’d like to see happen for your company.

Reality will set in soon enough once you’ve completed both exercises. And when it does, you’ll be in a great position to start making checklists of steps to achieve your goals, like what you need to acquire or how you need to change procedures, in order to bring those dreams to fruition. 

Coming Up

Next month we’ll have a new focus for our articles. Each week all month we’ll publish articles on Longevity in a Disposable World. New things are great (and if you buy good ones, they will last a long time.) But sometimes the best things—your people, systems that really work, customer loyalty, equipment that was built for the long haul—can (and should) be the basis of moving forward.

Do you have a piece of equipment, a system, an employee, or a customer relationship that has stood the test of time and continues to make your company stronger? Or has your company been in business for many years? Tell us about it. Hit “Reply” below.

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