We must prove that ‘clean makes good economic sense’
August 1st 2005 Nick Snow, managing director of JohnsonDiversey (JD) believes that there are problems within the cleaning industry but that there are encouraging signs also. Tim McManan- Smith spoke to him and discussed innovation, staff turnover and the true value of cleaning
One of Nick Snow’s missions as managing director of JD is to bring back value into cleaning. He wants JD to be known as a hygiene provider and not just simply a chemical supplier, though if people just want this JD are only too happy to oblige. By having expertise in many areas such as kitchens, floorcare, laundry and so on JD are able to buck the current trend for smaller specialist suppliers in each area.
Rather than making profit out of each area JD are able to make one from the whole lot which result in less overall cost to the customer. “By supplying in all areas we are able offer a competitive proposition along with added value for their complete hygiene needs. We want to put the value back in a transparent way. By showing all of the cost areas such as price and service along with slightly less traditional benefits such as audits which allow customers evaluate what is happening at each of their premises and how improvements can be made.” So, JD are supplying hygiene rather than just products but are people ready to pay for it or will they just go for the lowest cost in every case regardless of the extras offered? “What it comes down to is how important is hygiene to you?, “ asks Nick, “Many big businesses are seeing that hygiene is an important asset. People are beginning to equate clean and hygienic to commercial value.” A customer of JD, McDonalds is aiming to turn around a much publicised recent downturn in fortunes with a key thrust towards hygiene. It sees hygiene as something that customers value highly and by having the cleanest and most hygienic premises that attract new customers and importantly keep existing ones. It only takes one bad experience to put people off for life when it comes to dining out. Another pub chain that is dealing with JD is redesigning some of its premises that are a bit shabby after years of cigarette burns and spilt beer. It is refurbishing with a minimalist design that enables cleaning to be conducted easily in the pubs with the aim to attract more customers. The retail sector is also realising that cleaner premises attract customers and mean that they spend more time in a shop; when this happens people are more likely to spend more money. “Part of our role is to make customers see that clean makes good economic sense. We have to shift the argument from simply the cost of cleaning to the value of cleaning,” says Nick.
As a company that succeeds in innovating with cleaning technology gaining an innovation award at The Cleaning Show; JD believes that an equipment and chemical supplier has to invest in new technology or the company nor the industry will move forward. However, making technology pay for itself takes a little longer with the incessant focus on price for most cleaning consumables. Sectors such as healthcare will pay a higher price for innovation because they need to stay on top of hygiene problems but many sectors will not and the only way to make back large R&D investments is to get the sales volume up and keep the price competitive. “It is hard to launch products onto the market place and have a price premium even if they are highly innovative. We see technological improvements as a way to get market share rather than improve profits, comments Nick. One of the problems with the constant wish to drive down prices from cleaning operations, but contract cleaning companies are willing to listen to lifetime cost arguments compared to capital expenditure for innovative equipment.
“The problem with most new technology is that is to get the best out of the increased efficiencies that are on offer greater training is required. This efficiencies are often squandered because staff turnover is too high.” If new people constantly need retraining then the expected cleaning improvements either in terms of hygiene or speed will not happen and this is a problems that Nick thinks is at the heart of most of the cleaning industry’s problems and the UK’s hygiene problems. For example the Jonmaster can result in 20 to 30% increased levels of output, but these are wasted if staff constantly need retraining because for the methodology to yield the desired results a greater level of education is required in the first place.
Technology can design out problems that were faced in the past.
Safepack is one such example of this. It is a dishwashing system that has addressed both a safety problem and a wastage one. The closed liquid dosing system prevents personal exposure to chemicals as there is no contact with the operator. A lock and key connector guarantees that there is no product mix up. The gravity fed system uses up the entire contents of the pack, reducing product waste. Technology such as this can lead to gains in costs and safety when no one would necessarily have thought that there was a need for a new type of dishwasher dispenser.
There are many problems caused by high staff turnover such as having to recruit and retrain staff all the way through contracts. Nick’s example is that many schools are cleaned well and have a good hygiene reputation through the fact that caretakers often remain in their jobs for long periods and they learn and understand the new technologies that the school adopts to combat bad hygiene. The ultimate way to stop the problems of high staff turnover is to pay more.
But people do not rate cleaning as a high enough business priority unless there is a very important reason like the recent MRSA outbreaks.
“We have to get people to equate cleanliness and hygiene with commercial value,” says Nick. “Just one case of food poisoning can ruin the reputation of a restaurant. At the moment we swing from doing not very much to panicking in response to scare stories such as MRSA.
We need the consistent application of good hygiene principles to maintain standards and reduce costs instead of lurching from one disaster to another. There are signs that some big players are starting to look at hygiene as a way of gaining competitive advantage over customers but on the whole it is treated in a rather lax manner.” Overseas many buildings are designed with cleaning in mind; having ceramic based walls and floors rather than carpets and wallpaper. In the UK cleaning is an afterthought rather than a design consideration.
“We have to shift the argument from cost of clean to the commercial value of clean. By being a hygiene provider we want to supply customers with the end effect of hygienic and clean premises not just cheaper chemicals,” comment Nick. JD has just completed a new training centre at its Northampton based premises. The idea is the the JD staff have to be in the know and act as ambassadors of cleaning reinforcing the message of value coming from cleaning. “It is a technically based science and our staff have to have the knowledge.
Customers see it as a necessary evil we must change this view,” states Nick, “We need to invest in training to differentiate ourselves from just a chemical supplier. There is a competitive advantage to be gained from becoming cleaning science experts.”
JohnsonDiversey sponsor the cleanliness for future generations For the seventh year running JohnsonDiversey has sponsored the David Bellamy Award for Environmental Cleanliness, in conjunction with organisers BICSc. The 2005 winning school is Woodheys Primary School of Meadway, Cheshire. Professor David Bellamy presented the winning school with the coveted £8000 prize.
The David Bellamy Awards for Environmental Cleanliness challenges primary school children from 8 - 11 to get involved in making their built environment cleaner, healthier, more inviting and – above all – safe. (Built Environment means homes, school buildings, playgrounds - childrens’ immediate environment). More articles from JohnsonDiversey Equipment Ltd: | 
