Soil Count Basics

Traditional linen tracking systems report usage as the sum of deliveries.  If a hundred sheets are delivered to a user area, then a hundred sheets are considered to have been used.  Some systems take this concept a step further and only consider the quantity of sheets that are missing from a linen closet as usage.  This is good information but it is not necessarily accurate information.   How can we be sure that another user area didn't borrow sheets that are missing from a linen closet?  How do we know when sheets were stolen from a linen closet?   How do we know if the missing sheets were simply moved to another storage area?   In this type of system we can never be sure whether missing linen was actually used.  If these types of problems exist, we can only report them as usage by an area.   Even worse, when these types of problems exist, we don't know who should bear the burden of associated costs.

The linen tracking system in place at Peninsula Hospital Services is soil count based.  Each soiled linen bag is labeled with the user area account number and it is sorted and counted at the laundry.  By counting soiled linen, we are able to accurately measure usage by user area.  We use this information to establish usage budgets and we perpetually analyze performance.  We only charge for processing the soiled linen that we count.  We do not charge for deliveries of linen.  We are in the linen rental business so we consider linen that we deliver to be a loan in anticipation of usage. 

When we start servicing a soil count based customer, we stock their facility with the appropriate quantities of each linen item.  This is linen that belongs to the laundry and is considered to be on loan.  Each week, we use the computer to compare soiled returns of each item to linen loans made during the same period.  If more is returned than loaned, then we make a balancing delivery to account for the difference.  If less is returned than loaned we make note of the fact that the customer has not returned as much linen as they were loaned and that we need to reconsider this disparity in a future reconciliation. 

It makes sense to assume that the quantity of an item returned soiled in a week, when divided by seven, is the current average daily consumption.  This is why we base deliveries (linen loans) on soil count quantities.   We always deliver an amount equal to the soil count, on a delayed basis.  If the user's need for an item spikes or drops off, they always have the prerogative of adjusting to their current requirement by requisitioning new stock or returning an over abundance to the laundry for credit.

We invest the time and manpower in this system because we believe that the most powerful tool in this industry is information.  The information that we are able to compile by using the soil count system allows us to control all of the components of linen service cost.  Consumption, processing, replacement, and distribution all become manageable.  We also gain the ability to intelligently manage our laundry. 

For a more detailed explanation of the soil count system please contact us at (757) 874-0406.