Survey: Industry Sales, Productivity Up

Posted October 28, 2015 at 5:29 pm

Order TRSA’s New Industry Performance Report

The 2015 edition of TRSA’s Industry Performance Report has good news for operators in its one-of-a-kind benchmarking study of the textile services industry. To wit, sales and profit margins grew over comparable numbers recorded in last year’s report, while productivity and cost-control figures also showed improvement over the 2014 report.

Specifically, the median TRSA textile services provider noted in the 2015 report (based on 2014 data) grew sales by 5.2% vs. 3.6% recorded in the 2014 report (based on 2013 data). On the expense side, plant and delivery expenses were lower as a percentage of sales for the 2014 median company than comparable figures from 2013. In 2014, the combined plant and delivery expenses for a median operator represented 54% of sales. That’s 2% less than the same figure for 2013.

“This report reflects how textile services operators have been successful in holding the line on costs, which, in turn, can help maintain and grow the businesses of both these operators and their customers,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “By making capital investments, streamlining operations and continuing to innovate, our operators are making their businesses run better and passing those savings along to their customers.”

In addition, profit margins for the median textile service company as recorded in the 2015 survey increased. In 2014, the median provider had a 5.5% profit margin vs. a 4.8% profit margin for the median provider in the 2013 – a 15% difference.

Another point of interest in the survey was its figures on sales per employee, which is considered a key measure of efficiency. This area showed improvement in 2014 with the median number up by nearly $7,000 over comparable figures from 2010, an 8% difference. Positive variations in this metric showed up across all industry segments, reflecting the widespread willingness of operators to invest in higher-production, laborsaving equipment and to hire more skilled staff to operate it. Across the board sales-per-route figures indicate increased productivity in the service department.

The Mackay Research Group collected and analyzed 2014 data of 47 participating operators for inclusion in the new Industry Performance Report. Click here to learn more. 

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