Many pieces need to fall into the right places for the textile services industry to have a better 2014 than 2013. Margins will be better in part because operations will become more efficient. Confidence in the future of the business abounds—enough operators are improving plant practices and investing in technology to lower at least slightly the industrywide cost to produce, sell and serve a pound of laundry. Even if it’s a substantial drop, though, most would agree that the revenue-generation factor in the profitability equation will weigh more heavily on the industry’s bottom line.
 
Which raises the ...