Dealing with deadlines
Truthfully, there would be no articles (or even advertisements) to fill up the
blank pages of National Clothesline if not for the irrefutable power of
deadlines. The element of limited time ensures that every contributing writer
and advertiser will have to stop
“working” on their project at some point. Sure, every minute counts, but most of us make
sure that we count every minute until time runs out before we actually finish
something we started. Many of us procrastinate (or, at the very least, keep
polishing up a project) in order to make it as good as it can be.
If not for a ticking clock, many projects would simply never reach fruition.
When a deadline is assigned, it
’s the equivalent of issuing a motivational challenge. Can you get it done on
time? Most of us respond more fiercely when challenged. It might be human
nature to put things off, but it
’s human nature to try even harder to avoid failure. Deadlines are never received
with open arms, but once the initial shock wears off, it turns out that most
deadlines are achievable.
Right now, cleaners have one big deadline to worry about: California has set a
15-year shelf life on perc, and other solvents may soon be added to the mix, as
well. Will hydrocarbon be safe in southern California? For that matter, will
alternative solvents be a viable answer? After all, Al Gore recently asked
Congress to try to reduce CO2 by 90 percent before 2050. So, it
’s quite probable that the industry will not receive any relief from its
impending deadlines. They may even become more difficult to achieve. When you
think of the overall big picture, it
’s easy to panic and only see bleak clouds ahead.
That’s why it is important to remember the silver lining. With such deadlines come
new challenges for drycleaning equipment manufacturers to come up with
innovative solutions, and so far, they have always come through for the
industry. At the time the EPA
’s perc NESHAP rules were adopted in 1993, drycleaners were being attacked for
going through 150 million pounds of perc annually. Yet, technological
advancements have helped reduce perc usage by more than 70 percent since then.
So, despite the feeling of panic that accompanies any deadline, it is a
comforting thought to know that equipment manufacturers still have plenty of
time to come up with answers for the industry. Right now, the California perc
deadline seems daunting and impossible, but that will change. Technology will
continue to improve and over time it will become more obvious that the deadline
is not only achievable, but it will have served to motivate the industry to
evolve its methods.
The future is coming. Are you in it?
If you are among those readers giving special attention to Harvey Gershenson’s article, “So want to sell your business,” in this month’s issue, you can skip this editorial. Heed Harvey’s advice and proceed with your exit strategy.
Everybody else, listen up! If you’re planning to be in the drycleaning business 10 years from now, then next month
you need to be in Las Vegas for the Clean Show. Much will be made of the
industry
’s past at the show — IFI celebrating its 100th anniversary and the Clean Show itself marking its
30th year with an antiquities exhibit
— but it’s the industry’s future that is truly on the line. If you plan to be a part of it, then you
must be there. Changes are occurring too rapidly to put off until the next big
show the chance to get a full read on what is going on. If you wait two more
years to begin mapping your future, you might find yourself already part of the
past.
Changes are coming both from within the industry and from outside. From within
the industry we will see the introduction of new cleaning technologies and
refinements of existing ones. We will see finishing systems that are better and
faster. We will see garment tracking systems that make short and sure work of
tasks that used to be labor-intensive and prone to error. All of these tools
will be needed to meet changes coming from outside the industry
— from government regulators who are pressuring us to leave a smaller
environmental footprint, from a market that pressures us to produce better,
faster and cheaper, from customers that pressure us to provide service that
meets their unique needs and wants.
All the tools you will need to cope with these pressures — along with experts who know how to use them — will be available at Clean ’07. Now is your chance. Don’t miss it.
