The Benefits of a Standardized, Multi-Site Wiper Program

One team member at a body shop may grab a shop rag to wipe up a few drops of oil. Another may reach for an industrial-strength wiper. At a restaurant, one employee may use paper towels to clean a table, while another uses a foodservice wiper and disinfectant. The task is the same, but the cleaning process, training and products used can be different. This lack of consistency can create challenges for businesses operating across multiple locations and add layers of difficulty to purchasing.

No two sites will ever operate exactly the same, but many of their day-to-day tasks are remarkably similar. From the tasks performed to the messes encountered, creating consistent cleaning expectations and results across locations helps businesses across industries improve efficiency, simplify purchasing and deliver more predictable results.

Inconsistency costs your business money. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of standardizing wiping products across locations and how this can improve operational efficiency while reducing cost.

Simplifies Purchasing

Less is more, but everyone deserves options. Sellars manufacturers dozens of wiper products available in a variety of put-ups because every wiping task has unique requirements. And while many products are available, the goal of standardization is to save money by selecting the right wiping products for your most common applications across locations. And by offering a variety of different materials, put-ups and strengths, your purchasing team can find the perfect wiper for your own unique application.

By reducing the number of wiper products purchased for your multi-site needs, purchasing teams can consolidate ordering to greater quantities of fewer SKUs and often negotiate better bulk pricing with vendors or distributors. When all sites are using the same products, their depletion can also be more predictable to standardize and streamline the cadence of ordering wiping products. By narrowing down different wiping products on-hand, businesses can also save valuable storage space and cut down excessive inventory. In some cases, you can even eliminate costly rag laundering services by switching to disposable wipers, which are more cost-effective

Improves Overall Cleaning & Wiping Performance

Having the right wiper in the right place helps reduce waste and frustration while improving overall cleaning performance. For example, an auto body shop doesn’t need to use a highly durable wiper to clean off an oil dipstick. For this, a lower-quality paper towel does the trick. But for cleaning up a puddle of spilled wiper fluid, those same paper towels will fall short and require far more sheets and time to get the job done. The right performance-to-task ratio makes cleaning more efficient, so workers can get back to the job at hand.

Streamlines Product Training

A wiper doesn’t need an instruction manual but learning which areas products are most effective is challenging when sites aren’t using the same products. For existing employees, standardizing wiping products across locations reduces the learning curve when transitioning to new sites, whether temporarily or permanently. For new hires, this means training can be consistent across locations, indicating when and where to use certain wiping products.

Steps to Create a Multi-Site Wiper Program

Follow these simple steps to simplify your wiping operations.

1. Perform site audits at multiple locations to understand the current products, monthly usage, wiping tasks, put-ups and direct user feedback.
2. Evaluate tasks and applications and categorize them.
   1. Solvent and chemical wiping
   2. Heavy-duty grease and fluid cleanup
   3. Wiping Tasks around jagged metal
   4. Critical wiping tasks that require low lint
3. Review products and their attributes making sure to balance cost per sheet, strength, durability, absorbency, lint levels and safety when working with solvents.
4. Find the right partner that offers a broad range of wipers with industry-specific expertise.

Managing multiple locations is complicated enough without dozens of wiping products creating unnecessary variability, storage challenges and purchasing struggles. Small changes can have a measurable impact while also reducing unnecessary complexity. By standardizing your wiping products, you can simplify purchasing and training while maximizing performance. Sellars manufactures a complete range of high-quality, durable and absorbent wipers for a variety of industries, applications and tasks. Browse our full wiper catalog or contact our expert team to learn more.