22 LINEN ROOM – LAYOUT, STORAGE AND CONTROL, FUNCTIONS OF LINEN ROOM

PL. Sridevi Sivakami

1. INTRODUCTION

The linen room is the central depot for all linen and from it sufficient clean articles in good condition are distributed throughout the hotel. When one consider that even for a small establishment many hundreds of articles are necessary for the bed rooms alone, it will be realized that the linen keeper has a greater responsibility for the control of this stock. There will be establishments where a great deal of linen is handled .In these places there may be done by the general assistant.

2. LINEN ROOM WORK

Inevitably there are variations in the work of the linen room in the different types of establishments but there are many points to be considered generally .The hours of the linen room is open will vary from 8.am until 5 pm in large hotels but in other cases there may be set time, possibly twice a day, always remembering that the linen room may be required to be open seven days a week.

3. ORGANIZATION OF LINEN ROOM

In a hotel establishments there are two types of linen rooms –

3.1. Centralized linen room

In this system, linen from all the floors are collected and sorted in one central area .The linen room supervisor has complete control over the linen room. All type of linens are issued and receipts go out from here.

3.2. Decentralized linen room

This system works well in hotels that have a large numbers of floor and also operated in resorts, where the rooms are spread out across a large expanse area. Each floor maintains its own par stock of linen. As and when necessary arises a replenished from the main linen room. The linen par is stored in floor pantries and floor supervisors are responsible for maintaining a par stock.

4. ACTIVITIES OF LINEN ROOM

5. STORAGE OF LINEN

While in storage ,linen must be kept free from dust, therefore all the fresh linen should be stored under cover .Linen may be covered by curtains drawn across the shelves or may be stored in cupboards with slatted sliding doors. Articles that are not in frequent use, such as mattress protectors ,curtains and blankets may be covered with dust sheets .The linen stock should be rotated in order on first in ,first out basis. While placing fresh linen on shelves, especially the heavier ones, it should be ensured that the fold faces outwards. Also heavier linen should be placed on lower shelves .Smaller articles such as face towels and serviettes are placed in bundles of 10.

6. LINEN EXCHANGE

Linen is provided for rooms and F & B areas following one of these four procedures

6.1. Fresh for soiled /one –for –one

This is a simple method of linen exchange, fresh linen is provided only if an equivalent soiled article is given back. The advantage in this method is that there need be no record format .Usually uniforms are exchanged according to this method .Even though fresh for soiled is the simplest exchange, in case of large number of linen, it will take more time on account of the counting of both fresh and soiled and the fetching of the requisite amount of fresh linen.

6.2. ROOM LINEN EXCHANGE PROCEDURE

In a hotel with an on premises laundry(OPL),soiled linen may be received directly by the laundry or may be sent via the linen room laundry .The floor supervisor counts up the soiled linen from the floor and enters the count into the room linen control forms shown figure 1 .This forms is prepared in duplicate and sent along with the soiled linen to the linen room .If the soiled linen goes directly to the laundry ,the laundry linen exchange form shown in figure 2 is instead .The linen room /laundry supervisor again counts up the soiled linen and stamps received on the form. One copy of the form is returned to the floor, the second and third copy is filled at the linen room and the laundry respectively. Now the linen room supervisor issues the fresh linen on one for one basis ,filling out the linen exchange form shown in figure 3 and signs it .If the fresh linen room is short of linen ,the supervisor enters the balance amount and issues them with the next lot. The form is countersigned by the floor supervisor and maintained in the linen room .

6.3. RESTAURANT LINEN EXCHANGE PROCEDURE

Articles of restaurant linen are exchanged at stipulated timings .An F &B employee brings the soiled linen to the linen room .The linen room staff check the soiled linen received damages .All items are counted and verified with the count in the F&B linen exchange form. The count is entered in the linen exchange register for F&B shown in figure 4 .The fresh linen is issued and details are also entered in the linen exchange register.

7. PAR STOCK

This refers to the amount of each type of linen required to make up all the guest rooms of the hotel at a given time and so is the minimum quantity of clean linen that must be on hand at any time .The par stock quantity of linen is also referred to as house set up .A number of factors that par stock depends are laundry cycle ,occupancy level and usage ,replacement and emergency stock go into the setting up of the par stock for linen.

Thus a par number has to be set up to maintain the par stock of linen .The par number is a multiple of the one par or set up quantity required to support daily housekeeping function .Thus two pars of linen comprise the total number of each type of linen needed to outfit all guestrooms twice .In the same way three pars of linen is the total number of each type of linen needed to outfit all guest rooms three times and so on. In most deluxe hotels the par number is kept 4-5 times the set up.

In hotels where the soiled linen is washed on the same day they are stripped away ,3 1/2 pars of linen may be maintained .Where contact laundries handle the linen ,6 pars of linen may have to be maintained.

8. LINEN CONTROL

Linen Control will be carried out in different phases. Like

Ø  ROUTINE CHECKING OF LINEN

Ø  QUANTITY CONTROL OF THE DAILY FLOW OF LINEN STOCK /LINEN EXCHANGE PROCEDURE

Ø  PHYSICAL INVENTORY LINEN OR STOCKTAKING

Ø   PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF LINEN

The executive housekeeper must emphasize the inspection of fresh and soiled linen not only by the linen room staff but also by other staff handling linen .Stringent checking should be carried out by the linen staff. In an OPL the function of inspecting linen may be carried out by the laundry staff. However ,when the laundry is contracted out, responsible falls on hands of the linen room staff. Spot checking of linen should be carried out by the supervisors in areas where linen may be left behind ,such as service rooms ,staff changing rooms and so on. If the inspections of all articles are carried out thoroughly ,a high standard of linen quality is maintained and the chance of a guest finding a torn or stained article is minimal.

9. LINEN EXCHANGE PROCEDURE

This is a quantity control of linen sent from the floors and departments to the linen room for dispatch to the laundry. To maintain an initial record of the par stock of linen in each department and on each floor and also of any subsequent increase in the quantity of linen, an indent copy is shown here have to be maintained by the floor supervisor or by the department in charge. The original copy of the indent is given to the linen room while the duplicate remains on the floor .If extra linen items issued to the floor or to the department as per the indent are returned, the signature of the linen room supervisor is obtained on the duplicate copy .This ensures that extra linen items that are not required daily on the floor or in the department are returned and are no longer the responsibility of the floor or department in question. The linen room entry book contains daily records of the soiled linen brought to the linen room from the various floors and department as well as the amount of soiled linen sent to the laundry. It is signed and maintained by the linen room supervisor.

10. PHYSICAL INVENTORY OR STOCKTAKING

Stocktaking of linen is a physical verification by counting of the stock of all linen items at all points in the cycle. It is carried out at periodic intervals or at the time of the closing of books for evaluation purposes. Accurate recording of entries is important during stocktaking so that the overage and storages can be determined from the difference between the physical count of balance and the balance appearing in the accounts inventory ledger. The physical counting is done after every 3 months and is known as a quarterly inventory. First all items including discards are segregated and grouped .Then items in circulation and items kept in store are counted up separately and the totals are added together .The discards are stamped ‘ condemned’ and set aside .Now the counted total should tally with the last inventory figure plus the issued items received. Only in the presence of housekeeper inventory /stocktaking /stock checking has to be conducted.

11. PROPER DOCUMENTATION OF LINEN

The master inventory control sheet helps the executive housekeeper analyze the results of the physical inventories .By subtracting the counted total for each linen article from the quantity of corresponding items, the executive housekeeper can accurately determine the number lost. Linen loss is the difference from the total obtained during the previous inventory .While physical inventories reveal the losses for linen items, they do not show why these losses occur. If the difference between the expected and actual quantities is high ,further investigation is needed. After each physical inventory ,the executive housekeeper should make sure that the par levels are brought back to the level originally established for each linen item .Par numbers for each linen type are recorded .These figures represent the standard numbers for each linen type that should always be maintained in inventory .By subtracting the actual quantities for each linen, type on hand from the corresponding par levels ,the executive housekeeper can determine the quantities of each linen type that are needed to bring inventories back to par. By subtracting the quantities of linen that are on order, but not yet received ,the executive housekeeper knows precisely how many of each linen type still needs to be ordered to replenish the par stock.

As a result of the physical verification, the executive housekeeper can determine the amount of linen needed to replace lost stock and maintain the established par levels. The completed master inventory control sheet should be submitted along with the linen discard record to the general manager .The general manager will then verify and initial report before transferring it to the accounts department .The accounts department will provide the executive housekeeper with cost information related to usage ,loss, and expense per occupied room. This information is useful in determining and monitoring the housekeeping budget.

12. LINEN LIFE SPAN

The life span of linen is measured in terms of how many times it can be laundered before becoming too worn to be suitable for guest room use. Durability, laundry ,consideration and purchase price are the main criteria that an executive housekeeper has to bear in mind while selecting linen .The housekeeper needs to calculate the cost per use in order to evaluate alternative linen purchase using the following formula:

Cost per use =   Purchase cost+ Lifespan laundering costs

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Number of life span launderings

The expected useful life of the linen is often more important than the purchase price in determining whether alternative products are economical or not. The cost of the laundering linen over their useful life is usually much greater and therefore more important than their initial price.

13. DISCARDS AND THEIR REUSE

Condemned linen are items that are no longer useful in their present condition due to some irreversible damage .Cutting down refers to the using of any discarded materials for some purpose .Turning discards into rags is one of the simplest and most common ways of recycling .Large discarded sheets can be used as crib sheets, aprons, and other articles. On some properties discarded linen are sold to hotel staff at reasonable prices.

Some properties also donate used linen to charities. Whatever be the norm all discards should be accounted for and properly recorded.

14. SUMMARIZE

Various aspects of the linen room planning, layout, location and activities. The inventory maintenance and its functioning. Also in this lesson, dealt in detail about the supply of various linen items to the guest rooms, their retrieval after use. The responsibility of the linen room in the operational logistics relating to the management decision whether to invest to buy own linen material or to rent it from outside hiring agencies.

REFERENCES:

1. Andrew, S. Hotel Front Office – Training manual, Tata Mac Graw Hill Publishing co ltd, New Delhi, 2009
2. Schneider, M. and Tucker, G. The Professional Housekeeper, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 2005.
3. Branson, J, C. and Lenrox, M. Hotel, Hostel and House Keeping, Edward Arnold Ltd, 2007.