Clean Age How innovative equipment and ideas made Team Cleaning ® an industry future. By: Jessica Holmes The C Jessica Holmes is a freelance writer based in Boise, Idaho and a PR con-sultant for ProTeam, the company that innovated the lightweight backpack vacuum over 20 years ago and transformed the efficiency of cleaning. Learn more at www.Pro-Team.com. Cleaning is as old as dirt. Cleaning tools and strategies, on the other hand, are rapidly evolving. Janitorial closets now showcase state-of-the-art technology in the form of microfiber cloths, machinery and liquid agents. In the age of innovations, many industry profes-sionals also rely on a science-based cleaning system to improve efficiency and environmental health. The concept of Team Cleaning was introduced over 20 years ago and has since gained both converts and skeptics across the world. Team Cleaning rethinks long-held traditions and standards to create a process that focuses on cleaning for health with maximum productivity. So where did the idea come from, and how does it work in the real world? The Origins Of A Cleaning Movement In the early 1980s, cleaning professionals faced many of the same business challenges they do today. Companies with illegal labor or shoddy practices were outbidding quality contract cleaners. Productivity and effectiveness were always top of mind. Larry Shideler, who was a contract cleaner in Boise, Idaho, began to look at the costs and prob-lems of his daily routine. A building with eight floors assigned to eight dif-In Team Cleaning, a vacuum specialist vacuums, repositions furniture, checks the quality of the starter’s work and turns off lights. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Team Cleaning . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Vacuum . 28 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • July 2009
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