The International Sanitary Supply Association was originally chartered for manufacturers and distributors of chemicals and equipment used in the cleaning industry. The very first time I learned about the association, a distributor proudly told me it was the trade association of soap salesmen. Founded in 1923 by Albert Richter who wanted to trade information between distributors around the US, the ISSA became a global trade Association in 1966.
I mopped floors at five star hotels in Miami Beach starting in 1974 and launched my first janitorial company in 1977. No Internet to learn about the cleaning industry (Al Gore had not invented the world wide web yet), my library at the University I was attending was all I had as a resource and everything I could find out about my new business and my new career, I learned from my local cleaning supply distributor who was an ISSA member.
How does a truly great commercial cleaning company operate? Hiring and training and supervising my staff, the best way to deal with service defects, what constitutes quality service and hundreds of issues I had to figure out all by myself with the help of my supply company. What I needed was an operating standard to compare what I was doing with what was considered the best practices of my industry. Nothing of the sort existed so it was my best guess based on what other industries did.
One of the most important events in the janitorial industry was the publication of the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) by the ISSA—The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association. The best practices of the industry collected in one document and agreed on by some of the best-organized janitorial companies in the United States. A collaborative effort by the best minds of our industry organized by the ISSA, several years in the making but then the most amazing move by the Association is that CIMS is public and available to the entire industry free through the ISSA. (CLICK HERE to request a FREE copy )
CIMS is a standard for us to go by, a framework from which we can assemble the management structures of our businesses and a way for clients and prospects to know they are dealing with the best in the industry. CIMS is how the best companies organize their businesses spelled out in detail. For the very first time the janitorial industry is able to point to a set of practices that constitute how a company should operate.
The CIMS program is not simple and certification is a major endeavor but the results are worth every single bit of effort. There are currently 158 organizations that have achieved CIMS Certification with a majority opting for an additional Green Building designation, which provides for the US Green Building Council’s LEED program.
Every janitorial and cleaning service owner needs to have a copy of the CIMS document and build around this standard. Certification may be a long way off in the future or maybe not at all but the standards are sound and provide a yardstick for managerial excellence.
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Ed Selkow
Janitorial Growth Solutions
As usual Ed, a great comment. We have downloaded the CIMS standard and have reviewed it. Some of the standards we already have in place as a sound practice, some we have started others are a long way off. To be honest, we may never pursue the green standard, and just let common sense prevail but this is a wonderful start. It won't certainly get leads knocking on the door right away, the public still has a long way to go but if you talk like a professional, have knowledge like a professional and act like a professional, call yourself a professional.
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