Hotels Tap Tech for Loss Prevention

By Lin Grensing-Pophal, Contributing Editor
Hotels may have long considered theft a cost of doing business. But new technologies are becoming available that will help management curtail loss in all of its forms, from lost assets (for example, uniforms that mistakenly don’t come back from the cleaners), to mistakes in item counting (such as minibars and toiletries) to the unfortunate occurrences of guest or employee theft. From RFID linen/supplies tagging to inventory management; from automated minibar technology to video surveillance and door locking technology, hotels are finding new and innovative ways to protect their assets, and their guests.  

Tracking hotel assets

MGM Resorts International is known for providing impeccable service in luxury surroundings. While in the planning phases to open its 4,000-room ARIA Resort at CityCenter in Las Vegas, employing 8,000 new employees and 125,000 uniforms, says Brigette Rhu, director of uniform control for ARIA, “We conducted an analysis to determine the latest and most efficient uniform inventory software available. After considering the range of options, they decided to go with a radio frequency identification system (RFID) that allows MGM Resorts to track and understand inventory quickly and effectively. “Providing outstanding service to our guests in Las Vegas is a 24/7 business,” says Rhu. “We needed a product that would accommodate the large amounts of inventory that we handled.”

Because they were opening a new resort, she says, they were able to purchase and install the technology from the beginning, making it a seamless process. Other hotels might need to update their uniform handling systems in bits and pieces, and as budget dollars become available.

It’s an innovative process. When inventory is received, chips are either pre-installed or sewn into them and inventory is entered into InvoTech’s GIMS system (www.invotech.com). Once entered, garments are assigned to employees and scanned to their profiles in GIMS. Soiled garments are dropped through a laundry chute and assigned to cleaners. Once returned from cleaners, the garments are scanned back to the employee slot. The system was implemented in December 2009, and has resulted in balanced inventory ever since, says Rhu.

InvoTech’s system now uses UHF-RFID technology; the ultra-high-frequency allows the tags to be read from a much greater distance with the larger read area allowing entire laundry carts of soiled uniforms and racks of clean uniforms to be processed automatically when going to and from the laundry. In addition to the loss prevention benefits of the technology, the savings in manual labor can have a very positive impact on the bottom line.