Measuring the Value of AI in Cleaning

When I started my career, media looked very different. "Snail mail" wasn't even a term yet, but that's how we received press announcements. New product releases arrived as printed letters with an accompanying photo that had to be scanned, clipped, and placed into a magazine layout. The text was rekeyed, the pages were marked up with a red pen, and every edit required a physical proof. 

The pace was slower, not because we lacked ideas, but because the tasks were manual. 

As technology evolved, so did the way we worked. Software scraped the internet for breaking news, delivering updates throughout the day. Images arrived digitally and were processed in minutes. Email eliminated countless hours of retyping copy, and track changes replaced handwritten edits. Suddenly, the time we once spent on production could be redirected toward creating new products, expanding coverage, and finding better ways to serve our readers. 

Process changes can be a challenge, but progress doesn't stop. Technology has accelerated again with the advancements of artificial intelligence, offering us research capabilities we never expected.  

Of course, media isn't alone in its adoption of AI. According to the 2026 QuickBooks AI Impact Report, 77 percent of small businesses now use AI regularly in some capacity. 

For many distributors, generative AI is helping create sales and marketing content, summarize legal documents, and power customer support chatbots. Meeting transcription and note-taking tools allow employees to quickly catch up on conversations they missed, while document search and data extraction can eliminate hours of manual work. 

Our cover story further explores how jan/san distributors are putting AI to work to streamline operations, improve customer service, and drive growth. But successful adoption isn't simply about implementing the latest technology. It's about measuring whether that technology is delivering meaningful business value. 

The Institute of Business AI recommends tracking five key metrics after implementing a new technology: 
- Time per task – Measure how much time is saved before and after AI implementation. 
- Output quality – Evaluate how much editing or rework AI-generated content requires. 
- Revenue per AI-assisted activity – Determine what sales or business opportunities result from AI-supported campaigns and workflows. 
- Error rate – Compare mistakes or inaccuracies before and after AI adoption. 
- Total cost versus value – Weigh subscription and implementation costs against measurable business returns. 

Looking back, I can't imagine producing a magazine today the way we did when I started. The technologies we continue to adopt have become indispensable, freeing us to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time creating value. AI has the potential to become that kind of technology for distributors today. The opportunity isn't simply to work faster—it's to work smarter.