American Laundry News - August 2021

Late News

South Central Inc. acquires Fibertech Inc.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — South Central Inc., based here, reports that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fibertech Inc., a manufacturer of highquality, custom-engineered, rotationalmolded plastic products, including laundry carts. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The sale allows Bill Scott, the founder of Fibertech, to retire and provides growth opportunities and stability for the business and its employees.

“Bill wanted to find a good steward for Fibertech who shared similar values, care for employees and commitment to the community,” says Brent Rasche, COO of Fibertech Inc. “South Central Inc. and the Engelbrecht family check all of the boxes.”

The acquisition expands and diversifies South Central’s portfolio of investments across multiple industries.

“Fibertech Inc. is a solid company with a history of successful operations,” says J.P. Engelbrecht, South Central Inc. CEO, who has been named CEO of Fibertech Inc.

“We are thrilled to help take this local business to the next level by investing in new production capacity, talent and technology.” ALN

Over the past year and a half, ImageFIRST has added services, regional facilities

BY MATT POE, EDITOR

CHICAGO — Even before the pandemic took a bite out of the economy, laundry and linen services constantly sought to expand their businesses.

Some laundries look at adding products and services. Others, having their sales reps seek and sign more customers.

And some can look at expanding their footprint, adding plants and moving into different regions of the country.

ImageFIRST, a healthcare linen and laundry company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has been growing its business in all the manners previously mentioned—despite the pandemic.

Read on to find out how the company added a key microfiber mop program, acquired local service providers and continually seeks to help their customers enhance the experience of their end-users.

PRODUCTS AND CLIENTS

The primary way most laundry and linen services expand business is by adding new products and services to their lines and bringing on new customers.

When it comes to adding products, Bill Roberts, senior vice president of sales and marketing for ImageFIRST, says that whenever the company looks at any type of new product or service, it’s based on meeting the needs of its clients.

BY MATT POE, EDITOR

CHICAGO — For David Potack, president of Unitex, a medical uniform and linen service headquartered in Elmsford, New York, a leader is someone who understands how to build a team with a common culture and vision for the future of the business.

“A leader needs to be well-versed in understanding the group dynamic they have fostered and how to position members of the team to be successful,” he continues. “A leader cannot or should not feel they are the only person who can make decisions but at the same time, needs to identify when the

“We don’t develop anything in a bubble,” he says. “We’ll reach out and speak to a lot of our main clients, the ones that are the ‘movers and shakers’ in the marketplace.

“We’ll reach out to, for example, a large health system and say, ‘You know, we’re thinking about this product. What’s your thought? Is it going to help solve a problem? Is it going to help improve the patient experience?’

The Commercial Laundry Marathon

The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management

FRANKFURT, Germany —

Throughout the world, the COVID19 pandemic has generated a completely new awareness of the need for improved hygiene, a subject that has become a driving force for innovation in many sectors.

In the run-up to Texcare International, Dr. Timo Hammer, managing director of both the Hohenstein Laboratories and the German Certification Association for Professional Textile Services, which awards the RAL 992 seal of quality, discusses the significance of the subject for the professional textile-care sector.

In your daily work, you check textile-care companies with regard to hygiene. What has changed since the outbreak of the corona pandemic?

At the beginning of the pandemic, many laundries approached us and asked an incredible number of practical questions. For example, how can I protect my employees if we receive washing that is contaminated with corona? Or how can I organize it so that my driver can deliver the laundry despite the curfew?

In the past, hygiene was “nice to have.” Today, it is also a prerequisite for companies to protect their employees. Hygiene is a concept and employees must understand the basic principles of hygiene.

And we continuously support our members with training courses, which means they are then able to competently answer questions from their customers (i.e., hospitals and care facilities).

The pandemic has put the spotlight on the subject of textile

hygiene. What are the chances of growth for the worldwide sector?

Enormous. And things are really getting going now. This is the result of the huge leap in awareness for hygiene.

People all over the world are focusing on this very subject now. In tourist regions, for example, guests are asking about the hygiene management of their hotels and how the laundry is being washed.

To this end, hotels are demanding a hygiene certificate from their laundries.

Textile hygiene is an essential aspect of healthcare. In your opinion, what are the advantages of reusable textiles over disposable articles?

At first glance, disposable products are frequently cheaper. However, if you compare the costs across the whole time they are to be used—the “total cost of ownership”—reusable articles come out on top.

The barrier function and degree of protection offered by reusable surgical gowns are also significantly better than those of disposable products. A study about this was published by MCQuerry et al. in the American Journal of Infection Control in 2020.

In addition to the lower overall cost, multiple-use articles are also more sustainable. Many healthcare companies are now certified and textiles play an important role in this.

Moreover, reusable garments are more comfortable to wear and can be modified to take account of customers’ requirements in terms of fit and size.

How do you see the trend to

reusable articles developing in the future?

If the trend of reusable articles is to continue, laundries must have a quality management system that ensures no loss in value when such articles are disinfected. Detergent manufacturers are aware of this and thus develop products that contribute to both hygiene and longevity.

What role does digitalization play in ensuring unbroken hygiene management from the laundry to the customer? What potential do you see for the future in this connection?

Yes, this is actually an important point and there is a lot going on at present. In laundries, digitalization over recent years has primarily been aimed at tracing articles with the aid of RFID chips.

In this case, it makes sense to link this process with hygiene-management data and thus digitalize the transparency of the hygiene chain. I anticipate numerous innovations in the field of all-embracing digital hygiene management.

On the micro-biological side, however, contact tests and contaminated sample washing are still necessary to demonstrate sterility. Data from control points developed in accordance with the HACCP concept, where the microbiological tests are carried out, can be integrated into an overall digital concept. This increases reaction speed and the customer can be provided with information in real-time.

Has the pandemic become a driving force for innovation in the hygiene sector? In which segments have there been especially

outstanding innovations?

There have been many good new products in the field of antiviral textiles recently. Now, innovations are shooting up where there used to be a niche.

Generally, the effect is long-lasting when antiviral substances, such as copper, are integrated into fibers. However, it is important to ensure that the coating is suitable for the intended application. For example, if the antiviral effect only works when the textile is damp, that textile should not be used in primarily dry settings.

Today, hygiene is extremely important in all spheres of life. Accordingly, hygiene monitoring is one of the driving forces of innovation and simple systems—such as the Hohenstein HyMo-Box, which can also be used by laypeople— have a major advantage.

What contribution can Texcare International make to increasing awareness of the subject of textile hygiene?

It is good that emphasis is being given to the subject of hygiene during the run-up to Texcare International and, in lectures and forums, at the fair itself. The visitors to the fair are unlikely to include anyone with no interest in the subject of textile hygiene.

When it comes to hygiene, many people immediately think of building cleaning services, hand hygiene and antibiotic management but not of textiles.

It would be good if Texcare International could show the world just how important professional textile care is for fighting the pandemic and interrupting infection chains.

Publisher

Charles Thompson

Phone: 312-361-1680

E-Mail: cthompson@ ATMags.com

Associate Publisher/ National Sales Director

Donald Feinstein

Phone: 312-361-1682

E-Mail: dfeinstein@ ATMags.com

Editorial Director

Bruce Beggs

Phone: 312-361-1683

E-Mail: bbeggs@ ATMags.com

Editor

Matt Poe

Phone: 866-942-5694

E-Mail: mpoe@ ATMags.com

Production Manager

Mathew Pawlak

Digital Media

Director

Nathan Frerichs

Phone: 312-361-1681

E-Mail: nfrerichs@ ATMags.com

Advisory Board

David Barbe • David Carter

Janice Ayers Davis • Nick Fertig

Deana Griffin • Steve Kallenbach Edward McCauley

Main Phone: 312-361-1700 Fax: 312-361-1685

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MEMBERSHIPS

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Contact an authorized Milnor distributor or call 504-712-7656 to find out more.

www.milnor.com

You’re leading the way

I ’ve been thinking a lot about leadership putting this issue of American Laundry News together.

Of course, there’s the lead story on page 1 about laundry leadership. Three laundry leaders shared their experience about what leaders in the industry need to bring to the post-pandemic world.

But my thoughts on leadership go further than that.

As I communicated with experts and authors, wrote and edited stories, I couldn’t help but think about how laundry and linen services are leading the way with the recovery.

Oh, I realize that many operations have a long way to go, but I can’t help but see the leadership mentality in this industry.

From The Editor’s Desk MATT POE

For example, our other page 1 story on business expansion.

During a time when we’re talking about recovery, laundry businesses are growing and expanding.

Throughout the pandemic,

ImageFIRST has been doing just that. The company has added a service, not to mention the fourplus locations it has acquired over the past year and a half.

The company’s story, and advice, can help you lead the way in your business.

And so many of you want to help lead your laundry beyond the pandemic and be prepared for the future. I know this because you asked how you can help your company be more pandemic/recession-proof.

Our Panel of Experts tackled your question, and you can find their advice and examples starting on page 12.

Be proud of your leadership and all you do to help keep it clean, everybody! ALN

Have a vision, make a plan, make it happen

I recently had a long talk with my oldest grandson. I asked him what his plans were for the future. A typical grandfathertype question.

His detailed response to my question surprised me. He laid out his plan for the future and each resource he planned to use to get each goal accomplished.

He had resources in both the financial area as well as advisors and mentors lined up to help him get to where he was going. He was prepared to work hard to accomplish his goals and take control of his future.

During the past two years, I have worked part-time for Enterprise Rent-A-Car driving cars from the airport to the service center and then back again. I have worked with a number of retired gentlemen with successful but very varied careers.

During slow times we had the opportunity to share stories about our past jobs. Most of us were managers or worked in very technical jobs. What we had in common was how we approached developing our skills.

Each and every one of us had a plan. We had a vision of a job we wanted and took the time to find out from people already in the job what knowledge we would need and what skills we needed to get promoted into that position. We had the goal and then set out making step-by-step plans to make it happen.

MISSION, Kan. — The American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) reports that instead of an in-person meeting this year the association will be hosting a Virtual Speaker Series, September through December.

ARTA says the series presents a group of world-class industry experts who will help organizations navigate the new landscape, maintain clients and convert new ones.

The series includes four sessions with data and information you use to help make the case for reusable textiles.

The first session, “The State of Textiles 2021,” on Sept. 22, offers a review of today’s global textile supply chain: trends, challenges and opportunities. The scheduled speaker is Jeff Courey of George Courey in Montreal.

The Oct. 13 session will be “How to Use Data from ARTA’s Incontinence Pad LCA Study.” This

will be a panel discussion on how to use this data to increase sales of reusable incontinence pads. The session will include marketing materials with an infographic and talking points.

The scheduled panelists are Dr. Michael Overcash of Environmental Clarity, ARTA President Gabriel Boardman of MIP and a panel of Canadian and U.S. operators.

The third session of the series on Nov. 3 will be “Lessons from COVID-19 and How to Win and Maintain Conversions.”

ARTA says that with the pandemic, many operators have seen growth in reusable isolation gown and surgical gown business segments. Attendees will learn how to win and keep this business from a panel of operators and suppliers that includes operators Bryan Bartsch of Ecotex, U.S. and Canada; Bill Moyer of HCSC, Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Karl

Fillip, Sr. of Novo Health Services, Atlanta; and suppliers Shelley Petrovskis of Lac-Mac, London, Ontario, and Duane Houvener of American Dawn, Nashville.

The final session of the series, “How Practice Greenhealth’s 900 Member Hospitals Position Reusable Textiles,” takes place on Dec. 8.

Practice Greenhealth is a member organization of 900 hospitals in the United States. Attendees will learn how these hospitals are positioning reusables in a pandemic and with respect to infection control from Julie Moyle, director of Practice Greenhealth’s Greening the OR.

Each session is held on a Wednesday at 1 p.m., Eastern.

The cost is $100 for ARTA member companies (all employees of a member company may attend). Nonmember cost is $250. Speakers and dates are subject to change. To register, go to www.ARTA1.com ALN

In my case, I took a temporary job in a healthcare laundry while trying to get a job in another field. I found I enjoyed working with the people, and my already-established chemical background helped me understand the washing process.

I had a mentor in the form of a shift supervisor who told me how great the laundry business was and painted a picture of the potential openings for good young talent.

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US HAD A PLAN. WE HAD A VISION OF A JOB WE WANTED AND TOOK THE TIME TO FIND OUT FROM PEOPLE ALREADY IN THE JOB WHAT KNOWLEDGE WE WOULD NEED AND WHAT SKILLS WE NEEDED TO GET PROMOTED INTO THAT POSITION.

I started investigating more thoroughly and discovered that he was correct in his assessment of the industry. I decided that if I was going to get serious about this industry I needed to improve my industryspecific knowledge.

I joined NAILM, now the Association for Linen Management (ALM), and began to gain knowledge. I attended local meetings and found additional sources of mentorship and knowledge. I was one of the first students to attend the American Laundry and Linen College graduating in the first-ever class of graduates.

My responsibility and pay increased as I learned more and more about the industry. The hard work came first and then the rewards followed.

Many of the young people I have met while working at Enterprise lack the vision of their futures. Their planning horizon is never past next weekend’s activities.

They want to make more money and wonder why the company just doesn’t give them a raise. The concept of pay based on the value of the person to the company does not exist.

I once had a worker tell me that if I would give him a raise he would work harder.

The question for my readers this month is which group do you belong in? Do you have a vision of where your life is going?

Are you actively working on a plan to make the vision happen or are you simply waiting for something good to happen in your life? Is your future dependent on winning the lottery or do you believe you can affect your own destiny?

I know which group my grandson belongs to and I could not be prouder.

Eric Frederick served 44 years in laundry management before retiring and remains active in the industry as a laundry operations consultant. You can contact him by e-mail at elfrederick@cox.net, or by phone at 540-520-6288.

COLUMNIST AT LARGE Eric L. Frederick, RLLD

required decision should be theirs to make.

“Accountability, self-awareness and courage of conviction are important characteristics of any successful leader.”

Noël Hammer Richardson, president of Shasta Linen Supply serving the Sacramento and San Juaquin Valleys in California, says the leader of a small, independent laundry and a leader of a large national chain have some very different challenges.

“Ultimately, both need to stay focused on the company’s core values but be open to new ideas and listen,” she says. “What I mean by listening, hear what employees are saying, what new trends suppliers are working on or what governmental regulations are being discussed.

“A leader today must be able to understand the world around them. Where are we headed not just as linen operators, but trends beyond the commercial linen world and how they will affect us down the road.”

When Chris Welch, president of Prudential Overall Supply based in Irvine, California, pictures a laundry leader, he envisions a person with a solid understanding of his/her customers and employees and what the company’s value proposition to both groups is.

“I think it’s important to have clear channels of communication flowing in all directions within the business and encourage idea generation; even if every idea won’t be acted upon, it will be actively listened to,” he says.

“Also, being worthy of others’ trust and executing on your commitments to them and having a vision of the future that inspires others to help bring the vision to fruition.”

While laundry leaders need to embrace the qualities all three mentioned, COVID-19 has affected what makes a good leader today and what future leadership needs to understand.

CHANGES

Richardson agrees that COVID-19 has changed the world, and, in many respects, things are getting back to a more normal environment. Many states have lifted the mandatory precautions and business is picking up.

However, she says that laundry leadership has many new and unforeseen issues to navigate like employee shortages and supply chain delivery times.

“Both of those cases have been issues in the past, but COVID has

put a new spin on how we will have to handle them,” she points out. “For example, employees have seen the salaries being offered by Amazon, etc., and their job expectations will reflect the changes that have occurred over the last year and a half.

“I think anyone in a management position today would agree that this is one of the most difficult periods that a leader has had to face.”

Welch says that employees have to trust that leaders are doing what they can to protect them and making adjustments to “business as usual” that reflect a rapidly changing and uncertain environment.

“Also, being flexible with customers’ rapidly changing needs based on the regulatory space they inhabit as well as demonstrating to them that you value the long-term potential of their partnership and are not simply trying to make your quarterly financial statement,” he points out.

“COVID-19 will end, and it’s critical that the business is properly prepared for what comes next.”

“I don’t know that COVID-19 has changed what it means to be a leader as much as it reinforced what is important to be a successful leader,” adds Potack. “Great communication and collaboration are always important but feel even more so in the most challenging times.”

He points out that communication and engagement with team members proved to be invaluable

during the peak periods of the pandemic.

“Employees seeing and hearing every day that we cared about their safety in the work environment and at home was fundamental to reinforce the trust we have with our team,” Potack shares.

Richardson agrees that the key skills laundry leaders need haven’t changed.

“A leader still needs to look at how their operation is run through their management tools,” she shares. “What are the labor costs, goods purchased, fleet maintenance, etc.

“But what has changed is how we will manage our workforce going forward. We know our labor costs are particularly high now as we try to bring people through the front door, but what will we do when people get back to work and their demands have changed? These are some of the new challenges that laundry management will have to face.

“The pandemic and the time people have had to reevaluate their work lives will be the most challenging part of managing going forward.”

“Listening and being willing to engage new ideas and concepts without losing the core of who you are as a business continues to grow in importance, both with employees and with customers,” says Welch.

“The days of ‘this is just the way we do it’ are quickly becoming a thing of the past. This is especially true as we experience generational change and groups younger than GenX continue to represent a much larger percentage of the workforce.

“You have to be able to balance excellence in execution for today’s business environment while constantly keeping one eye on all the possibilities of what a future environment might be and be ready and able to pivot hard and in a hurry.”

NEW CHALLENGES, SKILLS

Welch says today’s laundry leaders need to be able to find ways to better automate processes that are labor-intensive or modifying the work to make it more appealing to those that perform it.

“It’s critical to indoctrinate new hires as effectively as possible in an effort to make them feel that they have an opportunity to make a career with a purpose, not just that they have a job,” he points out.

He adds that leaders need to make technology more forward in the laundry service experience to fulfill the expectations customers have from using other well-known companies, like Amazon.

Engagement with team members needs to be an everyday activity and needs to be authentic, Potack agrees.

“Managing by walking around is still a very successful method, as is digital communication to large groups of employees,” he points out. “Also, ask questions and never lose sight of what’s important to your employees.”

Richardson goes back to the need for leadership to listen to their employees.

“Employees do not want to feel as if they are a number,” she says. “When that happens, you just have

a revolving door in your plant. People want to make a fair living, but equally important is being a part of a team.

“Every job in your facility is important and our employees need to see their value and take ownership of their work. Communication and training are tools that leadership must use to better engage their employees.”

“Be actively listening to what they are telling you with multiple layers of listening posts available,” Welch says. “Once you get a decent understanding of what the issues are, take action.

“Then, listen some more, ‘squint with your ears,’ and see if you are scratching their itch. If you don’t ask, it’s likely you will never know.”

As the world emerges from the pandemic, Potack says laundry leaders need to have enhanced responsiveness, transparency and support to increase customer satisfaction.

“Building resilient and redundant systems and processes allowed us to maintain continuity of service through the pandemic and going forward,” he shares.

“Everyone is feeling a bit fragile right now and maintaining customer satisfaction is so important,” says Richardson.

“Again, I think it starts with communication.”

She points out that not only is the laundry industry is struggling with staffing, but so is the hospitality industry.

“So, when a route goes out with shortages, talk to the customer;

Richardson

Potack

Welch

(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)

Jeff Gardner, aka “The Laundry Doctor,” shut down his vended laundry of 19 years in order to expand commercial laundry services. Without interrupting service to existing wash/dry/fold and commercial customers, Gardner re-purposed the 3,500-square-foot building with Girbau Industrial laundry equipment, including a Compact+ 5-in-One Ironer. The Compact+ install allowed expansion into new markets. On the commercial side, The Laundry Doctor specializes in processing customer-owned goods for boutique hotels, vacation rentals, bars and restaurants. Meanwhile a small, linen-rental business serves clients including acupuncturists and massage therapists. “We cater to small business needs and alter our processes to benefit them,” said Gardner. “We take on the small guys that big commercial laundries just don’t service well.”

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The Laundry Doctor facility, St. Paul, MN Jeff Gardner, “The Laundy Doctor” pictured far right.

Tools f the Trade

Room air disinfector designed to protect room occupants

Energenics Corp. shares that its Room Air Disinfector (RAD), marketed through MaxAssure Inc., is a recirculation unit, continuously pulling ambient room air through a multi-stage filtration and UV-C disinfection system, removing airborne contaminants every time the air passes through the unit.

The RAD is designed to protect room occupants including personnel, students, clients and patients from infection due to airborne microbes, particularly in crowded or poorly ventilated areas where the risk of crossinfection is highest.

Safe and suitable for use in most applications, the company says the germicidal ultraviolet fixture efficiently and effectively destroys airborne bacteria, mold and viruses in enclosed, occupied spaces by coupling hospital grade filtration with 253.7 nm wavelength UV-C intensity allowing for maximum disinfection of room air.

Independent lab studies indicate a 99.99% efficacy rate in destroying harmful bacteria and viruses,

according to Energenics.

The RAD requires no professional setup. Simply roll the unit into the area to be treated, plug into an appropriate power source and turn it on using the touch screen control pad. Built to last and accommodate 24/7 operation, filter monitoring, individual ballast and lamp monitoring, interlock safety interruption, and a userintuitive touchscreen come standard with the RAD.

Energenics, in partnership with its subsidiary, MaxAssure, is committed to bringing new disinfection technology to the laundry industry. Energenics says it continues to develop new products that support its laundry distribution partners and expand its equipment line, such as with the introduction of the UV-MAX line of surface and air UV-C disinfection products.

www.energenics.com 239-643-1711

Patent granted for RFID/IoT linen inventory system

Laundris Corp. reports that it has been granted patent # 11,004,034 B2 for a radio-frequency identification (RFID) and IoT-based (Internet of Things) inventory management system.

The company says the new technological process helps create efficiency in hotel linen inventory management and laundering, along with added features for sustainability and data management.

Two main components of this tech-based inventory management system include a machine learning engine trained to dynamically predict a demand amount of the inventory in response to a set of near-future data and generate a signal to order the amount of inventory as needed.

In an illustrative example, the machine learning engine may be trained by a hotel’s historical room booking data, the hotel’s historical occupancy data and corresponding inventory consumption data stored in a database. Various embodiments may enable, for example, the hotel to have better management on the status of inventories at various stages.

Example of efficiencies include the revealing of sufficient inventory that was possibly previously unknown, but that may be available through the Laundris™ system. In addi-

tion, it may also provide the proper amount of inventory, and may also advantageously reduce the cost spent on unused products.

This system was invented by CEO Don Ward and also Cas Milner, Joey Dominguez, Edward Casteel Milner, Jamar Beall and Rob Garner. Patent representation was provided by Craige Thompson and Thompson Patent Law.

The patent was officially granted by the USPTO on May 11.

www.laundris.com 512-759-8227

introduced

R&B Wire Products shares that it has introduced a new line of Antimicrobial Vinyl Bumper Trucks for immediate availability. This new product line is a hybrid of two manufacturing innovations exclusive to R&B Wire Products: Antimicrobial Vinyl Trucks and Vinyl Bumper Trucks.

Up to this point, when purchasing Vinyl Trucks, customers did not have the option of buying a truck that inhibited micro-organisms with R&B’s antimicrobial properties and buying a truck with sewn-on air cushion bumpers to protect their facility’s walls, doors and equipment. This is now available with the Antimicrobial Vinyl Bumper Trucks. This new product is designed to prevent expensive damage to walls and doors while inhibiting the growth of microbes on the surface of the air cushion bumper and liner. The antimicrobial properties will endure for the life of the product, as they are incorporated into

the raw materials used during the manufacturing process, the company says.

Rick Rawlins, CEO of R&B Wire Products, says, “By pairing our antimicrobial and bumper technologies, we’ve created the hardest working vinyl truck on the market, designed to protect three of your biggest assets: your employees, customers, and facility.”

R&B’s Antimicrobial Vinyl Bumper Trucks are available in red, navy, gray, and yellow colors, ranging in size from 6 to 20 bushels. www.rbwire.com 800-634-0555

On-premises high-extract machine line expands

Dexter Laundry reports that it has expanded its O-Series line to include Express Plus washers.

These washers provide up to 100 unique cycles, industry-specific presets and extract speeds up to 400G, according to the company, giving laundries the speed, flexibility and precision they need.

Dexter says its powerful, high-extract machines can remove 50% more water than a traditional 100G machine. The more water that is removed during extract results in lower dry times. This creates a better laundry operation with labor savings, utility savings and reduced linen wear.

The company says its Express Plus machines are the perfect solution for onpremises locations whose laundry needs consist of a large amount of blended fabrics (synthetics) or cotton flat goods (bed sheets). Laundries that transfer loads directly from the washer to an ironer will also find these machines to be beneficial with the high-extract impact on the moisture of the load.

Dexter’s O-Series Express Plus line includes the T-675 (40 pounds), T-975 (60 pounds) and T-1475 (90 pounds) models. Not only are these units extremely efficient in removing water and reducing dry time, but they also include heavy-duty bearings

and a rugged frame design that are built to last, according to the company.

Dexter says it is continuously looking for ways that a business can process laundry faster and more efficiently, saying its highextract models are designed to withstand even the harshest environments and provide high quality results in less time while still allowing operators to manage the business. www.dexter.com 800-524-2954

Manufacturers: Have you introduced a new product? Revamped your system? Released a new catalog? E-mail your product news, along with a high-resolution image, to mpoe@atmags.com and we’ll consider publishing your news free in Tools of the Trade.

Antimicrobial vinyl bumper truck line

they get it and are willing to work with you,” Richardson says. “Not communicating creates dissatisfaction. When someone is trying to solve a problem, that builds customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

Satisfaction comes down to delivering quality goods, and Potack says to ensure quality processed linens, laundry leaders need to rely on the same best practices implementation, measurement, validation and accountability.

“In our industry, the Hygienically Clean standard is what we use to guide us, along with regulatory requirements,” he shares.

“Today or yesterday, to ensure quality processed goods starts with the company’s vision of what type of plant they want to operate,” Richarson says.

“Quality goods may not be important to some laundries, it might be volume and low prices, but you cannot take the time and resources to produce quality goods and still be the low-price leader.”

She says quality starts with not cutting corners, from loading the washers at the correct weights, spending the money on the chemicals, ironing and rejecting goods

that are not the desired quality, to training employees to follow through on quality control.

“All these steps are not new,” points out Richardson. “It really comes down to what is the company’s culture and there really isn’t a right or wrong, it’s just a matter of one’s business philosophy.”

“Set a high standard,” Welch agrees. “Be active in the business; don’t just be at the plant but be on the floor in production from soil to delivery, talking to the employees doing the work, seeing what the

customers receive.

“Standardize training and processes to ensure consistency across multiple locations and reduce the gaps created by turnover and lack of experience.”

LAUNDRY LEADERSHIP TOMORROW

Leadership is about evolution and change, but it’s also about adherence to core principles, Welch says.

“You have to know who you are in order to effectively translate that

to your audience,” he points out. “The right people want to have a sense of purpose or mission. They want to feel a part of something greater than themselves and make a contribution to it.

“Doing the right thing for the right reasons and treating others the right way should never go out of style.”

“I think the leadership qualities of today will resonate for many years to come,” Potack says. “Successful leaders invest the time and effort to understand the cul-

ture they need to create, foster and encourage.”

“Leadership is not easy, and no one is perfect at it,” explains Richardson. “I think a good leader has a clear vision for the company, passion for the work, empathy for the employees and strong communication skills.

“Some days these all fall into place and other days, vision can be momentarily blurred by a pandemic or empathy for employees lost after a difficult union meeting, but the core values are there and as a leader one needs to continually look in the mirror and make sure one is following their vision for their company.”

Potack reiterates that leaders need to focus on building a culture of excellence and success through engagement, transparency, collaborative thinking and shared rewards.

“Any successful leader understands that the team dynamic is critical and that they are a facilitator who provides resources and guidance to help the team reach its goals,” he says.

“Know yourself first—all of it, the good and the bad,” adds Welch. “If you can’t be honest with yourself, you will never be able to truly be honest with anyone else and thus won’t be able to be the leader that they most need you to be for them to be successful.” ALN

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

“If we can develop products that are enhancing the patient experience, meeting specific needs of our clients, it’s probably going to be a product that they would be interested in.”

Roberts says that ImageFIRST always has new products and services in development, but the company takes its time launching them into the marketplace.

“Our process is not to quickly launch a product and hope for the best,” he shares. “We want to test it internally, test it with several clients and once we know that it’s going to meet the needs of the client and there’s no issues or problems, then we’ll roll it out.

“We want to make sure that when we roll it out, it’s completely baked, so to speak.”

Roberts points out that sometimes the rollout takes place regionally, then expanding from region to region across the country, with a couple of new products or services launched in a year.

What does a cycle of development and launch of a new product or service look like? Roberts points to ImageFIRST’s new Mop Accountability Program as an example.

“There was a large health system, one of our top clients, and they were using our ScrubVAULT system to manage scrubs within their health system,” he shares. “And they said, ‘Is there any way that you can use this

technology, which is all RFID-based, and apply that to microfiber mops?’”

The client was asking for radiofrequency identification chips to be placed in microfiber mops, place the mops in a cabinet, and then when a user needs them, they would scan their QR code to check out the item.

“It would show that an individual took out 10 mops, and then because they are RFID-tracked, we can then

see if the mops were returned. This unique tracking system holds the individual accountable and significantly reduced loss,” says Roberts.

“It took us a while to develop the technology because it’s a little bit different when you have mops instead of scrubs, but it ended up being a really cool system.”

Mop loss is a big issue in health systems because sometimes staff use the mops and then throw them in the trash.

“Having accountability, showing that a housekeeper took out 15 mops and that all 15 mops were returned is a significant benefit of our program,” he says. “Just knowing that we can get reporting to show you that the mops have been returned, the loss can go from thousands of dollars down to almost zero simply because of the accountability.

“They make sure that they don’t go in the trash, and they ensure they return them. They’re a little more careful.”

Besides loss prevention, he says the Mop Accountability Program has infection prevention benefits.

“If I’m required to clean 10 rooms and I only take out five mops, then how do you clean 10 rooms with five mops?” says Roberts. “It’s showing that you’re using the same mop on multiple rooms, which is not following infection-prevention cleaning protocol.

“There is accountability on the user if you clean 15 rooms, we need you to show that you took out 15 mops.”

ImageFIRST worked with the health system on the model and is in the process of rolling it out nationwide.

Roberts says that the time from concept through development to rollout of a new product or ser-

vice can take anywhere from six months to two years.

“Our Mop Accountability Program, because we’re using UHF RFID technology and detailed reporting and then making sure that it’s working … it was a very involved process,” he points out. “Probably from start to finish, it’s been about a year.

“Could we have launched it sooner? Yes, but then it’s not 100% that it’s giving us the data we need. Our customers really want to make sure that you test it and verify and make sure that all the bugs are worked out.”

Even when a laundry/linen service sees a need, develops a product or service, and works with a client to create it, sometimes the end result doesn’t work out, Roberts says.

“Probably 50% of the ideas aren’t going to meet the needs of a client or drive enough revenue,” he shares. “It takes a lot of time, and it’s very expensive. Plus, there’s all the marketing and sales behind it. So, if we can’t generate enough revenue and benefit from it, we’re not going to roll that out to our client base.”

When it comes to gaining new customers, Roberts says it’s all about improvement.

“When we approach sales, we look at how can we improve the patient experience?” he shares. “How can we improve the engagement of staff members within a hospital or medical practice? And how can we meet the needs of healthcare facilities?

“If you keep that in mind, you’ll be successful in sales, but you also have to think a little bit differently. It’s developing products that are going to help improve the patient experience so that you can help the health system or that outpatient facility differentiates itself from its

competitor.”

Roberts says it’s also important that a company’s products and services make it easier for customers to do their job.

“If you can hand a patient a gown that looks beautiful, it’s pristine and it’s individually bagged, it makes your job easier,” he points out. “And when that patient opens it, it’s like, wow, the experience continues on from the moment I walked in the door, and everything that we do is around that experience.”

Because of COVID-19, Roberts thinks that infection prevention product needs and wants will be high for some time.

“I think since COVID has happened, people’s awareness or sensitivity around infection prevention has increased,” he says.

“That’s one of the areas that we’re constantly thinking about, how do we make sure that infection prevention on linen is at its utmost? And how do we help that hospital reduce their infection prevention concerns and worries?

“There are several products and services that we have in development that we are pretty excited about. So, hopefully, we’ll be launching some new products toward the end of the year going into next year.”

EXPANDING FOOTPRINT

Beyond adding new product lines and customers, laundry and linen services also expand by moving into new markets and building facilities or acquiring existing operations.

Bill Rottschaefer, vice president of business development for ImageFIRST, says that the company continually targets opportunities to enhance its existing service capabilities, as well as expand its presence into new markets.

ImageFIRST’s most recent product/service addition is the Mop Accountability Program to help healthcare facilities prevent loss and enhance infection prevention. (Photo: ImageFIRST)

ImageFIRST recently acquired operations near Atlanta and several other areas around the country. (Photo: ImageFIRST)

“When we target specific geographic regions for expansion, we initially seek to partner or acquire a local service provider that has a similar approach and focus,” he shares.

“If such an option is unavailable, we may seek to acquire processing capacity within the region or even greenfield an operation ourselves, as we have done in recent situations.”

Rottschaefer points out that there are many reasons a laundry/ linen service might expand. Each company has to analyze and determine its situation and options.

“In some instances, we may begin to target a region due to our existing customers, who are often national accounts, already having a presence within the region,” he says. “In other instances, we may already have routes that we are servicing from a depot and now we are seeking to gain processing capabilities within the region given existing growth. In some situations, we may be contacted by an individual looking to sell his or her business.

“In all cases, we build an acquisition thesis for the opportunities that we attempt to quickly validate (or invalidate) through investigation with the target.”

Recently, ImageFIRST has completed four acquisitions: Tucker, Georgia; McAllen, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and most recently in Houston. In fact, Rottschaefer says the company has completed more than these four acquisitions over the past year and a half.

“As of today, we’ve acquired all our franchises within the continental United States, expanded our service reach into new regions such as southern Texas with the acquisition of Maverick, enhanced our service reach in existing regions such as Colorado via our acquisition of Central Linen and launched a few new plant locations in key regions,” he shares.

“These investments have enhanced our service capabilities and ImageFIRST’s national service footprint.”

Key to integrating a new location into the ImageFIRST brand is retaining the employee workforce and leadership team of the organizations it acquires, according to Rottschaefer.

“At the onset of an acquisition, we develop a thorough integration plan to bring the new organization into ImageFIRST’s operations,” he shares. “Initially, we meet with the operating teams and employees in the days following the close of the transaction.

“During these meetings, as well as subsequent training sessions, we educate our new team members on ImageFIRST’s operating principles, the way of conducting business and our expectations of them.”

“Being acquired by ImageFIRST has been a great experience,” says Rick Cortez, general manager of Maverick (now an ImageFIRST company). “I now work with a team of amazing individuals all with unique qualities and personalities, and I’ve experienced firsthand what can be accomplished

when a team works together towards the same goal.

“ImageFIRST’s values are inspirational and give me confidence that my longtime associates will be well taken care of.”

“It was odd at first going from being a competitor of ImageFIRST to becoming part of their team, but our culture and values are so similar that our associates have integrated quickly,” shares Ken Brandeis, general manager of Southern Medical Linen Services (now an ImageFIRST company) in Atlanta.

“When the people part is positive, the rest has a way of working itself out.”

While COVID-19 caused many negative effects on the industry, Rottschaefer says the pandemic had limited to no impact on the company’s growth and acquisition strategy.

“During this past year, we have completed numerous acquisitions and built/launched a few new plant locations,” he points out. “If anything, COVID may have spurred some of those we had been in ongoing discussions with to consider entertaining a sale process earlier than they may hadve envisioned.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s always a risk for a laundry and

linen service to add new products and services or add facilities, but by using the proper processes, doing research and merging cultures, many expansions can be successful.

Roberts’s key piece of advice for developing new products and services? Always develop the products and services the company has in mind with a client’s input.

“If you’re developing a product without getting the input from your client, you’re probably doing it the wrong way,” he points out.

“Speak with your top customers. Ask them what are you looking for? What ways can we make your lives better, easier, more effective?

What way can we help improve the patient experience?”

When it comes to growth and acquisitions for laundry/linen services, Rottschaefer’s key suggestion is to look at company culture.

“Stress the importance of culture between the organizations,” he says. “Acquisitions are more than just what is outlined on paper.

“If the two companies have similar and/or compatible cultures, the combination most likely will be a successful one, other things being equal. If the organization’s cultures are incompatible with one another, caution against such a combination.” ALN

Performance

• Torsion Bar suspension distributes pressure evenly along each roll, assuring uniform drying and travel of flatwork through the ironer with a minimum of padding wear

• Floating Chest self-centers to the ironing roll during operation, optimizing the contact area under pressure

• Adjustable Ribbon Tensioner prevents ironer ribbon from creating uneven surfaces, lines and wet spots on sheets

Efficiency

• Deep Chest Ironers continue to have the largest heat sink and remain the most energy-efficient

• Full insulated chest, canopies, and insulated stainless heat shields contain up to 96% of heat radiation

• Inverted bucket taps ensure condensation purge without remaining open (steam ironers)

• Poly-chain drive ensures high reliability, low maintenance, and low cost of ownership

• Direct Controllable Speed – all rolls run at equal speed

Safety

• Dual caliper disk brake for fast stopping of the ironer drive

• Auto-stop infeed safety gate to prevent hands or items from going into chest

• Solid heat shields along the ironing box keep side frame covers temperatures cool to the touch

• Enclosed canopies prevent foreign items from getting into ironer rolls, chest, and pad

• Roll raise lockout prevents lowering rolls if air pressure has been disconnected

• Safety switches on all doors and e-stops on all four corners

PANEL OF EXPERTS

Helping pandemic/recession-proof operations

parts, backups (things that can shut you down—air compressors, boilers, etc.) and the like. Do you have emergency inventory?

Pandemic-proof? This is an interesting concept considering I have always believed that the healthcare laundry business was recession-proof.

Considering COVID-19 is a once-in-a-century event, healthcare laundries were able to survive surprisingly well while hospitality suffered horrendously, to say the least.

The hospitality industry also suffered after the Sept. 11 catastrophic event and for months afterward. Events could also occur that dramatically affect volume in the healthcare space, so do your own SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

Nevertheless, to position your facility for survival you should invest in your people and your product offerings. Examples include:

1. Invest in your people.

Continue to cross-train such that losing people is not so impactful. Invest in their development and training to attach personal ownership or allegiance. Review the operating hours to maximize efficiency.

2. Meet with your people and work to have them understand the business you are in. It is a “necessary” service that does not go away.

3. Review your building safety procedures and methods such that the employees feel safe. They need to feel as safe as you do. They are responsible for safety as much as you are.

4. Diversify your product and service offerings so that your laundry is in the game. This could include surgical products, smaller healthcare customers, long-term care laundry business including personals, washing cubicle curtains and offering warmup jackets for hospital employees.

5. Inventory at proper levels; do not live on the edge. This would include linen, chemicals, supplies, maintenance

6. Improve automation such that you can do more with less. This is two-fold allowing for growth and getting by during an emergency. We work in a labor-intensive industry, and my goal was always to make the job as easy as it could be. Teaching techniques is as important as adding equipment.

7. Evaluate your management team and make sure they are as hands-on and optimistic as you think they are. The management team has more contact with the employee than you do.

8. Evaluate the product going out the door and make sure it looks, feels and takes care of the customer as you wish.

9. Evaluate your customer service contacts. The idea is to maintain relationships and service such that customers will want to come back after a downturn.

For the hospitality industry, I believe the challenge is a tad tougher due to the issue purely being a loss of volume. However, each point above applies here, also.

The goal is still to be efficient and for the employee to accomplish a lot with little through organization. If you must cut staff, you want them to want to return as business returns.

Position yourself to be successful when the unexpected occurs.

best we can look to do is minimize events that can cause injury to our businesses. I bring to you the following:

A. Make everything that senior leadership does a year-round event—Look at your business environment as a non-expiring event.

For example, set monthly goals in your five key performance indicators (also known as KPIs). Make these KPIs visible to all and provide weekly feedback on your results.

An example of a specific plan would be as follows. Our overall overtime goal is 20 hours or fewer per week for all hourly team members or zero OSHA recordables for the month. If you achieve victory in three of the five KPI goals, at the end of four measured weeks/a month, you celebrate with a raffle and a luncheon.

A well-orchestrated effort creates continual feedback and a quiet pressure on the team to hit those goals. Nobody wants to miss that celebration event. You should find two things occurring:

1. People are not necessarily motivated by a pizza or taco party, nor are they necessarily motivated just by a chance for a $25 gift certificate. They are motivated by the fact that you are out of your office and conference room, showing that you are one of them!

2. Those who do not respond to the challenge of victory are probably a naysayer and a drag on your team. Some people are plain, old quiet, but others contain a desire to destruct (a cancer). Identify these cancers and no matter their tenure, you want to redirect them.

As your team grows, they will begin to “self-police” internally, so you are freed up to encourage success and watch the naysayers become a part of the team

C. Smile!—Nobody can wake up feeling great every morning, but even if you are having a bad morning, then talk yourself into a phony smile. If you cannot do that, then send out a proxy to handle those chores for the day.

When you are away for meetings or have time off, send that proxy with the same marching orders. Those orders are to show the team you truly care every day. Once started do not stop. You have created an addiction among your teammates that must be satisfied daily.

Have a great summer, my friends!

ity (rental and NOG: not our goods), food and beverage (rental and NOG), industrial, uniforms, beauty, dust control and food processing, so we are eliminating several lines of business to focus on our larger distribution industries and items.

Also, we are consolidating product lines/napkin and tablecloth offerings because we are not able to maintain an adequate inventory of so many options.

We used to say “yes” to everything and to all customers, but now we are taking a step back and deciding what works best for Lace House. We are trying to keep our employees satisfied and engaged so that they will continue to want to work at Lace House, but we also do not want to overwork them to avoid burnout.

Some employees are working six days a week just to get the material processed and delivered, but it is not a sustainable business model.

H

appy summer, ALN readers!

We all need some time off, and I hope you are putting aside time to do just this. After the pandemic, you must recharge. I find this topic another great and relevant challenge to address this time around.

I must start by saying that nothing is recession-proof. The

B. MBWA (Managing by Wandering Around)—Once again, your physical presence on the floor or in your route room means a great deal to your team every day! Even if you have nothing specific to do, you are having an impact simply by being visible.

This does not come naturally to leaders who must show that they are in a class by themselves. Do you want to be known as an elitist or a person of the people? Easy choice to me, plus I have found I learn so much more about what is really going on by hearing it and seeing it at every level.

We have a new daily mantra at Lace House: “Manage our own business.”

Coming out of the pandemic and trying to manage business has been very tricky for all of us! We have always been 100% customer service focused and while trying to maintain this goal, we have had some very challenging conversations with customers.

We are just now recognizing how the labor and materials shortages are seriously affecting our industry as customers are reopening and the demand for clean linen is so high. We are a mixed plant servicing hospital-

As an owner/operator, I am more mindful than ever about managing a smart, efficient business and that we are realistic about how much linen we can process and deliver each day. Our focus is to keep Lace House vibrant while continuing to provide excellent customer service which is the daily balance.

I am hopeful that by early 2022, the supply chains and the labor market will level off so that we can re-think our business and growth strategies. But for now, we are managing our own business each day and not trying to manage our customers’ businesses for them.

Each morning, I take a deep breath when I am in the plant,

“After the past year, I want to do my part on the floor to help maintain business. What ideas and suggestions do you have to help pandemic/ recession-proof my laundry?”

Commercial Laundry Phoebe Ellis

Lace House Linen, Petaluma, Calif.

Textiles

Cecil B. Lee Standard Textile, Cincinnati, Ohio

Consulting Services

David Graham

Performance Matters, Fort Mill, S.C.

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

helping our managers to make deliberate decisions that will alleviate stress and shortages, and each night when we turn off the boiler, I am grateful for our customers, employees and the support in our industry and that we have successfully navigated another day.

you face a slow economy/recession.

Cleanliness: As you would guess, as a salesman in this industry, I’ve had the opportunity to visit over a hundred or so laundries in the past year.

In the soil rooms, most of these look much like they did prepandemic—employees practicing universal precautions, wearing isolation gowns, gloves, eye protection and/or facemasks. When they leave their job, they disrobe, leaving their personal protective equipment (PPE) in the soil side receptacles and walk across mats to disinfect

their shoes on the way out.

The big change may be that much of this has now transferred to the clean side operation. In doing so, we protected our employees, their families, and the general public we encounter after work.

Healthy employees can show up for work—this helps your bottom line. Would it not make sense to practice this extra level of PPE during the flu season that impacts our healthcare and hospitality laundries every year?

Diversify: Maybe your strength and core is primarily as a mat or

uniform processor. Did you get some opportunities this year to branch out into cleaning wipers and dust control? Microfiber mops? If you did and you seized those, they clearly helped you recover some of the volume lost due to some customers shuttering or closing altogether.

So, you’re a healthcare provider. Did you get in on some of that isolation gown boon that was like an oasis in the middle of a drought? So, walk-off mats are your core business? Did you offer sanitizing walk-off mats with shoe

cleaning disinfectants?

These lessons should stay with you and remind you to always look for these opportunities. As the saying goes, never put all your eggs in one basket, and while you can probably thank your mom or dad for that lesson, COVID-19 may just have reinforced it. This helps keep your business strong to survive the most challenging years. Staffing: I’ll bet you’ve had staffing challenges before COVID-19. You will have staffing challenges again

In my job role, I do this on a daily basis.

I round floors looking for excess clean linen being wasted in patient rooms. If I see a room with much excess, I locate the CNA assigned to that room and educate her/him on loss linen charges to the hospital as well as a waste of daily inventory.

I also keep staff aware of what this portrays to patient family members. This portrays clutter, lack of seating for family visits and could contribute to a negative survey by a patient’s family members.

That in turn negatively impacts the hospital’s HCAPHS scores, as well as the score for that floor.

I also educate them on rejecting out damaged, stained linen. I have reject bags in place for this purpose. We never put that linen on a patient’s bed.

We also never throw it in the trash, as this contributes to loss charges at most hospitals. We can together weed out this low-quality linen, saving costs as well as having a satisfied patient.

W

hile we all learned a few new lessons from this pandemic, I think it’s a good time to reflect on old lessons that are sometimes forgotten. Remembering and reaffirming these lessons will help give your business the best opportunity to succeed against the next round of challenges.

This may also be the best time to remind many of us (especially those in the healthcare and hospitality markets) that we have an industry with built-in spring training or pre-season, so to speak.

It’s called the flu season, and it should be your annual reminder of how to deal with some of the challenges we faced during the pandemic. I’ll even go a step further to remind you that how you face those challenges will actually help

On-premises laundry cost analysis

the costs of setting up and running an OPL, from planning to flow, from labor to training

BY BILL BROOKS

RIPON, Wis. — Anyone who has ever taken a child to an amusement park, planned their daughter’s wedding or attended a major sporting event knows there are multiple additional costs associated with those events.

You thought you knew what the costs were going to be, but suddenly, you find yourself way over budget—and with little you can do to stop it from happening.

But if you’re setting up a new or renovating an existing on-premises laundry (OPL) that doesn’t have to be the case.

Yes, there will be a cost. But there are several things you can do to keep a handle on those costs.

PLANNING YOUR OPERATION

One of the first things you need to do is find a location and determine how much space you’ll need for your on-premises laundry. In general, to determine how much laundry equipment you will need, you first need to determine how many rooms will be in your facility and what type of property you are building or operating.

Take hotels, for example. Economy, mid-market and luxury hotels will all have different sizing requirements for the laundry.

Since about 50,000 of the 59,000 total hotels in North America, or 85%, have 200 rooms or fewer, let’s assume you’re building a midmarket hotel with 100 rooms. With a 14-pound average per room for laundry, you would basically need 130 pounds of wash capacity, or two 65-pound washers.

You would then size your dryers off the washers.

A typical laundry space for that size hotel would be approximately

28 feet by 17 feet. But you need to work with people who layout laundries to confirm what size will work best for your facility.

All major hotel brands already have templates with preset room drawings for laundries; you will want to adapt that to your space.

SETTING UP THE FLOW

Your laundry room should be set up with a soiled side and a clean side, which should allow the laundry to flow efficiently from one step to the next.

You’ll also want to purchase enough folding tables and carts for each side so you’re not crosscontaminating.

Laundry should come in the soiled side, get sorted and treated for spots, and then be loaded into the washers. Once it is done washing, the laundry should be loaded into dryers and moved to the clean side of your facility as the wash is sorted, folded and stored.

As you set up your OPL, you’ll want to have work tables for sorting soiled laundry and other tables for sorting and folding the clean laundry. A linen sink, chemical wash and clean racking storage would also be common equipment.

Again, the quantity of that equipment will depend on the number of rooms.

The chemicals for your OPL will run 8 to 12% of the yearly operating cost of running your facility. In addition, all equipment, including carts and tables, will run another 8 to 12% of the cost of running your laundry.

Most facilities won’t need finishing equipment unless you are running a luxury hotel that finishes its linens. Only about 5% of hotels nationwide have finishing equipment since it takes a lot more time

and cost to finish luxury linens, which are not common in the majority of hotels.

But folding machines are another matter, although it usually takes a very high property room count to invest in a towel folder. You would need to use high volumes of towels, such as in a waterpark, or have a high room count to make that investment pay off.

In general, about 12% of properties have a room count that makes the investment worth it in an OPL.

A LOOK AT LABOR

Labor is the highest cost of running an OPL, so you want to make sure you have just enough people to do the job. For laundries with 125 pounds of wash capacity or less, you’d need one full-time employee for every 65 pounds of wash capacity.

If you process 125 pounds or more per wash cycle, you’d want one full-time employee for every 75 pounds.

But part-time, flexible employees are going to be key in keeping your staffing costs in line. Maybe your room capacities are lower during the week so you don’t need as many laundry employees.

But if you cross-train those employees to also clean rooms, change bedding, work the front desk or whatever, you’ll have them available to work in the laundry after the weekends when your room capacity was high.

It’s very difficult to hire laundry attendants right now. Providing your employees with a good work-

space, such as where the amount of bending is limited, and offering them flexibility will make for a good work environment and help you in hiring and retaining employees.

TRAINING MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

When you do hire laundry workers, you need to train them on things such as the proper loading of equipment. If someone is doing laundry and loads the washing machines at half or three-quarters capacity, you have to do a lot more loads, which takes more hours, to get the job done.

Proper loading of the washing machine is important. You really want to pack the washer, leaving about 6 inches of space at the top of the basket.

By properly loading the machine, you’ll get the proper mechanical cleaning action. Watch when a load is full and starts turning. You should see the load that is wet dropping from 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock when it is washing in the clockwise rotation.

If it’s not dropping, you’ve loaded it too full and it is just spinning it around. If your basket is not full, you’ll see a lot of space and you’ll see the laundry drop early. That proper drop is what gives you the washboard action that cleans the laundry.

For the hotel manager, the most important thing he or she should be looking at is the throughput that each laundry

employee gives them. If you have a full-time person in the laundry for eight hours, you want to make sure that they are producing eight hours of work.

Thankfully, today’s machines allow you to easily measure that. In fact, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. You need to measure how many cycles they run or how many pounds of laundry they wash, etc., so you can decide how to maintain or improve your outputs.

The basic throughput of laundry is determined, in part, by the quality of the equipment. For instance, a high extraction rate in a washing machine will get more water out of towels. And the more you can extract in the washer, the shorter your dry times, and thus, the more cycles you can complete in a shift.

In dryers, moisture sensing will also shorten dry times, again saving you time and allowing you to do more cycles, but also decreasing your electricity and/or gas costs.

So measure your operations and make sure you are getting the most value out of the equipment you invested in since those hidden costs can really save you money by improving throughput. In short, simple things make a difference and add up to big savings. ALN

Bill Brooks is the North America director of customer solutions and business development for on-premises laundries for Alliance Laundry Systems LLC. He can be reached at bill.brooks@alliancels.com.

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

Exploring

Bill Brooks

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

Track Career

UNX adds four to team GREENVILLE,

N.C. —

Chemical manufacturer UNX Industries reports that it has made four hires recently: Derrel Hatcher and James Torres as territory managers, Brian Warren as laboratory manager, and Johnathon Moore as a business development specialist.

Hatcher joins UNX with more than 15 years in the chemical industry and will be using his passion to help people by serving customers in Houston and the surrounding areas.

During his time away from work, he spends time with his family, watching some golf, and/or cheering for his favorite team, the Houston Texans.

Torres joins the team with almost two decades of experience on the chemical side of the industry to serve customers on the West

Coast.

He was exposed to laundry at a young age when he started working with his father who owned a laundry and dryer technician business.

The company shares that on his days off, Torres spends time with his family, getting ready for their Sunday barbecues.

Warren is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate of Eastern Carolina University who brings with him 20 years of experience from the pharmaceutical industry and will be working with the UNX as its new laboratory manager.

When he is not in the lab, he cheers on the ECU Pirates and

enjoys the outdoors by hiking, boating, cycling or SCUBA diving.

Moore brings 30-plus years of experience in the laundry and dry cleaning industry to UNX for customers in the South/ Central Florida area. He has worked on both the manufacturing and distribution sides of the business.

Outside of work, UNX says Moore spends time with his wife, encourages his daughters in their careers and cheers on his favorite sports teams, including Florida State University, Indiana University, U-Penn and the Hartford Hawks.

Miura America promotes O’Donnell

ROCKMART, Ga.

America, a manufacturer of industrial steam boilers based here, reports that it has promoted Paul O’Donnell to executive vice president.

The company has also promoted several other key executives and added new team members.

Miura America says O’Donnell, who began working with the company in 2005 as a regional sales manager, has been instrumental in the company’s growth.

Arne Irwin has been promoted to vice president of strategy and will also be overseeing marketing and business development.

His responsibilities will include guiding strategic development while continuing his work with Steam as a Service, a next-generation program that was introduced in 2020 that requires no upfront costs while delivering state-of-theart, fully-controlled steam for a single monthly fee.

— Miura

Andy Miller, Miura’s vice president of maintenance operations, is a new team member, who was formerly a combat veteran in the U.S. Army, where he served as an engineer and achieved the rank of

captain. He also has extensive private sector experience in supply chain, operations, and quality control, and will work closely with Miura’s Logistics group to continue and support the work initiated by Brandon Rueter.

Miura began its U.S. manufacturing operations here in 2009, which will now be run by new Plant Manager Eddie Everson, who brings 15 years of experience in materials management, operations management and plant management of more than 500 employees in the wire and cable industry.

Kiyo Sato will also be joining Miura as the new lead on global account development, where his 15 years with the company creating and implementing business strategies for current and new multiple installation customers will help to strengthen Miura’s worldwide leadership.

Warren

O’Donnell

Hatcher

Torres Moore

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Small-Capacity Dryers

JENSEN USA

JENSEN says its JTD series tumbler/dryers are designed for strength and durability, with decades of proven experience of their ruggedness and a long lifecycle.

The JTD series is available in 45-, 90-pound and greater capacities.

The company says that standard design features for the JENSEN JTD series include stand-alone design, touch-screen PLC controls with easy setup and copying of programs through a USB port, reversing cylinder, vertical sliding doors for ease of loading and unloading, built-in lint filter, fire suppression standard on gas models, stainless-steel cylinder, smart indicator light to keep the operator informed of the machine status, and much more.

Gas, steam or electric heating sources are available. Tilt-tounload is an available option on the larger models.

www.jensen-group.com 850-271-5959

GT-Series Dryers balance drying time and Btu consumption to reduce energy usage and labor costs. They also maximize laundry throughput by reducing dry cycle times to more closely match wash cycle times.

While most dry cycles run 30% longer than wash cycles, GT-Series Dryers dry laundry more quickly—improving productivity, says Girbau Industrial.

Plus, the optional Linen Life Extension (LLE) moisture sensing system—with 20 programmable cycles and up to 12 programmable dryness levels—prevents fabric damage and linen loss caused by over-drying.

Making maintenance easy, GT-Series Dryers feature self-cleaning lint screens that support maximum airflow, conveniently accessible components and an automatic backdraft damper to prevent outside air from entering the laundry room.

line, available in 30-, 50-, 75- pound and greater capacities, is designed to exceed the demands of continuous use and stands up to the rigors of the most challenging laundry.

All dryers come standard with a stainless-steel drying cylinder, fully enclosed fan cooled motors, cast iron pulleys and a heavyduty steel base.

The DE line has

The controls are easy to reach and simple to use with multi-lingual capabilities and state-of-theart reporting. Plus, the company says every dryer is designed with innovative technology such as its Moisture Detection System and Fire Response System, which operates without the need for water.

Dexter’s O-Series dryers are available in multiple sizes to fit every need, including 30-, 50- or 80-pound capacities. The company says the dryers are easy to install and come with multiple electrical configurations, venting options and a reversing door feature.

double-pane glass door and fully insulated cabinet for thermal efficiency, stainless-steel baskets and fronts for durability, front serviceability for easy maintenance, selfcleaning lint screen and Sensor Activated Fire Extinguishing System (S.A.F.E.), raising washroom safety to a high standard.

Milnor adds that its intelligent and simple-to-use control system

GIRBAU INDUSTRIAL

Girbau Industrial says its GT-Series Dryers—available in 30- to 85-pound capacities—are engineered for excellent efficiency, programmability and ease of use.

Complete with properly balanced airflow, heat input and cylinder volume, the GT-Series line delivers high-quality results and features that dramatically increase laundry production and extend linen life, according to the company.

Because ergonomics matter, the company says the tumblers feature oversized steel doors with reinforced metal door bars and hinges, simplifying loading and unloading.

Backed by an excellent factory warranty, Girbau Industrial says its GT-Series Dryers work in concert with GI washer-extractors for maximum efficiency and production.

www.girbauindustrial.com 800-256-1073

B&C TECHNOLOGIES

B&C says its DE Series dryer

the option of either a standard manual timer controller or an easy-to-use microprocessor. The large door allows for fast and easy loading and unloading while the welded steel, fully enclosed cabinet offers energy-saving insulation and quiet operation.

The company says the exclusive humidity sensing system directly measures the remaining moisture, preventing over-drying, saving time, money and wear on the goods.

B&C says that when paired with its high-speed washer-extractors, the DE line of dryers can dry as fast as 20 minutes.

www.bandctech.com 850-249-2222

DEXTER LAUNDRY

Dexter Laundry says its O-Series dryers are designed to give laundry managers total control over their operations.

Both the 50- and 80-pound dryers offer a reversing tumbler option that decreases linen roping and reduces dry times.

Like all its dryers, Dexter says O-Series dryers are built with high-quality materials and balanced radial airflow for maximum efficiency.

With heavy-duty bearings in a cast iron housing, the company says the dryers are built to withstand even the harshest laundry environments. This gives Dexter the confidence to back every dryer with a five-year warranty and lifetime technical support.

www.dexter.com 800-524-2954

PELLERIN MILNOR CORP.

Milnor says it offers a variety of dryers capable of meeting the production requirements of various laundries.

The company says its line of Premier Series small-capacity dryers offers high performance with important features such as

provides one-touch program selection to minimize user error.

Premier Series dryers are available in a variety of sizes, including the 50-pound capacity M-50p and 80-pound capacity M-80p. These dryers provide high productivity and efficiency with their transaxial airflow, variable drum speed and direct spark ignition features. Milnor says the design results in shorter dry times while saving money in utilities.

The series is offered in gas, steam and electric heat options. Additionally, an optional Automatic Airflow Compensator (AAFC) adjusts exhaust fan speed to improve exhaust flow with increased back-pressure due to installation issues.

www.milnor.com 504-467-9591

EDRO CORP.

EDRO says its versatile 80-pound capacity tumbler dryer—available in gas, steam or electric-heated versions—fulfills the needs of every on-premises and commercial laundry facility.

The C80 commercial tumbler dryer dries fast and efficiently

COMPILED BY MATT POE, EDITOR

B & C Technologies

Girbau Industrial

Dexter Laundry

Jensen USA

Pellerin Milnor Corp.

Standard features on the C80 tumbler dryer include fully insulated front, side and rear panels, and a large door opening for easy loading.

www.edrocorp.com 860-828-0311

each use.

UniMac says its efficiency story gets even better with its OPTidry system, which eliminates costly over-drying by drying to a set moisture level and beginning the cool-down process. Many operations unknowingly suffer the effects of over-drying, which are an inefficiency in both utilities and labor.

thanks to the precise combination of heat and airflow delivering the user exceptional drying results, according to the company.

The C80 tumbler dryer is powered by a straightforward, easy-to-use and time-proven DMP Microprocessor Control that features five preset programs—time/ temperature display, ON/OFF reversing, anti-wrinkle tumble, end of cycle buzzer and extra contacts.

The industrial-strength, compact drive and gearbox design eliminates the need for multiple belts and pulleys while providing a smooth reversing action that prevents tangling and bundling, according to EDRO.

The company also says a robustly constructed spider-andbasket assembly that merges tough, tubular steel supports with a machined shaft and extruded basket perforations creates a stronger basket and smoother surface that is comparable to the basket of a washer than a typical dryer basket.

Also, the machine is easy to clean thanks to a self-cleaning lint screen.

UNIMAC

In almost every on-premises laundry, maximum throughput depends on the speed and efficiency of the operation’s tumble dryers. That is why UniMac says its 75-pound capacity tumble dryer, equipped with the UniLinc control, is the workhorse of many mediumand high-volume laundries.

UniMac’s UT075 achieves the perfect balance between drying temperature, airflow pattern and usable cylinder space for maximum energy efficiency, shortening drying times and reducing utility and labor costs, according to the company.

Plus, an extra-large reversible steel door allows convenient and efficient access, while a self-cleaning lint filter eliminates the need to manually clean the filter after

When UniMac’s 75-pound tumble dryer is equipped with the UniLinc control, laundry managers can leverage vast amounts of data to manage all laundry resources more effectively. The end results, says UniMac, are improved processes, better quality and the pinnacle of drying efficiency.

www.unimac.com 800-587-5458

MIELE

Miele has launched its Little Giants line of small-capacity dryers, the Professional Heat Pump Dryer - PDR 908 HP [EL].

The company says the machines provide professional-grade disinfection and fabric care in a highefficiency, compact system.

German engineered with highperformance heater elements, short program runtimes and low energy consumption, the Little Giants are the ultimate solution for high throughput laundry demands, Miele says.

Product highlights include:

• Heat pump dryer technology rated Energy Star Most Efficient.

• Full-touch color display—M Touch Flex—user interface (no buttons or dials).

• 34-gallon drum size (18pound capacity).

• 35 programs; five customizable.

• Fragrance-Dos capable.

• 4D filtration system.

• Stackable or side-by-side configuration.

• Tested for intensive use (30,000 operating hours).

Miele says its more than 90 years of experience in commercial laundry technology is driven by its “Immer Besser” mission of striving to be forever better. The new Little Giants machines demonstrate the company’s awardwinning quality and engineering, offering commercial-quality laundry care for the most selective businesses.

www.mieleusa.com 866-781-5053

MAYTAG COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY

Maytag® Commercial Laundry says its 75-pound capacity MDW75PNJVW commercial gas multi-load dryer offers outstanding throughput and helps optimize labor costs.

The durable dryer features a heavy-duty motor designed to handle extra-large loads and easily programmable microprocessor controls that give end-users the option to select the ideal cycle for

individual wash and dry needs, according to the company.

Maytag adds that operators will get proven performance with a radial airflow system that delivers a fast dry time due to high Btu and airflow burners, but with the protection of the Sensor-Activated Fire Extinguisher (S.A.F.E. System) that can automatically detect a fire in the dryer.

The company says it backs the dryer with a three-year limited parts warranty.

Maytag says that behind its 60 years of commercial laundry success is a team of experts with a reputation for service that’s as dependable as its machines, adding that its unique approach to the industry starts with a global network of distributors trained with exclusive know-how and industry expertise in product purchasing, equipment installation and servicing.

www.maytagcommercial laundry.com/contactus

Miele

Maytag Commercial Laundry

Unimac

How to develop a highly versatile commercial laundry

BY BRENNAN POLLNOW

OSH KOSH, Wis. — As a commercial laundry investor, wouldn’t you like to be as certain as possible that your money and efforts result in a successful, profitable outcome?

As you look to invest in an existing commercial laundry or develop a new one from scratch, there are multiple critical factors to consider that will ultimately shape your business’ success.

Go in knowing that a versatile laundry has many benefits. It can serve multiple markets, including hospitality, vacation rental, fitness clubs, party rental and healthcare, and is therefore better protected from economic downturns that impact one market but not the others.

Remember, commercial laundry development is not a sprint, it’s a marathon and you need to partner with a full-service, high-quality team of experts. Read on to see how a quality distributor, manufacturer and architect work together with you to turn your vision or plan into a viable, profitable reality.

LOCATION

Early on, you’ll need to evaluate any potential sites for your commercial laundry for suitability and conduct a target market study. Your distributor will help with both.

When evaluating sites, consider whether they offer proper clearances, egress, docks, overhead doors, quick access to highways, available utilities and room for growth.

Some equipment distributors can assist with building lease or purchase negotiations, as well.

Once a site looks solid, your dis-

tributor should help estimate your laundry’s sales potential by applying value to your target market study, competition, equipment mix and utility costs, etc.

Many times, new commercial laundry owners have already secured key accounts in their area.

EQUIPMENT MIX, UTILITIES AND AUTOMATION

Once the location is a go, you’ll work with your distributor and equipment manufacturer to equip your laundry with smart and affordable production automation for labor efficiencies. They should take you through equipment sizes, types and performance levels while factoring in criteria like versatility, utility efficiency, automation, labor and quality.

Together, you’ll plan for the equipment, workflow and space for serving everything from hotels and vacation rentals to hospitals.

Remember, by serving different markets you’ll better penetrate your delivery area and serve a wider variety of customers, generate bolstered revenue, and better utilize employees.

Finally, your distributor should provide detailed line drawings of the laundry.

PROFORMA SUMMARY & FINANCING

At this step, your equipment manufacturer or distributor can take all this data and generate a plant cash-flow proforma. This is a financial statement that overviews a new laundry’s capital outlay, return on investment, income, taxable income, losses, expenses and more.

This summary is essential to securing favorable financing and is submitted along with a detailed laundry site plan, target market study and equipment proposal to lenders by your distributor.

As a side note, most distributors work with lenders familiar with the laundry business, which often becomes critical to getting funded. This lender becomes a key partner, just like the distributor.

LAUNDRY BUILDOUT

Once financing is approved, you and your distributor will typically

engage an architect and a general contractor to perform necessary plans, process for permits and build out your space.

The general contractor coordinates subcontractors and your distributor provides all your equipment and needed ancillary items.

MARKETING

This is the point where you start marketing your new commercial laundry. Some distributors can help you

in this arena, as well.

If you’re lucky, your distributor might partner with an advertising agency that specializes in commercial laundries and offers affordable marketing packages. If so, you might gain access to help with branding and logo development, signage, a website and vehicle wraps.

TRAINING

When the laundry is complete— or nearly complete—some distributors and equipment manufacturers provide training on maintaining equipment, operating machines and programming machines. Most will gladly share their knowledge.

Some distributors offer handson training as well as offering preventative maintenance schedules and service contracts. After all, they want you to be successful.

Finally, your distributor business partner should always be looking for ways to help improve your business’ profits—even two, five, 10 and 15 years down the road! ALN

Brennan Pollnow, North American sales manager of Girbau Industrial, assists commercial and industrial laundries with laundry room design and workflow, proper equipment mix and sizing, as well as automation and efficiency recommendations. He interfaces closely with local distributors and customers to ensure seamless communication, equipment production sizing, workflow, installation and startup. Questions? Please contact him at bpollnow@cgilaundry.com.

I hope some of these suggestions give you some pause and reassurance that you can and will succeed the next time you’re challenged by a recession or a pandemic.

at some point, and you will be better and stronger for the experience you’ve had getting past this year.

Keeping your employees happy and healthy, creating a sense of teamwork, and engaging them in the importance and value of what they do is the best way to avoid understaffing. Yes, wages matter to employees, but in a world where wages are equal, people always look for the best work environment.

Keeping and maintaining good equipment and providing a structured workplace helps, too. How’s that help you protect your bottom line? What’s a direct result of understaffing? Overtime costs, stress on existing employees, underproduction and shortages to customers with a loss of revenue!

During my career in the commercial laundry business, I’ve listened to business mentors and keynote speakers state that this industry is one that can withstand trying times like recessions, crises, and, most recently, a pandemic.

This is due in part to the fact that people always need access to clean clothing and sanitary linens. However, I have often wondered

what else companies could do to help sustain their businesses, besides the obvious.

Therefore, to help pandemicproof or recession-proof your laundry operations, here are a few additional suggestions that could help.

Create an action plan that is simple and easy to follow. What do you do when business is slow? Did you sit back and wait for it to pick back up because you weren’t sure what else to do?

The problem is that many companies will wait until their business is suffering before they try to find ideas to help reduce the stress on the business. Instead, consider creating a plan in advance.

Make a list of simple, yet effective tasks you can do any time your business slows down. This could include investigating new services or product ideas, getting in touch with prospects more frequently, and regularly marketing to your most loyal customers, and so on.

With an action plan in place, you’ll have a clear to-do list so you can get moving right away when the need arises.

Keep a running list of business expansion ideas. Throughout COVID, our business had to pivot quickly, and we did so by offering products and services to fit the needs of our current crisis.

For example, we began to offer deep-cleaning services, fogging and spraying devices, and education services about proper cleaning. You can’t predict the future, but the more ideas you have ready, the better.

Start by keeping an ongoing list of ways your business could adapt to the needs your customers have during a pandemic or recession. If and when another crisis happens, you’ll already have a starting point.

Look at investing in adaptable technologies. One of the most critical steps my team took during the last year and a half was investing in innovative system technologies that

help commercial laundries be more proactive and efficient. Despite the unexpected circumstances of the pandemic, this technology became something many commercial laundries found tremendous value in.

Before an actual need arises, think about ways you can use technology to streamline your business.

Maybe there is a software tool you could use to complete your projects with less labor and at lower costs. Maybe it is an innovative new piece of laundry equipment that will help increase productivity and throughput. It will certainly depend on your business and your service or product. Regardless, now is the time to consider investing in technology that makes your work easier.

Taking time with your team to create a plan and investing in useful technology ahead of unexpected crises can give your business a competitive advantage that will help you sustain just about any crisis you might encounter.

Pollnow

Pellerin Milnor Corp.

P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

Pellerin Milnor Corp.

P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

PRESSES – EXTRACTION

Pellerin Milnor Corp. P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

SMALL-PIECE FOLDERS

WASHERS

Pellerin Milnor Corp. P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

Pellerin Milnor Corp.

P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

Pellerin Milnor Corp. P.O. Box 400, Kenner, LA 70063 504-467-9591, Fax: 504-468-3094 www.milnor.com

Ecolab Textile Care earns Governor’s Safety Award in Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ecolab Textile Care, a provider of water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services, reports it was recognized for excellence in workplace safety and health during the 2021 Virtual Minnesota Safety and Health Conference, May 4-5.

“In a year that has challenged all of us in ways we never imagined, we are very pleased to recognize the Textile Care Division of Ecolab for their award,” says Paul Aasen, president of the Minnesota Safety Council.

“Safety demands extraordinary attention in a normal year, double that attention this past year. Thank you, Ecolab Textile Care, for keeping your employees safe.”

Since 1934, the annual Governor’s Safety Awards program has honored Minnesota employers with exceptional safety performance. Applicants are judged on several years of injury data as it compares with their industry’s national statistics and on their progress in implementing a comprehensive safety program.

Ecolab Textile Care received the Meritorious Achievement Award

The Minnesota Safety Council, founded in 1928, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in Minnesota by preventing unintentional injuries on the road, at work, at home and in the community.

Pellerin Laundry

Machinery Sales

earns Milnor’s top dealer award

KENNER, La. — Despite the many hardships faced over the last year, laundry equipment manufacturer Pellerin Milnor Corp. says its dealer network successfully rose to the challenge of safely providing sales and service support to their customers.

“The strength of our network of local dealers provided the reassuring availability of parts, service and machinery sales needed for the commercial laundry industry during the difficult times brought on by the COVID outbreak,” says Rick Kelly, vice president of sales and marketing for Milnor.

Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Co. (PLMSCO), headquartered in Kenner, Louisiana, was awarded first place for overall machinery sales among the company’s worldwide distributor network in 2020.

“PLMSCO’s achievement for the highest machinery sales in

2020 is well-earned,” Kelly says. “We are proud of PLMSCO’s outstanding results and we express our gratitude and appreciation for their strong customer relationships in providing product solutions and support services of our industryleading products.”

Rounding out the top five dealers: second place, Western State Design, Hayward, California; third place, Steiner Atlantic Corp., Miami; fourth place, TLC Tri-State Laundry Companies, Valdosta, Georgia; and fifth place, Loomis Brothers Equipment Co., Fenton, Missouri.

Aramark enters exclusive partnership with Talon for waistband technology

PHILADELPHIA — Aramark, a provider of uniform rental and leasing and facility services, reports it has secured an exclusive partnership with Talon, the maker of Adjustec waistband technology.

The Adjustec technology is featured in Aramark’s Authentic™ collection of shorts and pants to create greater comfort for wearers. Aramark says this partnership marks the first time that this garment technology will be offered outside of a retail setting in uniform rental garments across a variety of industrial workspaces.

“Bringing innovative new technologies to market in the uniform rental space is one of the ways we are striving to improve the daily work life of our consumers,” says Art Wake, president of Aramark Uniform Services.

“Every advancement we champion has the end goal of improving quality for our clients. Talon’s patented waistband technology will make our rental clothing the premium choice for fit and satisfaction.”

Adjustec improves customer satisfaction due to fewer sizing changes and greater fit accuracy. The waistbands are designed to adjust and recover, providing the same fit and comfort from the start of the day to the end.

“This partnership with Aramark is an honor,” says Larry Dyne, CEO of Talon International. “The Adjustec team, also known to the market as Tekfit, works hard to constantly innovate our proprietary stretch technology, creating a product that helps keep workers comfortable, dry, and cool.

“For a uniform supply company, like Aramark, this allows them to provide some of the most comfortable work clothes available.”

Standard Textile Co., Küçükçalık enter joint venture agreement

CINCINNATI — Textile manufacturing companies Standard Textile Co. Inc. and Küçükçalık report they have entered into a joint venture agreement that brings together their specialized expertise and knowledge to expand their product portfolio and accelerate growth in the healthcare, hospitality and consumer markets.

“We are pleased to announce this new joint venture for Standard Textile,” says Gary Heiman, president and CEO of Standard Textile.

“We have admired Küçükçalık’s world-class facilities in Turkey and Egypt, and this joint venture allows us to both expand our global footprint and leverage their technology and expertise in fiber extrusion.

“Their innovative fiber extrusion and texturizing operations provide new opportunities for our research and development teams to collaborate in designing and developing sustainable products using recycled fiber to meet the needs of current and future customers.”

Standard Textile manufactures bed, bath and decorative products, serving the healthcare, hospitality and consumer markets. It has manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The company received recognition in 2016 for creating a model for advanced textile manufacturing in the United States with their operations in Thomaston, Georgia, and Union, South Carolina, headlined in major news publications.

August

8-12

TRSA

57th Annual Executive Management Institute (EMI) Hyattsville, Md.

Info: 703-519-0029

8-12

TRSA

32nd Annual Professional Management Institute (PMI) Hyattsville, Md.

Info: 703-519-0029

8-12

TRSA

29th Annual Maintenance Management Institute (MMI) Hyattsville, Md.

Info: 703-519-0029

September

20-24

Association for Linen Management

Laundry & Linen College: Laundry Processing & Operations Richmond, Ky. Info: 859-624-0177

October

13

22

American Laundry News

Podcast: Expanding Laundry Business Revenue Chicago, Ill.

Info: 312-361-1700

22

American Reusable Textile Association

Virual Speaker Series: The State of Textiles

Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Info: 863-660-5350

American Reusable Textile Association

Virual Speaker Series: How to Use Data from ARTA’s Incontinence Pad LCA Study Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Info: 863-660-5350

19-22 TRSA

108th Annual Conference Carlsbad, Calif.

Info: 703-519-0029 ALN

Earlier this year, Standard Textile was credited with the “Best Health Care and Medical Innovation” by Ohio Business Magazine for developing a uniquely American-made reusable cover gown to help protect frontline medical workers responding to the global pandemic

Most recently, the company was selected as a 2021 US Best Managed Company. Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, the program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams.

Küçükçalık is a global textile manufacturing company with key operations in Turkey and Egypt. From fiber production to weaving to finishing, the company produces apparel, bedding, drapery and other decorative products for the consumer market. The company opened its first weaving mill in 1990 and added dyeing and printing factories in 1992.

In 2019, Küçükçalık created a new sustainable yarn from discarded PET bottles using advanced spinning technology. The company is listed among the top 500 companies in the Turkish industrial sector.

“We are very happy to be able to continue our long-lasting friendship and existing trading relationship with Standard Textile now as co-shareholders. We are confident that this partnership will add significant value to Küçükçalık by allowing us to expand in markets where Standard Textile is particularly strong,” say Ya ar and Yılmaz Küçükçalık, the shareholders of Küçükçalık.

(From left) Rick Kelly and Gary Gauthier from Pellerin Milnor Corp. present the first place award for overall machinery sales to Scott McClure and Jean-Marc Pellerin of Pellerin Laundry Machinery Sales Co. ( Photo: Pellerin Milnor Corp.)