American Laundry News - December 2023 by American Trade Magazines

www.americanlaundrynews.com

December 2023 • Volume 49, Number 12

The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management

When it’s time to say ‘no’ to new business Two business advisor/consultant experts answer questions about times for laundries to turn away customers

(Photo: © billiondigital/Depositphotos)

BY MATT POE, EDITOR

n the surface, a laundry and linen service turning down new business might not make sense. After all, doesn’t growth mean adding new business, especially after the past few years? Not necessarily. Dig a little deeper, and there are times when an operator can and should turn away a new client. American Laundry News heard from two experts in the field of business growth and productivity and resource optimiza-

tion (PRO) on this subject. Jason Pourakis is a partner at Mazars USA LLP, an international audit, tax and advisory firm committed to helping clients confidently build and grow their businesses. Doug Story is a laundry industry veteran who recently opened MorgenBrooke LLC., a North Carolina-based group consultancy that provides PRO evaluation and decision-making that applies to any size laundry or institutional operation. Let’s start big picture: Why would a laundry turn down new business? POURAKIS: Three major reasons: Pricing constraints do not make the customer profitable, the delivery stop size is too small, or the plant is at capacity and needs to be more selective of the customers they onboard. These are simply the economic metrics a company should start with. Of course, there are many other reasons such as industries/products a laundry does not currently service and also specific customer/ethical decisions will help decide if a new customer is the “right fit.” STORY: In the context of growing your business, you shouldn’t. However, in this context, many companies have fallen into the death spiral of growing their business but not being able to pay their bills. One of the most, if not the most, expensive thing a business can do is install new business. So, with every new installation, one must consider the expense of the installation versus the ability to recover the capital spent in a timely matter. What should laundries be looking for when seeking new business? POURAKIS: Become more niche specific. The more “similar type” customers you can service, the better you will get at

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servicing all of these customers. In addition, similar products and similar workflow and processes through the plant lead to more efficiencies and, therefore, increased profitability. STORY: A set of baseline considerations must be developed by management to include type of account, credit history, supplier history, delivery schedules, route density, and volumes that are part of the goals and objectives of your operation. Type of account: A hospital wants to do business; you are a linen supply plant. Is this part of your goals and objectives? The answer is probably no. Credit History: Are they calling you because they have exhausted the credit of other suppliers? They have not paid their bills, so they want to change. A sudden call for your company to supply service to them “out of the blue” should always trigger a credit check. Supplier History: Do they change suppliers on a regular or maybe even sporadic basis? Changing every time, they receive a price discount, or they demand so much the supplier cannot satisfy the customer. Delivery Schedules and Route Density: Is the account within your baseline delivery perimeter or the areas as defined by your goals and objectives? Is it an easy fit to your current system or does it stretch the ability to service the account reliably and efficiently? Volumes: Is the account too small or too large based on your goals and abjectives? Too small in that it would cost you more to set up the account, crank the truck and supply services to the account than it would ever yield in terms of revenue and profits.

See Say No on Page 6

LATE NEWS Alliance Laundry Systems acquires Statewide Machinery RIPON, Wis. — Alliance Laundry Systems, a manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment, reports it has acquired the distribution assets of Batavia, New York-based Statewide Machinery Inc. “As a family-owned company, Statewide Machinery has built a reputation for providing customers with value that extends well beyond the premier equipment brands they sell, and into excellent care well after the sale,” says Craig Dakauskas, senior vice president, Americas Commercial, Alliance Laundry Systems. “That shows in the volume of their loyal repeat customers.” Statewide will become part of the Alliance Laundry Systems Distribution East Region while maintaining its Batavia office. Since its founding in 1954, Statewide Machinery has been a leader in providing solutions for on-premises laundries, laundromats and multi-housing applications in Northern Pennsylvania and Hudson Valley, New York, including, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany. “The entire Statewide organization has a passion for serving our customers and now, as a part of Alliance Laundry Systems, we will take it next level,” says Jen Houseknecht, president of Statewide.

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Survey: Laundry operators rate 2023 performance above average CHICAGO — The majority of laundry operators who took the most recent American Laundry News Your Views survey indicate that 2023 was a good year for laundry and linen services. When asked to rate their businesses for the year, 55.6% say it was “good” while 22.2% share they had “great” performances. Just over 22% say 2023 was “average” for their businesses. Nearly 80% of respondents indicate that 2023 turned out as expected. Just over 22% say the year didn’t quite go as hoped. The reasons for 2023 either turning out as expected or not? • Being proactive. • Increase in volume. • I design a lot of hotel laundries and my volume is definitely down from the last two years. • Lack of experienced mechanics—equipment down for longer than it should have been. Lack of personnel—hard to find people that actually wanted to work. • Excellent consistent services, cleanness. • Service quality and on-time delivery. Part of achieving success is setting goals, and 66.7% of respondents indicate their laundries accomplished some of their goals. More than 22% say they achieved all of their goals, and 11% indicate their operations accomplished none of their goals. When asked to detail what goals they did accomplish in 2023, operators write: • Revenue, poundage, capital. • Reaching our revenue projection and cost control. • Was able to provide linen throughout hurricane season. • We exceeded the forecast. • Reaching my $ numbers. The goals laundries didn’t accomplish? • Labor and plant expenses. • Quality of distribution area. • Meeting all of the par levels on a daily basis—and that is just the reason we exist. • Shoes cleaning, service purses. Looking ahead to 2024, more than 55% of respondents indicate their laundry’s top priority for the coming year is to increase production. This was followed by “improve service quality,” “market service to attract more business,” and “add or replace equipment” each with an 11.1% response rate. One survey taker writes, “I am looking for LEED-compliant washerextractors, and no vendor claims to have them for larger units—60-200 pounds.” Half of the operators taking the survey indicate their operation has

President

Regarding your laundry/linen operation/business, how would you rate its 2023 performance?

Editorial Director

Average

Bruce Beggs Phone: 312-361-1683 E-Mail: bbeggs@ ATMags.com

55.6% 22.2%

Good

Great

Editor

Two business advisor/consultants answer questions about times for laundries to turn away customers

Human Resources Challenges in 2024

Columnist at Large Richard Engler shares his laundry HR concerns

08 10

Tools of the Trade Trending: Mergers, Acquisitions in Laundry Industry

Insiders share views on state of M&A in laundry and linen services, reasons behind, future

Achieving PPOH Increase Goals in 2024

The Experts offer advice on increasing pounds per operator hour

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Matt Poe Phone: 866-942-5694 E-Mail: mpoe@ ATMags.com

What is your operation’s No. 1 priority for 2024?

Production Manager Mathew Pawlak

Digital Media Director Nathan Frerichs Phone: 312-361-1681 E-Mail: nfrerichs@ ATMags.com

Advisory Board

55.5%

11.1%

Increase productivity

Improve service quality

11.1%

Market Add or service to replace attract more equipment business

Other

a “good chance” of accomplishing its priority. A quarter say they “will accomplish it, without a doubt.” Both “50-50 chance” and “slim chance” were selected by 12.5% of respondents. While the Your Views survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific. Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100%. Subscribers to American Laundry News e-mails are invited to take the industry survey anonymously online each quarter. All managers and administrators of institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and identify industry trends.

INSIDE: When It’s Time to Say ‘No’ to New Business

Publisher

Donald Feinstein Phone: 312-361-1682 E-Mail: dfeinstein@ ATMags.com

22.2%

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Charles Thompson

Wash Cycle Laundry Groundbreaker with New Plant in Boston Area

Company partners with Sea-lion America Company for manufacturer’s first North American installation

Why Would a Laundry Turn Down Business?

Laundry industry veteran David Bernstein adds to the cover story on say no to new customers

19 20 23

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

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American Laundry News (ISSN 1091-9201) is published monthly. Subscription prices, payment in advance: U.S. 1 year $50.00; 2 years $100.00. Single copies: U.S. $10.00. Published by American Trade Magazines LLC, 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60661. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER, Send changes of address and form 3579 to American Laundry News, Subscription Dept., 125 Schelter Rd., #350, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-3666. Volume 49, number 12. Editorial, executive and advertising offices are at 650 West Lake Street, Suite 320, Chicago, IL 60661. Charles Thompson, President and Publisher. American Laundry News is distributed selectively to qualified laundry and linen management and distributors in the United States. © Copyright AMERICAN TR ADE MAGAZINES LLC, 2023. Printed in U.S.A. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher or his representative. American Laundry News does not endorse, recommend or guarantee any article, product, service or information found within. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of American Laundry News or its staff. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the magazine’s contents at time of publication, neither the editors, publishers nor its agents can accept responsibility for damages or injury which may arise therefrom.

Sohn Linen Service Celebrates 90 Years Serving Michigan

Company celebration, open house mark occasion

David Barbe Janice Ayers Davis • Nick Fertig Deana Griffin • Cecil Lee Edward McCauley Jim Slatcher

Product Showcase

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Heat-Generating Equipment

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11/14/23

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We Raised the Bar for Bar Mops.

Getting bar mops cleaner, faster, using less water than any other tunnel washer in the industry. For more than a decade, PulseFlow® Technology has proven to deliver cleaner goods for all soil levels, including heavy-soiled food and beverage linen. And we’ve done it using less water to clean the goods than any other tunnel washer in the industry. Milnor CBW® machines require as little as 0.3 gallons per pound for light soil linen and 0.7 gallons for heavy-soil – both processed without the use of a separate water reclamation system. Milnor batch washers in service around the world have saved billions of gallons of fresh water. Discover more about Milnor’s sustainable laundry solutions at milnor.com.

More production, less consumption.

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PulseFlow® and CBW® are Pellerin Milnor’s registered trademarks.

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Juxtapositions

COLUMNIST AT LARGE Richard Engler

From The Editor’s Desk Merriam-Webster defines the word consultants to find out some of these juxtaposition as “the act or an instance circumstances. of placing two or more things side by Then there are the juxtapositions of side often to compare or contrast or to the cover story with articles on mergcreate an interesting effect.” ers and acquisitions (page 10), growing There are some interesting juxtaposipounds per operator hour (page 12) and tions in this issue of American Laundry a profile of a laundry expanding and News. upgrading for growth (page 14). First off, there’s the fact that it starts Of course, this time of year always feaoff with a feature (and a column) on tures the juxtaposition of a year ending MATT POE saying “no” to new business. and a year beginning (I hope you have a Rather odd for a publication dedicated great holiday season). to helping grow the industry, but there Just remember, juxtapositions can be are times when it does make sense for laundry and interesting, and valuable, in comparing and conlinen service operators to turn away a customer. trasting your business opportunities, helping you I communicated with three business advisors/ keep it clean, everybody!

UniFirst opens Bronx uniform service facility BRONX, N.Y. — UniFirst Corp., a provider of customized business uniform programs, facility service products, and first aid and safety services, reports that it has opened its new uniform service facility in the Bronx. “Our Bronx facility is a testament to our long-term commitment to delivering excellent customer service and top-quality products to communities across North America,” says Steven Sintros, UniFirst president and CEO. “Our team of uniform experts understands the unique needs of local businesses when it comes to maintaining a professional image, ensuring safety, and controlling costs with customized uniform rental programs. “We are fully prepared to always deliver exceptional customer service for many years to come.” The 42,000-square-foot facility is dedicated to serving businesses in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and portions of Nassau County. To celebrate the official opening, UniFirst held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 25 at the new location in the Hunts Point Industrial District. Those attending included Sintros; local business leader and CEO of Hunts Point Produce, Philip Grant, P.E.; and UniFirst New York City General Manager Robert Clark. The event was also an opportunity to meet and greet the local UniFirst Bronx service team and tour

(Photo: UniFirst)

the new facility. The celebration concluded with a catered lunch. UniFirst says its new, state-of-the-art Bronx facility is a response to the increasing demand for its customized business uniforms and facility services programs in the New York City area. Equipped with cutting-edge customer relationship management technology, the local service team is dedicated to delivering an enhanced customer experience with faster response times. With more than 35 uniform and facility service experts on board, the location offers personalized service programs for uniforms and workwear, including reliable delivery and rental of essential facility service products such as floor mats, mops, wipers, towels and restroom supplies.

(WE) = WEB EXCLUSIVE

Top Stories Appearing on americanlaundrynews.com for the 30 Days Ending Nov. 15.

NEWS

COLUMNISTS/FEATURES

OUR SISTER WEBSITES

• Cintas Acquires Rental Uniform Service

• Moving from Open-Pocket Washers to a Tunnel

From AmericanDrycleaner.com:

• Loop Linen Service to Build 55,000 sq ft Facility

• Co-op Improves Laundry with New Wash Solution

• Industry Veteran Story Opens Laundry Consultancy WE

• Evaluating Laundry Automation Opportunities

• Crothall Completes South Carolina Expansion Project WE

• Tommy Cocanougher: Developing Building Blocks for a Successful ...

• UniFirst Opens Bronx Uniform Service Facility

• Fostering Involvement, Engagement in New Team Members

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• DLI Names 2023-2024 Board of Directors • Is It Time for Capital Improvements? From AmericanCoinOp.com: • Making Money in the Laundromat Business • Preventing Abuse of Laundry Equipment, Furnishings

Human resources challenges in 2024 W

e face substantial human resources (HR) management challenges now, and this seems to press on us more insistently than ever before. Here in Q4 of 2023, I am concerned with what we can expect from 2024. What challenges will we face as we continue to adapt to the rapidly changing priorities in our field? I am by no means an HR professional, but this hat sits firmly and somewhat heavily on my head, as it does with many of us. According to Gartner’s annual HR priorities survey, leader and manager development tops the list of 2024 priorities for HR leaders with organizational culture, HR technology, change, career management and internal mobility rounding out the key focuses. The changing needs of the modern workforce have caused most of us to realign our priorities when considering our human capital. HR as we know it will need to reinvent its processes, switching the focus to driving value and brand home to our teams. HR will have to step up the activities, bringing meaningful enhancement to our new employment endeavors. We feel that we are struggling. According to Gartner, more than three-quarters of employees have placed increased importance on manager support while managers juggle even more responsibilities than they can already handle. Should we be investing heavily in manager development courses, and when will we find the time to initiate these moves? Can we successfully allow the situation to evolve into supporting the managers and their employees? As leaders, we will likely reset our expectations, build or rebuild our leadership pipelines, evaluate our manager’s habits, and proactively address process barriers. HR managers are overwhelmed by the growth of their job responsibilities, and in this arena, leaders and managers aren’t properly equipped to lead change. These leaders have a huge impact on a company’s culture, performance and resilience. Leader and manager development can further boost employee engagement, increase organizational ability to deal with kinks in the talent pipeline, and reduce the stress and cost associated with turnover. Organizational culture matters. It’s one of the biggest drivers for employee motivation, well-being, engagement and productivity. It has a significant impact on HR KPIs (key performance indicators), including attrition and retention. According to a 2023 survey by Built In, almost half of job seekers cite company culture as a top consideration when applying to a company. Conversely, 47% of active job seekers say organizational culture is their driving reason for looking for work and leaving their current employer. So, how can a manager have a direct impact on culture or employee experience? If managers offer little flexibility and are unapproachable, it will create an off-putting company culture that can drive younger employees to look elsewhere for their satisfaction. Employees who rate their managers poorly are far more likely to look for a new position. These same employees tend to believe a strong company culture is key to a business’ success. A positive work culture is linked to higher rates of employee engagement, which has been shown to improve productivity and profitability. Team members seem to innately understand the value of company culture is linked to their organization’s success. Leaders in our field know and recognize the impact a positive workplace culture has on our bottom line. There is plenty of information online regarding the importance of an organization’s culture. The culture within your organization defines if it is a happy and healthy place to work … or not.

See At Large on Page 15

11/14/23 11:11 M

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Say No

Continued from Page 1

Too large in that your resources and production capability are rated at X and this new account may drive your resources, personnel and production to an X squared where it would endanger your ability to supply service to your established customer base. What are some of the obvious “red flags” for laundries to turn down new business? POURAKIS: The biggest red flag is the “value equation.” Does the customer have a track record of moving around to laundry providers just for the lowest price? Do they value your service (and in turn, will they respect the merchandise you service for them)? Are they abusive to your merchandise and will they be amenable to certain upcharges for abusiveness? Do they constantly seek special deliveries, or are they not aligned with your delivery schedule? Due diligence goes a long way. If the provider is aware of the previous provider, will the same happen to them? Will the contracts signed by this customer be broken for the next provider? We all want to make a sale but being able to identify your ideal customer and assessing whether or not this new customer fits into this framework is essential. STORY: See my previous response and one other thing: How many new customers have you put on in the last few weeks or months? Not any is a problem, but so many it outstrips your ability to adequately onboard and provide your usual amount of service to the customer is also an issue. Scheduling and controlling the schedule of new account acceptances must be part of your considerations as new customers are being considered. Talk about how laundry size, operation, market, business climate, etc., can affect whether or not an operation takes on a new account. POURAKIS: From the laundry’s perspective, it truly depends on capacity remaining in the laundry. If there is little to no capacity, the laundry should be able to make POURAKIS the assessment to ensure that the new customer is profitable and contributes to margin while being able to counsel out less profitable customers. If there is a lot of capacity in the plant and “filling it up” helps contribute to the overall gross margins, there is more flexibility in pricing and overall profitability. New business is great, but a laundry owner should assess the overall microeconomic landscape whether or not to continue to grow in a shrinking niche or be able to look out for the health of a particular business. Adding on new customers is an expensive endeavor and seeing profitability after initial investment in linens may not happen for several months. Longevity of the client and industry is key when adding

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

new business or pricing new business. STORY: Laundry size can be an inhibitor (too little or too much business), but it can also be a catalyst for the growth of business via new customers. A new addition to a plant catalyzes growth in terms of a need for new customers to start filling up the additional production capabilities of an operation. The addition of an additional shift (i.e., going from one shift per day to two shifts per day) to satisfy the organic growth of your current customers could be a building block for the addition of intense focus on gaining new accounts to fill the excess capacity the second shift addition has created. There are many ways to classify operations. My method in the context of today’s laundry markets is to classify them as follows: • Niche Operators—Party rentals, dust control, industrial uniforms, wipers, and towels, USDA, athletic, etc. Niche operators are very specialized in what they process thus they will be specific in what they take on as new customers. Do they fit their specific market and processing capabilities? Hospital work in a dust control plant … probably not. • Controlled Operators—Linen supply, hospital/healthcare, etc. Controlled operators are not as specialized as the niche market, but they do have a relatively narrow target customer group and generally do not go outside that customer group (e.g., linen supply to restaurants, food service and processing facilities). • Bulk Operators—Hospitality, etc. Bulk operators are focused on pushing the highest volume of linens through processing per day. All are delivered in large volumes and processed as such. They will turn down customers that do not meet their minimum volume requirements. • Miscellaneous Operators—Anything they can get. These are start-ups or operations that are trying to diver-

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sify their mix of products in the plant. This is a growing number of operations in that many suffered from COVID shutdowns and now those that somehow survived are expanding their production abilities to anything that needs processing. I cannot think of any better business climate in which the greatest amount of impact on our various operators occurred. The COVID shutdowns, no matter what your take on these shutdowns is or was, it is safe to say they had the most significant impact on our business climate since the Great Depression (I think even more actually), driving many operations to diversify their customer base and linen supplies. How can a laundry best analyze potential new customers to determine whether or not they would be suitable partners? Are there early signs they can watch for? How about later in the negotiation process? POURAKIS: Initially, a proforma should be developed to analyze how this new customer can contribute to gross margin and overall profitability of the laundry. This will give a good indication that the pricing is right and the size of delivery/delivery schedule fits into the overall routes of the current business. Ongoing and future evaluation—it is always good practice to have a three- to six-month lookback on new customers to 1) see that they are adhering to the initial volumes and provisions of the agreement, 2) look to see how many additional or “special” deliveries have been required to service this customer and ensure the laundry is maximizing the value of these instances, and 3) review the customer and delivery persons outlook on the service. Are they a difficult customer? Are they especially abusive to the merchandise? There should be a provision in the contract that enables the laundry to claw back or bill going forward in these specific situations. STORY: Meet them or have people you

trust meet them. Are there changes in the criteria or critical data (such as volume) or hesitancy to provide needed information? How can an operator best amicably remove itself from a potential laundry contract? POURAKIS: Interesting question. You can watch our “difficult conversations” seminar for some tips and tricks. There should be “out” clauses in order to enable a company to get out of a contract for cause. I would recommend being proactive with the customer, identifying and addressing any potential issues, and if they continue, being quicker to out counsel. STORY: There should be a clause in the contract that allows either side to remove themselves if things are not working out as planned. I’m not sure how to amicably do this, but it should work. If it is an issue of just not being able STORY to profitably supply the service or there are “personality/demands” issues, talk with the customer and work with them as they transition to another supplier. Some laundry operators might say that at this time they have to take any and every customer. What would you say to them? POURAKIS: You shouldn’t. Every situation is unique but looking at the whole organization (plant capacity, route structure and capacity, pricing, quality of client, etc.) all has to come into play when making a fully thought-out decision. STORY: “Why?” I would want to test

See Say No on Page 16

11/14/23 11:11 M

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7/14/23 7/14/23 8:34 9:10 AM AM

December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Tools f Flexible UHF hard tag designed for laundry management industry

Avery Dennison reports it has launched its AD Maxdura® Flexible Laundry UHF Hard Tag designed especially for rough environmental conditions in the laundry management industry. The company says the structure, size and performance of the RFID (radio-frequency identification) hard tag meets industry requirements to speed up inventory processes for hotels, hospitals and restaurants. Made from recycled polyester with a thickness of 1.4 mm, the compact tag supports enhanced garment classification and can contribute to the efficient usage of water and energy. Featuring a reinforced IC, the tag can survive detergents, 200 wash cycles of water immersion, up to 60 bars of pressure (the standard for industrial washing) and temperatures of up to 392 F, according to Avery Dennison. The tag offers an optimized reading distance of up to 10 meters and can be directly sewn onto sheets, garments and other laundry items. www.averydennison.com 440-534-6000

Nearly 100% dryer lint capture technology introduced

Alliance Laundry Systems, a manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment, reports it has introduced a dryer feature that eliminates the problems caused by lint. The company says ProCapture uses patent-pending cyclone technology to capture 98% of dryer lint during internal testing—a significant increase over the lint screens used in most commercial tumble dryers. The technology brings a variety of advantages to on-premises laundries and laundromats, including reduced service and maintenance costs on everything from HVAC systems to water heaters and other electronics/components. With this industry-first feature, Alliance says it will drive improved tumbler performance, reduce staff time spent cleaning lint compartments and reduce maintenance costs—all benefits that deliver real dollars in savings. The ProCapture feature is available for order now on Alliance Laundry Systems-produced 75-pound capacity tumblers. It will be available on 30-pound stacks in March of 2024 and rolled out for additional capacities in the future. www.alliancelaundry.com 920-748-4564

On-premises laundry Benchmark machines launched

Miele Professional, a manufacturer of commercial-grade appliances, says it is launching its Benchmark line of washers and dryers for on-premises laundry applications in the United States. Engineered for high throughput and trusted durability, the Benchmark onpremises laundry line provides hotels, hospitals and other facilities with reliable, onsite textile and linen reprocessing, according to the company. Encompassing seven washers and seven dryers, the Benchmark on-premises line is available in a range of sizes to support various load capacities, spanning 30-75 pounds for washers and 50-100 pounds for dryers. Initially launched in Europe, Miele Professional says it has adapted its Benchmark on-premises laundry line to include configurations that meet the needs of the North American market.

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the Trade

Benchmark on-premises washers are available in single-phase configurations and Benchmark dryers are available in a gas dryer option, in addition to other offerings. Miele Professional says Benchmark machines are engineered to withstand the relentless demands of commercial laundry, passing endurance tests to ensure 30,000 hours of operation for washers and 20,000 hours of operation for dryers. The Benchmark line is also engineered for sustainable performance and maximum fabric longevity. Specially calibrated wash and dry programs optimize each cycle, conserving water and electricity and reducing resource consumption. Miele says its patented Honeycomb Drum prolongs the lifespan of textiles with a convex drum pattern for effective wetting and gentle fabric care in the washer, and a concave drum pattern that protects laundry as it dries. The Miele PerfectDry system also includes a residual moisture sensor to ensure garments dry evenly. Other user-friendly features of the Benchmark on-premises laundry line include more than 90 customizable programs, capability to connect to external pumps for controlled dispensing of detergents, M Touch Pro or M Touch Pro Plus touchscreen controls, Wi-Fi connectivity and a fully digital display that supports more than 30 language. www.mieleusa.com 800-991-9380

Company introduces venturi-based dosing to laundry operations SEKO, a provider of chemical dosing technology, reports it has introduced the LS100, which includes a unique feature. The company says the unit uses water pressure to control chemical dosing, meaning no moving parts, less wear and hundreds of thousands of doses before users even need to think about cartridge replacement— venturi power. SEKO says the system doses up to 10 chemicals in as many as four washers, making it perfect for on-premises laundries of every size. It’s modular, too, so operators can easily add additional units as their laundries grow. Besides the intuitive touchscreen display and ergonomic formula selector, the company says the LS100 can be operated via SEKO’s new SekoBlue app, which uses Bluetooth connectivity for remote dosing management and data on demand even when there’s no Wi-Fi. www.seko.com 215-945-0125

Container dumper counters common industry issues

Endura-Veyor Inc. says it has innovated a new container dumper with benefits that will tackle industry challenges commonly associated with hydraulic container dumpers regarding speed, messy hydraulic fluids, space constraints and overhead clearance limitations. The company says its patent-pending Optimizer Container Dumper tackles ceiling height, overhead clearance and floor space limitations while outperforming hydraulic dumpers in virtually every category. Optimizer Container Dumper models are structurally and mechanically designed to overcome restrictions that limit typical

dumpers from performing, according to Endura-Veyor. The hydraulic-free dumpers operate much quieter and significantly extend the horizontal reach to unload bulk and loose material into receiving equipment within a small footprint. A unique rotational design enables drums to rotate in a manner that evades overhead clearance interferences, even with higher discharge height requirements. Models are driven by dual oversized chains with built-in redundancy that provide extra strength, lifting power, and increased reliability for various processing, handling, sorting, storage, or receiving operations. To fulfill a broad range of customer needs, Endura-Veyor has developed two model types: Optimizer and Hi-Lift Optimizer. Dump or discharge height requirements will primarily determine the model that will be best for each application. Optimizers reach dump heights of up to 102 inches, while Hi-Lift Optimizers start dumping from heights of 9 feet, can reach up to 20 feet and include a full-height enclosure as an added safety measure. www.endura-veyor.com 800-356-7065

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.

11/13/23 3:23 PM

Notice Anything? InkGo Is Now Odor Free! ®

InkGo has been reformulated to remove its odor… and to improve its performance. InkGo is still the environmentally friendly,* safe way to remove ink stains from all types of fabric. It’s still great at removing autoclave tape and adhesives. And since it’s odor-free, InkGo is more pleasant to work with. Does odor really matter? As more drycleaners position themselves as good environmental stewards, keeping chemical odors in the plant to a minimum can help them differentiate from their competition. And odor-free is a real plus if you’re working on ink for an extended period of time. Now that’s worth noticing! *InkGo is Biodegradable and is California Prop-65 and California VOC Compliant.

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12/1/14 4:58 PM

December 2023 | American Laundry News

www.americanlaundrynews.com

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

Trending: Mergers, acquisitions in M laundry industry

BY MATT POE, EDITOR

Insiders share views on state of M&A in laundry and linen services, reasons behind, future possibilities

ergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a fact of life in the business world. While the terms are different— a company purchases another in an acquisition while a merger is a combination of two firms under a new legal entity under one corporate name—they are often used interchangeably. The result is mostly the same: two companies becoming one. In the laundry and linen services industry, M&A very often means a larger, national entity or private equity firm buys a smaller, independent operation. “There continues to be a trend in consolidation of smaller players by larger regional groups,” says Joseph LaPorta, president and

CEO of Healthcare Linen Services Group, a provider of linen management services to the healthcare and hospitality industries with six regional brands. Bill Rottschaefer, vice president of business development for ImageFIRST, a healthcare laundry specialist headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has a similar viewpoint when it comes to M&A. “Within the healthcare space, the trend has increased over the past few years,” he shares. “As our customers have consolidated within this market, their demands for infection prevention, customer service, standard product lines and nationally focused vendors who can serve their growing geographies have driven this frequency.” “Not a month goes by that I don’t come across breaking news stories that another

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

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American Laundry News | December 2023

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family laundry or uniform business has been acquired by a private equity company or a larger laundry and linen entity (publicly owned) has made an acquisition,” adds Patrick Garcia, president of Division Laundry & Cleaners in San Antonio.

ATTRACTIVE MARKET

Rottschaefer says that private entities are attracted to the industry because of its investment characteristics, “such as recurring contracted revenue, high degree of customer retention and high barriers to entry via investment required for processing capacity, to name a few.” The underlying market of the laundry operation (healthcare, hospitality, etc.) affects the frequency of M&A, he adds. “For example, deal activity for businesses that had a high degree of exposure to the hospitality space slowed as a result of the pandemic,” he points out. “Owners of these businesses were less likely to seek an exit while their businesses were still recovering.” The creation of larger regional operations creates opportunities for a differing set of investment groups to enter into the market, according to Rottschafer. “Historically, investment groups were focused on transitioning family-owned businesses to institutional ownership, now investment groups have entered the space to grow regional players into national players,” he says. “There are a variety of reasons, ranging from owners aging and kids are not interested in stepping into the business to competitive pressure from larger players,” LaPorta adds. “Nationals want market share with their key performance indicators being a return on investment, sell it and make more money,” Garcia says. “As private and public entities plot their strategies for market growth, it means consolidations, acquisitions or plant expansions. “Another consideration considered in those decisions is the elimination of competition in key markets.”

independents stay in the game? “Generally speaking, as long as you want to do it, go ahead. As private equity gets fired up and active, it can be a good sell and in most cases, it’s pretty good. “A healthy market can accommodate both.” Of course, an important question is how mergers and acquisitions, the movement from smaller to larger laundry entities, affect customer service and laundry quality. “In our experience, our M&A activity has improved the service levels for our customers and the underlying quality of the linen

offerings to our customers,” Rottschafer shares. “ImageFIRST has been processing our linen to exceed HLAC standards, and we had a strong service vision and clear product quality standards in place. “As we integrate acquisitions, we uphold these standards, ensuring consistency across our footprint.” LaPorta says the effect of M&A on customer service and laundry quality depends on the buyer’s ability to integrate and take advantage of the synergies that an acquisition can bring to all parties.

“Ideally, a larger player will have additional resources to assist and professionalize the ones acquired,” he says. Garcia says that independent, family-owned laundries that have been in markets for decades probably know the market better than “outsiders.” “Family-owned laundries pride themselves with pillars that deal with quality, deliveries made when promised, high fill rates on rental goods or COG,” Garcia points out. “As private equities take ownership with less or no family participation, those pillars that

once thrived could deteriorate. They become more price-driven in their pricing models. “Reaching economies to scale is not necessarily the answer as plants reach their capacities based on many factors.” Whatever the results, it seems that M&A in the laundry and linen services industry will continue. “At this time, we do not anticipate the rate of consolidation within the industry to decline or slow,” says Rottschafer. LaPorta concludes, “We believe this continues for years to come.”

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M&A EFFECTS

What does all of the M&A activity mean for smaller, independent operations? “Within healthcare, the continued consolidation of our customers will put further pressure on their vendors, such as those in the laundry space, to also consolidate,” says Rottschafer. “Furthermore, the supply disruptions from the pandemic increased the requirements for their vendors to have redundancies, such as backup plant capacity and reserve stock at the required scale.” “This topic has me quite on edge more than most topics in our industry,” Garcia says. “How far this is going to go? Are independents an endangered species? Can

To learn more about the full line of Miele’s Benchmark machines visit mieleusa.com/professional.

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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PANEL of EXPERTS

Achieving PPOH increase goals in 2024

“We’ve set a productivity incentive goal to increase PPOH in 2024. What can I do to help my employees, and the company, achieve the goal?”

Consulting Services Cliff Beiser Champions Touch, Kissimmee, Fla.

rom my decades of experience managing small, medium and large hospitality laundries, the mandate is to improve PPOH (pounds per operator hour) every year with no exception (sometimes with less staff ). My solution has been to look for ways improve the flow of the laundry. This can be as simple as adding more carts, more tables (conveyor belt) or just reorganizing the starting and ending points. It can also start with adding a new piece of equipment or reducing wastage to improve compliance to par stock levels. Another key ingredient to increasing PPOH in an existing laundry is through more efficient scheduling. Yet, the most important overriding element to improve productivity is limiting turnover of employees so they have time to improve and work quicker. This is accomplished through teaching them so well they can teach others. How do we get them to view laundry as a profession and stay with the company? Let’s take a minute and consider what motivates employees in 2023. The Harvard Business Review found that 66% of the staff are motivated to stay at their current job with the presence of an incentive program. There are so many books written on this subject that they have named the technique: Gamification. During the past year I have visited large hospitality laundry plants and have noticed the following in attempting to motivate and retain their employees. First, they have put together teams and have contests that include PPOH goals for each job function and then an overall plant PPOH. They use a color-coded system such as green for achieving the goal, yellow for just under, and red for being deficient and post these charts on the bulletin board. Badges, gift cards, special parking places, etc., are awarded. In a study by Gallup, companies with high employee engagement had 81% less absenteeism, 18% higher productivity and 23% higher profitability. Higher employee engagement has also been shown to increase retention rates by up to 87%. An additional tool used to increase PPOH is to stagger employee start times are to soften the production backlog between stations (theory of constraints—Lean Six Sigma). Personally, I have even used linear regression taken from the machines’ usage times to pinpoint backlogs that inhibit the flow through the plant or laundry space.

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

Commercial laundry software can also help you get and maintain a handle on each specific measurable you want to track. In conclusion, how important is flow in gaining higher PPOH in laundry production? Consider the following illustration: “Two engineers were watching a flock of birds. They watched the formation and decided to study why birds flew in a particular V formation. What they found was extraordinary because due to the momentum and system of flight as a flock they gain something close to 70% greater flying range than if they were flying alone.” When this principle is applied vigorously it leads to success every time!

Hotel/Motel/Resort Laundry Rodrigo Patron Lace House Linen, Petaluma, Calif.

easuring pounds per operator hour (PPOH) is a crucial task that can help you run a lean and efficient laundry while achieving your production and financial objectives. However, it requires careful planning and execution to get the desired results. Different plants may have different methods of calculating PPOH. These methods could include counting clean or dirty pounds and incorporating direct

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or indirect employees in the equation, considering breaks, lunches or equipment breakdowns, among many other factors that can affect the final result. Therefore, it’s essential to establish clear and realistic goals from the outset and discuss them with your employees and supervisors to ensure everyone is on the same page before starting the task. It’s important to remember that every plant is unique, and there is no one-sizefits-all approach to measuring PPOH. While you can learn from other plants, it’s crucial to tailor your approach to your plant’s specific needs. To achieve optimal results and get real value from the exercise, you should develop a guidebook that is specific to your plant. Your guidebook should aim to improve specific metrics for your operation and not just a number that you can throw out when someone asks you what your PPOH is. Success in measuring PPOH is all about planning ahead and being adaptable. Although there is no perfect plan, you can set yourself up for success by preparing adequately, leaving room for adjustments as needed and following through. Patience and perseverance will help you reach your PPOH goals. But to thrive, you must place most of your focus on clearly communicating to your team what it is that you are trying to accomplish during the process, but most importantly, before even beginning the process itself.

Healthcare Laundry Jay Juffre ImageFIRST, King of Prussia, Pa.

ncentivizing production associates and leadership to increase productivity can be an intriguing way to take results to the next level, but only if it is done strategically. There is an old adage: Do not throw money at a problem. Simply telling the associates they will get X dollars if we hit X PPOH probably will not cut it. Here are some ways to help guarantee success. First, measure every employee’s productivity to get a baseline and then begin to monitor it every day. Based on this, establish standards and stretch goals. Then, be disciplined enough to track and measure results daily. Post them. Talk about them. And work with the employee and teams on ways to get better. There is nothing better than a supervisor or peer working with the employee to help them improve their results, especially when they know it is tied to a financial incentive. Second, educate the employee on how PPOH is calculated and how they can help improve it. This may sound complex and a waste of time. Many people think production employees don’t care. To the contrary. There are examples (e.g., read Great Game of Business) where getting the hourly employees knowl-

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edgeable in the numbers paid big dividends. Post the results prominently vs. goal. Post yesterday’s pounds washed with the operating hours and PPOH, post last week’s, post month-to-date and quarter-todate. Celebrate the wins and talk with the team on why we missed or are missing. The third piece of the puzzle is having good training for new employees. As new members join the team, the sooner they can get up to speed and get to standard, the better. If it takes them longer, your PPOH will suffer more than it needs to. The final piece of the puzzle is staying fully staffed with no temps. There is nothing more demoralizing to a team that has a goal, where A) they do not have enough people to accomplish it, or B) there is a revolving door of temporary workers who have no desire to get there, or worse yet, are not trained to do so even if they did. If you create the right team atmosphere, and support the incentive the right way, 2024 could be a record year!

Uniforms/Workwear Manufacturing Scott Delin Fashion Seal Healthcare, Seminole, Fla.

ard to believe that 2023 is quickly coming to the end of its life cycle and 2024 is looking us right in the eye. Wow, time flies when you are having fun doesn’t it?

American Laundry News | December 2023

www.americanlaundrynews.com

Now that summer is over and the colder days and nights are upon us (at least up here in the Northeast for sure) it is time to put the lawn and patio furniture away and gear up for the cold winter months that lie ahead of us. It is also time to get the firewood stacked on the deck for many nights of hot chocolate in front of a warm toasty fireplace. In fact, just this past weekend while looking at the huge pile of firewood delivered and dropped on my driveway, I had to set a goal for moving and stacking the firewood delivered to my house onto my deck. I immediately realized that being an empty nester right now is not all it is cracked up to be. This void made me think of 2023 and the goals I set to move and stack the wood in a timely manner. I immediately revisited the methods previously used to accomplish the job of moving and stacking. While stacking wood, I figured there has to be an easier way to get this tedious task at hand accomplished more efficiently and quicker. This also made me transgress into goals for 2024. I asked myself, what incentives do I have to increase my productivity for 2024? What can I do differently next year to help myself, my customers and my company achieve the goals set as we enter into 2024? As laundry owner/operators, we are always looking for ways to increase our PPOH (pounds per operator hour). What benchmarking measurements are we using to set goals?

(Image licensed by Ingram Image)

We need to look at what we are using as benchmarking measurements long and hard. Are the measurements accurate, inflated, realistic or a pipedream? What obstacles are there that make the goals at hand more challenging or hard to achieve? We need to look at our machinery. Is it old, dated and in need of a tune-up or even a facelift? What about our plant layout? With the addition of new equipment, do we need to revisit the machinery layout of our plant to make the workflow more efficient? Let us not forget ongoing education. We need to re-educate our staff and ourselves. With all the new technology that is coming to our market and available to our facilities, it is our responsibility to make

sure our staff is given the proper education and tools to not only meet the goals set for 2024 but exceed them as well. Seminars, in-house training and in some cases off-site training is required for us to be successful. Times are changing and the way we do business is changing as well. As owner/ operators, we need to be willing to change as well. Be open to new ideas and ways of attacking daily obstacles that lie in our way. Listen to suggestions brought forth by our staff, as they are the ones in the trenches on a daily

See Experts on Page 15

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Wash Cycle Laundry groundbreaker with new plant in Boston area Company partners with Sea-lion America Company for manufacturer’s first North American installation

BY MATT POE, EDITOR BOSTON — Wash Cycle Laundry is used to being unique in the laundry and linen services industry. When the company started in Philadelphia in 2010, it used a bicycle and trailer to pick up and deliver goods for residents and businesses. It was also a social enterprise, providing jobs for people needing second chances in life and using efficient laundry technology to lessen environmental impact. In 2013 and 2014, because of its growth, the company branched out to Washington, D.C., and expanded to the Boston area in 2018, where Wash Cycle found continued success. Success that pushed the Chelsea facility to its limits. “We had filled our first Boston-area plant to capacity and were bursting at the seams,” says Gabriel Mandujano, founder and CEO of Wash Cycle Laundry. “At the same time, our landlord was eager to transform our old building into something new and was willing to let us out of our lease early.”

The company found a former farm plant in Lynn to renovate and equip. “We were able to more than double our footprint and increase our capacity to match,” Mandujano shares. And the move afforded it another chance to be unique in the industry—being the first laundry with an equipment installation from the Sea-lion America Company. “Sea-lion makes a great product, and although they are new to this market, they are very committed to the U.S.,” says Mandujano. “We had some experience with machines they manufactured but sold under a different brand name, and I was confident they knew how to build a solid washing machine. “I know there are risks and costs with being the ‘first,’ but the Sea-lion team is competent, committed, and in it for the long haul, and we trusted their commitments to fix whatever hiccups would come up along the way. “They also have a great engineering team at their factory.” The grand opening ribbon cutting for the installation took place on Oct. 25 with the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce and the North Shore Latinos Business Association.

After renovations and equipment installation, no one can tell Wash Cycle’s new facility used to be a farm plant. (Photo: Sea-lion America Company)

Gabriel Mandujano, founder and CEO of Wash Cycle Laundry (left), and Ed Kirejczyk, president of Sea-lion America Company, at the Oct. 25 ribbon cutting for the Lynn, Massachusetts, plant. (Photo: Wash Cycle Laundry)

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Wash Cycle Laundry’s Laundry Dragon tunnel washer (and other equipment) is the first Sea-lion installation in North America. (Photo: Sea-lion America Company)

Sea-lion’s reputation, and LinkedIn connections, were key to forging a relationship with Wash Cycle Laundry, says Ed Kirejczyk, president of Sea-lion America Company. “Sea-lion needed an entrepreneurial spirit to take a chance on a foreign brand and after several rounds of conversations found that in Gabriel,” he shares. “Wash Cycle also had prior experience with a Sea-lion made product and was open to listen to our proposal. “When investing in a new plant, you need a stable supplier partner and while quite established in other markets, Sea-lion is a relative unknown in the North America market. Our offer was substantial in the design layout, equipment selections and commitment to after-sales support that gave Wash Cycle sufficient confidence to feel that the reward was worth the risk.” The Lynn site represents Sea-lion’s first tunnel washer system and high-speed serpentine ironing line installed in North America. “The ‘Laundry Dragon’ tunnel washer system is well proven in Asian markets and can be attested by the rapid start-up and commissioning at Wash Cycle,” Kirejczyk says. The tunnel has been officially commissioned, Intertek certified, and turned over to the Wash Cycle team, so Mandujano says the company is “flying solo” at this point. “When customers come to the plant, they’re very impressed by the look and capacity of the tunnel, plus the dashboards and reporting it can offer,” he shares. Mandujano says he’s accustomed to brand new laundry equipment needing a lot of tweaks and sometimes a few replacement components before it’s ready for production use. “I think everybody was pleasantly surprised when we were able to put production laundry through the tunnel line on its second day of commissioning,” he says. “With some of the smaller equipment, there were definitely a few items that needed tweaks, but Sea Lion’s techs and factory were very responsive with fixes. “Otherwise, no news is usually the best news, and we’ve barely heard anything.” Kirejczyk says the serpentine ironer is a finishing process that is unique, yet fast and produces exceptional results. “Although it seems like a complicated design, it is quite stable and straightforward once understood,” he points out.

“Installing these systems in the USA is a significant milestone for Sea-lion as we are a technological and market leader in Asia looking to expand our global presence.” Mandujano says that for Wash Cycle, the installation is an onramp to greater scale, sustainability and automation. “Our business plan is to partner with quality hotel operators over the long term rather than simply chasing volume, so we don’t spend a lot of time counting how many millions of pounds of laundry we process,” he shares. “I’d rather let a machine sit idle than sell a customer that is constantly in a state of emergency. “That said, adding a tunnel for us means that there’s really no client in our market that’s ‘too big’ for us. We can credibly tell anybody that we can handle their peak demand in less than a shift, with great quality and reliability.” Kirejczyk points out that any business needs good employees, reliable suppliers and reasonable customers to succeed. “As business partners, Wash Cycle and Sea-lion have similar social goals,” he says. “Wash Cycle prides itself as a resource for second chance employment. Part of Sealion’s corporate mission is to pay back what has made it successful. “These similar social responsibility goals rate high on the corporate beliefs of both companies and show that ‘Together, we create a clean world.’ ” Mandujano says that customer response to the plant has been strong, and he hopes to fill it to capacity. “With the equipment, we’re really looking forward to digging into its programming and utility usage per pound processed to see how much we can optimize those metrics,” he shares. “Working with Sea-lion in the future— I’m both an automation enthusiast and skeptic, so in the future, I’m looking forward to considering where we can add further automation in Lynn or elsewhere, but in such a way that it doesn’t outstrip the capabilities of our team to manage it effectively. “Sea-lion’s somewhat unique in that they manufacture just about every machine in the plant, plus automation between them, and as a pretty vertically integrated manufacturer, there are a lot of possibilities.”

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Experts

Continued from Page 13

basis. Remember, it takes just one good idea to increase PPOH. If one roadblock appears in front of us, we need to step back analyze the situation as a team and bring forth the resolution to move the roadblocks and forge forward. Improving productivity and our PPOH is going to be key for us to succeed in this competitive workplace. As we continually invest in our staff and our plants, all of the goals set assuming they are realistic should be attainable. For me, with no more kids in the house to help me move the wood, I had to quickly figure out how to increase my own PPOH and meet the goal of getting everything moved and stacked before my wife returned home from visiting her mother. Thanks to my trusty wheel barrel and offering to pay two of my neighbor’s kids a nice monetary award, my wood was moved and stacked in record time. Goal met! Now, time for some hot chocolate in front of a nice warm fire. Happy and healthy 2024 to all of my readers. Stay healthy!

it environmental? Is it to help open up capacity in the plant? Be specific and optimistic as this will encourage your team to strive for excellence. Once you have established that your team is (reasonably) on board, you are ready to begin gathering all the resources for success. How are you calculating your pounds per operator hour (PPOH)? Have you consulted with your chemical vendor on the soiled pounds processed or is your plant weighing all the products? You must establish a baseline with which to work. There are many ways to compare your results. Most plants just include all the direct labor associated with processing the linen, uniforms and mats from the soil room to the wash floor to the dryers to the finishing department to the pack out.

At Large

Continued from Page 4

The “Great Reassessment,” I love this term, reflects a significant shift in employee priorities. People are reevaluating their lifestyles and values and have identified a serious disconnect between these reflections and their employers’ expectations. This shift is a result of the changes in the past two years, perhaps the biggest shift of work ever, forcing the challenge of immediate and decisive change management. The volume and pace of change can be overwhelming for employees and leaders, alike. Changes are now overlapping and ongoing, which can negatively impact employee well-being with devastating effects on critically important matters. We need to look ahead to see the com-

Textile/Uniform Rental W. Kirby Wagg Performance Matters, Sarasota, Fla.

etting goals within companies is what moves the needle to achieve success. The most important part of setting goals is involving your team in the journey. There must be buy-in from everyone with at least the idea of the goal and it must be reasonable to achieve within a time with the available resources. You must be ready with “why” you are setting this goal. Is it to reduce labor? Is 092722 KE 4.75x4.75 JR_OL.pdf

American Laundry News | December 2023

www.americanlaundrynews.com

9/28/22

Supervisors and route reps are not normally included in the calculations. Will you be allowing for seasonal changes in your business? It’s important to compare your business over the course of one year to get a fair assessment. To help your employees and the company achieve a higher PPOH, engage all your vendors in the process. Your chemical company can adjust formula times, amount of water, and chemicals, which will result in possibly shorter wash cycles. Your textile companies can assist with alternative products that may require less processing costs, and your equipment vendors can help with optimizing the washers, dryers, tunnels, boilers and ironers so they operate to maximum efficiency. Lean on your contacts in the industry: TRSA, Association for Linen Management (ALM), CSCNetwork are all associations

that have great resources. If you are looking for something specific, it is more than likely there will be a white paper on the subject. Discuss with your colleagues in the industry. If you are a member of a peer group, there will be someone that has gone through the journey and can offer great insights. If you are offering an incentive to your team, communicate with them on the progress each day. Cash awards and prizes are all nice gestures but are not usually needed. What your employees want more than anything (days off, more money) is a boss they can trust. If you really listen to your team as individuals, learn what their dreams are, and help them achieve those dreams, you will reach your PPOH goal and whatever else you want your company to be.

ing change fatigue risks and build fatigue management into our plans to support successful transformation. Looking at these things, incorporating change management into employee culture should assist employees in engaging these adjustments as the changes occur. Change management is even more essential for success now. A recent study by McKinsey found that most change initiatives fail. The high failure rate is due to several factors, including resistance to change, lack of communication and poor planning. When done effectively, change management can help organizations achieve their business goals more quickly and efficiently. By helping employees understand and embrace change, organizations can minimize disruption and maximize the benefits of change. We can expect more unsettled employee-employer relationships, and we will face continued pressures from the new

talent market. There are many viewpoints when discussing the value and importance of flexibility, productivity anxiety, and a sense of mistrust between employees and employers. Businesses must consider this for big-picture organizational initiatives. By doing so, we will address immediate organizational needs and will lay the groundwork for a sustainable future. Embracing these changes could be the solution for companies to create a work environment where employees engage and thrive, allowing our organizations and our industry to continue adapting and developing. Richard Engler is the general manager of the North Heights Linen Service in Amarillo, Texas. He has worked in healthcare linen and laundry, both in house and as a contractor, for various organizations during the past 30 years.

11:16 AM

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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Why would a laundry turn down business? BY DAVID BERNSTEIN SANTA FE, N.M. — It can be said that, at its most basic, the purpose of a business is to provide value to customers, who pay for the value thereby resulting in revenue to cover the business’ expenses, pay its employees and, hopefully, provide profit to the bottom line. To achieve this purpose, businesses employ a variety of means, most particularly sales and marketing each of which should bring prospects who convert into customers and who refer additional prospects in a self-regenerating cycle. Sometimes, however, those prospects and their requirements may prove incompatible with the business, presenting the owner or manager with the following potentially terrifying question: Should I turn down this business opportunity? As someone who has spent most of his career in sales-related roles and who trains and coaches teams and individuals in sales and customer service, believe me when I say that I understand that it looks and feels counterintuitive to reject potential clients, particularly in what many believe to be a challenging business environment, it’s a well-considered practice that can safeguard the stability and reputation your company, your existing customers’ level of satisfaction, and your team’s continuing engagement and morale. There can be several reasons why a laundry might turn down business, starting with a lack of capacity or a misalignment with the existing production. One of the first things we always do when we start working with a new client, whether on the engineering or coaching side of our business, is to determine the current state of their operation. Our analysis begins with a data dump of existing production (down to even the small-

Say No

Continued from Page 6

them as to the reasoning behind their statement. Is fear driving this or are they using financials with a degree of foresight in determining why they are wanting to do this? Are they doing it to keep the plant running and keep their personnel working in preparation for better times? Hindsight is always 20/20, but there are many operators who regret the fact they laid off workers during the COVID shutdown. They have found that plants that kept workers working during the shutdown, even at reduced production have had little to no problem ramping up for the volume growth after COVID shutdowns ended. Whereas those companies that shut down or let significant numbers of employees go are having issues recovering their workforce. Have they looked at the numbers of what it costs to install every new account they can get, no matter what it is? How

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est volume items), equipment, operating hours, available labor, number of routes, etc. Before beginning any sales effort, I strongly believe that every laundry needs to go through the same type of analysis to ensure that sales and service are aligned with production and operations in regards to compatibility of product classification and customer types (e.g., a dedicated healthcare laundry is likely not the best candidate to take on a new food & beverage account), but also that the plant has enough available capacity to handle the additional work. The worst thing that can happen is for the sales department to engage with a prospect when the operation lacks the resources or capacity to take on those new customers. In other words, don’t let sales write checks that production can’t cash. Beyond capacity and alignment, there could be other good reasons to turn down business, including the possibility of conflicting commitments or perhaps geographic or logistical issues. If an operation already has existing

does that fit into their goals, objectives, and capabilities? Any final thoughts to add about laundry operators turning away new business? POURAKIS: Every new business is not good business. Put a process and system in place that enables you to quickly analyze the new customer and if it is the right fit for our organization. STORY: A lot of the “new account addition no matter what” exuberance is directly related to the size and age of an operation. In many cases, a new operator/owner will have a greater proclivity to have this enthusiasm for new customers as he or she works to build their business and live their dream. As the business and they mature, they will evolve into being more selective about what new business they take on and, on their efforts, to have more of their current business base grow via organic growth versus new customer growth.

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commitments or obligations, it is important to ensure that new customers do not conflict with commitments made to existing customers. A simplistic example comes to mind: your plant is already maxed out at 20 million pounds per year and a customer comes along who wants you to process 10 million pounds per year for them. As alluring as that new business might be (and believe me, I understand the temptation), unless you have a plan in place to add capacity to your existing plant, build a new facility or partner with a nearby trusted colleague, I would urge you to take a long second look before even starting to work on a written sales proposal. The same goes for those times that someone really wants you to service their textile processing needs, but they’re located so far outside your existing service area that adding them as a new customer simply is not feasible. There’s a saying among some in our industry that the easiest stain to deal with is the stain that was avoided in the first place, and the same goes for turning down business. This is where a solid strategic plan comes into play. When you have clearly defined your company’s mission, vision, values, strategic position, and core competencies, and when you make these the foundation of your company culture, then you can ensure that sales, service, operations and production are in lock step alignment. This is how you avoid the stain in the first place and how the issue of turning down business becomes moot. Still, occasions arise when even though a prospect who seems on the surface to be a perfect match for your business, you soon learn that it is better to let them be someone else’s problem. Consider the prospect who fails to see the value you provide by trying to drive your price down or the one who adds products or services that go above and beyond your typical offerings. You deserve to be paid a fair price for the products and services you BERNSTEIN provide, and a reasonable customer

should want your business to make a reasonable profit. That is, unless they want to find themselves someday soon looking for a new provider. Similarly, don’t hesitate to set limits on what your company will and will not provide and if you find that a customer wants more than you can or will provide, you owe it to yourself, your business, and your team to say no. If and when you or your team member must let a prospect down, do so in a way that is constructive and that ensures that you haven’t burned any bridges. Give the prospect clear, concise and objective reasons why they or their company are not a good fit. Do it professionally, respectfully, and without rancor or judgment, but then be prepared to provide them with some suggested alternatives. Doing so shows them that you and your company have integrity, that you were willing and able to help them in some way, and gives them a leg up on their ongoing search. Remember the old story of the mouse who pulled the thorn out of the lion’s paw? Like that mouse, you may have just made your new best friend and when their business or yours changes in the future, guess who they will call or e-mail first? The decision to turn down a business opportunity is a complex but essential aspect of maintaining the stability and reputation of a company. While the primary goal of any business is to provide value to customers and generate revenue, there are occasions when prospects and their demands may not align with the capabilities or mission of the organization. Establishing clear boundaries, evaluating compatibility with existing operations, and practicing integrity in these decisions are crucial. By doing so, businesses can maintain their focus, serve their customers effectively, and ensure long-term success. Saying “no” when necessary can ultimately lead to more fruitful and sustainable partnerships, benefiting both the company, its team members and its existing and future clients. David Bernstein is the president of Propeller Solutions Group, a laundry industry consulting and training firm providing a variety of industrial engineering services including plant design and process improvement, as well as coaching, training, and mentorship in the areas of sales, customer service, leadership, and strategic planning.

11/14/23 11:11 M

American Laundry News | December 2023

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Sohn Linen Service celebrates 90 years serving Michigan Company celebration, open house, plus updated website launch mark occasion LANSING, Mich. — Sohn Linen Service, one of Michigan’s oldest linen rental services, reports it celebrated 90 years of service to the Great Lakes State with a company celebration and open house. The company says the festivities were not only a tribute to its incredible journey but also marked the exciting launch of a new website, which encapsulates the evolution of the business and showcases its extensive range of products and services. From its humble beginnings in Lansing to becoming a leading linen rental service statewide, Sohn Linen Service says it has remained dedicated to serving restaurants and medical facilities from Detroit to Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor to Mount Pleasant and all the places between. The story of Sohn Linen Service is rooted in vision and dedication. In 1933, two brothers, Joe and Al Sohn, embarked on a journey that would shape the future of linen services in Michigan. Their laundry service, Sohn Bros, laid the foundation for what would become an enduring legacy. Four generations of Sohn family members have upheld the values of integrity, quality and customer satisfaction. Today, the company operates under the leadership of family member Jim Sohn, who continues to drive the business forward with a commitment to innovation and community engagement. As Sohn Linen Service looks back with pride on nine decades of success, it says it is also looking forward to what the future holds. With a firm belief in community involvement and customercentric service, the team is enthusiastic about the opportunities that lie ahead. Sohn Linen Service is looking forward to another 90 years of growth and continuing to deliver the Purple Advantage to its valued customers. Sohn Linen Service says it has been a trusted partner in Michigan since 1933, adding that its deep understanding of customers’ needs drives it to deliver the highest quality linen products and services, building longlasting relationships with clients throughout Michigan.

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December 2023 • Volume 49, Number 12

The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management

When it’s time to say ‘no’ to new business Two business advisor/consultant experts answer questions about times for laundries to turn away customers

(Photo: © billiondigital/Depositphotos)

BY MATT POE, EDITOR

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See Say No on Page 6

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December 2023 | American Laundry News

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PRODUCT S H O W C A S E

Heat-Generating Equipment

COMPILED BY MATT POE, EDITOR

FULTON

CLAYTON INDUSTRIES

Clayton Industries has more than 90 years of experience steam generation and says its latest product is the Clayton Steam Master. Joining the company’s E-Series and Sigma Fire models of steam boilers, the Clayton Steam Master is available in a range of lower sizes, ideally suited for smaller scale applications where a typical industrial steam boiler would be oversized. The easy-to-operate Clayton Steam Master brings all the aspects expected of the Clayton design into a smaller footprint, including high efficiency, a rapid start, quick response to load changes, and high levels of user safety, according to the company.

• Sealed combustion. • AL29-4C, PP, CPVC or PVC vent materials. • Pressure relief valve. • Flow switch. • Inlet and outlet water temperature sensor. • Exhaust temperature sensor. • Gas inlet pressure transducer. • Dual high limit (fixed and adjustable). • 24/7 customer service. • Color LCD Display. • CSD-1 compliant. • Manual reset high limit. • Condensate pressure switch. www.hamiltonengineering.com 800-968-5530

Utilizing parallel positioning controls, the VMP provides fuel-to-steam efficiencies up to 85%. Fulton says the vertical tubeless design of the VMP minimizes scale buildup and costly tube failure while maximizing system efficiencies and extending boiler life, all within a compact vertical design. www.fulton.com 315-298-5121

PARKER BOILER CO.

HAMILTON ENGINEERING CLAYTON INDUSTRIES

Each unit comes equipped with Clayton’s patented once through coil tube design, its seal less and pack less water pump, and its ecofriendly low-emission technology, all backed by a factory-direct service team and a five-year coil warranty. Clayton says all of this adds up to the latest step in its continued dedication to quality and performance, delivered in a smaller package. www.claytonindustries.com 800-423-4585

Hamilton Engineering says its new EVO-XL 800, 1000 and 1500 are now available. The company says it has combined the best of the EVO technology with its years of experience in condensing equipment to design and develop an exciting new product line that broadens its applications and capacities.

FULTON

Designed for heavy-duty applications, the VMP® is Fulton’s Vertical Multi-Port steam boiler and comes in sizes ranging from 40 to 150 boiler horsepower (BHP). The company says the compact vertical design of the VMP has been proven through decades of successful installations and provides exceptional value over the lifetime of the boiler. VMP boilers have been engineered to achieve four-pass efficiency in a compact two-pass design. The VMP has schedule 80 pipes that are built to last the entire life of the boiler, unlike the thin wall tube type boilers, which require tube replacement multiple times over the life of the boiler, says Fulton.

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HAMILTON ENGINEERING

The EVO-XL features a complete prepiped condensing high-efficiency gas-fired water heater that includes: • 316L stainless steel water tube heat exchanger, 160 psi ASME H. • 7:1 burner modulation. • Self-diagnostic microprocessor controls. • Externally adjustable set point (0–10v) per appliance.

LUDELL MANUFACTURING

Ludell Manufacturing says that using a wastewater heat recovery system such as a shell and tube heat exchanger recovering the heat and money is easy. The company says the heart of its system is recovering heat from wastewater and transferring it to the incoming clean, fresh water destined for a tempered or hot water system. The system works to reduce fuel consumption and lessen the steam requirements to generate hot or tempered water, thus giving a laundry better water temperature control and cutting down on discharge wastewater temperature. Ludell says the design is simple, allowing countercurrent water flow to exchange energy through a series of tubes within a 5-degree temperature approach. This is greater than 50% temperature recovery of waste energy flowing to the sewer, saving money, according to the company. www.ludellmfg.com 800-558-0800

PARKER BOILER CO.

Parker Boiler Co. says it has been designing and testing a new condensing boiler for a few years, the 206 Series, that

when packaged with a heat exchanger is a perfect application or open system or heating process water for laundries. The company has a few larger units installed at laundries over a year running 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no issues. Parker says all the units are now AHRI Certified to 98% thermal efficiency (3rd party testing/certification company), and they’re certified to rule 1146.2 (AQMD NOx rules for certain states) to sub 20 ppm NOx. The products are also ETL listed as a complete gas fired boiler assembly per UL Standard 795 & ULC/Ord 795, CSA 4.9 and built in conformance to ASME code including ASME CSD-1 Controls code. They come in four sizes, 399,000 Btu input (for installation in most occupancies without a boiler room or fire separation) 550,000 Btu input, 1 million Btu input, and 2 million Btu input. Although under the conditions of testing the unit itself is 98% output, with losses in piping, higher laundry return temperatures, and heat exchangers losses, Parker says it has a system efficiency of approximately 90%. As such, the company says the largest unit can product up to 2,158 gph at a 100 F rise. Units have a 10 to 1 turndown ratio to prevent short cycling and fit through a 36-inch door. The heat exchangers on the boiler and open system heat exchanger are stainless steel. Parker Boiler says units are also available for combustion air intake from outside (ducted) and can be upgraded to any mod bus communication protocol. Some units are in stock for quick shipment, and the company says it is told pricing is competitive with like for like in the industry. www.parkerboiler.com 323-727-9800

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… SUPPLIER NEWS … INDUSTRY EVENTS …

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Cintas acquires Rental Uniform Service CINCINNATI — Cintas Corp., based here, reports it has acquired Rental Uniform Service, a North Carolina-based, familyowned and -operated uniform and facility services rental business. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rental Uniform Service was founded in 1949 by James Waggoner. Currently, his grandson, Danny Lawrence, serves as CEO. His four daughters are also involved in leading the company, which services customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee through two locations: its original Statesville, North Carolina, plant and its Gastonia, North Carolina, plant. “The Waggoner and Lawrence family has been a regional leader in this industry, and we’ve always respected how they’ve run their business,” says Scott Garula, president and COO of Cintas’ Rental Division. “The family built a company that delivers outstanding quality and service to their customers, which has generated tremendous customer satisfaction and retention. “We look forward to adding talented and dedicated employee partners to our organization. We have very similar operating philosophies and cultures, which will also help the transition for their customers and staff.” Lawrence comments, “This business has been incredibly important to our family for decades, so it’s bittersweet to leave the industry. “Our family has tremendous respect for Cintas. They run a first-class business and put their focus on their customers and their employee partners. “Our companies have strong alignment on values, making Cintas the obvious decision to work with during this transition.”

Loop Linen Service to build 55,000 sq ft facility WESTWEGO, La. — Loop Linen Service, a fourth-generation family-owned full-service textile rental company based here, reports it will invest $15 million to construct a new 55,000-square-foot, stateof-the-art commercial laundry facility. The company says it has secured property at the intersection of U.S. 90 and Louisiana 18 and is in the process of finalizing architectural plans for the facility. Construction is anticipated to begin by early 2025. The new facility is slated to be completed and operational 16 months after breaking ground. Loop Linen Service will retain all 125 current positions as it transitions from the Westwego facility that it has occupied since 1931. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 48 new indirect jobs in the Southeast Region. “Jefferson Parish has always been Loop Linen Service’s home and home to our employees,” Loop Linen Service President Scott M. Burke says. “We are excited to continue the company’s growth here and contribute to the business economy in Jefferson Parish.” Founded in 1929, Loop Linen provides

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American Laundry News | December 2023

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Loop Linen Service leadership (from left): Brandon Burke, CFO; Jo Burke, owner/vice president; Scott Burke, owner/president; and Tyler Burke, executive vice president. (Photo: Loop Linen Service)

rental textiles including table linen, garments, and walk-off mats for the food and beverage and hospitality industries. The company started as a local dry cleaning and laundry business on the west bank of Jefferson Parish and now has nearly 1,400 customers across Louisiana and Mississippi, with offerings ranging from uniform rentals to hospital services.

Wildman Business Group to acquire Provision Medical Products WARSAW, Ind. — Wildman Business Group, an industrial laundry and business solutions provider based here, reports that it has entered an agreement to acquire California-based Provision Medical Products. For Wildman’s expansive customer base, this provides a dependable and scalable first aid supplies resource for years to come. “Today’s market is unpredictable,” says Josh Wildman, CEO of Wildman Business Group. “Securing our own source of first aid supplies provides our customers and distributors with a quality partnership for the foreseeable future.” While Wildman is primarily known for its uniforms and mats service, the company has been involved in the first aid and facility services industry for more than 20 years. This strategic focus has helped the company provide further value to its customers and offers an alternative to larger players in the industry. Rick Germano, CEO of Provision, was looking for a partner that would give the best opportunity to its distributor network. Germano knew Wildman was the partner of choice because of the dependability and the additional product lines that would bring even more value to its national network of distributors. Distributors now have access to AEDs, eyewash stations, complete janitorial lines, and premium restroom dispenser packages in addition to first aid kits and an expanded first aid line. The California warehouse will be consolidated into Wildman’s Indiana warehouse to provide a centralized location with midcountry logistics, better availability and timely shipping. Germano and Jayne Combs, general manager, will continue to work with Wildman for the foreseeable future to ensure a seamless transition for the distributors.

Wildman says it seeks to partner with other independent service providers looking for a transition to provide an alternative succession plan to large nationals to care for customers and distributors and continue their legacy.

LinenMaster receives growth investment from Mainsail Partners DALLAS — LinenMaster LLC, a software solution provider for industrial laundries, reports it has received a significant investment from Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in fast-growing software companies. The company says the partnership with Mainsail will help expedite product development, enhance client services, grow the leadership team, and support innovation for current and future commercial laundry customers. LinenMaster also shares that Matt Amoia has been appointed CEO, effective Nov. 1. “ L i n e n Ma s te r has a deep commitment to the success of our clients,” says Sarah Sinclair, acting CEO. “The investment from Mainsail will help take LinenMaster to the next level of service for customers. AMOIA “I’m excited for Matt Amoia to join the company, and I look forward to remaining with LinenMaster in the role of chief customer officer.” Amoia joins LinenMaster with more than two decades of experience as a high-energy SaaS (software as a service) leader and team

builder. His prior accomplishments include several acquisitions, impactful business-wide growth and long-lasting client partnerships. “Our shared goal is to build on LinenMaster’s history to deliver easy-to-use software and services that address an even broader set of needs for commercial laundries,” he says. “I believe the company is very well positioned for success, and I’m delighted to join the team.” “We are happy to see the company using the proceeds from Mainsail’s investment to deliver a great experience for customers,” says Michael Anderson, partner at Mainsail. “Since Mainsail’s investment, the company has made 15-plus new hires, acquired Infinite Laundry, and expanded the sales, marketing and product development functions.” LinenMaster recently acquired Infinite Laundry, which specializes in marketing solutions for commercial laundries. The combined business can now help all types of commercial laundries to improve their top and bottom line. Jeff Wile, Founder of Infinite Laundry says, “Together with LinenMaster, we are focused on serving all commercial laundry types including healthcare, industrial, hospitality, and food and beverage operations.”

Meese launches Quick Ship Program on select products MADISON, Ind. — Meese, a designer and manufacturer of rotomolded plastic carts and trucks, based here, reports it has launched the Quick Ship Program. This program will allow select products to ship from inventory to customers in two to three business days. “With our extensive experience servicing our customers in a variety of industries, we understand the pressures they can be under to take care of their customers as quickly as possible, and sometimes at a moment’s notice,” says Dan Rodriguez, director of sales and marketing at Tank Holding. “That’s why we created this offering. We want to make ordering and receiving material handling products something they don’t have to worry about.” Meese products included in this program are the industry standard 72P Bulk Trux, the 72S Bulk-Trux (the upgraded version of the 72P), the versatile 39-12 (12 bushel) Utility-Trux, part of the 39 Series), and the ultra-rugged 50P16 Utility-Trux (16 bushel). Quantities are limited since orders are filled as requests come in. More products could also be added in the future.

More products could be added to the Meese Quick Ship Program in the future. (Photo: Meese)

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