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November 21, 2012
Seek Balance Along with New Business (Part 2)

CHICAGO — Input from chemicals supply, linen supply, uniforms/workwear manufacturing, and healthcare laundry sectors

CHEMICALS SUPPLY: MARLENE WILLIAMS, ANDERSON CHEMICAL CO., LITCHFIELD, MINN.

Sound business sense requires a review of new-business cost vs. return on investment. The balance sheet for new textile services would include costs of marlene williamscustomer needs for equipment, level of service expertise, and frequency of service required to provide good-quality product and customer satisfaction. These costs should be balanced against the profits generated by anticipated product sales.

Other factors may enter into an unbalanced, but desirable equation. These would include anticipated increased future sales, entry into non-textile products offered by your company, transportation or delivery logistics, and numerous account-specific exceptions.

stephen marcqLINEN SUPPLY: STEPHEN MARCQ, GENERAL LINEN SERVICE, SOMERSWORTH, N.H.

I like to think of this as two separate questions, the “what” vs. the “where.” Does the account make sense on its own merits, and then does it make sense to send a truck there?

On the “what” side, consider the following:

  • Profitability/pricing — Does this account fit into your overall growth strategy?
  • Your target markets, and the account’s prominence in it. Name recognition can help your sales team’s ability to gain other business in that market segment.
  • Are the delivery and billing parameters compatible with your company requirements? If they are so different that they affect your ability to provide good quality and service, you may want to avoid it. Better to not start what you know you can’t do well.
  • If margins are low, are there other compelling reasons—name recognition, contribution to overhead, etc.—to do it? It can make sense to service accounts selectively that don’t make economic sense in and of themselves. Nothing occurs in a vacuum.
  • Consider the competitive ramifications of taking or not taking the new business, i.e. strategy over profitability. You may not want it, but that may be outweighed by how much you may want your competitor to not get it.

On the “where” side, a common concern comes up when you are presented with an opportunity to service an account in a more distant area, or one you are not in. I like to consider the following:

  • Estimated account revenue — The economics of traveling improve with account revenue, of course, but an unintended consideration is that you could become tied to it. Many companies would consider 10 $200 accounts to be better than one $2,000 account for this reason.
  • Evaluate growth potential in the area. Use a modeling approach for a quick and dirty analysis of your growth potential there, by comparing the number of accounts and/or total revenue per capita for the potential area vs. an existing, better developed one. If you service 30 accounts in a similarly sized town, that should give you an indication of the potential in the one you are considering.
  • Is there any connection between your existing business and this new business? There may be times when you have to service a location to keep an existing customer happy, and prevent any competitive intrusion.

There are definitely times when not serving a new account makes sense, but with new business so hard to come by, it’s better to look for creative ways to get it into the fold. Painful as it may be, if you know an account is just not going to be a good fit, don’t take the business and tell its principals why. Often, there are one or two things that are major concerns, and if the customer wants what you offer badly enough, it might be more willing to negotiate a better outcome.

UNIFORMS/WORKWEAR MANUFACTURING: STEVE KALLENBACH, AMERICAN DAWN, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

steve kallenbachThere are basic and not-so-basic questions that need to be answered in the area of new business before the final sale. Companies need to decide if they are in a growth mode or a profit or maintenance mode.

Growth modes can drive sales with lower margins, as companies are willing to “buy” certain business to penetrate target markets. That being said, some companies may proactively decide to use low margin pricing in special targeted markets, while maintaining standard, more profitable pricing in other core markets.

Other key questions or criteria to settle when evaluating new, possibly marginally profitable business include:

  • Is the product already part of your core offering or are you adding it to your line? If it’s an additional product, your merchandise cost will be higher (by percentage) until you reach critical mass.
  • What is the customer’s quality/replacement expectation? Does it expect “first wash” perfect visual quality on every delivery, or is the market standard OK?
  • Based on pricing, does the return on investment (ROI) meet your normal standard? Can you get enough turns to pay for the merchandise and all related costs, and still make a profit? You’d be surprised how some pricing programs will analyze if you put them through a life-cycle assessment.
  • What is the contract length? Do you have enough time to “profitize” the account? Is the contract length the same as your other business, or shorter/longer?
  • What are the payment terms, and what is the credit history of the account? You can write the largest account on the planet, but if it doesn’t pay its bills on time, you don’t make money and actually incur hidden costs (carrying its money).
  • Does your plant need more volume in certain product(s) in order to make your operation more efficient? Let’s say you write a good-size account in non-standard new product. The account is great and pays its bill, and the price is decent, so you are making money. But the production and flow is not enough to run full loads, so you have hidden costs in special handling, inefficient loads, or even merchandise wear-out due to less-than-capacity mechanical action.
  • Are the new-business logistics within range of your current business, and can the route handle it efficiently? For instance, you can pick up a high-priced $100 account with standard product, but it’s an hour from any stop. The two-hour turnaround to service this account actually costs you revenue in opportunity loss.
  • Where is the competitor in this scenario? Does taking a piece of business at a lower price keep it out of the area? Does turning down a piece of business at a lower price send a signal to the market that you and your business are about sensible marketing? Does taking a piece of business at a lower price displace a competitor?
  • Are you taking the entire account, or is this piece of business just a portion? Does this smaller piece of business provide you an opportunity to wedge into a competitor’s account?
  • Will the account require normal maintenance or high maintenance, in terms of visitation, entertainment, service levels or other activities? All of these areas are generally overlooked cost drivers.

You should weigh these factors when going after any new business, much less new business with new products in new markets. This is all part of strategic marketing. Especially in new markets with new products, it is company leadership that needs to “run the numbers” to stay profitable.

Yes, there are times when it makes sense to buy business at lower prices, and other times when it’s best to turn and walk away.

HEALTHCARE LAUNDRY: SCOTT BEATON, KAISER PERMANENTE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

scott beatonMany textile service linen companies use the same basic criteria when evaluating a potential customer relationship. The relationship needs to be fiduciary in order to provide a sustainable valued service to the customer while making a fair profit for the provider. There are a number of key factors to consider when conducting a profitability evaluation for new business including:

Transportation Cost — Due to increasing transportation costs, perhaps the greatest factor to consider is the distance of the client from the processing plant. A service radius should be established with concentric circles emanating for the plant. Special pricing and exceptions can be made for customers that accept fewer deliveries per week and or agree to store additional linen to lessen the “windshield” time involved to service them.

Volume of Potential New Business — How does the potential client fit with your current production flow and product mix? If you are a large COG (customer-owned goods) laundry, it may not be feasible to service smaller accounts due to soil-sort configuration, tunnel load sizes, physical layout, and finishing-equipment capabilities.

Available Product/Linen Inventory — Whether rental or COG, an adequate agreed-upon par level needs to be purchased and maintained.

Production Scheduling — It is vital to consider whether your laundry’s current operation can handle the additional pounds without increasing the number of employees and/or hours of operation. How does it fit into the current schedule? Can it be processed by acquiring additional, more efficient equipment or will you need to hire and train additional labor?

Product Mix — Does the potential client have specialty products and linens that will require more expensive processing and handling? Customers may require that linens be folded and packaged in a particular way. Ensure that the equipment you have can process the linen to the customer’s expectations and needs.

Retention/Satisfaction of Current Customers — There’s nothing wrong with looking at ways to expand your business, but not at the expense of losing existing customers. It is much cheaper to retain customers than to constantly turn them over.

Make sure that you are proactive and maintain the customer service to which your current customer base has become accustomed. When considering expansion and growth, take a long, hard look at your plant’s current operations. Additional volume may allow you to make improvements in equipment and processing, and this could increase your productivity and reduce labor hours in the long term.

Click here for Part 1!

May 15, 2012
Panel of Experts: Stains and the Worst of the Worst (Part 1 of 2)

CHICAGO — Input from chemicals supply, commercial laundry and textiles sectors

CHEMICALS SUPPLY: MARLENE WILLIAMS, ANDERSON CHEMICAL CO., LITCHFIELD, MINN.

marlene williamsWe have chosen to address three common stubborn stains that can best be managed with procedure, machine programs and chemistry. We will outline procedures important to all stain removal and then address specifics for each stain category.

In all cases, it is important to either pre-treat the stain, or begin the laundering process, as soon as possible after staining. The sooner that stains are removed from the fabric, the less aggressive the program required for removal and the greater the possibility for success.

With a few exceptions, it is important to treat stain removal with the warmest temperature appropriate for the fabric and color blends. Chemical activity increases with elevated temperature and stain removal is generally enhanced with higher temperatures. Exceptions to the “higher the better” are situations involving color fading/bleeding, fabric shrinking, protein or blood “setting,” or exceeding temperatures recommended for enzyme products.           

Medicinal Stains — There are a number of medicinal preparations that can be irreversibly set with chlorine bleach if not thoroughly removed prior to bleach process. Chlorhexidine gluconate and iodine preparations must be thoroughly rinsed prior to standard wash cycles. Education of healthcare staff regarding possibility of irreversible staining, vigilance by laundry staff for particular laundry categories, and possible replacements of non-staining materials can provide solutions. Salves and skin-protection preparations compounded with oils may need special attention and are best removed with selective surfactant products.

Food Stains — Food stains are common to healthcare and hospitality linens. Conventional chemistry with increased alkali and detergent usually provides satisfactory results for greasy soils. Protein stains can be removed with a bleach program step if fabric dyes are compatible. There are a number of enzyme detergents and enzyme presoak products that provide good removal of protein and/or greasy stains if soak time is available. Be sure to match specific enzyme product to type of food stain.

Athletic Uniforms — School and professional athletic colors have never been selected for laundry compatibility! Before beginning any aggressive stain-removal program, make sure that both uniform materials of construction and colors can withstand temperatures and chemistry chosen. Always consult manufacturer’s care tags. Temperature and chlorine bleach are two often-exceeded treatments that can do irreversible damage to fabric finish, fading/bleeding of incompatible colors, and overall irreversible color deposition. There are also a small number of hazardous chemistries that are used to strip dyes and field marking colors. These should be avoided by using an enzyme presoak program if team schedules allow.

It is important to identify impact-generated (helmet and plastic padding) stains that are a result of fabric and protective gear colors being physically transferred into the opposing team’s uniform fabric. Impact transfer is usually an irreversible situation.

COMMERCIAL LAUNDRY: TOM GILDRED, EMERALD TEXTILES, SAN DIEGO, CALIF.

From the perspective of an industrial healthcare linen services provider, the most stubborn stains regularly encountered include bodily fluids, metal and rust stains, tape residue and finally medicinal chemical stains.

tom gildredWe address these difficult stains through a multi-tiered approach, designed to address each particular type of stain. Time, temperature, chemical action and mechanical action are the keys to effective stain removal, and can be adjusted as each case requires. 

As a first step, we work closely with our chemical company to create the proper formulation, or “chemical cocktail,” to remove specific types of stains. Heavily stained linens are identified during soil sort and separated for special treatment.

After the appropriate treatment has been determined, we pre-wash the heavily stained items to remove the first level of soil in our heavy-duty single-batch washers. Hand inspection is employed throughout the process to determine what the next steps are, as well as to ensure quality control. A stringent quality-control program ensures that we effectively launder items until the stains are eradicated.

Because of the intense nature of healthcare laundry stains, there are instances in which items are destroyed in the process of stain removal and those pieces are placed in our linen recycling program. By continually evolving our processes, and working with our chemical vendor, we successfully remove a large number of stains.

TEXTILES: TOM LANGDON, ENCOMPASS GROUP, MCDONOUGH, GA.

Not having had much experience with this topic, I sought the advice of a few long-time laundry professionals. What I found was a little surprising. While most agreed about which substances were the most difficult to treat and remove, their approaches to accomplish this task were completely different.

tom langdonOne approach is stain avoidance. The process starts with sorting the soiled linen from least stained to most stained, or light, medium or heavy soil. By isolating the dirtiest linen, the launderer reduces the chance of contaminating the rest. They also sort by soil factor (whether the stains are protein- or oil-based), as this will determine what wash formula should be used to process the linen. Using this approach, most of the cleaner linen can run through the normal process and be cleaned satisfactorily. They then save the “blood load” to be processed at the end of the shift when the wash formula, along with temperature and process time, can be adjusted.

On the other end of the spectrum is the “one wash” method. Using this approach, the laundry does not segregate its linen because it has optimized its process and system to yield the best overall cleaning results. Of course, if an item that is obviously heavily soiled turns up, they would not process it, preferring instead to rag it out. As stains are the enemy of efficiency, this method works to minimize their disruption on the process.

Stains, after all, are a big problem. Some operators advise that they incur more loss due to stains than to wearing out product through processing. Up to three times more product is “ragged out” because of stains than from actually being worn out.

Regardless of the approach, most operators agree that, in the healthcare setting, Hibiclens, or chlorhexidine gluconate/isopropanol, is the toughest stain to get out. This antiseptic liquid is applied directly to a patient’s skin at the incision site prior to surgery. Its normal state is a clear pink liquid. After being transferred to a textile article and exposed to chlorine bleach during processing, it turns orange-brown and is a difficult stain to remove.

The products themselves play a part in the challenge of dealing with stains. Results from my research rank incontinence products, patient apparel and bath items as the products that experience the most stains. Fabric type is also a factor in stain resistance and stain removal.

Due to advances in finishing chemistry and applications, polyester-rich products actually fare better than cotton-rich items, even though in its natural state polyester has an affinity for oil. These predominantly synthetic-rich products also last longer, which is a plus when exposing them to additional mechanical action and stronger wash formulas that can accelerate the breakdown of cotton-rich fabrics.

Stain treatments are changing. Historically, stain-release treatments were based on C8 fluorocarbon chemistry that has been identified as being harmful to the environment and bio-accumulative. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has requested a voluntary elimination of this chemistry by 2015; manufacturers of these products have been working toward alternatives since 2000. As with most developments, the alternative technologies are more expensive to produce. Some estimates predict as much as a double-digit increase in the cost of stain removal with the new technology as compared to current options.

Regardless of which method you use to process your tough stains, one thing is clear. Stains are here to stay and will become more challenging to treat as the demands for environmentally friendly chemistry becomes the norm.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2!

April 18, 2012
Panel of Experts: Boosting Laundry Energy Efficiency and Water Conservation (Part 2 of 2)

CHICAGO — Input from chemicals supply, equipment manufacturing and uniforms/workwear manufacturing sectors

CHEMICALS SUPPLY: MARLENE WILLIAMS, ANDERSON CHEMICAL CO., LITCHFIELD, MINN.

This well-designed question recognizes that optimization of laundry programs and procedures, as well as incorporating new technology options, can facilitate a laundry marlene williamsmanager’s efforts to improve energy efficiency and water conservation. From the chemical supplier’s standpoint, there are two major sources of help available today.

First, technology (proprietary software) to analyze a laundry operation is a strong tool for chemical representatives and laundry managers. A knowledgeable chemical representative can provide valuable assistance with this type of computer analysis, improving not only energy efficiency and water consumption but also creating savings in all areas of program expense.

Secondly, a knowledgeable review of laundry facilities with improved practices and procedures can provide major economies for no additional cost. John White, an industry expert with 35 years of laundry experience, offers a number of valuable tactics:

  1. Work with a knowledgeable chemical supplies representative; this should be your starting point. Experienced reps can help you because they work with many different operators and will be able to give you ideas for savings, ideas that are working for others.
  2. If you’re still using “old school” washing techniques (180-degree water, lots of alkali and bleach, long cycles, lots of rinsing, etc.), be aware that chemistry has dramatically changed. Talk to your rep about low-temperature washing. Consider enzyme washing, allowing for lower wash and bleaching temperatures. Your supplier should be bringing these innovations to you for your consideration.
  3. Replace one rinse step in all your cycles with a medium-speed extract. This will save one high-fill for every load of laundry you process, and, over time, can result in thousands of gallons of water—much of it hot—saved.
  4. Understand the relationship between pH and temperature in the bleach bath. A good rep will be able to set your cycles up to bleach in much lower temperatures by lowering the pH of the bleach bath.
  5. Lower your water levels 1 inch when washing/bleaching, and 2 inches when rinsing. All water levels are adjustable, and the good reps know how to do this. One inch less water in the wash step will not make any difference in quality, but due to the shape of the wash wheel, will save you up to 30% of the hot water you would otherwise use in a typical wash step (same for bleach step and 2 inches on rinse steps).
  6. Focus on sorting laundry by soil load and staining. Unsorted linens must be washed according to the worst pieces. If unsorted, every load becomes a costly heavy-soil load.
  7. Program cycles so that your final rinse temperature is between 115 and 120 degrees (typically it is much lower). This means that the linens will be pre-heated (but not too hot to handle) when they go into the dryer. This will save about five minutes of dryer time/energy per load.
  8. Don’t under-load washers or overload dryers. Weigh loads and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.
  9. Airflow is far more critical than temperature when it comes to dryer time. Clean lint screens after every load, and periodically have dryer vents professionally cleaned. Lint can easily clog dryer vents and choke off 80% or more of your airflow.
  10. Finally, most dryers can be retrofitted with flue sensors that will shut the dryer down when the load is dry, saving on energy and fabric damage.

EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING: KIM SHADY, LAUNDRYLUX CORP, NEW YORK, N.Y.

From the perspective of smaller OPL facilities, more new equipment applications have become available in the past several years than have been introduced in the past decade. I’ll break these energy savings into three kim shadycategories: electricity, natural gas, and water.

Electricity — The amount of electricity used to operate an OPL washer or dryer may be less than 2 cents per load. There is very little reward for making improvements to electricity use. Evaluating cycle times in the washer could be one area for savings. Washers with higher extraction rates (G-force) can reduce drying times for more savings.

Natural Gas — Assuming natural gas is your heat source for a dryer, ironer or water heater, this is your largest utility cost. To evaluate areas to trim costs, start with your water heater/boiler. There have been many improvements in efficiency, so is your unit outdated? Could reducing water temperature by 5 or 10 degrees make a difference on an annual basis?

The traditional 75-pound dryer in small OPL facilities has gone through significant energy updates in the past few years. Several companies have slashed gas consumption by 20% through new, energy-efficient axial airflow designs that do not sacrifice drying time. This may be the biggest gain for energy efficiency in the past five years.

Also, the extraction rate has a major role in reducing dryer gas use. Upgrading from 100 to 300 G-force can cut drying time by 25-30%, along with similar amounts of natural gas.

Residual moisture controls are gaining popularity to save time and natural gas in the dryer. No longer does the drying time have to be input by hand. Residual moisture controls automate the process, while preventing the dryer from running past the point where linens are dry.

Large laundries have long understood the energy benefits of ironing vs. drying sheets. When ironing sheets properly, the amount of energy used to remove a pound of water is less than the amount a dryer would use to do the same. With new OPL ironers requiring just one person to feed, fold and stack, there can be energy savings, labor savings and huge improvements in quality.

Water — OPL washers are using newer digital technology to measure water levels, providing more precise control for each fill. This also allows the programmer to experiment with finding the optimum water levels and acceptable cleanliness quality. This experiment could bring surprising results in lower water use. Some washers are smart enough to adjust water levels based upon the linen load size, while at the same time adjusting chemical dosing to keep the ratio to water accurate.

Other water savings may be found with ozone systems. Ozone has proven to reduce water consumption and significantly reduce the need for hot water.

UNIFORMS/WORKWEAR MANUFACTURING: STEVE KALLENBACH, AMERICAN DAWN, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

This is the central question surrounding one of the most important dynamics of the decade: “green” reusable textiles and related processing. My responses will relate mostly to energy and costs that directly impact textile-processing costs.

steve kallenbachEnergy — Over the past 15 years, our industry has reduced energy costs by more than 40% through the use of heat reclaimers, direct-fire water heaters, continuous batch washers (vs. washer-extractors vs. modular washer and extractor units), high-efficiency gas dryers (vs. steam dryers), as well as energy-friendly textiles.

Additionally, chemical companies and plant managers have worked together to find balanced formulations that assist in energy efficiency. An example of this might be in extraction. Once a washer-extractor achieves extraction speed, it is much more efficient to extract the textile a bit longer, if it reduces dryer time (gas usage) while still protecting textile life.

In some cases, textiles have been built to withstand more energy-efficient processing. In others (example: Signature table linen), fabric has been developed to wash cleaner at lower temperatures, thereby lowering energy costs and even processing time. The most recent textile improvement impacting energy efficiency is microfiber fabrics. They take much less time to dry, thereby reducing gas and electricity costs.

Laundry managers need to follow the best in class: 1) know the industry standards, 2) know your own plant’s performance, and 3) engage with your chemical and textile vendors to continually improve efficiency.

Water — Just like energy, our industry has reduced water usage by more than 40% through the use of water reclamation systems and better chemical formulations, soil sorting (to control the amount of rewash) and textiles.

Water reclamation systems reuse some of the last flushes of a formula as the first flush of the next load. Chemical formulation is a key to water efficiency. We put our chemical suppliers in the delicate position of keeping costs down while keeping our textiles clean. Many times, this balance is off, and some plants have a tendency to “over wash” certain textiles. Additionally, some textiles simply clean better, due to raw-material quality, fiber content, weave, topical soil release, etc.

Managers can discuss these issues with their textile and chemical suppliers, in order to choose the right product for the job. Just like energy efficiency, water conservation and efficiency should first be measured against the known industry standards, and managers should engage with their related suppliers to improve both formulation and textiles.

Technology — In all areas of conservation, support technology has improved drastically over the past 20 years. Retrofitting machinery to allow constant monitoring of efficiencies is now available, and the return on investment is sensible in most cases. Additionally, the industry has developed a number of major software packages that can assist managers in monitoring and managing their plant efficiencies.

Maintenance — Aside from education on standards and available efficiencies, the maintenance of equipment and support technology is more important now than ever before.

Plant maintenance managers of yesteryear were measured on downtime of equipment related to production flow. While this will remain the platform for production flow efficiency, maintenance of the future will center more around equipment efficiencies, simply because they can now be monitored constantly.

For instance, in the past, if a drainpipe were open and leaking profusely, it might not be caught and your maintenance department might not focus on it because the equipment was running. In the future, the equipment must not only run, it must run efficiently, because a rightly upgraded and retrofitted wash machine will be able to “broadcast” the presence of an open/leaking drain to plant management.

Textiles — Great plant managers take a more active role in monitoring textile placement as it relates to efficiency, not only in wear-life (life-cycle) costing but also in choosing the right textile for the job.

A simple example of this is allowing a diesel engine mechanic to wear a lightly colored shirt. This textile choice leads to heavy-soil formulation and rewash. Enough of this textile misuse and plant efficiency is impacted.

Other plants overbuy cotton toweling, putting premium textiles into accounts that simply don’t return them. Because these products are typically heavier in content, the plant washes fewer of them per load, thereby lowering both energy and water efficiencies. In some cases, it’s better to put a standard-quality product into an account that needs just that.

September 15, 2011
Anderson Chemical Co. Celebrates 100 Years

LITCHFIELD, Minn. — 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of Anderson Chemical Co., a manufacturer of cleaning chemicals for the food processing, water treatment, and industrial and institutional marketplaces.

Swedish immigrant Alfred Anderson, grandfather of the current generation of owners, established the company in Litchfield in 1911. Son Bruce Anderson was the architect of company change and growth through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

For the last 35 years, the third generation—Bruce, Terry, Leif, Lindsay and Brett—have been managing and projecting the company into a national enterprise. The family’s fourth generation is now coming on board.