Content about Laundry

SALISBURY, Md. — By successfully serving small commercial accounts from one of his two coin-operated laundries, Mitch Wyatt nurtured a reputation that today has him handling the laundry needs of major hospitality, healthcare and food and beverage clients. Recently, to meet increasing production needs, Wyatt moved his commercial business into a newly constructed industrial laundry facility here.

The Quality Linen Services building turns out 1,700 laundry pounds per hour, using minimal labor, water and energy — giving Wyatt the opportunity to draw new clients and boost profits.

DEVELOPING COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS FROM COIN LAUNDRY

“I serviced five hotels, two assisted-living facilities, one university, and two restaurants out of one washer at my coin laundry,” says Wyatt. “We used a 55-pound-capacity Continental E-Series Washer that would maintain a temperature of 140 degrees and stay at that temp. I was getting stuff so clean, my clients were amazed.”

Once cleaned, tablecloths, linens and napkins were pressed and finished using a Continental Flatwork Ironer. Wyatt’s staff then folded, stacked and delivered the items to clients.

PRODUCTION NEEDS SURGE

All went smoothly until Wyatt secured a five-year contract with a local hospital. “I knew I needed significant industrial equipment to fulfill growing production requirements,” he says.

So, he sought help from Operations Manager Doug Colonna, who holds 15 years of industrial laundry experience; Deke Sheller of Fowler Equipment, a laundry equipment distributor in Baltimore; and Joel Jorgensen, vice president of laundry equipment manufacturer Continental Girbau.

The 10,000-square-foot industrial facility required careful planning, a partnership of experts, and a mix of highly efficient industrial laundry equipment engineered for bolstered productivity, according to Wyatt.

DEVELOPING AN INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY FROM SCRATCH

“We worked with the engineer constructing Quality Linen’s building and all elements of laundry design, construction and utilities,” says Jorgensen of the project. “We went on to define specific laundry production needs, the equipment mix, and solidified financing over an eight-month period.”

In the end, the new building featured a Girbau Industrial Continuous Batch Washing system capable of processing 13,600 pounds in an eight-hour shift.

The facility’s powerhouse is its seven-module Girbau Industrial TBS-50 Eco-Tunnel with four-stage water reclamation, water filtration and drain-water heat recovery. Complementing equipment includes a Girbau Industrial ICP3 Incline Loading Conveyor, SPR-50 Press, Dual-cake Delivery Shuttle, three ST-100 Dryers, a PSN 80 single-roll gas thermal ironer, FT-LITE Folder, AP LITE Stacker and an FT-MAXI triple-sort dry goods folder.

Two Continental Girbau CG-120 Dryers, and two Continental E-Series washer-extractors (55 pounds and 90 pounds, respectively) round out the lineup.

CONTINUOUS BATCH WASHING

The system not only boosts laundry productivity to 95,200 pounds per week using a single shift, according to Wyatt, it takes just one employee to operate and manage, is stingy on water, and produces high-quality results.

Key to Wyatt’s equipment decision was his need to properly manage and process laundry for a variety of accounts. “Unlike most of our competitors, we provide rental service, as well as service for clients with customer-owned goods,” he says. “We required equipment programmable by customer, so items would be properly cleaned according to each client’s unique needs.”

Check back Thursday for the conclusion!

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — When looking to renovate an existing laundry or building a brand-new facility, there are many questions to ask before the process begins and while the process is ongoing.

David Chadsey, the managing director for Laundry-Consulting.com, addressed the issue during a recent webinar, 10 Things You Should Know Before Building or Renovating a Laundry, sponsored by the Association for Linen Management.

While Chadsey focused on 10 questions to ask, he emphasized that for each application, there may be more than or fewer than 10 items, and that the list is not intended to all inclusive.

1. WHAT AND HOW MUCH

Chadsey’s first question focused on what a laundry needs to process and how much needs to be processed.

“This is the first thing you need to evaluate,” he says. Best practices are based on volume and classification and will differ depending on the type of laundry facility you are working with.

“When calculating what and how much, we want to confirm the volume and then we want to estimate for projected growth,” Chadsey says. “If you’re building or renovating, obviously you don’t want to build just for today.”

Look down the road; what are the possibilities that might be in store for the facility?

Chadsey suggests looking at what equipment you have and want, and perhaps allowing the facility’s plans to contain contingencies for expanding square footage sometime in the future.

Another suggestion is to evaluate the capacity per each process path, whether it’s dry fold, flatwork, wash aisle or finishing line. Take a look at manual labor and automation, and what may change in the future. You can design a finishing line, for instance, more effectively if you know it’s only going to handle hospital sheets.

Always allow for flexibility in a project. If the projected production is to be maintained, laundry managers must look at the ebb and flow of a plant as the linen moves through, as well as the times of day and the days of the week. If a change occurs, whether it be in equipment or in processes, the laundry must be flexible enough to handle the change.

2. SELECT A PROJECT TEAM

As a way to maintain checks and balances during the building process, and to be sure that everything is covered and the project is moving forward, select a well-balanced team to oversee the project.

Such a large-budget undertaking will typically require a project coordinator— usually a member of the organization behind the project—and an outside consultant, one to help the team navigate the process, will be hired. Other members of the team are typically the laundry manager, contractors, the architect and engineer, and there may be more than one engineer, equipment vendors, plant engineering staff, human resources, and a person who will speak for those financing the project.

The project coordinator needs to understand the work scope of all members of this team, as well as their responsibilities, Chadsey says.

3. INDUSTRY PRACTICES

Before the building progresses too far, it is best to identify best practices for the particular type of operation intended for the renovated or new facility.

“Processing 20,000 pounds of linens for healthcare is different than processing 20,000 pounds of hospitality linens, especially on the finishing side,” Chadsey says. And processing industrial textiles is certainly different than processing table linens.

He suggests talking about automation, different types of wash wheels, as well as volume considerations before too much time, money and energy has been expended on the project.

4. CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS

Any building project involves considerable amounts of money, Chadsey says.

While people most often consider equipment to be the major expenditure for a laundry operation, it may be true only for some renovation projects. If the laundry is brand-new or the facility will be undergoing a major redesign, often the planning and design stages can be a major budget item, as well as the construction costs.

Consider these factors:

• Planning and Design
• Construction
• Utility Upgrades and Connections — Will the new facility require more electricity, higher water consumption, greater sewer capacity?
• Equipment
• Impact Fees — Depending on the locale, these fees can be significant, Chadsey says. Consider the fees that will be charged by the municipality for the facility, for new connections to water lines and sewer, or for other utilities. One project on which Chadsey worked encountered impact fees in excess of $1 million, he says.
• Downtime Processing — During renovation, is a plant going to experience downtime? A project team must look at how the operation’s processing will be completed during building or renovation, and plan for that downtime.
• Transition and Training — If a new plant is being built to replace an older facility, a project team must consider how operations, equipment, personnel and support staff/equipment will be moved from the old facility to the new. In the case of a renovation, how does management propose to work around and then integrate a new line or new room of the facility? And after the transition is complete, production numbers will be lower as the staff is trained and learns new equipment, procedures and systems. Staffing issues may include the need to downsize.

5. FOOTPRINT REQUIREMENTS

One of the major considerations for both a new build and a renovation is the facility’s footprint. If you are currently operating a laundry, you probably will have a general idea of the space required for current needs. But what happens if you want to expand? Chadsey has a production area formula that he picked up along the way during his 28 years in the industry, and while he can’t remember where he found the formula, he thanks those who came up with it.

“I use 5 square feet times pounds processed per hour. Plus soiled and clean staging, plus the mechanical room,” he says.

The staging area or areas encompass the space needed to process incoming soiled linen, as well as processing and storing clean linen after it comes off the process lines.

“An on-premise laundry may require a relatively small staging area,” he says. “If you’re a shared hospital laundry with a large number of trucks coming in each day, or if linen goes to a certain customer and that customer can only pick up three days a week, then staging requirements can be significant.”

Green initiatives are another consideration, he says. Take new innovations in water-reuse equipment, for instance, which may take more space.

The formula example that Chadsey provided during the webinar was:

A laundry processes 10 million pounds per year for 312 days per year (that’s 32,000 pounds processed per day). Divide that figure by the number of hours the facility is operating each day—in this case, 12 hours—and you have 2,700 pounds of linen being processed each hour. Multiply that figure by five and you arrive at a total of 13,500 square feet required for production.

For this example, Chadsey used 2,500 square feet for both the staging areas and the mechanical room, making the facility’s total size 18,500 square feet.

Check back tomorrow for part 2, including operational metrics, automation, transitioning, and more!

ROANOKE, Va. — This month’s column addresses fine-tuning a tunnel washer system to get maximum productivity. I have never seen a tunnel washer system that had enough dryers to prevent the tunnel from going into hold while it waits for an available dryer. I have seen many a tunnel washer operation that, with proper scheduling of the work, can eliminate the need for the tunnel going into a hold cycle.

The key to maximizing tunnel washer productivity is in knowing how to schedule work through the machine.

To begin, gather this information:

1. Number of loads to be washed per day of each type of linen
2. Drying time for each type of load
3. Hourly requirement of the production side for each item
4. Inventory level for each type of load (to ascertain need to push through in case of low inventory)
5. The number of available dryers
6. Cycle time for the tunnel washer

In my laundry, I have broken my loads down into three categories: No-dry loads (sheets sent directly to the ironers), short-dry loads (patient gowns, pillowcases, bath towels, bath blankets, washcloths), and long-dry loads (thermal blankets, incontinent pads). By developing a scheduling system that follows a set pattern, I can keep all the workstations busy and maximize use of the tunnel washer capacity.

To start improving your tunnel washer capacity, you need a good starting point. Before making any changes, accurately determine, over the course of at least one week, how many loads per hour you are getting through your washer. Compare that figure to the theoretical capacity. For example, a tunnel washer operating on a 2-minute cycle can produce up to 30 loads per hour. A tunnel washer operating on a 2 1/2 minute cycle can produce 24 loads per hour. Chances are, yours is not operating at its theoretical capacity.

A quick review of the problems causing you to not meet maximum capacity will most likely confirm that the problem is lack of dryer capacity. If other problems are discovered—tunnel going into hold for low temperature, or a low water level—these should be corrected before you move forward with a productivity improvement program.

To improve your tunnel productivity, you need to be able to pick and choose which linen items are going into the machine. This may require that your soil-sort area start work 30 to 60 minutes before your tunnel washer. Based on your original research into the types of loads you are washing, and their respective dry times, make a first attempt at developing a tunnel loading schedule. Use this schedule for several days and compare the results with your baseline productivity. Expect to make some changes as you learn what mix of linen works well and what mix of linen does not.

In my plant, I can easily maximize my tunnel output for an hour or two by running a majority of sheets through the tunnel that bypass the dryers and go directly to the ironers. But by doing so, dryers are not utilized and various areas of the laundry run out of linen. My goal is to maximize dryer use and tunnel washer output. Each laundry operates with different equipment and a different linen mix so there is no universal loading system that works for all occasions or circumstances.

By monitoring the loads per hour in your tunnel, and tracking the utilization of your dryers, you should be able to develop a highly workable loading system within a month. The improvements made from this effort, even if small, will have a major impact on your operation over the course of a year.

ROANOKE, Va. — It seems that making the required adjustments in your laundry operation is a never-ending process. There are a number of variables to be considered when making periodic adjustments. With this in mind, I have decided to, over the next several months, discuss the factors and opportunities available to every manager in fine-tuning his or her operation.

Let’s look at the wash room. There are certain universal principles that apply to all washing equipment, whether it is a tunnel washer or a conventional washer-extractor. The first principle is deciding how big a load you wish to put into your washing machine. Sounds simple enough, but the answer can and should vary based on the type of linen you are washing and the moisture content of the linen to be washed.

To illustrate, I will use my operation’s tunnel washer. Its rated load capacity is 110 pounds per pocket, but if I were to fill each pocket with 110 pounds, I would be dramatically under-loading the tunnel. We wash micro-filament mops through our tunnel washer. Because of the moisture content in the soiled mops, we load each pocket to 165 pounds. This load easily fits into the extractor at the end of the tunnel, and the load comes out looking clean and smelling great.

There is a danger in putting too much linen into a tunnel-washer pocket. An overly large load will not come clean, and may not fit efficiently into the extractor at the end of the tunnel or may not come out at all. Anyone who has experienced a jam up inside the tunnel washer knows that it is something you want to avoid.

There is, however, a compelling reason to accurately determine the proper load size for each type of linen. We were able to increase our average load size from 100 pounds per pocket to 125 pounds per pocket. That is a 25% increase in output without adding time or additional equipment.

We wash a large amount of reusable barrier surgical linen that each day. This linen is made from 100% polyester fibers and weighs very little per piece. If I were to load this type of linen to 100% of normal capacity, the linen would be so tightly packed in the washing machine that water may not reach the center of the load.

The key to this type of linen is to have enough goods in the washer to provide good mechanical action and effective cleaning. Underloading the washer will cause the linen to float on the water’s surface; overloading will end up producing no mechanical action at all. We have found that a general rule of thumb is to start testing at 70% of rated capacity.

The most effective way to wash linen is to do it right the first time. The wash room is not an area where you want to try to save money. Poor-quality washing will result in unhappy customers, higher labor costs and higher linen-replacement costs. Since labor and linen represent two of the largest expenses in a linen rental plant or in-house laundry, we should focus our attention on managing these costs.

It is for this very reason that I personally despise the use of guaranteed cost-per-pound-of-linen wash-room chemicals contracts. I want to be able to exercise my managerial control and to dictate the quality level coming out of my wash process. I want to be able to reduce my labor and linen replacement costs.

Many fixed-cost-per-pound contracts end up using far too much chlorine bleach (extremely inexpensive) and less-than-desirable amounts of alkali and detergents. Instead of having a chemical representative trying to find ways to make a profit on his or her fixed-price contract, I want them spending time trying to keep my quality up, my replacement costs down, and my productivity high. I personally believe that these are two entirely different types of service and are mutually exclusive.

The next area to focus on in the wash room is turnaround time. How long does it take from the time a wash cycle is completed until the next load is started? This is extremely important for conventional washers but also should be looked at for tunnel washers (hold time).

We track turnaround time for every load on our conventional washers, and have found that having a place to unload the washer into “ready” and “waiting” helps reduce turnaround time. Having the next load prepared and ready to be loaded also reduces this time.

When we first starting looking at turnaround time, we found that we were not doing a good job when it came to processing traditional wet mops. Housekeeping was bagging the mops in plastic bags and sending them to the laundry. Our soil sorters set these bags to the side until there were enough for a wash load. The cart was then taken to the wash room where, after the washer was emptied, the wash person would slowly open each bag and place the mops into the washer. This system required 30 minutes to load the washer. By having the soil sorters remove the mops from the bags and sort only the mops into the carts, we were able to greatly reduce the amount of time it took to load the washer.

Running a tunnel washer faster than the dryers can handle the linen causes the tunnel to go on “hold.” To me, a tunnel on hold is wasted time. It is better to lengthen the tunnel wash time per pocket than to allow it to constantly go into a hold situation. Proper scheduling of the linen mix going through a tunnel can help keep the equipment running smoothly. Next time, I will discuss tunnel scheduling.

ROANOKE, Va. — It seems that making the required adjustments in your laundry operation is a never-ending process. We must consider a number of variables as we make periodic adjustments to our operations. With this in mind, I have decided to discuss—over the course of the next several months—the factors and opportunities available to every manager in fine-tuning their operation.

First, let’s take a look at the soil-sort department. This area varies by laundry, and the quality of the process in this area can make a major impact on the overall operation. I guess the first decision to be made is whether we are going to sort the soiled linen or not.

It used to be a popular idea, both in Canada and the United States, to sort healthcare linen after it had been washed and decontaminated. I know of a number of laundries in both countries that have abandoned that idea in an effort to reduce chemical, labor and linen-replacement costs.

The purpose of sorting soiled linen is to remove trash and other foreign material before the linen is washed, and to facilitate the proper cleaning and handling of the linen through the laundry.

The larger the laundry, the greater the number of sorting classifications. Smaller laundries may mix all large dry items together, while large laundries will sort thermal blankets, bath blankets, knitted contour sheets and incontinent pads into separate classifications.

The more detailed the sort, the more the wash formula and the drying times can be customized for each individual product. (The ability to fine-tune a dryer formula will be considered in a future column.)

Ideally, linen should be handled as few as times as possible as it moves through the laundry. A thorough soil-sort process eliminates the need to sort the product after it has been washed and conditioned or dried.

For example, we use a soil-sort classification just for our white hospital bath towels. This allows the operator on the small-piece folder in the production area to quickly process the items without having to handle unrelated items. Once processed, the items are placed in stacks of 10 on a conveyor belt that moves through an automatic tie machine and then delivers the product to the cart make-up area.

Bath towels are only touched three times before they are ready to be packed for orders: during the soil-sort process, as they are fed into the small-piece folder and, finally, as they are put on the conveyor. This economy of effort leads to a highly efficient and effective laundry.

In reviewing the soil-sort area of the laundry, I will normally check the established classifications to determine if they still meet the needs of the laundry. I check to see how many times each must be handled before the product is ready to be placed in carts for delivery. This survey tells me if I need to add or subtract soil-sort classifications.

I will also review what percentage of my overall work volume is represented by each classification. I want to make sure that high-volume items receive the greatest amount of attention. I also use this information to make sure that all high-volume items are placed in appropriate positions along the soil-sort platform. Efficiency can be improved when high-volume items are placed in the best positions.

It is important to remember that the mix in your laundry will change over time. Your process requires periodic review to ensure that the underlying mix has not changed.

Review and re-evaluate production standards for this area during this fine-tuning process. Changes made in the number of classifications and the placement of each in the soil-sort area will impact an employee’s productivity. Being able to measure the impact of the changes and validate that you have improved your operation is a critical component in being a good manager.

Finally, assess the quality of your soil-sort process. How many items are showing up in the wrong category? A bath towel accidentally sorted into a load of white sheets will need to either be rewashed or gathered, dried and then routed to the appropriate finish area. The most economical way to process linen is to do it right the first time. Tracking the amount of linen that is incorrectly sorted can give you an ongoing measure of your soil-sort area’s effectiveness.

Equipment Manufacturing: Steve Hietpas, Maytag Commercial Laundry, St. Joseph, Mich.

Although not directly related to the manufacturing of commercial laundry equipment, for some of our customers this topic is a major concern. Professional laundry managers can do two things to help stem the flow of objects found in dirtied linens: an employee training program and, where applicable, conveniently placed containers for depositing razor-sharp objects.

In healthcare settings, a number of pointed objects—hypodermic needles, for example—are used on a regular basis. These needles, if left in soiled linens, are dangerous to professionals processing the laundry. By incorporating collection receptacles in or near every patient’s room, it makes disposing of these items properly more convenient and more likely. Coupled with a program to train staff of the importance of sharps disposal, laundry processing is much safer for all parties involved.

In the food and beverage industry, training again plays an integral role in reducing the amount of cutlery found within soiled linens. The awareness gleaned from training helps to protect those processing the linens and ensures the vast majority of utensils are available for patrons.

Textile/Uniform Rental: Tom Peplinski, Golden West, Oakland, Calif.

Sharp objects can be a safety concern to all those handling soiled linen. Each year, millions of workers suffer workplace injuries that could have been prevented. Approximately 30% of all workplace injuries involve cuts or lacerations, and about 70% of those injuries are to the hands or fingers.

Some practical steps can help minimize the risk of contact with sharp objects:

• Include the issue of sharp objects in your hazards safety meeting
• Post reminders that sharp objects may be present in soil area
• Be sure that gloves (puncture-resistant, when possible) are worn
• Be sure all personnel are trained in the procedures of handling soil
• Have a clear, written policy and procedure covering first aid
• Keep good housekeeping rules that include eliminating sharp objects and edges
• When sharp items are found in soil, try to identify customers from which they came and inform them of the issue.
• Post anti-sharp/anti-garbage posters at customer’s soil area
• Offer to speak at customer’s safety meeting to address the potential problem
• Inspect the area where the soil container is placed to see if there might be a safer area elsewhere
• Inform all service personnel when sharps are found so they are aware of the risk

Finally, review past incidents/injuries involving cuts and lacerations. Have participants discuss the cause of the injuries and possible solutions as to how the worker or employer could have prevented them. Apply suggestions for improvements to your “Cuts and Abrasion” policy and procedures.

Commercial Laundry: Richard Warren, Linen King, Conway, Ark.

Laundries don’t put the sharps into the linen stream, and we can’t keep them out.

I find that infection control staffs at hospitals are embarrassed about the issue, so we need to be sensitive in our approach. I find them quite willing to work with a laundry that maintains a professional attitude toward what they perceive as their own problem. We certainly can’t be heavy-handed when we discuss this issue.

We have done some things physically that have practically pushed this problem into extinction. We contact the infection control people, our point of contact in the linen department, and the linen committee to talk about how to keep the sharps out. They need to know where the offending item came from, so we help by taking a picture of the item. Sometimes it’s identifiable. If the discovery is made in the sorting department, we make note of the specific carts we are working with at the time. We e-mail all this information to personnel at the hospital so they have something to work with. Calling them to complain just keeps the adversarial relationship alive.

Not all hospitals recognize the urgency of the situation, but those that do have shown a dramatic decrease in incidents. We apply the same procedure to all manner of rogue hospital items, some of obvious value. Any customer would appreciate that attention.

There are commercially manufactured machines that “scan” the soiled laundry for foreign objects, and are used at the point of linen collection. I don’t have any first-hand knowledge regarding their effectiveness.

Healthcare Laundry: Judy Murphy, RN, BSN, CLLM, RLLD, North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss.

There is an increased risk of sharps exposure for laundry employees, especially for those who work in the soil-sort process. To help stem the flow of these items, and to keep the communication lines open with clinical staff, the laundry manager should meet regularly (at least quarterly) with nurse managers, surgery, emergency services, ambulance, etc., to help determine the root causes. This cooperative effort helps establish rapport with clinical staff while addressing legitimate concerns.

Most healthcare organizations have a PI (Performance Improvement) team and/or safety committee that looks at the various OSHA violations (both recordables and non-recordables). The laundry manager should volunteer to participate on this type of team so that these concerns can be voiced to the appropriate people and so that he/she can remain abreast of the efforts being made to address them.

Champion the use of safety devices and engineering controls designed to decrease the risk of employee exposure. Assist with the research and promotion of these efforts by utilizing resources (other laundry managers, industry standards, guidelines, etc.) to determine “best practice” policies and procedures that could be implemented in the facility.

There are circumstances (emergency “Code Blue” resuscitations, for example) that, due to their chaotic nature, increase the likelihood of sharps being lost in linens. Provide education/training to your laundry personnel in the proper shaking-out and separation of soiled linens. And be sure to include techniques on how to pick up sharps (i.e. utilizing tongs or other grasping devices) and dispose of them properly.

Hotel/Motel/Resort Laundry: Charles Loelius, The Pierre New York, New York, N.Y.

Finding foreign objects in linens is not an uncommon occurrence. Trash, glass, dishes and cutlery are sometimes mistakenly and carelessly mixed in with the soiled linens by the end-users when gathering the linen for reprocessing. Healthcare linen poses the additional threat of bacterial and viral contamination from needles and scalpels.

Although my laundry processes hospitality linens, we observe universal precautions when detecting and handling sharps. Sharps, in our case, consist of cutlery and broken glass sent down the laundry chute in error by our end-user, the room attendants.

All incidents are documented, and the appropriate people are notified. All soil sorters wear proper protective equipment, including masks and puncture-resistant gloves. Broken glass is picked up with tongs or brush and dustpan and placed in a medically approved sharps container. This container is disposed of when three-quarters full.

The laundry maintains a log according to OSHA guidelines that lists the date and location of the incident as well as the type of sharp.

We have weekly meetings with the room attendants to provide details of the prior week’s foreign objects found in the linen. We seek to educate them on the danger that sharp objects pose to their co-workers.

We also seek feedback from the housekeeping team on ways to reduce the instances of foreign objects, particularly glasses, dishes and cutlery, which pose a safety hazard.

In the end, we stress regular communications to achieve buy-in from our end-users to reduce the problem with sharps. At the same time, the processes are in place to minimize the safety hazard should these mistakes continue.

Equipment/Supply Distribution: Bill Bell, Steiner-Atlantic Corp., Miami, Fla.

I reached out to a few of my customers who are professional healthcare laundry managers and have decades of experience. They all shared that this problem never goes away. There are procedures in place to control exposure to sharps, but it is extremely difficult to eliminate them from making it to the laundry.

Metal detectors are too expensive and will not detect small needles in bulk linen. You would think that most instruments would be coming primarily from ambulance, emergency rooms and surgical, but that’s not the case. They simply come from everywhere in a facility.

By educating healthcare staff, the flow of sharps will significantly decrease. Most of the sharps on the patient care units have been eliminated or at least reduced by using tubing and needles with safety devices. Re-educating the infection control nurse at each property on a quarterly basis seems to work best.

Most healthcare laundry facilities operating under pool linen or COG programs monitor each facility’s goods upon receipt for control of linen shortages, damage, etc., so anything more intensive than that wouldn’t be cost-effective. So, it’s all about education, education, education!

Check back Thursday for Part 2!

POMONA, Calif. — Consolidated Laundry Machinery (CLM), which manufactures industrial laundry dryers and other equipment, has hired Martin Pharis as company president. He replaces Vice President and General Manager Carolyn Landsperg, who retired in January.

Pharis brings an extensive and diverse management background, with expertise in both sales and operations, CLM says. He comes from Prudential Overall Supply, where, as a director of production, he was responsible for industrial and cleanroom operations throughout the United States. His primary role was to improve operational efficiencies through process changes, plant revitalization and equipment design.

Previously, he worked in operations at Mission Linen Supply, was a regional sales director for Tingue, Brown & Co., and spent nearly 20 years at Alsco in a variety of operations roles.

“We conducted a thorough search for a leader with deep laundry industry experience, a firsthand knowledge of CLM and its equipment, an extensive understanding of customers’ needs, and a passion for service,” says Jason Farber, principal of Carlin Capital Partners, which owns CLM. “Martin brings everything that we were looking for, and we are excited to help him implement his vision for CLM and its future.”

“I was presented with an opportunity to lead a company that I know well and that has a great history as an equipment supplier in our industry,” Pharis says. “In CLM, I see a solid foundation from which much potential for growth exists, and I look forward to building on that which CLM does well and improving in areas where we can provide even better products and value-added services to our customers past, present and future.”

Landsperg retired to spend more time with family and to pursue volunteer work, CLM says. She spent her entire career in the laundry industry, the last 20 with CLM.

The manufacturer says it remains committed to “continuous innovation and improvement” of its customizable industrial dryers and related equipment.

Chemicals Supply: Philip L. Bodner, Metro-Chem, Kearny, N.J.

Hello, my name is Phil Bodner, and I am a “soap-man.” I get to wear many hats and mean many things to the customers I serve. I’m pleased to be a part of American Laundry News’ continuing effort to bring new ideas and beneficial information to our industry. I hope to contribute to the conversation and provide whatever insights that my experience will allow.

I live in South Jersey with my wife, Penny. My likes include family, golf, history, politics, current events and dining out with our friends. For the past 28 years, I have worked as a sales representative and sales manager for Metro-Chem Inc., and my expertise in laundry technology extends from shirt laundering, hospitality and institutional, to linen supply and industrial uniform plants.

My responsibilities have included new product ideas and testing, hiring and training field technicians, procurement and engineering of automated injection systems, marketing and sales meetings, as well as maintaining many long-term customers in my own Philadelphia area territory.

At Metro-Chem, we manufacture more than 100 laundry-specific products for all laundry needs. We provide innovative, top-quality chemistry to all segments of the industry, but we believe that you can only be as good as your ongoing commitment to service in the field. It is this combination of effective products and a true consultative approach to technical service that I believe helps fuel our sales growth and delivers the greatest good to our individual customers’ businesses.

As a company, we stay abreast of everything from local water conditions and water restrictions, to wastewater regulations and new types of textiles and garments. As such, we’ve been busy in 2012 developing a new activated chemistry to help perform well in lower temperatures, lower pH and with fewer oxidizers required. This concept is moving us toward shorter wash formulas with importance placed on less water consumed per load.

We have also done our due diligence and created several new non-NPE surfactant-based detergents with exciting results. These formulations are more readily biodegradable for those that desire, or are required to take, a greener path toward laundry production.

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and I hope that 2013 will provide opportunity, renewed prosperity and happiness to all in our industry and our country.

Equipment Manufacturing: Steve Hietpas, Maytag Commercial Laundry, St. Joseph, Mich.

Since graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing, I’ve spent the majority of my career—more than 15 years—in the commercial laundry industry, with a focus on the OPL segment.

Currently a senior sales manager, I joined the Maytag® Commercial Laundry team in October 2007. To date, I have managed OPL sales throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Canadian markets, and I work directly with distributors to ensure our products meet the needs of their customers. Previously, I was a regional sales manager for another commercial laundry equipment manufacturer covering a similar territory. My background also includes working with national accounts that purchase equipment directly for their own use, as well as selling to franchisees.

Maytag® Commercial Laundry offers a full range of commercial washers and dryers to the OPL market through an international network of distributors. Our company is dedicated to developing energy-efficient solutions and dependable products for the commercial laundry market. And in 2008, Maytag® Commercial Laundry celebrated the 50-year anniversary of its entry into the commercial laundry business.

As the industry continues to evolve, so does commercial laundry equipment. From a manufacturer’s perspective, this can create challenges. An excellent example of this is the ongoing objectives to increase the energy and/or water efficiency of equipment, while decreasing the amount of time it takes to do laundry—therefore decreasing labor costs—and providing exceptional cleanability.

2012 was a busy and successful one for Maytag® Commercial Laundry. We introduced an industrial line of soft-mount washer-extractors available in 180-, 230- and 275-pound models. We also enjoyed continued growth within the OPL market segment and are continuing to work on new product introductions for 2013 and beyond.

Uniforms/Workwear Manufacturing: Scott Delin, Superior Uniform Group, Seminole, Fla.

I have expertise in image apparel and uniform program management, specializing in healthcare laundries. With more than a decade of supplier sales experience, and another 15 years in a mixed-plant linen supply company, I believe my hands-on knowledge base is unparalleled.

I, alongside my father, grew up operating a women’s apparel cut-and-sew operation. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with others and helping them build successful partnerships.

The company I work for, Superior Uniform Group, was founded in 1920 as Superior Surgical Manufacturing. By 1926, its Fashion Seal Uniforms brand was created. After acquiring several other manufacturers over the years, Superior Surgical officially changed its name to Superior Uniform Group in 1998 to better reflect its greatly expanded clientele base.

Superior Uniform produces more than a dozen catalogs, outfitting employees from various industries that include healthcare, restaurant/food service and governmental/public safety. The company has also created a call center division called The Office Gurus, and a digital apparel division called everyBody Media, which were both launched in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

I am a board member for the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA), where I develop and present in-house training programs that can be used in laundries as they seek new, innovative approaches to selling uniforms to the healthcare industry. I am also active in the American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA), where I serve on its board of directors, and am a member of the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) advisory board. I hold a bachelor of science degree in textile and apparel management from Philadelphia University.

A couple issues that will present challenges in the new year include market changes and how our healthcare customer base is looking for a new type of uniform look, with new kinds of user-friendly fabrics. I’ll also be thinking about more employee purchase programs as hospital and healthcare budgets continue to be cut.

Equipment/Supply Distribution: Bill Bell, Steiner-Atlantic Corp., Miami, Fla.

I grew up in Charlotte, N.C., with two loving parents. I have an older sister and a twin brother, and our parents instilled in us the value of hard work, education and moral character, which shaped the adults we are today.

I get my competitive spirit from playing sports throughout my early years. I graduated from Mars Hill (N.C.) College in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in business. I reside in Orlando, Fla., with my wife, Lisa, and our daughters Taylor and Jordan.

As regional vice president for Steiner-Atlantic Corp., I am responsible for sales and service in the central Florida market. Steiner-Atlantic, founded in 1959 by William Steiner, is a large laundry, boiler and dry cleaning equipment, parts and service distributor, with its core business in Florida and the Caribbean.

Upon graduating from college, I set out on my path to a successful sales career by working for Controlled Motion, a small company selling power transmission to equipment OEMs and end-users. My mentor, Tony Harris, taught me the importance of listening and recognizing what my customers needed. I owe much of my success to him.

After working for him for five years, my journey shifted to selling textile sock dyeing and packaging equipment. This move led to my start in the laundry business, when David Carter hired me to cover the central Florida territory for Wink Davis Equipment Co. in 2001. Upon completing my training, I relocated from Charlotte to Orlando. In 2004, when Wink Davis closed its doors, another door opened for me with Steiner-Atlantic.

Mike Steiner, our president and CEO, brought me on board to continue servicing our central Florida market. At Steiner-Atlantic, we provide customers with turn-key solutions from design-build to equipment sales, installation, start-up and training, with continued parts and service.

I am honored to have received many sales accolades, including Chicago Dryer’s “Rising Star” and “Heavy Hitter” awards, and multiple Pellerin Milnor “Key Man” awards. This past year, I also received our local Association for Linen Management chapter’s Allied Tradesman of the Year award.

I look forward to the challenges of 2013, and hope that you will find some of the articles that I participate in to be informative and helpful.

Textile/Uniform Rental: Tom Peplinski, Golden West, Oakland, Calif.

I am the operations manager for an independent industrial laundry located in the San Francisco Bay area. Starting in 1980, delivering linens and mats to the mining industry of northern Minnesota, I have held management positions in sales, service, production and administration. The position of operations manager suits me well, as it affords me an opportunity to interact and direct all departments while drawing on a vast wealth of experience.

Golden West is a family-owned, independent laundry with six routes serving the San Francisco Bay area. Like most laundry companies, there is a real challenge in finding and establishing long-term employees. However, by creating procedures designed to empower employees, Golden West has created a strong retention program.

The last few years of economic belt-tightening has had a profound effect on our industry. Adapting to an ever-changing economy requires reviewing and modifying policies, procedures and practices.

While identifying key areas for profit and setting practical cost-cutting measures in 2012, Golden West experienced one of its most successful years for growth and profit. I am excited about the opportunities in 2013, and enter into the new year with the understanding that change is more than a mindset.

Healthcare Laundry: Judy Murphy, RN, BSN, CLLM, RLLD, North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss.

My background is in education, nursing and quality. I started working for North Mississippi Medical Center (NMMC) in the Education department in February 1988. Via scholarship, I received my associate degree in nursing from Itawamba Community College in June 1991, and my bachelor of science degree in nursing from the Mississippi University for Women in May 1996. During this time, I worked full-time as a staff nurse, charge nurse and in administration. NMMC has been instrumental in helping me achieve my educational goals and to grow within the organization.

In 1997, I became a clinical liaison for Materiel Management and served as a clinical resource for purchasing, sterile processing, laundry, nursing, surgery, etc. I worked with nursing to develop linen specifications, determine best practice, develop utilization programs, develop linen awareness/use and misuse recommendations, and implement staff development programs. In 2012, we implemented a successful linen-reject program that utilizes the end-user to help improve quality by removing unacceptable linen items at the point of use.

I’ve researched staining concerns, as well as ozone applications in laundry (NMMC was one of the first U.S. facilities to place an ozone system on a CBW®); provided education on topics that include bed bugs, safety, infection control, etc., at a local and national level; and have written articles for NMMC’s bimonthly Check-up magazine.

I was asked to take on the role of laundry director in February 2008. To become better informed, I turned to the American Laundry and Linen College (ALLC) in Richmond, Ky. I received my CLLM certification from the Association for Linen Management (ALM) in July 2008 and my RLLD certification in March 2012. I serve as president of the association’s Tri-State Chapter, administrative secretary on its national Board of Directors, member of its Scholarship and Membership committees, ALLC facilitator for fall 2012, and as a member of a variety of focus groups on a wide range of projects.

Challenges abound in the linen industry. Though it’s truly a manufacturing process, this industry has its own niche.

One universal challenge has been the implementation of the latest Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) recommendations regarding reprocessing scrub apparel. NMMC had been successfully home laundering for years. Processing the scrubs added more than 17 hours of labor to our work day but we received no additional FTEs. Implementing lean processing concepts, learning how other laundry plants were succeeding, and networking with many industry experts has allowed us to adjust and conquer. We’re now researching anti-wrinkling technology and automated scrub-processing equipment.

Another challenge is having to process 6-7 million pounds per year using older, poorly maintained laundry equipment in an older, poorly designed facility. Fortunately, I work for a company that focuses on quality and customer service (currently the only two-time healthcare winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, in 2006 and 2012) and understands the need for an educated, well-trained staff, state-of-the-art equipment and lean processing concepts.

We’ve been able to slowly replace outdated equipment, and are planning a modern, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient (possibly LEED-certified) facility with pack room and sterilization capabilities. Our goal is to efficiently process 15 to 20 million pounds of linen per year, with plans to begin operations within the next 18 to 24 months.

In an uncertain future, survival will depend upon our ability to continue to develop and implement best practices, forward “out-of-the-box” thinking, and lean concepts in an effort to become a truly lean, green washing machine.

Tomorrow: Introductions to representatives of the consulting services, hotel/motel/resort and commercial laundry sectors...

NEW YORK — Superstorm Sandy flooded and crippled numerous hospital and hotel laundry operations when it struck the Northeast in late October.

Emergency preparedness planning made all the difference for the Hospital Central Services Cooperative (HCSC) Laundry, which consists of five plants and processes approximately 110 million pounds of linen for some 350 healthcare facilities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The town of Asbury Park, N.J., where the laundry has its headquarters, was evacuated before the storm struck. The laundry lost power for a week.

“This was an unprecedented situation for us,” says Bill Moyer, vice president of Marketing Services for HCSC. “We had never had a plant out of service for a week. It was a worst-case scenario.”

HCSC management put its emergency preparedness plan into effect days before the storm struck, says Moyer. Linen conservation alerts were sent out to all healthcare linen customers, as they share a common linen inventory. Linen orders were escalated and prepared a day ahead of time. Linen volume was shared and produced by the laundry’s sister plants in Camden, N.J., Allentown, Pa., and Baltimore, Md. The laundry’s service suffered only “minimal” disruption, according to Moyer.

“The storm presented a logistical nightmare,” he says. “This was as bad as it gets. Fortunately, our other plants stepped up and picked up the slack. It took a tremendous amount of planning, a high level of teamwork and cooperation, and a good deal of patience by everyone concerned.”

He continues, “I can’t say enough about the importance of having backup capability in your system during a storm. I don’t know what we would’ve done without it. During the storm, our hospitals absorbed more patients who were evacuated from nursing homes. Their censuses were up.”

In the aftermath of the storm, some manufacturers and distributors of laundry machinery announced programs aimed at helping laundries replace equipment destroyed by Sandy.

Alliance Laundry Systems, Laundrylux and Dexter Laundry were among the companies that announced programs offering deferred payments and interest and no fees on equipment purchases made by qualified on-premise laundries. American Dryer Corp. stepped up its production to make certain enough laundry equipment would be readily available to customers during the recovery.

Alliance’s Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief program allows owners to replace their damaged washers and dryers with no payments or interest for up to four months, no loan fees, and a cash allowance to assist with installation costs. Additionally, there is no prepayment penalty if customers choose to pay off their loan in full with reimbursement eventually received from FEMA or their insurer.

Alliance has made the program available to qualifying laundries in New York and New Jersey, but will review other situations and offer the finance program to other affected laundries on a case-by-case basis.

“The purpose of the program is to help laundries get back on their feet and start operating again, while they are sorting out their insurance claims,” says Bill Brooks, North American sales manager for UniMac, an Alliance company.

Under Laundrylux’s Disaster Recovery Program, qualified laundries purchasing Electrolux or Wascomat equipment can make no payments for up to six months and pay no interest for up to 12 months. All associated fees will be waived. The program is available in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.

Dexter’s program offers qualifying laundry owners in the Hurricane Sandy-affected areas of New York and New Jersey the ability to purchase equipment for up to six months of no payments, with no origination or documentation fees, along with a special allowance for installation and start-up costs. Customers wishing to pay off their loan after recovery from their insurer or other agency will face no prepayment penalties.

ERIE, Pa. — Following the installation of a new washer-extractor from Maytag® Commercial Laundry, a Shriners Hospitals for Children® site here is experiencing improved energy and water efficiency and increased staff productivity, the hospital’s manager of environmental services reports.

Pleased with the performance of a Maytag 55-pound multi-load washer-extractor installed seven years ago, the hospital opted to replace an older 135-pound washer with a 55-pound Energy Advantage™ soft-mount, high-speed multi-load washer-extractor, to help rightsize its laundry operation.

Recently transitioning from a 30-bed acute-care hospital to outpatient care, Erie Ambulatory Surgery Center and Outpatient Specialty Care Center has a four-day-a-week laundry operation, which cleans about 3,400 pounds of laundry. The 135-pound machine coupled with the existing 55-pound washer was more than it needed. For guidance in its equipment choice, the hospital connected with Maytag distributor Equipment Marketers, Cherry Hill, N.J.

“We strive to be as energy- and water-efficient as possible, and running correct load sizes for our needs is a natural way to accomplish that,” says Laurie Bowe, CHESP, manager of environmental services for Shriners Hospitals for Children®. “We were pleased with our first Maytag washer, as well as the company’s customer service. … Equipment Marketers was versed in the product and our specific application—they were the perfect partner for us.”

“Being environmentally conscious and finding new ways to operate more efficiently and within budget is crucial in the laundry rooms of today’s healthcare facilities,” says Bob English, general manager of global commercial laundry at Whirlpool Corp. “Upgrading to new multi-load, high-speed washer-extractors can significantly reduce energy and water consumption, leading to lower utility bills and more efficient operations for the facility.”

“Our laundry facility is now optimally sized, and we’ve also become more efficient from a staff perspective, completing more loads of laundry in less time,” Bowe says. “Everything has turned out wonderfully.”