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March 8, 2013
Wisconsin Association of Textile Services (WATS) Annual Brewer Ballgame Outing

Join us for our annual Brewer baseball outing May 1 at Miller Park in the private party/viewing area the ATI Zone!  

$89 per person includes ticket, lunch, beverages and more!! Raffles for prizes every inning!  We sell out each year so order tickets right away.  bswingle@toriiphillips.com or 414-529-4702

March 6, 2013
Alliance Laundry Systems Recognized for Market Leadership

MILWAUKEE — One of eight companies honored out of 58 nominated in statewide awards program

MILWAUKEE — Alliance Laundry Systems, manufacturers of commercial laundry equipment under the Huebsch, IPSO, Speed Queen and UniMac brands, last week received a special award for “Market Leadership” as part of the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year program recognizing outstanding achievements in manufacturing in 2012.

Alliance was one of eight companies honored out of 58 nominated in the statewide awards program, now in its 25th year. Bruce Rounds, chief financial officer, and Jay McDonald, vice president of business development, accepted the award for Alliance during a black-tie ceremony at the Pfister Hotel.

“Alliance’s story started more than 100 years ago when two Ripon hardware store owners figured out how to mechanize hand-powered washing machines,” notes Alliance CEO and President Mike Schoeb. “Now, we are the largest manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment in the world. Our continued success is driven by that same spirit of innovation, the dedication and work ethic we find in the local labor force, our world-class distribution network, and the competitive advantages and positive business climate of Wisconsin.”

In addition to the “Market Leadership” award, the Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year program handed out four grand awards to companies categorized by the number of employees – small, medium, large and mega. Alliance, nominated for the first time in 2012, competed in but did not win the Mega category.

Nominees were judged in such areas as financial growth or consistency, technological advances, product development, environmental solutions and sustainability, operational excellence/continuous improvement, commitment to employees, and effective research and development.

The awards program is co-sponsored by Baker Tilly, one of America’s largest accounting and advisory firms; Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, a leading Midwest-based law firm; and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Wisconsin’s largest business association.

October 4, 2012
I Remember My First Thermal Fluid Ironer...

ROANOKE, Va. — Why was our ironer going through pads and covers so rapidly?

ROANOKE, Va. — My first experience with thermal fluid ironers came while working in Milwaukee in 1988-1998. The hospital central laundry where I worked purchased three new thermal fluid ironers, and it took me several years to adapt to the machines and learn how to use them properly.

The first problem we had was the ironers going through pads and covers very rapidly. We were lucky to get three months out of a set of pads. Our supplier seemed to be as clueless as I was about what could be done to lengthen the life of the padding.

The old laundry had utilized steam ironers. The maintenance and production staff was waxing the thermal fluid ironers with the same product and at the same frequency as they had the steam ironers.

One of the advantages of using a thermal fluid ironer is that it can run at a higher temperature than traditional steam ironers. But thermal fluid ironers require a different wax than a traditional steam ironer does. We found the wax we were using was clogging the pads and hardening with the high heat, causing excessive and premature wear on the pads.

Then, there was the mysterious case of the shrinking woven contour sheets. At first, we thought our linen supplier had made a mistake and shipped us the wrong size of sheet—the sheets simply would not fit the beds.

We finished these sheets by ironing them through the thermal fluid ironer. Our supplier worked with us and made sure we were getting the proper size contours, but still the problem did not go away. We were purchasing 88-inch contour sheets to fit an 84-inch mattress. We were randomly measuring sheets at 76 inches to 78 inches after they had been processed a number of times. It was an extremely frustrating situation.

It was during this time that I had a discussion with several executives from a textile mill. They asked what temperature we were using when ironing the sheets. Our thermal fluid ironers were set at 425 F; the production manager wanted the temperature that high to increase the production capacity of the ironer.

The mill executives told me that the polyester fibers in the poly-cotton sheets were heat set at 378 F. This heat setting made them size-stable, limiting shrinkage. The executives warned me, however, that if the linen exceeded the 378-degree set point during ironing, the polyester would shrink each time it was exposed to higher temperatures. The sheet would continue to shrink and compact as much as the cotton fiber would allow, they told me.

I decided to test their theory. I took a brand-new contour sheet right out of the box and measured it. It was 88 inches long. I ironed the sheet through the thermal fluid ironer and then measured it again. The sheet was now three inches shorter. I continued the process for several more ironings and found 2- to 4-inch shrinkage with each processing.

How did we solve our problem? We lowered the maximum operating temperature to 375 F. By lowering the ironing temperature, we solved the shrinkage problem and increased the life of the ironer pads.

August 2, 2012
Developing Good Workers Requires Personal Touch

ROANOKE, Va. — Key to developing employees is getting to know them

ROANOKE, Va. — I recently had the opportunity to play host to the younger brother of several of my Scouts when I was back in Milwaukee. Kevin is spending six months hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was only a Cub Scout when I moved but he remembered me, and all the fun stories his older brothers had told him about our various adventures.

He particularly remembered being on a campout, possibly a father-and-son campout, when I had asked his two older brothers to accomplish some task. To his amazement, the boys got right up and immediately did what they were asked. He said this never happened at home, and it caused him to realize that my relationship with his brothers was something special. It was unfortunate that by the time he was old enough to be one of my Scouts, his family had moved to Ohio and I had moved to Alabama.

In reminiscing with Kevin, I came to realize how important it is that we not only develop young men in the Boy Scouts of America program, but we also look for opportunities to develop people in our laundries. I have been blessed to work with a number of employees from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. I have often found that people are anxious to do a good job and to improve but simply lack the vision and the direction to do so.

Taking the time to develop good employees is much easier and more rewarding than trying to go out and find them on the open market. But this development process requires vision, patience and a willingness to get to know your employees.

As a Scoutmaster, I looked for opportunities to work with the youth and learn their dreams and ambitions. The program was designed around advancement but only 3% of all Scouts who start ever attain the Eagle rank. When I was a boy, I belonged to a troop with well over 100 boys. We were an active troop and took a lot of fun camping trips and hikes. Advancement was not an essential part of our program, and I do not remember any of my fellow Scouts ever wanting to make it to Eagle Scout.

We all have employees who come to work every day and do a good job. They are thankful to have a job but never think of advancement. These workers are like my fellow Scouts when I was a youth: we had limited vision and focused only on the immediate future. Our industry needs a constant supply of good-quality lead workers, supervisors and managers, and it is our responsibility to help develop employees to fill these positions.

When Commonwealth Linen Services hired me, I inherited a staff from the previous manager. My expectations were different than those of my predecessor, so I needed to find ways to communicate this difference. I started out by working as a line employee in a number of locations at the laundry. I spent a week sorting soiled linen, talking to the employees and observing the challenges associated with that department. While I worked in that area, I was able to get to know Richard and Jim.

Richard was working on the soil-sort belt and Jim was a supervisor in that area of the laundry. Richard had previous experience at a hotel laundry and was anxious to make the laundry a career. Jim had been a supervisor but apparently in name only and was used mainly as a lead worker. He felt disrespected and only put forth minimum effort.

Over the past nine years, Richard has advanced from soil sorter to washer/dryer operator to lead worker. We continue to take advantage of his developing skills and coach him in further developing his talents.

Jim was more of a challenge. I needed him to improve his performance if he was to keep his job. I not only challenged him to do better, I took an active interest in him as a person. I took the time to tell Jim not only what I wanted done but why. The “why” often included examples of other laundries I had worked in and how the techniques used there led to a better end result.

As I began to get to know Jim, I became convinced that he had the ability and drive to meet my expectations. As Jim’s performance improved, I needed him to make some changes to his appearance. He had extremely long hair and an unkempt, bushy beard. I worked with Jim so he could begin to understand that his outward appearance affected the way the other laundry employees felt about him.

He was resistant to making changes in this area and thought that the world and his fellow laundry employees had no right to judge him by his outward appearance. I wanted Jim to understand the need for making this change and I made sure that he knew that I would not order him to cut his hair or trim his beard. In the end, Jim was able to save face by making a deal with me that if I wore a Grateful Dead t-shirt to work one day, he would get a haircut and trim his beard. We had a lot of fun with that challenge, and eventually the entire management staff got Grateful Dead t-shirts.

The key to developing employees is getting to know them. You must spend time talking to them. They must see that you value them as an individual before you can hope to help guide their development.

June 7, 2012
The Stain That Wouldn’t Fade

ROANOKE, Va. — Two words that laundry managers fear most: chlorhexidine gluconate

ROANOKE, Va. — Several times a year, I am asked about poor-quality wash or stains. About stains, my philosophy has always been that they represent a failure to properly handle or clean the fabric; I have frequently found that most stains are caused by improper wash formulas. I was convinced that I had not met a stain I could not beat until I arrived in Milwaukee, Wis.

While working at Aurora Health Care, I encountered a light yellow stain that resisted all attempts to remove it. We attempted to identify what the substance might look like before it was washed, but the source of the stain eluded us. We worked with our chemical vendor to identify the stain. We tried developing a reclaim formula but still the stain stumped the company experts.

We requested that our chemical vendor and linen vendor send samples of the stained linen to independent labs for analysis; the labs could not identify the stain or find a way to remove it. The stain showed up more frequently in early-morning loads than at other times of the day, we determined, but the source of the stain and its tool for removal remained a mystery.

When I accepted a job at Health Group of Alabama, the stain “followed.” The fact that the stain could be present in two different laundries 600 miles apart led me to look at other environmental factors. This time, we narrowed our search to various chemicals used in the hospital and quite accidentally discovered that the source of the pesky stain was a hand soap used at the largest facility.

The active ingredient was chlorhexidine gluconate, the most effective hand sanitizer on the market today. The soap is clear; it shows no color in liquid form or when dried on linen. But the cleaner will react with chlorine to form a light yellow to dark brown stain (its color depends on the amount of soap and chlorine present).

In Milwaukee and again in Alabama, there was enough chlorine in the local water system to cause the chlorhexidine gluconate to form a stain. In an effort to reduce the amount of staining, I worked with our chemical company to devise a formula that would limit the chances of setting the stain before we could rinse the soap from the fabric.

Our first step was to change from chlorine bleach to hydrogen peroxide bleach. This reduced the stain by 50% but apparently there was still enough chlorine in the incoming water to cause the problem.

Our next step was to add an antichlor or hydrogen peroxide to the first pocket of the tunnel washers. Both chemicals neutralize the chlorine and thus prevent the chlorhexidine gluconate from setting.

By taking these steps, we were able to reduce our stains from this chemical by 80%.

At the Roanoke, Va., laundry where I now work, chlorhexidine gluconate stains have reared their ugly head once again. This time, the hand cleaner is part of a bed-bath kit used to bathe bedridden patients. The Roanoke city water system contains chlorine levels sufficient to cause the chemical to set a light yellow stain.

To add to our frustration, the sodium vapor lights used in the laundry’s overhead lighting make it difficult for workers to see the stain. Under normal fluorescent light, the stain can be easily detected.

In all my years in the laundry business, I have seen the process I detailed above remedy a number of stain and odor problems. Oil stains on high-thread count polyester surgical gowns or Gortex gowns can be almost eliminated through the use of a solvenated detergent in conjunction with enzymes but with no softeners. A barrier retreatment product, if used properly, will prevent oil from adhering to the polyester fibers while maintaining the barrier quality of the fabrics at like-new levels.

Residual odor problems in freshly laundered reusable diapers and underpads can be addressed by switching to an enzyme detergent.

Numerous stains can be avoided by using a warm (not to exceed 120 F) fresh-water flush at the start of the wash formula. Many medicines and body fluids react unfavorably in the presence of heat or wash chemicals.

The key to overcoming a stain is the willingness to do the detective work required to identify the cause, then asking for help from the appropriate people to develop a system to avoid it.

March 8, 2012
Winning Your Future!

ROANOKE, Va. — By developing a plan for winning your future, your reward will be happiness and peace

ROANOKE, Va. — We have nearly completed the first quarter of 2012 and it is time to take stock of where we are and where we want to go. It is time to develop a plan for the future.

It has often been said that failing to plan is planning to fail. In many ways, our happiness is dependent upon how effectively we manage our time and resources. In this column, I will discuss the need to keep our lives in balance, avoiding overemphasizing one part of our life at the cost of another.

We should be making goals and developing plans to improve some key areas in our lives: employment, finances, physical health, education, and social and emotional strength. Winning your future depends upon your ability to deal with all these areas at the same time.

Most of us spend a large amount of our time working on the employment portion of our life. I am blessed to have found laundry management, a vocation that I truly enjoy. But this is not the case for everyone.

I once knew a Milwaukee bus driver who hated driving a bus. He made sure that all his friends knew how much he hated it and how anxious he was to get his 20 years in so he could retire. Unfortunately, he only counted down the days to his early retirement and failed to develop other marketable skills that would help him find a job later. Consequently, after he had retired and moved to another state, he ended up once again driving a bus because it was his only marketable skill.

We should have a plan in place that will improve our marketable skills and help us get a better job in our field or in a new one. The laundry industry is facing many challenges, and we need to stay abreast of the skills and knowledge needed to meet them.

We also need to improve how we manage our finances. My mother told me that our needs, wants and desires always expand faster than our paycheck. A key to winning your future is to effectively live within your means.

Your happiness is not based on how much you make but on how effectively you manage your expenses. Our society encourages people to buy now and pay later, so it is easy for people to accumulate too much debt. The housing crisis is a stark reminder of what happens when we overreach our income.

Physical health is also important. It is certainly something that younger people do not spend a lot of time worrying about. When we are young, we believe we will live forever and there is no direct cause and effect between our choices and our health. As we get older, the realization that certain choices do affect our health is a hard pill to swallow.

I have put myself on a fairly vigorous exercise and diet program. My goal is to trim down and improve my muscle tone so my choices in my retirement (4 years, 10 months away) will not be limited. Many health insurance programs are now giving incentives for people to make healthy choices and improve their lifestyles. The trend is moving in that direction. I encourage you to get ahead of the trend and start now instead of later.

We all have untapped abilities, and we should look for opportunities to expand our knowledge in areas that we find interesting. We often think of education as something we only did when we were young and went to school, or those things we must learn for work. Education can enrich our lives and expand our horizons. There is so much to learn, and numerous opportunities await us online, at local colleges, and in our neighborhood bookstore.

The need to develop social and emotional strength recognizes that none of us are an island unto ourselves. We need the touch and companionship of other people. We need to be able to deal with rejection or criticism. We need to develop strong bands of fellowship and love.

Winning your future depends upon developing realistic goals in each of these areas and, most importantly, trying to keep your life in balance. If we emphasize one area of our life for too long, it will negatively affect other key areas. The person who is always at work may find that both his health and his social life are suffering. Many a marriage has ended in divorce because a person failed to keep an appropriate balance in his or her life.

Take charge of your life. By developing a plan for winning your future, your reward will be happiness and peace.

February 2, 2012
A Reusable Barrier Isolation Gown Success Story (Part 1 of 3)

ROANOKE, Va. — I once wrote about having an opportunity to use reusable barrier isolation gowns in all the hospitals that comprise the Carilion Clinic. The ability to start such a program was rewarding after having failed to gain approval over the previous seven years.

My first experience with reusable barrier gowns, at Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee, was the result of the then-new OSHA bloodborne pathogens guidelines. The program was extremely successful, and we were able to develop a special wash formula with the use of a Sutter Hydrostatic tester.

We knew that the wash formula would need to be different than for any other product washed because the barrier gowns didn’t sequester any chemicals placed in the washer. They all stayed in solution and were available to react with any soil present.

We also knew that residual surfactant on the gown would reduce its barrier properties. The Sutter Hydrostatic tester gave us immediate feedback on how the wash formula was working and provided easily repeatable results. We had tried sending samples of linen to an outside laboratory for testing, but it often took 7-10 days to get results. If there was a problem, we wanted to know about it now, not several weeks down the road.

When I became the director of linen services at Carilion, I wanted to introduce reusable barrier isolation gowns to help save the hospitals money and to increase the laundry’s value. I approached the infection control department at our largest facility and was told it could not support such a program for several reasons:

  • Staff would try to wear a reusable isolation gown multiple times during a day
  • Staff would wear the reusable isolation gowns outside to smoke (thus presenting a poor appearance)
  • The laundry would not be able to keep up with the volume
  • The laundry staff would have greater exposure to infectious diseases
  • The distribution system would be difficult to manage
  • There were quality-control concerns

I laid out my best counter arguments but simply could not make any headway. I knew that, eventually, outside events would provide me with an opportunity to provide this type of product.

Opportunity for Introduction

The use of disposable isolation gowns worldwide went through the roof due to the H1N1 virus and most users were put on a quota system based on previous orders. This supply-chain problem, combined with nurses’ disgust in the amount of trash they were generating every day, created the opportunity to make another pitch for reusable gowns.

A supply chain consultant had proposed the reusable barrier isolation gown project the previous year but it had not been given serious consideration.

My goal, and that of nursing, was to establish a pilot study for the gowns on a few select high-use areas to see if the product and the proposed packaging system were workable. We wanted to test end-users’ reaction to the product in comparison to disposables.

Monday: Product packaging and distribution design...

August 31, 2010
Crothall Laundry Breaks New Ground; Milwaukee-Area Plant to be Company’s First from Scratch

OAK CREEK, Wis. — The sun glistened off the silvery blades of ceremonial shovels as one group after another took turns posing in front of earth-moving equipment at the site of what is to be Crothall Laundry Services’ first built-from-the-ground-up facility.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place Aug. 11, and site preparation for construction of the $13 million plant in this community south of Milwaukee has since begun.

April 14, 2010
Trade Secrets Aren't What Separate Us

I really enjoy facing the various challenges that come my way. Sometimes they are new business opportunities, sometimes they are new and better ways to do business.

But no matter what they are, they always come with the risk of failure. I have come to see that failure is not a bad thing. If you have never failed, then you have never reached for or known greatness.

September 2, 2009
HLAC-Accredited Plants Number 75 and Rising (Part 1 of 2)

BATAVIA, Ill. — Superior Health Linens’ brand-new plant here is the latest facility to seek accreditation by the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC), a non-profit organization that determines by inspection if applicant laundries meet or exceed high standards for processing healthcare textiles.

April 15, 2009
Who Says Laundry Work Can’t Be Fun?

Day after day, the bad economic news keeps coming. I hear statements about this being the worst economy the country has ever faced, worse even than the Great Depression. Reporters are trying to outdo each other by using new adjectives to describe the economy. The government is going on the largest, single spending spree in our country’s history.

This constant stream of bad news can only serve to make the economic conditions worse and cast a feeling of depression over the entire country.

June 4, 2005
Solving the 'Case of the Sunrise Stain Stumper'

Several times a year, someone asks me about a poor-quality wash or stains. My personal philosophy about stains has always been that they represent a failure to properly handle or clean the fabric.

I’ve found that stains are frequently caused by improper wash formulas. I was convinced that I hadn’t met a stain I couldn’t beat ... until I arrived in Milwaukee.

May 1, 2004
Flow Rack, Touted for Productivity, Has Weaknesses

Of all the equipment that a manager can purchase for his laundry, I believe that the flow rack receives the most hype.

In theory, it is an unbeatable piece of equipment that provides a sure-fire way to ensure that linen moves through the storage system on a “first-in, first-out” basis. It facilitates the making of exchange carts and helps with inventory management. I have seen many laundries purchase them because the potential benefits for these items are so high.