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August 28, 2012
What Do We Do When the Power Goes Out? (Part 3 of 3)

CHICAGO — Input from uniforms/workwear manufacturing and linen supply sectors

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

Typically power interruptions come with myriad issues, like the aftermaths of storms and major weather events. Laundry plants are a major operation, from an energy, water and sewer supply steve kallenbachperspective. To have an on-site backup system in place (electrical, steam, water, sewer) would be a daunting and expensive proposition. Laundries do, however, lean on sister operations, suppliers, and, many times, competitors when catastrophe occurs.

National and regional companies have a distinct advantage here, since their locations can back each other up. Using relay trucks, they typically truck laundry back and forth, just like a depot situation. Not quite as easy as it sounds, but most, if not all, of these larger companies have contingency plans in place.

Smaller independents should have a plan in place as well. This means you reach out to another independent or national in your geographical area (typically one far enough away that they don’t directly compete) and make a contingency plan to back each other up in the case of a catastrophic event.

Our industry is an amazing community. When catastrophe occurs, everyone jumps in to help, regardless of competitive situation. But it does behoove an independent to draw up a more formal plan of action, and even an agreement to support, with another company. Many times, the cost of processing can be set for each other, so that both parties have their costs in place.

Typically, regardless of the support in place, a laundry has to “put in” at least one day’s supply of textiles into the system to recover immediately. Make sure that your suppliers have healthy inventories of “route-ready” goods in place for your core merchandise. If you have the cash on hand, it may even be a good idea to have these goods on site, and secured for emergency purposes.

Communication is the biggest issue in these situations. All of your associates need to be accounted for, not only that they are OK, but that they are going to be able to show up for work. All of your customers need to be called, not only to make sure they know you'll be open and on which day, but to ascertain their special inventory needs for cleanup, etc.

Whether you manage a large national location or an independently owned operation, you should have a detailed plan of action, starting with an outline on Processing Support, Logistics Support, Route Ready (New) Textiles, Employee Communication and Customer Communication.

A final word of advice: whether you are billing out extra merchandise in an emergency or for normal operations, make sure you have an accounting method in place so you know whether you got your goods back after the storm. The cost of catastrophe is many times seen in lost textiles. Your typical merchandise control rules go out the door during crisis. Don’t let them! Make sure goods are accounted for, regardless.

Your emergency contingency plan should be thought out, written out, reviewed and tested in training. The key in any catastrophic crisis is to carefully think through your plan of action beforeit happens.

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

Having a written, updated disaster plan in place will help identify problem areas in advance, and direct you toward anticipating problems (including power outages) and having procedures in place to effectively deal with them.

stephen marcqThe Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA) has provided excellent and recent information about creating one. This is a great time to either get to work on such a plan for your company, or pull the current plan out and update information as needed.

Speaking from the customer service side, communication, both internal and external, can be critical during the first hours of a power outage.

One key short-term issue is accessibility to your computer system and software without power. For example, being able to contact your customer base from offsite phones could be helpful, but you need access to the information in your database to do so.

Also key is the ability to receive calls, faxes and e-mails. With many companies now using VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) systems, your phones go out along with computers when the power does.

Having small backup generators in place can help maintain continuity and allow key customer service and billing/invoicing functions to continue.

Printing or uploading invoicing to handhelds a day in advance at minimum is good practice, as is fully loading delivery trucks a day in advance. Both these steps will buy additional time, during which power will hopefully return and production will have resumed.

If not, you will have already started to implement other parts of your disaster plan, such as reaching out to competitors you have reciprocity agreements with, borrowing or ordering additional products, etc.

Most power outages last a day or two at most, and as long as you can talk to your customers, print invoices and communicate internally and externally, you should be OK.

Click here for Part 1!

Click here for Part 2!

August 22, 2012
What Do We Do When the Power Goes Out? (Part 2 of 3)

CHICAGO — Input from textiles and at-large sectors

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

The topic this month is intended for laundries based here in the States, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to share how this issue is of continuous tom langdonconcern for producers of the products these laundries process.

Power outages are a constant problem for textile vendors in India and Pakistan. This is due mostly to internal infrastructure problems that have no short-term fix. Both the Indian and Pakistan governments impose rolling blackouts to cope with increasing demands for energy. It is a balancing act between residential and industrial consumption needs, and the problem is magnified in the winter.

Earlier this year in Faisalabad, Pakistan, I toured a factory where patient gown fabric is printed in the dark because there was no power available to turn on the lights. Most of the larger factories have installed auxiliary power generation, either diesel-powered generators or coal-fired boilers.

Now back to the States. As our company is a supplier of reusable textiles, I inquired how we would handle a situation like this. We have a plan, the Emergency Response Process, available to our customers that can be enacted in an emergency. The plan allows us to provide additional product in an expedited manner to assist the customer/laundry in meeting their service requirements.

I interviewed several large laundry customers on how they prepare for short- and long-term power disruptions. The responses ranged from “we have no contingency plan” to a fully documented detailed plan for addressing these situations.

The typical detailed plan included an introduction that described why the plan was created, and it contained a list of laundry contacts that could provide backup processing options. A list of customer contacts was included to help facilitate communications in advising of the situation and to employ linen conservation if needed. The contingency plan clearly outlines emergency action plans and preparations for inclement weather. Some plans lay out step-by-step what is to happen before, during and after a storm.

It is a good idea to base your plan on the cause of the interruption. If it is equipment or internally related, you probably have more options on maintaining your service level. If the interruption is weather-related, it could mean that your options locally would be more limited, and you might have to tap into resources outside the affected area. This could lead to trucking soiled linen to a distant backup processor and require expedited logistics.

Depending on your situation, having additional linen on hand or quick access to your supplier, as well as access to a power generator, will help you weather a storm.

MEMBER AT LARGE: DOUGLAS STORY, SWISHER HYGIENE

douglas storyThree options are available to the average laundry. First is a backup generator capable of generating enough power to keep operations going until power restored. Many of our hospital and governmental operations have such systems in place to support operations during times of disaster. If the power goes down, the backup system kicks in until power is restored.

The strengths of this option include an immediate solution to power loss; it is always available; and it is totally under your control. The weaknesses are that the system is expensive to set up; the fuel and tank system needs to be maintained; it has a finite life span (depending on the fuel needed to run the system); it needs to be evaluated and periodically tested to keep it operational; and the system can be damaged in the same disaster that shuts down operations.

Another option is having support or disaster agreements in place with other laundry operations that are in your region but far enough away that it’s unlikely both facilities will be knocked out at the same time. Many operations knocked out by Hurricane Hugo in Charleston, S.C., and by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans were forced to ship product for processing as far north as Richmond and Atlanta, respectively.

The agreements are generally reciprocal since no one knows which plant might suffer a natural or “man-made” disaster that would shut down business for any length of time. The strengths of such agreements are that they are relatively easy to develop and negotiate, and they have a low cost. Weaknesses include a potential that the backup facility will suffer the same fate; there are logistics and delivery issues; they can be expensive when the trigger is pulled, but cost is rarely the issue; the agreement can be dissolved or lost at an inopportune time; and the program may no longer be under your control when needed.

The third option is that, for a short term, your plant may have a sufficient par level of linen on hand to cover your customer base while power is off. This would, however, be only enough to last for a short term—hours or a few days at most. The strengths of this option are the ease in which it can be set up and that it keeps your service operating and employees working. Weaknesses include the expense; the inventory and space needs; and that there is a short-term, finite life span on this action—when the linen is gone, the plant is down.

For a longer-term solution, blend all three contingencies for the best strategy. Again, strengths and weaknesses must be evaluated, and I’ve only touched on a few of them here. There will be unique issues with each strategy depending on size of your plant, geography and distribution of your customer base, and the “depth” and intensity of the disaster your plant is facing.

Check back on Tuesday for Part 3!

Click here for Part 1!

August 21, 2012
What Do We Do When the Power Goes Out? (Part 1 of 3)

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

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

tom gildredA contingency plan for power outages should be comprehensive and encompass multiple areas within the operation. As a healthcare laundry, it is critical to deliver consistently and on time to customers. We employ a contingency plan outlined as follows:

  • Provide ample supply of par at customers’ facilities
  • Work in advance
  • Maintain an inventory of processed linen
  • Maintain an inventory of new linen
  • Prepare for emergency through redundancy and backup plans
  • Operate with reserve capacity

First, managing within The Joint Commission’s requirements to maintain a certain par, or number of days’ worth of laundry at customers’ facilities, and ensuring ample supply for the appropriate number of days is important. Second, working ahead in the plant, and having processed linen ready for delivery in advance aids readiness and consistent supply. Holding in reserve new linen at your own plant facilitates the availability of excess inventory in the case of emergency or power outage.

Securing additional power generation in case of emergency is important for successful contingency planning. Either owning your own backup power generator and maintaining it, or identifying suppliers and securing an agreement to lease a generator when needed is a proactive approach to ensure your laundry is in the front of the queue within hours of the request, at a time when demand may be high. Having agreements with backup processors in a geographically desirable radius of your service areas should be the final step in your contingency plan.

Finally, processing below actual capacity allows the operation to ramp up throughput and provide additional volume after an interruption. By operating below total capacity, a facility not only reduces wear and tear on equipment, it ensures its ability to respond quickly and “catch up” as needed in outage situations. Plant redundancy is a crucial aspect of capacity, and having a facility with extra machinery, boiler power and air compression allows for tremendous increase in throughput when needed.

We at Emerald Textiles tested our contingency plan on Sept. 8, 2011, when all of San Diego County and some neighboring cities were completely without power. Having a solid plan in place allowed us to maintain operations and deliveries seamlessly.

HEALTHCARE LAUNDRY: SCOTT BEATON, KAISER PERMANENTE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

The definition of a good contingency plan is as follows:

scott beatonThe plan shall provide for the uninterrupted operations and services in the event of any occurrence potentially leading to the disruption of the provider’s operations. Such disruptions include, but are not limited to, loss of utilities, medical emergencies, natural and/or man-made disasters, fire, inclement weather, work stoppage, and/or major accidents.

A contingency plan should include the following components:

  • Plant and transportation contingency protocol
  • Key member re-call chain
  • Contact list of backup laundry facilities
  • Backup source of textiles on call

The provider should furnish a mechanism to inform. A step-by-step procedure should be in place in the event of an emergency and shall be available to supervisors, each of whom may be responsible for execution of the protocol.

All employees should be familiar with the major elements of the plants contingency protocol in the event of emergencies.

The pyramid re-call chain should be written, complete, current, and available to all supervisory personnel, so that timely and accurate contact can be made in case of an emergency.

A designated person should maintain the call chain and be responsible for updating it at least annually or when personnel changes occur, and distributing the list to personnel.

The facility should have written agreements with one or more alternate laundry providers that could cover the facility’s volume, detailing when and how these providers will process textiles in an emergency.

Such agreements shall be updated annually, signed and dated.

The provider should have adequate transportation capabilities with contingency planning.

The facility should have written agreements in place with one or more alternate textile suppliers, detailing the services and delivery times provided.

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

Power outages tend to be regional—it is unlikely an entire city will be without power. As a contingency plan, have another laundry ready to take your work in marlene williamscase of a short-term power outage. This can be another institution in the same business you are, or a commercial laundry.

Have the agreements worked out in advance so that the switchover is as smooth as possible. There will have to be many accommodations made in your facility to get this done, and you need a contingency plan that everyone understands and agrees to.

The second thing you can do is to acquire a dedicated gas-powered generator that automatically comes on in the event of an emergency. Laundries can be “sinkholes” for power, however, so the best idea here if you have a large laundry is to maintain a dedicated generator with the ability to “dump” large quantities of power on demand. (A large washer going into extract can pull down an incredible amount of power in the first 30 seconds of start-up, so your generator system needs to be able to accommodate this huge spike in demand.)

These two actions, along with keeping adequate linen on hand (having a two-par inventory in locked storage would help if you are located in an area where power outages might be expected) are your options for addressing power outages.

It is far less likely that you will suffer a gas outage, but it is still a good idea to have a propane backup for the possible loss of natural gas (I’m thinking here of ground disturbances such as earthquakes). The changeover from natural gas to propane is relatively easy, and your maintenance team should be ready for this conversion at any time with the parts and know-how to get the job done quickly and with a minimum of disruption.

If you are in a zone where these ground disturbances are probable, get a large propane tank and prep your team for this contingency.

(Editor’s note: Williams received assistance from consultant John White in writing this month’s response.)

Check back tomorrow for Part 2!

July 14, 2011
Lessons from the Spring Storms

ROANOKE, Va. — Much has been said about having backup plans in case of disasters. The recent storms in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia have brought fresh attention to the subject. Here are some valuable lessons learned during these violent spring storms.

Does your laundry have a weather radio to warn you of approaching storms? Having time to prepare is essential in avoiding injuries. These particular storms moved extremely fast and often happened without a lot of warning. The situation quickly moved from a weather advisory to a weather warning to the actual storm.

Do your employees know where to go in case of a violent storm? Establish severe-weather shelters within your place of business and train all employees about what to do in case of a weather emergency. Quick thinking on the part of a home-improvement store manager saved the lives of his customers and his employees. We all want to believe it will never happen to us, but being prepared will help us get through the storm if it does happen.

Northern Alabama was without power from a Wednesday afternoon until Sunday night, and the area affected by this power outage was extremely large. Debris blocked major roads. Having no power, gas stations were closed. As a result of the storms, the need for linen in hospitals and hotels increased dramatically. Is your organization prepared to function under these circumstances?

Does your laundry have a backup generator? Is it large enough to allow you to run your entire laundry? When a large region like northern Alabama, with many key defense industries, is without power, it would be difficult to obtain a portable generator to run your laundry. Further complicating the problem would be the number of roads rendered impassable due to debris.

Another problem caused by the lack of power was the loss of many land-based and cellular phones. A number of cellular towers were destroyed. If you are unable to contact your employees by phone, how will they know when to return to work?

Having the assurance of a backup generator as part of your facility and established plans to operate your facility immediately after a disaster will aid your employees in understanding their role and responsibilities.

The lack of fuel for trucks and employees’ cars is an unexpected problem. I must admit that I had not taken this into consideration as part of my disaster-preparedness plan. Certainly, having a leasing company with its own pumps and backup generator would be one way to prepare for this occurrence. Knowing ahead of time which fuel sources would be available in case of a power outage would also be helpful.

Parts of northern Alabama had a dusk-till-dawn curfew, which limited the hours a laundry or business could operate. This would cause havoc to a plan that requires a laundry to extend its operational hours due to an undersized generator.

Trucks that were clearly identified as essential service vehicles made the delivery of linen easier, as many roads were closed except for emergency or essential service vehicles.

I am confident that there are additional lessons to be learned from the violent storms that struck in April but I could only touch on some of the key issues. I certainly hope that we will not need to put too many of these lessons to the test in the near future.