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Updated April 30, 2013:

DALLAS — Industrial laundry equipment manufacturer Kannegiesser USA celebrated the 65^th anniversary of parent company Herbert Kannegiesser GmbH with a special dinner here Thursday night, during which it was announced that Kannegiesser USA President Michael Dreher will retire June 1 and Executive Vice President Phil Hart will assume that role.

Hart joined Grand Prairie, Texas-based Kannegiesser USA in 2004 as vice president of marketing, bringing with him more than a decade of industry and product experience. He was promoted to executive vice president in early 2012.

Dreher, who served as president for 13 years, will retain an advisory role that involves marketing the Kannegiesser brand in the Americas.

Kannegiesser GmbH President and CEO Martin Kannegiesser says both Dreher and Hart have demonstrated abilities in combining leadership and teamwork.

The two men thanked the staff and Kannegiesser for their support in making the U.S. market the company's third largest behind France and Germany.

Kannegiesser USA is planning to display several products new to the United States at the upcoming Clean Show.

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.

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

Several laundry and linen operations were destroyed by saltwater flooding and storm surges, caused by winds of 85 to 90 miles per hour, while numerous other operations were knocked out of service for weeks by power outages, due to overhead electrical lines downed by fallen trees.

A confluence of events, combining a tropical storm, a hurricane, and a high tide, caused by a full moon—some dubbed it the Perfect Storm—created a strong storm surge of 14 feet and left an estimated 102 people dead and caused an estimated $50 billion in property damage and lost business along the East Coast.

On the east side of Manhattan, flood waters from the East River traveled 600 feet and destroyed the laundry and research facilities in Hunter College’s Brookdale Health Science Center on East 25th Street. Salt water also flooded the dormitory in which 660 residents lived. Many of the campus’ programs will be relocated to Hunter College’s main campus on East 68 Street in Manhattan, according to Jennifer Raab, the college president.

The storm also shuttered the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital on East 23th Street, Bellevue Hospital Center on East 27th Street, and New York University Langone Medical Center on East 32nd Street, all located on First Avenue, less than 1,000 feet from the East River. Three weeks later, the hospitals were still closed.

“The East River rose and flooded the basement and first floor and knocked out our electrical and heating systems and linen services,” says Thomas Johnson, a spokesman for the VA hospital in Manhattan. “It may be springtime before we can reopen again.”

In Somers Point, N.J., a popular Jersey shore resort town, the laundry in the Pier Four luxury hotel was flooded and destroyed by more than three feet of ocean water.

“We’re working hard to get back on our feet,” says Bill Wallace, the hotel owner.

Further down the shore, the storm forced the closing for four days of Atlantic City Linen, which services Atlantic City’s casino hotels. The city’s casino hotels closed during the storm.

In many cases, emergency preparedness and disaster plans, as well as backup generators, enabled laundries to maintain continuity of service. In other cases, however, backup generators were flooded, and the best-laid plans failed.

Riverview Medical Center, which sits on the Navesink River in Red Bank, N.J., revised and enhanced its disaster planning process following Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011, and “came out better because of it,” according to Tim Hogan, hospital president.

The hospital ordered extra supplies of linen and bedding, and an emergency response team set up storm barriers and stacked sand bags behind the hospital “to ward off substantial storm damage,” he says. When the river rose on Oct. 29, the barriers held.

In New York, once the storm knocked out power, backup generators were flooded and knocked out of service in both NYU Langone Medical Center, which has 800 beds, and Bellevue Hospital Center, the nation’s oldest continuously operating hospital, which has 828 beds. New York City officials were forced to evacuate both facilities and make arrangements to relocate patients to other city hospitals.

At this writing, Bellevue was still conducting an extensive clean-up and recovery effort, including pumping 17 million gallons of salt water out of its basement. On Nov. 19, the hospital began offering limited ambulatory primary care services for adult and pediatric patients. Bellevue may not resume accepting admissions before February, according to Ruth Hunt, a hospital spokeswoman.

The fuel tanks for NYU’s backup generator were also located in the basement of the hospital. Hospital engineers are still making assessments of the environmental damage caused by the mixture of salt water and diesel fuel from the tanks. Dr. Robert Grossman, the chief executive officer of NYU Langone, estimates the total cost of storm damage, clean up, rebuilding, and lost patient revenue for the medical center at $750 million to $1 billion.

In mid-November, the New York City Council voted to approve $500 million in emergency capital funding to make vital repairs to public schools and public hospitals damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The repair needs include structural restorations, new boilers, new electrical systems, roof repair, flood remediation and more.

Tomorrow: More on the storm aftermath and how some equipment makers have established programs to help affected laundries recover

SHAWNEE MISSION, Kan. — The International Association for Healthcare Textile Management (IAHTM) has announced its officers and board of directors for 2013. Officers include:

• President Ed McCauley, United Hospital Services, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Vice President Deborah Lark, Portland Hospital Service Corp., Portland, Ore.
• Education Officer Rocco Romeo, Ottawa Regional Hospital Linen Service Inc., Ottawa, Ontario
• Treasurer Paul Seigel, Kingston Regional Hospital Laundry Inc., Kingston, Ontario
• Past President John Sealey, London Hospital Linen Services, London, Ontario
• Past President Chas P. Olin, Virginia Hospital Laundry Inc., Richmond, Va.

The IAHTM Board of Directors includes three members from the United States and three from Canada. U.S. directors are Myles Noel, COMTEX, Columbus, Ohio; Mark Smoyer, Shared Hospital Services, Portsmouth, Va.; and Duane Houvener, Michigan Shared Hospital Services, Grand Rapid, Mich.

Canadian directors are Janice Desautels, WRHA, Winnipeg, Manitoba; Colin Lyon, Mohawk Shared Services Inc., Hamilton, Ontario; and Stephen Marois, Alberta Health Services, Red Deer, Alberta. Nancy Jenkins is executive director, based in Shawnee Mission, Kan.

IAHTM is composed of CEOs who run laundry cooperatives. The group is a buying cooperative and hosts two education meetings a year: a Spring Education Conference that provides training for staff and an Annual Membership Conference that provides education for members, as well as networking. Banff Springs Resort in Alberta, Canada, will host IAHTM’s next Annual Meeting in August.

For more information, contact Nancy Jenkins, nancy@iahtm.com, or visit the association’s website, www.iahtm.com.

CHICAGO — The Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) named the winners of its top annual awards here last week at its 100th Anniversary Chairman's Dinner, part of its Annual Conference & Exhibits.

Gerald Ostrow, president of CleanCare, Pittsburgh, received the TRSA Operator Lifetime Achievement Award. Pat Dempsey, Dempsey Uniform & Linen, introduced Ostrow and described him as a friend and mentor. He also praised Ostrow—a B 24 bomber pilot during World War II—for his many contributions to the textile service industry and beyond.

“He served on task forces,” Dempsey says. “He served on committees. He served his country. He serves through his church. He came back and he served as chair and he served as a director. He’s going to continue his life of service and achievement. And it puts everything in perspective when you know the man.”

Jeff Frushtick, president/CEO of Leonard Automatics, Denver, N.C., received the association's top accolade for associate members, the Maglin/Biggie Associate Lifetime Achievement Award. He told the audience he is grateful to the people of the industry who make him feel at home wherever he goes, and he thanked them for “the opportunity to come into your laundries, your lives and work together to improve the product that’s going on the street.”

Other award winners were:

• TRSA LaundryESP® Innovation Award — ARAMARK-Wayne Memorial Hospital, for its focus on environmental sustainability
• SafeTRSA™ Innovation Award — Cintas Corp., for its ongoing commitment to improving safety in commercial laundries
• Volunteer Leadership Awards — Outgoing committee chairs Jim Buckman, Cintas; Alan Maness, Milliken & Co.; David Potack and Rob Potack, Unitex Textile Rental Services; Carey Scurria, Alsco; and David Struminger, Mohenis Services

The next day, Jim Doro, president/CEO of Doritex Corp., was elected the 61^st chair of TRSA, succeeding Ostrow, who remains on the board's executive committee as past chair.

Others elected or re-elected to TRSA posts were treasurer David DiFillippo, UniFirst Corp., and board members Jim Kearns, Alsco; Bob Brill, Republic Master Chefs; Jim Buik, The Roscoe Co.; Scott Delin, Superior Uniform Group; and Michael Schuelke, ARAMARK Uniform Services.

CHICAGO — If U.S. voters side with the majority of institutional and industrial laundry managers and administrators who responded to October's AmericanLaundryNews.com Wire survey, Mitt Romney will be elected the 45th president of the United States next month.

Roughly 62% of Wire subscribers (which include personnel from institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries) polled in the anonymous, unscientific survey say they are supporting the Republican ticket of Romney and running mate Paul Ryan. Roughly 15% are supporting Democratic incumbents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and 23.1% are not sure at this time. No one who took the survey said they would not be voting for president, or that they are supporting a third-party or write-in candidate.

The state of the economy will be most influential in helping 50% of respondents decide how to cast their vote next month. (Respondents were asked to pick one issue from a list of 19, including “other.”) Next is debt management (selected by 23.1%) and “other” (chosen by 7.7%; most said they would be influenced by multiple issues). Equal shares of 3.8% see the environment/global warming, foreign policy, healthcare, party affiliation, or taxes as the issue that will most influence their decision.

No matter who is elected next month, they will have a lot of work to do. Regardless of who's elected, what is the one issue that you think the administration must address immediately?

Among respondents, their answers most often related to the economy, government spending and job creation. Some examples:

• “Balance budget without increasing or adding any new taxes. Stop all this government spending. Middle-class people can't afford it.”
• “Jobs. The American people have been very patient with the administration for the past four years, but it is time that people get out there and make some money. People need to get their homes back, and big businesses need to play a part in all this. The banks should be forced to return the money given to them by the feds.”
• “Putting people back to work. Reduce the welfare rolls. Try something like the old WPA that worked during the Depression, and stop all this crap from China. Force American-made first by having companies have to manufacture at least 30% of their products here instead of abroad. No tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas.”
• “The economy. If more people are back to work, that will generate more revenue for the government. However, the government needs to cut spending and create a budget.”
• “The economy is the most important issue. If not addressed, we, as a nation, are doomed.”

While the Wire survey presents a snapshot of readers’ viewpoints at a particular moment, it should not be considered scientific.

Subscribers to Wire e-mails—distributed twice weekly—are invited to take the industry survey anonymously online each month. All managers and administrators of institutional/OPL, cooperative, commercial and industrial laundries are encouraged to participate, as a greater number of responses will help to better define operator opinions and industry trends.

CHICAGO — The laundry and dry cleaning industry lost two vendor leaders recently with the passings of Steven Katz, CEO of ThermoSteam Industries, and Gene Blumenthal, founder and president of Metro-Chem Inc.

Steven Mark Katz, 1948-2012

Katz, 63, South Bend, Ind., died Monday. He was born and raised in South Bend. He attended Indiana University, where he graduated with a history degree in 1970. He pursued a career in laundry and dry cleaning, and eventually became the CEO of two companies: ThermoSteam Systems, manufacturer of packaged steam boilers, and Kay Industries, producer of phase converters.

Katz was active in the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA), having served on its board of directors for four years and as treasurer for two.

He was also active in his local community and his congregation, Sinai Synagogue. He was known as an extraordinary orator and was called upon to emcee various events in the South Bend area over the years.

Surviving him are his wife, Laurie Katz; three children, Hal, David and Jamie Katz; three brothers, Larry, Marty and Stuart Katz; a sister, Debbie Sandock; and four grandsons. Condolences may be sent to the family via McGann Hay Funerals.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Sinai Synagogue, 1102 E. LaSalle Ave., South Bend, IN 46617; or to the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley, 3202 Shalom Way, South Bend, IN 46615.

Eugene “Gene” G. Blumenthal, 1940-2012

Blumenthal, 71, of Marlboro, N.J., died July 30 at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J.

He began his career in the late 1960s as a sales representative for Stauffer Chemical before moving on to become a regional sales manager for PQ Corp. in the 1970s.

Building on his personable style, technical knowledge and ability to formulate innovative laundry chemistry, Blumenthal became founder and president of Metro-Chem, a formulator of chemicals for the laundry industry, in 1980. He oversaw the company until his death. His partner of 32 years, Pete Potocki, has assumed the role of Metro-Chem’s president.

Surviving Blumenthal are his wife of 26 years, Elizabeth; his son, David; his daughter, Helaine; his mother, Beatrice; his brother, Allen; and four grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to the family via Freeman Funeral Homes.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes that any donations be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

CHICAGO — Your company is weighing its laundry services options, and pursuing a new plant is a possibility. So what should the average laundry manager know about plant design?

American Laundry News recently invited several engineering, construction and consulting firms with laundry services expertise to respond to some questions about this issue.

ALN: Is there a basic design template that will work for virtually any institutional, industrial or commercial laundry, or is each and every plant’s design unique?

DAVID BERNSTEIN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TURN-KEY INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.

All institutional, industrial and commercial laundries share certain common design elements (e.g. the need for washers, dryers, finishing equipment, etc.), but outside of those common elements, every laundry design is unique.

Laundry design is dictated by a wide variety of factors, including safety of production employees, the current and future product mix, throughput requirements, local regulatory constraints, and, of course, the budget.

There are certain situations in which a basic design template can be used successfully. Operators who have multiple plants processing essentially the same product mix have for years been successful at duplicating the basic design of a plant in other locations. In these situations, the engineering and design teams simply calculate the current and future production needs of the new facility, and scale the quantity of equipment and the associated building size to meet those needs.

BOB CORFIELD, PRESIDENT/CEO, LAUNDRY DESIGN GROUP, PHOENIX, ARIZ.

If all the business conditions are the same or similar, yes, there can be a general template for design. Large national companies work hard to achieve this by staying highly focused on certain markets. But as the mix of work, type of customers, physical space and growth requirements or restrictions are considered, each plant takes on its own personality.

ED KWASNICK, DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, LAUNDRY DIVISION, ARCO/MURRAY NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CO., OAKBROOK TERRACE, ILL.

From 30,000 feet, the production flow and departmental functions for all laundry facilities are similar. They each receive soiled goods, sort the goods by classification, wash, dry, finish, store the goods for delivery, load the clean goods on vehicles, and deliver them to the customer. But that is where the similarities end.

Each laundry must be custom-designed to meet its unique needs based on these issues: type of goods (healthcare linen, hospitality linen, food and beverage linen, industrial garments, mats); rental vs. COG; manual vs. automated systems; single-shift vs. multiple-shift operation; high quality vs. high output; and project budget.

All of these factors must be carefully considered when developing a plant design, and the design must be customized to meet the needs of the operator and their customers.

GERARD O'NEILL, PRESIDENT/CEO, AMERICAN LAUNDRY SYSTEMS, HAVERHILL, MASS.

No, there is not a basic design template that will work for all. Every plant is unique and has different needs. The design will be based on the work load, type of work to be processed, space available, processing needs, future growth, hours of operation, available utilities, local codes/restrictions and, of course, available budget.

GLEN PHILLIPS, P.E., PRESIDENT AND SENIOR ASSOCIATE, PHILLIPS & ASSOCIATES, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

Phillips and Associates follows a step-by-step flow diagram for laundry design projects: 1) develop the total annual processing load by pieces and pounds, 2) determine the number of operating hours per week, 3) determine the hourly production requirements, 4) determine space requirements, 5) develop equipment needs, 6) develop labor staffing requirements, 7) develop space cost, 8) develop equipment costs, 9) develop labor costs, and 10) develop a complete financial package: total capital costs, total operating costs, and two years of cash flow.

ALN: What factors dictate just how much square footage a laundry requires?

CORFIELD

Again, it depends on the type of plant and whether or not it serves one customer (an in-house hotel or hospital) or outside customers, and is rental/pool linen or COG processing. If healthcare, do the end-users do bulk delivery, exchange cart, or a combination?

For healthcare, the best formula I have used successfully is 350-500 pounds per square foot, per single shift. So, a 14 million pound hospital plant would be about 38,000 square feet for production plus another 12-18% for employee spaces and offices (estimate 44,000 square feet). Space is also added for other processing types, such as operating room linen. You can project growth either through added processing (equipment) or more hours. Then adjust your building size requirements accordingly. Keep in mind that the best way to expand a building during design is sometimes up and not out to manage cost constraints for land or construction.

KWASNICK

They include the level of automation, type of equipment, the number of shifts per day, operating days per week, clear height inside the building (low height means you are forced to use carts to work in process and move items from department to department; carts require space for staging and travel), and type of laundry (healthcare vs. industrial vs. hospitality vs. mixed).

O'NEILL

Type of work to be processed, amount of growth that is estimated, hours of operation, and type of equipment that will be installed. The level of automation that any plant considers will also greatly influence the square footage needed. We at ALS believe in using the “cube” of any building. This cuts down drastically on the square footage needed to carry out the process.

PHILLIPS

Anyone who is involved with planning a laundry, whether it be in-house or a remote stand-alone facility, has to enter into the discovery process about all sorts of things. Among those discussion points are each of the items mentioned in my answer to the first question. Developing the total annual processing load and determining the operating hours per week and hourly production requirements must be done before attempting to determine space requirements. The driver to/of the entire process is development of the hourly production requirement. Once that number has been determined, everything beyond that point becomes self-evident.

BERNSTEIN

Unless a client already has an existing building in mind for their new facility, we believe that the right way to design a new laundry is from the inside out. In other words, understand and formulate the processes that will be involved in the operation of the new facility; understand the current and future equipment, staffing and infrastructure needs; and then design the building around these elements. In this way, we are able to minimize the amount of wasted space, while ensuring that we’ve designed a safe, productive, efficient and sustainable operation.

ALN: If an institution or business designing a laundry is eager to take advantage of the latest laborsaving and resource-conserving technologies, what might some of them be?

O’NEILL

Tunnel washer technology; high-speed thermal ironer systems with high-production feeders, folders and stackers; soil and clean monorail system (automated or hybrid systems); and smart conveyors will be some of them. The “steamless” concept is also one that should be closely looked at. Having been a big proponent for many years and having now built four steamless or “less-steam” plants, we feel that is a huge resource/energy conservation idea. The advent of wide presses has also had a large impact on the energy conservation ideas in our industry.

KWASNICK

Here’s a list of old tried-and-true technologies that continue to prove their worth: heat reclaimer, stack economizer, water reuse system, and water recycle system.

And here some of the newer technologies to consider: high-efficiency modular boilers, self-contained thermal ironers, wide ironers, new tunnel washer technology that uses less water (aka Milnor’s PulseFlow), RFID technology, production tracking systems, press-to-dryer rail system (provides additional buffer storage between the tunnel press and dryers, and allows you to use fewer dryers), automated bagging machines, and automated wrapping machines.

PHILLIPS

Without going into a lengthy, drawn-out discussion, some of the thoughts our firm delve into are:

1. What type of productivity does the owner want to achieve?

2. What is the owner’s desire in designing a new plant? Stated another way, what is the “hot button” desired by the owner?

3. If it is a reduction in linen losses, then discuss RFID. If it is a reduction in utilities, then discuss 80% water reduction. If it is to reduce the number of accidents, then discuss material-handling systems. Just about every conceivable idea becomes a discussion point and something to serve as a goal.

4. In this time of LEED, then discuss with the owners the power of conserving energy via the building envelope.

BERNSTEIN

Some of the most significant innovations in equipment over the past decade or so have come from Europe, where the cost of labor continues to skyrocket. Examples of laborsaving technologies include highly automated wash rooms, garment auto-sortation systems, load-on-rail soil sortation, RFID technology, and remote ironer feeding/queuing. As might be expected, an added benefit of using these technologies is an increase in employee health and safety, as well as increases in quality, accuracy and productivity.

Among gas-saving technologies are high-efficiency boilers, modular boiler systems, direct-fired hot water heaters, better extraction technologies to reduce the number of dryers and dry times, and the wide variety of heat reclamation technologies, including those that reuse heat from wastewater.

Another such technology, so-called “steamless” plants, is one that has gained a lot of attention over the past couple of years. The idea is to eliminate the need for steam, and therefore boilers, to heat water, ironers and other finishing equipment. When properly applied under the right circumstances, the energy savings can be striking.

Every wash room should be planned with an eye toward water reuse; this goes for conventional and tunnel washers. And don’t forget the fleet. There are a wide variety of energy-efficient vehicle technologies that should be considered, including EV, hybrid-electric, hydraulic-hybrid, diesel hybrid, and natural gas power plants, and composite or plastic bodied vehicles.

We should note one important caveat. Every situation is unique, and before a technology is applied or specified, we strongly recommend the performance of a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that there is a return for every investment. There is a wide range of technologies available, each with its own “gee whiz” and “coolness” factors, but what works in one operation may not necessarily meet the needs, requirements or vision of another.

CORFIELD

This would include any machine or system that reduces the number of “touches” required in packaging, finishing or transporting product. So, conveyors (belt or rail), pickers, auto strapping/wrapping, auto sorting, and stack transport systems are all high-value considerations.

Resource conservation should be a goal, but should not compromise production or quality. Wastewater heat recovery is essential, new high-efficiency dryers can use half the energy of old dryers, and if you have a tunnel, then upgrading your press is a great decision.

ALN: What effect does the type of goods that a laundry processes, or is going to process, have on the plant’s design?

KWASNICK

It has a tremendous effect on laundry design because it affects the type, size and location of equipment. Traditional linen products (e.g. tablecloths, napkins, sheets, pillowcases, etc.) are handled differently than industrial goods (e.g. uniforms, mats, shop towels, etc.). Soil processing for linen requires dedicated soil-count and soil-sort systems that are highly efficient at separating and counting linen pieces. This is typically not the case for industrial goods.

Linen plants can use tunnel washer technology with an extraction press, where industrial or mixed facilities with tunnel washers will typically use centrifugal extractors. Garments require steam tunnels and presses for finishing. However, linen is finished on an ironer or folded after drying. Flat goods are folded and placed in carts for storage and delivery. Garments are placed on hangers and placed on rails or trolleys for storage and delivery.

Large linen plants with tunnel washers and steam ironers require large boilers and mechanical rooms for those boiler systems. Plants that process only mats require hot water for washing, but no steam. Therefore, they don’t need boilers or traditional boiler rooms.

Healthcare plants also need to comply with new guidelines for soil/clean separation, airflow requirements, PPE requirements and other issues that non-healthcare plants do not need to address in their plant design.

Rental plants can process large batch sizes due to consolidation of like goods, while COG plants must process in smaller batches as they strive to keep customer products separated. Large vs. smaller batch sizes will determine the type and size of washroom equipment as well as flow through the finishing department.

As you can see, all of these issues have an impact on space, production flow, and plant design. And these examples barely scratch the surface.

BERNSTEIN

The type of goods being processed is an extremely important factor in determining the design and requirements of every new plant. Prior to putting pen to paper (or mouse to AutoCAD, as it were), there needs to be a detailed analysis of the products and associated volumes to be processed at start-up and at a future point in time. Every single classification, no matter how small the volume, needs to be included in this data-collection phase so that a laundry capacity analysis can be created and used to determine the new facility’s requirements for equipment, space, staffing and infrastructure.

CORFIELD

Healthcare plant vs. hotel plant design can be somewhat similar, with healthcare having 5-15 times more classifications to process. But healthcare is considerably more complex.

General linen (F&B, kitchen), industrial uniform, medical retail, and dust control all have elements that make their designs unique. All have a scale of volume for certain classes of linen or uniforms that makes sense for certain types of automation, washing or waste treatment. Each will also have specific compliance and regulatory issues that can impact design as well.

O’NEILL

Type of goods that a laundry process has everything to do with plant design. It dictates what kind of equipment is required, type of work flow, overall building height, amount of space required at the soil and clean sides, physical separation requirements, etc. For example, an F&B/mixed plant will need a lot more soil-sort classification compared to a hospitality/linen plant. A healthcare plant will need soil/clean separation while a linen or F&B plant will not.

PHILLIPS

Essentially that is one of the very first questions that must be discussed and resolved. If an end point cannot be reconciled on that point, then all other discussion points comes to a halt.

Tomorrow in Part 2: Renovation vs. building new; the biggest challenges; latest trends; and some final nuggets of wisdom

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Safety and textile services industry leaders addressed representatives from many of the nation’s commercial textile services facilities regarding the importance of continuous safety improvement “in our plants and on our roads” during TRSA’s recent Safety Summit.

“The objectives of this first TRSA Safety Summit were to increase safety awareness and generate initiatives for continuous safety improvements,” says TRSA President/CEO Joseph Ricci. “We must continue to move the industry from compliance and benchmarking against ourselves to a culture of safety measured against the best companies.”

More than 30 textile services companies—national and regional chains as well as independent local operators—participated in the “Safer Together” Summit, with more than half of participating companies sending multiple representatives.

“I’m inspired to be here; I’m inspired to talk to people. Hopefully, when we leave here, we reach out to each other,” says Michael Anderson, assistant general manager, Paris Healthcare Linen Services, DuBois, Pa. “Whether we’re in similar markets or not, when it comes to safety, we all should be involved in making it better for our plants.”

Rick Pollock, the incoming President of the American Society for Safety Engineers (ASSE), kicked off the event by providing a framework for establishing a safety culture. He was followed by facilitated breakout sessions of 12-15 participants focused on sharing best management practices and developing “next steps” for TRSA’s pursuit of continuous safety improvement, including sessions on ergonomics, injury prevention, fleet safety and management support.

The highlight of the Summit was a panel of the industry’s highest-ranking executives discussing their companies’ safety challenges and their integration of safety into daily operations.

The group included Bill Evans, AmeriPride Services, Minnetonka, Minn.; Scott Farmer, Cintas Corp., Cincinnati; Karl Filip, Alliance Laundry & Textile Services, Atlanta; and Jeff Wright, G&K Services, Minneapolis, Minn.

The panel called for shifting industry-wide improvement efforts from an OSHA-compliance-focused agenda to a risk-based, zero-tolerance approach.

“When measuring against ourselves, the textile services industry has made impressive gains in the reduction of illness and injury,” says Farmer, CEO of Cintas. “For continuous improvement, we must begin measuring ourselves against the safest companies regardless of their industry.”

As a result of the Safety Summit breakouts, TRSA will increase its commitment to developing and disseminating safety training and awareness resources, as well as establishing a safety advocate for the industry.

CHICAGO — Preventive maintenance is a major component in a safe and productive laundry facility, says Bob Corfield, president of Laundry Design Group, a consulting firm. Speaking recently with a number of laundry professionals during a webinar sponsored by the Association for Linen Management, Corfield urged his listeners to design and implement a plant-wide preventive maintenance program.

Diligence is the key, he says, including tests, calibrations, adjustments and partial replacements to help identify and prevent faults from occurring and from becoming total equipment failures.

A good program will focus on safety, improving efficiency, optimizing utilities, reducing downtime, improving production quality, and reducing replacement costs, as well as preserving and maintaining relationships between management and employees.

“Every good program should have these as the bedrock or core values of your program design,” Corfield says.

OUTCOMES

Any outcomes of a preventive maintenance program, he says, are wrapped around time.

Every laundry facility needs to plan downtime, as that is less expensive than machine failures and unscheduled downtime. The availability of machinery means it is up and running and doing its job at an optimum rate, and routine maintenance helps extend the life of each machine, a common sight in well-maintained facilities. A facility also is looking to maintain its operating hours, Corfield says.

He suggests that any preventive maintenance program needs to be synonymous with a good safety program for laundry facilities. Good maintenance, like good housekeeping, protects the safety of the working environment, thus lessening the likelihood of injuries or fatalities.

While maintenance engineers are key to a good program, other members of a plant’s staff can be just as important for a successful maintenance program.

“We all walk through the plants, we all see things, so if we are on a comprehensive safety program, then we really have to start with the at-risk behaviors,” he says. “These are proven paradigms for managing and developing safety programs in commercial environments.”

He suggests a good program must eliminate possible problems by engineering systems that prevent personnel from engaging machinery in an unsafe manner such as two-hand controls or a trap key system. Also important are administrative procedures, including lock-out/tag-out systems, housekeeping and janitorial management of issues, warning signs, and training.

“I cannot say enough about your training environment and that training is not a one-time thing. It’s a lifetime thing,” Corfield says.

Another component of a good program is personal protective equipment that is in place and available to employees who have been trained to use it effectively.

PROGRAM DESIGN

Corfield says the best design is a program that actually is used by plant personnel. Housekeeping and record keeping are part of such a design.

“In an operation that runs two or three shifts seven days a week,” he says, “it becomes essential that people who are cleaning make note of any conditions that they see that need attention.

“Housekeeping needs to be absolutely diligent on keeping machines clean and free of moisture, grease, oils, lint and other things in a laundry that we see on a regular basis.”

Visual inspections and regularity of such inspections are part of a good preventive maintenance program.

Keys to a successful program, according to Corfield, are a complete survey of the plant and equipment, identifying necessary training for personnel, standards and procedures that are clear and understood, a management team that understands the necessity of a preventive maintenance program, communication of what tasks need to be done when, and that everything is monitored with reasonable expectations and that information is communicated to the staff.

When designing a preventive maintenance program, facility personnel must collect all data on all the machines, including model, year, serial numbers and modifications. It also helps to have the manufacturer’s preventive maintenance schedule on hand, so critical areas can be identified and monitored.

The experience of a maintenance engineer and other personnel also is key, Corfield says, which can help with identifying those critical areas as well as estimating the time each task will require. Programs must also look at the number of people assigned to tasks as well as the correct tools and parts needed to complete a task.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2: Reactive and Predictive

KANNEGIESSER PROMOTES HART TO EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — The owner of Herbert Kannegiesser GmbH recently promoted Phil Hart to executive vice president of Kannegiesser USA.

During the company’s recent Canadian sales meeting, owner Martin Kannegiesser announced that Hart’s role in the company will expand, moving him into supervisory positions with different departments, while continuing to be responsible for the company’s daily operations.

Hart joined Kannegiesser USA in 2004 as vice president of marketing, bringing with him more than 10 years of industry and product experience.

TURN-KEY INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING HIRES BERNSTEIN AS SENIOR VP

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A veteran of the textile industry, David Bernstein recently joined Turn-Key Industrial Engineering Services as senior vice president. Bernstein’s role will be in business development, consulting, and adding new services to the firm’s lineup.

The fourth generation of his family in the textile rental industry, Bernstein brings a unique perspective and a diverse work résumé to his new position. He has more than 20 years experience, including stints as president of Consolidated Laundry Machinery Co., as director of the Uniform and Textile Services Association (UTSA), and as chief operating officer of F-MATIC.

“All of us at Turn-Key are ecstatic to be welcoming David as a member of our team,” says Chip Malboeuf, Turn-Key president. “His experience, skill set, intelligence and enthusiasm for the industry will not only enhance our current offering, but will also allow us to provide our clients with additional services to increase their revenue and improve their operations.”

In addition to his professional experience, Bernstein is two-time chair of the UTSA Plant Operations Committee, an inductee into the Plant Operations Hall of Fame, an instructor and task force member for the Production Management Institute (PMI) and Maintenance Management Institute (MMI), and a former member of the board of directors of the Western Textile Services Association (WTSA). He resides in Park City, Utah.

TINGUE, BROWN & CO. PROMOTES LAVIGNA TO PURCHASING DIRECTOR

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — Paul LaVigna has been promoted to the role of purchasing director for the TB division of laundry industry supplier Tingue, Brown & Co. He will work out of TB’s satellite office in Clifton Park, N.Y.

LaVigna brings extensive experience to his new role, much of it gained through his years with the U.S. Army, where he was a procurement and logistics officer. More recently, he was an operations manager for a nationwide retailer. He has been in corporate operations with TB since August 2010.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, LaVigna lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with his wife and two children.

“I am grateful for the opportunity this new position provides,” LaVigna says, “and I look forward to working with all of Tingue, Brown’s partners in the laundry industry.”

VENUS GROUP HIRES INDUSTRY VET MCBRIDE AS SALES MANAGER

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — Venus Group has a new Midwest regional sales manager. With more than 30 years of industry experience, Mike McBride is now responsible for the textile company’s sales and growth efforts in the Midwest.

His diverse résumé has allowed him to meet many Midwest dry cleaners and laundry owners as well as people with national textile chains. He started with Procter & Gamble as a field representative and trainer, then moved to Cleaners Hangers Co. as a sales representative. His most recent post with Cleaners Hangers was as vice president of sales and marketing.

McBride earned a degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he was also a member of the 1973 NCAA national champion football team.

G.A. BRAUN ADDS SLETTE TO FINISHING EQUIPMENT TEAM

SYRACUSE, N.Y. —The G.A. Braun Finishing Equipment Engineering Team has a new member. Matt Slette brings to the product development team a diverse experience in modeling components in 3D and developing 2D working drawings, bill of materials, and assemblies for production, Braun says.

Slette graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering technology from California Polytechnic State University. He is based at Braun’s corporate headquarters in Syracuse.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is “struggling” with incentive programs that recognize employers for exemplary efforts in preventing workplace injuries and illnesses, Richard E. Fairfax, deputy assistant U.S. labor secretary, told an audience of Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) members on Tuesday.

Fairfax, speaking to TRSA’s Leadership & Legislative Conference, said limited resources have prevented OSHA from expanding these efforts after they grew significantly in recent years, particularly during President George W. Bush’s administration.

In more recent years, OSHA has concentrated on evaluating their effectiveness. “I think the world of the program,” Fairfax says of the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP), but he indicated that such endeavors might need better quality control.

The VPP, Safety & Health Achievement and Recognition Program (SHARP) and other honors awarded to employers, including many in the textile service industry, are under evaluation by an OSHA team Fairfax appointed last summer. “I told them to take as long as they want, to do a top-to-bottom review,” he says.

In the meantime, he urged employers to take advantage of other compliance assistance programs, such as the free OSHA consultation service for companies with 250 workers or less. Agency personnel who visit a business and find violations don’t notify the federal office of these unless the location’s management refuses to fix them. This program saw a budget increase in 2011, Fairfax notes. Each OSHA area office employs a compliance assistance specialist who performs these inspections.

“Our senior and best compliance officers have moved into those positions,” he explains. “They’re not allowed to do anything in enforcement.” They exist for training and outreach and usually “all it takes is a phone call to the office” to involve them in a voluntary compliance effort.

Fairfax also pointed out that the agency hopes to increase its use of private-sector safety pros to help with other employers’ preventive efforts. In this special government employee (SGE) program, such an individual receives three days of free OSHA training, and then participates annually as a member of an OSHA team evaluating other companies’ safety procedures. The agency wants to increase the number of SGEs who can help permanent OSHA staff work with employers in preventive efforts.

Fairfax’s presentation included numerous statistics on the agency’s enforcement activities in 2011, such as a leveling of inspection totals from the prior year (down about 300 to 40,600) and a 6,000 decline in violations to 91,000. The textile services business had no willful or repeat violations, a rarity among industries, Fairfax says.

Those findings are consistent with TRSA’s SafeTRSA education and benchmarking program, which has logged results of improved safety practices among member companies during the past five years:

• 42% reduction in total recordable injuries and illnesses rate (TRIR)
• One-third reduction in DART Rate (days away from work, restrictions or transfers)
• Most recent annual improvement of 5% in TRIR and 2.5% in DART rate