Content about Virginia

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

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

To begin, gather this information:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Wages for entry-level positions in TRSA (Textile Rental Services Association) member companies’ laundry operations grew faster in 2012 than pay for Americans as a whole, ranging from 1.5% for lesser-skilled positions like folding, ironing and hangering to 4.3% for more complex tasks like load-building and pressing, according to the TRSA 2012 Plant Employee Compensation Report.

Hourly pay across the spectrum of U.S. jobs increased less than 1% (0.89%) from fourth quarter 2011 to the same time in 2012. Thus, entry-level laundry positions’ median wage growth was almost twice to five times the national average. The higher-skilled segment of this group of laundry and dry cleaning roles has outpaced the workforce as a whole in this metric since 2009, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS’) most recent data compilations.

Thirty-seven companies reported their wage and benefit practices to TRSA for the report; roughly one-third were healthcare laundry specialists, one-third were equally divided between food/beverage/hospitality and industrial uniform specialists, and the remaining one-third were mixed.

Laundry production workers who had worked in the industry for one to four years earned the highest median wage from linen specialists: $10.40 to $11.70 per hour varying with job complexity. Mixed plants had the lowest such pay ($7.75 to $9.14).

The TRSA 2012 Plant Employee Compensation Report also reflected the importance to the industry of recruiting outstanding route service personnel and ensuring customer satisfaction. Hourly base rates for such personnel with one to four years experience ranged from $13.25 to $17.49. This compares favorably with the economy-wide average of $13.22 for driver sales personnel. With incentives, the range for such TRSA drivers rises to $18 to $23.21.

Laundry production workers (roughly 40% of them) receive incentives as well; those in the 1- to 4-year experience range had overall median compensation ranging from $8.45 to $11.95.

TRSA produces the Plant Employee Compensation Report to enable association members to benchmark their pay and benefits practices, and covers the range of strategies deployed by textile service companies to take care of their people. The survey enables industry operators to compare their practices with operations similar to theirs in line of business, number of locations and sales volume.

For each position in each classification of company, an average salary or wage is listed with incentive potential and the number of companies in the survey offering such incentives. Various approaches to providing fringes are described, such as percentage of premium paid by employer, deductible and co-pay amounts, and 401(k) matching.

Copies of the TRSA 2012 Plant Employee Compensation Report are free to participating TRSA members; non-participating members and participating non-members receive a discount; others pay full price.

Package pricing is available with the TRSA 2012 Industry Performance Report, another benchmarking tool. Visit the TRSA store to learn more about the association’s reports.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Ted Kruger, a longtime executive recruiter for the textile services industry, has announced to friends and colleagues that he’s leaving the industry due to illness, according to the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA).

Kruger, who lives in California, is receiving round-the-clock medical care, gets regular visits from his two sons and two daughters, and is not in pain, TRSA reported in its association publication.

He told TRSA he was diagnosed in 2011 with cancer. After receiving extensive treatments, he felt well enough to accept job-placement assignments in the San Francisco area. The cancer returned a few weeks ago, and Kruger was given only a short time to live.

The Ted E. Kruger Recruiting website is now closed.

According to TRSA, friends and associates may contact Kruger at 760-731-7243. His address is 4650 Dulin Rd. #1, Fallbrook, CA 92028.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Consulting Services: David Bernstein, Turn-Key Industrial Engineering Services, Charlottesville, Va.

You owe a duty to your employees to ensure a safe work environment and to minimize or eliminate exposure to hazards on the job. At the same time, you have a duty to your customers to ensure their textiles are processed in an efficient, productive and timely manner.

Most people think of healthcare linen as the primary sharps concern because of the serious health issues that can arise from laundry workers being stuck by needles or cut by other sharp medical devices, but those of you who operate non-healthcare laundries should also be concerned with how the intrusion of these items can present a danger and affect the smooth flow of production through your plant.

Do all that you can to eliminate the intrusion of sharps into soiled linen before that linen reaches your loading dock. Your sales and service teams need to partner with customers to provide education for their management and employees so that they can put the proper controls in place. Taking the time when a new customer comes on board to provide training and education for their team can go a long way toward ensuring the safety of your workers and the uninterrupted flow of goods through your plant.

In the healthcare realm, work with your customers’ infection control and/or environmental departments to ensure that they are using safer medical devices with the latest engineering controls (e.g. sharps containers, needleless systems, self-sheathing needles, etc.). Some customers may initially resist adopting some of these devices based on cost, but having a frank conversation with them about the cost of each exposure may help them to come around.

Those of you processing industrial and non-healthcare linen should be having the same kind of ongoing dialogue with your customers, albeit from a slightly different angle. You may need to approach the topic from an economic perspective. Explain how a sharp knife can injure a production worker, how a fork can puncture the diaphragm of a press extractor and shut down your production (for hours or days), how a screwdriver can damage a washer-extractor or a dryer, etc.

Of course, any of you who run a laundry that processes food and beverage linen have also seen silverware and cooking tools end up in these facilities, and I would suggest that you explain how much money is being wasted on items that end up in your soil room rather than in their dishwashers.

Cultivate an attitude of zero tolerance toward the appearance of sharps in your customers’ soil. It has become common practice in healthcare laundries to, as a part of a written exposure plan, log the appearance of sharps and other foreign objects in soiled laundry and provide a monthly report to your customers. I would argue that you should take this practice further.

Work with your team and your customers’ risk management and infection control departments to develop a list of priority items that, if found among your linen, trigger an immediate call to the customer and an investigation into how the item got into your soil room.

Some laundries charge customers for each foreign item found among their soil, with higher amounts charged for more dangerous items. This type of negative reinforcement can turn a customer off of your service, so I recommend taking a more positive approach. Reward employees who find, report and properly handle sharps, and consider an annual award to those customers who eliminate or reduce the number of sharps and other foreign items sent to your laundry.

In many laundry processing facilities, soil-sort workers are considered the first line of defense against the intrusion of sharps and other foreign objects. With time, constant vigilance, strict monitoring of items that come into your laundry, and innovative partnering strategies, you should be able to achieve continuing reductions.

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

Numerous types of sicknesses can be contracted due to encounters with needles, surgical instruments, cutlery or more. Proactive communication between the laundry and healthcare facility is key to avoiding them.

Every time a laundry discovers sharps in the soiled linen, the occurrence should be documented and reported immediately to the healthcare facility. Prepare and present an incident report to the appropriate department. By physically showing the sharps that came back in the soiled linen, it might be possible to identify the specific department from where they came and prevent future occurrences.

Schedule ongoing educational sessions with individual departments as needed. In an effort to ensure that facilities properly dispose of sharps, laundries should provide their healthcare facilities with collection containers and proper signage at all collection points. These safety measures will result in a reduced amount of sharps coming back to laundry facilities in the soiled linen.

Check back Tuesday for the third and final part!

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

First, it is an honor to be once again selected for this Panel (Editor’s Note: Charles served on the Panel in 2010), and I hope to continue to share the benefit of my experience with the readership of American Laundry News.

I have been in the commercial laundry industry for 30 years, having operated healthcare, hospitality and uniform plants throughout the United States. The laundries have ranged in size from 10 million to 40 million pounds annually, and have operated in both union and non-union environments.

I have a wealth of experience in production, distribution and service management, as well as budget preparation and financial analysis—skills honed during my seven years on Wall Street.

During the past nine years, I have concentrated on the hospitality side of laundry management, presently operating an OPL for Taj Hotels at the Pierre New York, as well as serving as a consultant for our sister property, Taj Boston.

I have served on the faculty of NYU, teaching laundry and dry cleaning operations as part of NYU’s Hospitality Management program. I also maintain several industry-recognized certifications in laundry, dry cleaning and linen management.

As director of Laundry Services for The Pierre New York, I am responsible for the day-to-day service, production, distribution, maintenance and procurement for this Five Diamond hotel’s laundry and dry cleaning operations.

During 2012, the laundry processed 2.5 million pieces of rooms and food-and-beverage linen, which represented a 23% increase over 2011. Additionally, it processed more than 350,000 pounds of garments during 2012, representing a year-to-year increase of 11%. Increases in productivity were achieved without any increase in expenses.

The biggest challenges I face at the Pierre today are similar to the challenges faced by the entire industry: providing the best possible products and services at the lowest possible cost.

Consulting Services: David Bernstein, Turn-Key Industrial Engineering Services, Charlottesville, Va.

I am senior vice president of Turn-Key Industrial Engineering Services, a consulting firm that has been serving the laundry, healthcare and hospitality industries for nearly 15 years. We are an industrial engineering firm that designs, builds, retrofits and improves the processes and profitability of laundry facilities throughout the world, using professional design, lean manufacturing and project management techniques.

As our name implies, we perform these services “turn-key,” which means we can deliver a multitude of services, including facility design, RFP development, project management, process improvement and Lean Six Sigma implementation. Our team of Lean Six Sigma-certified engineers and consultants have extensive experience in the industry, and have helped our clients save money, labor and increase throughput, often without the need for added expense or equipment.

As the fourth generation of my family in this industry, I have a lifetime of experience and more than two decades of professional work in laundries, starting with my tenure as vice president and, later, president of Consolidated Laundry Machinery Co. I worked in all aspects of CLM’s manufacturing, sales and marketing of laundry machinery, and helped our customers with specification, layout, upgrades and improvements to their plants.

I moved into industry advocacy and education as the director of Plant Operations, Customer Service and Information Technology for the Uniform and Textile Services Association (UTSA). The industry was under close scrutiny by OSHA, Congress and safety regulators at that time, and I led the effort to create an industry-wide health and safety program that reached more than 65,000 employees in more than 1,000 plants nationwide, produced an industry-specific safety training DVD, and created a stronger, more positive relationship with OSHA and Congress for the industry.

Following UTSA’s merger with TRSA, I spent more than three years as the chief operating officer at F-MATIC, where I helped lead the development of several new sanitary supply products and product lines, improved and diversified the company’s international supply chain, reduced operating expenses and increased revenues.

I am a two-time past chairman of the UTSA Plant Operations Committee, a former member of the board of directors of the Western Textile Services Association, a long-time instructor at the industry’s Production Management Institute (PMI) and Maintenance Management Institute (MMI), and a recent addition to the faculty of the American Laundry and Linen College (ALLC). I am also honored to be among an elite group of industry leaders to have been named to the Plant Operations Hall of Fame.

I hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, and live in Park City, Utah, with my wife and two daughters. I am an avid cyclist, skier, sailor and private pilot.

What challenged our clients in 2012 was the continuing difficult economy and the need to find ways to adapt. Laundries in all segments of our industry fought to increase productivity and safety, while dealing with ever-increasing costs of doing business, challenges from unions, and increased regulation. These challenges will no doubt continue in 2013 and beyond, and I expect my colleagues and I, both at Turn-Key and on the esteemed Panel of Experts, will increasingly be called upon to assist the industry with meeting them head-on.

Among Turn-Key’s accomplishments in 2012 were designing and breaking ground on a new healthcare laundry for a client in Florida, designing a new state-of-the-art hospitality laundry for a major international resort and entertainment firm, and helping numerous operators (both large and small) reap the financial and productivity benefits resulting from the implementation of process improvement and the application of Lean Six Sigma methodologies.

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

I work for Linen King, which owns laundries in several states. We provide COG (customer-owned goods) service, as well as linen rental to hospitals. I am the general manager of the facility in Conway, Ark. I have been here since Linen King acquired the facility from my previous employer in 2007, and am honored they kept me. I have worked at this facility since 1994.

Upon high school graduation, I had no idea what to do. Some said I had no clue. The first real job I had was in a shirt laundry. They must have liked me, because I was promoted to washman. It seemed like wherever I went, there was always a laundry that needed help, and I was fortunate to be able to provide that for them.

I got involved with an industrial laundry and learned a lot during the years I was with them. My production experience started in an industrial laundry. For several years, I owned a small group of leather and fur cleaning stores. For many years now, I have been in the healthcare laundry service, both OPL and commercial.

From time to time, I talk to people about careers in laundry. It certainly doesn’t sound like a sexy career, but it is a good industry, and is generally more stable than many other industries. There are also many companies that supply our industry with textiles, machinery and chemistry, so being involved with a laundry can be rewarding.

Our workers really enjoy coming to work, and reducing the big pile of unfinished linen. An hour or so later, that pile is ironed, folded, and looks, feels and smells nice, with the workers ready for another load. Frankly, it takes a while to learn the rhythm, but when it starts to work, it is fun.

Tuesday: Introductions to representatives of the chemicals supply, equipment manufacturing and uniforms/workwear manufacturing sectors...

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.

ROANOKE, Va. — In the battle to improve patient outcomes, many facilities are trying out low-airflow beds. These beds are designed to pump air through the mattress and provide a cooler, dryer environment to improve the skin care for high-risk patients. These beds are extremely expensive, and the good news is that almost all the bed linens currently in use work well with this new bed.

The bad news is that traditional incontinent pads are not recommended for use on low-airflow beds. The traditional barrier backing inhibits air flow and creates a zone where there is no air movement. Bed manufacturers recommend the use of a special disposable pad that is designed to allow air to flow through the pad.

These beds came to my attention when staff on several floors suddenly requested that they no longer receive reusable incontinent pads because they had just gotten these new beds. I started immediately to research the beds, the disposable pads, and if there were any reusable incontinent pads accepted for use.

Since the purpose of these expensive beds is to improve the skin care of at-risk patients, it is imperative that they contribute to a noticeable improvement in patient outcomes. Because of this need to justify the expenditure of capital funds on new beds, the hospital staff will always follow manufacturer recommendations. Therefore, it was no surprise when they stopped using the normal incontinent pads.

The problem with disposable incontinent pads is that once moisture is added to the pad, they no longer allow air to pass through the pad. The fluid-absorbent gel in the pad creates an impenetrable barrier. Since there is normally a delay between the use of a pad and when it is changed, there is a period of time when the low air-flow bed is not providing an improved micro environment for the patient.

The disposable pads also do not provide a safe product to lift or reposition the patient. The absorbent material in the disposable pads will cause major problems for the laundry if they are not removed during soil sorting and they get into a washing machine. This problem is especially severe if you use a tunnel washer.

I checked with several major linen companies to see if they had developed a pad that would work on a low-airflow bed. I was looking for a pad that would provide the benefits on a continuous basis.

Key factors to be considered are:

• Is the pad commercially washable?
• Can it be effectively dried in a commercial dryer?
• Does it wick the moisture away from the patient?
• Does the airflow feature of the pad work under dry and wet conditions?
• Is it strong enough to be used to lift and reposition a patient?

Two linen companies said they have developed pads to use with these beds. Their documentation includes air permeability studies and some clinical studies. I will be field testing these pads in the near future. Nursing has realized the potential problems with the disposable incontinent pads and is willing to look at a more effective alternative.

ROANOKE, Va. — My dad always told me that a mind was a terrible thing to waste, and I have always tried to keep his counsel as I work with my staff to improve our procedures and solve production problems. A manager must involve his staff in the process or he is wasting one of his best resources.

I like to take the time to eat lunch with my staff. By listening carefully to them while chatting over a sandwich and a Diet Coke, I can determine what problems they are seeing in the laundry and where we need to improve. It is tempting to say that “Lisa” always complains and doesn’t want to do the job the way it was designed, but I know that if I can get beyond that personal prejudice, I might find a few great ideas.

My staff complained that the incontinent pads had too many holes in the backing; workers were seeing them in older pads and new pads. They weren’t sure how to correct the problem. My supervisors confirmed their observations, and the race was on to determine the cause.

Brainstorming led us to consider a poor-quality product or a problem with one of the following: textile manufacturing, the tunnel washer (sharp edge?), press, shuttle, dryer, conveyor, folder, or chemistry. With so many possible causes, we knew we would have to be methodical in our attempts to find the problem.

We started by running new pads through one of the tunnels, its press, and the dryers. After the pads were dried, we could see they had been damaged but we could not tell where in the process the damage had occurred. We could not find any obvious problem upon inspecting the dryers, nor could we find anything wrong with the shuttle.

Next, we ran a load through the tunnel and press but inspected them before allowing them to go to the dryers. The test load contained damaged pads. We now knew it was the tunnel washer, the press, the chemicals or the pads themselves. We washed a load of new pads in one of our 275-pound open-pocket washers. They were inspected before drying, and again after being dried, and they showed no signs of damage at either point.

Next, we ran a load of new pads through the tunnel and inspected them before they were extracted. There was damage to the pads. It became obvious to the team working on the problem that this tunnel washer was the source of the problem. Since we operate two tunnels, we moved the processing of incontinent pads from tunnel No. 1 to tunnel No. 2. Immediately there was a decrease in the number of pads that needed to be patched. It took us a while to get all the pads properly patched, but the problem now seems to be corrected.

We then turned our attention to an oil-based stain that was frequently showing up on an expensive universal drape. The orthopedic doctors really like using this particular type of drape, but the stain was severely limiting the uses we were getting per sheet. This time, we got our chemical representative and his company chemists involved.

We tried a number of different rewash formulas and simply couldn’t find a way to remove the stain. After much trial and error, the chemists came up with a new blended product that seems to do the job. We get the best stain removal by pre-treating each oily spot with the chemical and letting it sit several hours before washing it on a special rewash program that also contains additional amounts of the new product. We have been able to reclaim about 99% of what previously had been considered unusable.

A side benefit is we also use the new stain-removing product in our incontinent-pad formula, and it does an excellent job of removing tape and other stickers placed on the pads. It took us more than six months to find the solution, but it was well worth the effort.

Our next goal is to find a way to increase production through two 275-pound open-pocket washers, as growth of the reusable isolation gown program has put a strain on our existing washroom capacity.

The projects I’ve described were developed because I listened to employees during lunch or a break. If you are willing to listen without judging, your employees can become your best source of information. They want to be able to take pride in their work, and they want the company to be successful. They understand that we all succeed or die together. Take time to listen to them.

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: How does designing a laundry for renovation differ from designing a laundry from scratch?

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

Phillips & Associates has to go through all of the discovery steps whether the project is a new design/build project or a renovation project. There is not much difference, except a renovation project already has a shell that could be renovated for use after the fact. A totally new project takes longer to plan and usually costs more money.

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

As mentioned earlier, planning for an entirely new facility allows the new operation to be designed from the inside out, ensuring the most efficient use of space and layout of equipment. The renovation of an existing facility, on the other hand, can be fraught with its own particular challenges, especially in maintaining productivity, efficiency and safety during the renovation process.

In these cases, operators need to be sure to include careful pre-planning of construction, utility upgrades, equipment arrival, rigging, installation and start-up schedules in order to have as limited an impact as possible on the existing operation.

Third-party vendors should receive training by your company’s safety director so that they are aware of your practices, rules and unique circumstances. Training should be documented and provided to all third-party workers prior to granting entry onto the production floor. Be certain that you also obtain appropriate insurance certificates listing your company as an additional insured.

Another instance to be considered is the one in which a new plant is desired but the costs associated with buying land, erecting a new facility and installing the necessary infrastructure are prohibitive. In this case, the best approach is to find a building that meets the production, staffing, utility and space requirements of the operation, but only after taking the critically important step of undergoing a rigorous and detailed pre-design phase to determine the specific requirements for the building search.

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

Well, consider that you have to “undo before you can do” and that’s the start of it. Can your facility withstand a major or minor construction delay to enable a retrofit? If it can, and there is enough space to accommodate all critical elements (sorting, washing, drying, clean transport, finishing, and packing of additional volume), then there can be a considerable cost benefit for a plant to retrofit, rather than build new.

Retrofit projects are also usually a much faster process during decision-making. A retrofit will limit what you might be able to do, and so with fewer decisions to make, decisions are made more quickly.

New plants take much longer in development. Since you might be able to do almost anything, you need to be diligent in what the new plant will be designed to do today—and then what it might need to be in the future.

Because of the budgets involved, there are many more stakeholders whose concerns will need to be addressed. Then there are the decisions related to construction: do you build from greenfield, modify an existing structure, do you own, or lease the site? Finally, a new plant often must get city planning and local code compliance reviews for traffic, noise and more, which can take months or years to clear.

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

The biggest difference is that renovating an existing laundry or converting an existing building into a laundry has certain inherent boundaries and constraints, including:

• Building footprint and height
• Building column spacing (distance between structural columns)
• Existing utility sizes (water main, sewer, electrical main, natural gas main)
• Floor slab thickness and condition
• Quantity and height of docks
• Dock location
• Office location
• Building construction

You need to either work with these existing constraints or work around them. If you build a laundry from scratch, these existing constraints do not exist. You get a clean palette with which to paint, and can customize the building footprint, height, column spacing, etc. to meet your specific needs.

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

Designing a renovation is completely different and a most challenging process compared to designing a laundry from scratch. When renovating an existing running facility, we have to ensure that we do not shut down the operation. All the work has to be done off hours or when the plant is not in operation.

Safety is another big challenge as all the construction areas have to be properly taped off and equipment must be “tagged and locked out” to ensure the safety of all the people working in the laundry plant.

Along with all the challenges come the rewards. Retrofitting/renovating an existing laundry is much cheaper than going out and building a laundry from scratch. We have seen approximately 50% reductions in project budgets/costs by retrofitting a laundry vs. building from scratch. As long as we have the space to expand within the same location and we can get additional utilities (if required) to support the new plant, retrofit/renovation of existing laundry is, most of the time, the way to go.

ALN: What aspect(s) of laundry plant design can be the most challenging and why?

BERNSTEIN

One of the most challenging aspects of laundry plant design can be breaking people out of rigid thinking or the unwillingness to consider new paradigms. Our industry is plagued with an attitude of “That won’t work in a laundry” or “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” which has no place in the planning and design of a new facility.

We encourage our clients to think outside the box, offering and encouraging suggestions for solutions that, under old paradigms, might seem unworkable. Once all options are on the table, we can apply critical thinking, data collection, and analysis to determine which offer benefits and solutions considering the goals and vision for the project at hand.

CORFIELD

I would say planning and budgeting are the biggest challenge. Whether a new plant build or a major retrofit, it is challenging to know all aspects to your proposed plan. Will there be utility constraints, access and rigging limitations, what items can be moved and what cannot, are there code issues that you may need to comply with, does your existing infrastructure support your goals?

Then once you have what appears to be a good plan, look seriously at the constructability issues and develop a budget that is reasonable and achievable for the goals you want to achieve. If you are not certain what brand or type of equipment you might get, then your budget needs to take into account the worst-case scenario. Asking for too little during budgeting and then needing to compromise can mean missing your goals considerably and risk having your project cancelled or fail.

Lastly, know enough about your design that if a budget issue cuts or limits your project, you can identify the essential elements and keep your targets in site.

KWASNICK

Designing a mixed laundry facility (linen and industrial) is very challenging. The diversity of product mix, the different pieces of equipment and material-handling systems, and the various product flows within the same building make the process of designing the plant to be both flexible and efficient very challenging.

O'NEILL

Getting the laundry owner/operator to understand the benefit of new technology and the value of his investment is one of the most challenging aspects. More often than not, the owner/operator tends to pursue the cheapest option rather than the option that provides the best value (return on investment). It becomes part of the job of the laundry consultant/designer to clarify the benefits of new technology, provides pros and cons, and explain why the new investment is critical for the future business needs/growth.

PHILLIPS

Usually, the powerhouse requires the most time to plan and execute. The powerhouse is the heart of any laundry and, if it is not done correctly, can cause the most aggravation during the start-up phase of the plant.

ALN: How might the design of an on-premise laundry differ from the design of a textile rental plant that serves clients across a broad area, and vice versa?

CORFIELD

An OPL is usually limited by space because it serves only a few outside customers (if any), but if we are discussing an off-site cooperative or central laundry vs. commercial, there is almost no difference if they are processing the same type of work (healthcare vs. hotel resort, etc.). The only real consideration is that an OPL or co-op will be highly specialized, while a textile rental plant might be set up to take on a broader mix of work.

Generally, a textile rental plant will be physically larger, as a commercial laundry business can serve hundreds of customers and therefore needs considerable more storage, inventory and cart-assembly area. A commercial business will also have more trucks for routes for those deliveries.

KWASNICK

On-premise laundries are typically built to process smaller volumes of goods with a limited number of classifications. They are built for a specific purpose: to produce laundry for the “mother ship.” They typically use less automation, more labor, and more utilities (per pound). This is partially due to the fact that they are processing less laundry, which means the up-front investment in automation has a longer ROI. I would say OPLs are typically more “old school” in their design and operation.

Large rental plants are more flexible in their design. They process a higher volume and greater diversity of products. Reduction in labor and utility costs due to automation and utility conservation is more prevalent. Systems to track, control and offset inventory losses are used to reduce costs. Productivity tracking systems are used to improve employee productivity and production scheduling. Rental laundries are typically more “new school” in their design and daily operation.

O'NEILL

The biggest difference is the amount/volume of work that is being processed through each plant. The typical OPL is designed for low volume and more flexibility in the operation, while a central textile rental plant is designed for high volume, similar type of work, and high productivity. The ROI on high-productivity, high-efficiency equipment is much quicker in central rental plants when compared to most OPLs.

PHILLIPS

If an on-premise laundry is being considered, that is fairly easy since the presumption is the facility has a central power plant and a big chunk of time can be eliminated from the planning scope. In essence, the planner only has to deal with a production facility, thus eliminating work in another area.

BERNSTEIN

There are two critical differences between the design of on-premise laundries and off-site facilities (whether company-owned, co-op, or textile rental). Specifically, on-premise laundries often offer challenges of space, without the logistical demands that are placed on off-site operations.

ALN: Are there any particular laundry design trends that have become more prevalent in the last few years?

KWASNICK

In recent years, the pendulum has swung from all-steam to steamless laundries. However, the trend seems to be moving back toward a hybrid solution of using less steam instead of going steamless. Steam still makes sense for certain types of equipment and systems (steam tunnels, presses, tunnel washers, etc.). Using steam, but on a limited basis, helps reduce long-term fuel consumption and up-front installation costs.

Wide ironers are becoming more prevalent. A wide ironer gives you the ability to do two lanes of tabletops simultaneously, which equates to a lot more productivity per ironer. Self-contained thermal ironers are also popular. They can maintain higher temperatures and operate at high speeds, again equating to greater productivity.

Press-to-dryer rail systems are becoming more prevalent. This is an efficient, cost-effective way to store work-in-process goods after they come out of a tunnel extraction press. The goods drop into slings, are queued on a rail, and are then loaded into a dryer automatically. This system allows you to use fewer dryers with your tunnel washer system.

O'NEILL

Shuttle-free wash rooms, use of self-contained thermal ironers, and use of tunnel washers with extra-wide presses are some of the design trends that have become more prevalent in the last few years. Also, the trend of steamless/less steam laundry plants has started to pick up in the last two years. All of the aforementioned ideas are tried and true and the payback can be considerable when compared to the “now” obsolete typical ideas that have been used for years. If your budget can handle it, then you should absolutely investigate it.

PHILLIPS

After years of discussing water shortages, water reclamation, rising energy costs, gas conservation and the like, laundry operators are finally starting to see the practical side to some of these issues. A complete dissertation could be written on this topic alone.

BERNSTEIN

One of the most significant trends we’ve seen in recent years is an increased emphasis on the health and safety of our industry’s production employees, and this translates directly into the design process of new laundries.

We are also seeing a greater emphasis on automated systems, which clearly also impacts the design of new and renovated plants. The industry’s vendors have done a nice job of stepping up the sophistication, productivity, usability and affordability of automated systems. At the same time, our industry is doing a better job of educating production, maintenance and management personnel.

Finally, at least among our clients, we are seeing a trend toward leaner, balanced operations with less work in process. Whereas clients used to tell us that they wanted to design material-handling systems and floor space to accommodate four (or more) hours of work in process just in case something went wrong, now clients are designing their plants considering Lean Manufacturing and Lean Six Sigma principles of “pulling” work through the plant, rather than “pushing” it through. The result is less wasted space, smaller rail and conveyor systems, and more pounds processed per square foot of facility.

CORFIELD

While there is a certain buzz around steamless or “less steam” laundry design, I think the two biggest trends have been the size and sophistication of monorail sortation and clean distribution systems, and batch washer size.

When I began in the industry in the late ’80s, sort decks for healthcare were 12-16 sort classifications. We now see 36-54 sort classifications on automated sort decks. This ability to achieve the lowest common sort type makes large plants highly efficient, even with small classifications.

Large batch washers (those over 50 kilograms or 110 pounds) entered the North American market in the mid ’90s. Most new plants consider 150 pounds the new minimum, with 220-250 pounds the new maximum. While washing is one consideration, it has been the extraction of those larger loads that has challenged the industry. With wider presses achieving lower moisture levels and faster cycle times, large batch systems will be the norm for plants at 15 million pounds and higher.

ALN: What advice can you give a laundry services manager who is being asked to be involved in plant design for the first time?

O'NEILL

Listen, listen, listen! Do not go down that all-too-familiar road of “This is the way we/I have been doing it for 20 years.” This attitude must change if you are to take advantage of the new ideas and concepts that are being used in our industry today in the cutting-edge plants that your competitor is building. If you want to stay in business for a long time and stay competitive, then listen to what your “consultant” is saying and see for yourself the results that your peers in the industry have been enjoying for quite some time.

PHILLIPS

Take the lead and plan, plan, plan. The laundry services manager will have to live with the plant for some time to come, so it is imperative for the laundry services manager to contribute to the planning discussion. Phillips & Associates has developed a complete design-planning checklist that could become the basis for an entire article on the planning process.

BERNSTEIN

I can offer three key pieces of advice:

1.  Speak your mind— As an experienced laundry services manager, you understand the day-to-day needs and challenges that you’ve faced in your operation. Consultants, engineers, architects, equipment providers, and others involved in this process need your perspective and experience to ensure that the final design meets all your requirements. Do not hesitate to provide your opinion and perspective, because just as there are no dumb questions, there are no wrong opinions!

2. Ask questions and listen to the answers— Involve your staff in the plant design processes and ask them their opinions on designs, solutions, equipment, etc. Just as your experience can aid the professionals you’ve brought in to assist in the technical details, the experience and opinions of ground-level team members oftentimes result in some of the most innovative solutions.

3. Keep an open mind— Time after time we hear people in our industry telling us, “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” or “That may work someplace else, but it won’t work here.” In some cases, they’re right, but in others, they were glad that we pushed back and encouraged them to take a second look at an idea and the data that supported its implementation. Considering the realities of today’s world, it pays to be open-minded and consider options that, at first blush, may seem a bit out there. The result may just be a safer, more efficient, more productive, and more profitable laundry.

CORFIELD

First, know what your goals are and be clear on them. Then get your passport updated, get a good suitcase and hit the road—start visiting plants similar to your type of work. See things for yourself, talk to plant folks who do what you do. See what works for them (and what does not) and get educated about what might work for your new plant or retrofit. These road trips will be invaluable, and you can defend your decisions one way or another with your management team or board with first-hand understanding.

If traveling is not an option, get a reputable independent consultant that can help you navigate this process. Making key decisions without the experience to know if your approach is viable can be costly. Before you finalize your plan, seek an independent review of the project by your peers who have gone through anything similar. You may not take their advice, but having a few sets of experienced eyes take a look at your project is always valuable.

KWASNICK

Remember three letters: SRM. They stand for Simple, Repeatable and Manageable. Your laundry design should be simple. If it looks complicated on paper, it will be even more complicated in practice. The design should allow your processes to be repeatable. If you can repeat the same efficient, high-quality process day after day, you will be successful. Lastly, it should be manageable. A manageable laundry is flexible and able to meet your customer’s ever-changing needs.

It’s OK to be on the leading edge of technology and push the envelope. But don’t get out on the “bleeding” edge of technology. That’s where people get hurt.

Surround yourself with experience and expertise. But remember, you know your own business better than anybody. You need to determine the final course and direction for your laundry.

Click here for Part 1!

ROANOKE, Va. — I have preached for years the importance of developing close working relationships between the laundry and your suppliers, and similar relationships between the laundry and its customers. Most times, suppliers and customers respect your efforts and agree to make a similar effort to work with you. By collaborating and working together, it benefits both entities.

My recent frustration comes from trying to work with a particular linen company. For purposes of this column, let’s call it Company F. I have worked with this company, in one form or another, over the past 20 years, and it has been able to service my laundry dependably. I have enjoyed working with Company F’s local representatives, who I have found to be knowledgeable and helpful. But over the past several years, I have begun to wonder about its top leadership.

Many of you will appreciate how hard it is to change the print on patient gowns. To effectively change the print requires hours of in-service training and dealing with the frustrations of having to run additional SKUs and keeping them separate while phasing in one line and phasing out the other.

For sound reasons, we made the decision several years ago to upgrade the print and the quality of the fabric used in our patient gowns. This major initiative was well received by our customer base.

During the first year of its implementation, Company F announced that it was substantially changing the print on the gowns. The new, improved print was not acceptable to me or to my customers, but Company F said the decision had been made and the production had already been switched to the new print.

I was unwilling to face the wrath of my customers, so I decided that if Company F were unwilling to continue to supply the print, I would approach Company G about making gowns with a similar print and fabric. To cover our needs for the ramp-up time, I purchased all of the gowns in my preferred fabric that Company F had available.

Company F eventually saw the error of its decision but we were already well down the path with Company G. For the past 18 months, I have been purchasing regular IV gowns and tie gowns from Company G. It has done an excellent job of being able to consistently manufacture the gown just for my facility.

I continued to work with Company F and helped it develop an additional print for this particular line of gowns that could be used for 5X IV gowns. I also finally convinced it to make a 10X non-IV gown for my facility out of the same fabric it was using to make the 10X IV gowns. I felt like I had been a valuable contributor to its product line.

We have now completed the changeover of all regular IV gowns, about 50% of the regular tie gowns, and about 25% of the 5X IV gowns and 10X tie gowns. The difficulties of introducing a new gown line were predominately behind us. Then I learned that Company F had—after Company G had gone into production of the fabric for me—filed a copyright application and was insisting that Company G immediately stop using that print.

So, here I sit with a major dilemma on my hands. My system has entered into a purchasing agreement through our purchasing group that requires me to purchase a large share of my textiles through Company G. This was not a problem earlier because I was already purchasing about 70% of my operation’s textiles through Company G, with the balanced allocated between Company F and Company H. Company G had generously allowed me to continue purchasing certain items from Company F; it respected the business relationship I had with Company F and was willing to exclude 20% of my business from the agreement.

The problem I have now is I cannot move the patient gowns back to Company F without violating the new purchasing agreement. If I cannot move the gowns back to Company F, then my only choice is to jointly develop a new print with Company G and go through the pain of another gown conversion.

The idea of changing patient gowns again seems unfair and unnecessary. My reaction to being forced to switch was to inform Company F that I was moving all my business to another linen company. I regret that the person who really gets hurt in this change is the local representative for Company F who did not cause this problem.

Company F decided, after receiving my written intentions to discontinue purchasing from it, to reinvestigate the situation and rethink its decision; the process is ongoing. The final decision on the parts of both companies has yet to be rendered. My feelings are that once a bell has been rung, once a problem has been created, it is extremely difficult to pretend that it did not happen, that it was just a tragic mistake. 

I am attempting to use this situation as a teaching moment for my staff. We need to be more sensitive to the needs of our customers and try to make sure we do not put them in frustrating, no-win situations. Customers often are not forgiving of our communication missteps, so therefore we need to make sure we do things correctly on our first attempt.

Developing long-term business relationships requires sensitivity to the needs of your customers. Company F could have earned additional loyalty and respect had it initially decided to allow Company G to make the gowns exclusively for my laundry under a license agreement. Such an attitude would have protected their business and encouraged me to continue looking at them to meet additional needs.  

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.