Content about Wisconsin

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

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

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

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

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

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

GREEN LAKE, Wis. — The Heidel House Resort & Spa has been located here since 1945. It sits on 20 picturesque acres of wooded land on the shores of Wisconsin’s deepest inland lake. It started as a restaurant, quickly grew into a family-run retreat, and by the 1970s had become one of Wisconsin’s most popular destination resorts.

Like most high-end resorts and hotels, the Heidel House offers only the highest-quality linens and towels for guest use. But by offering these luxury fabrics, challenges have arisen in its on-premise laundry.

Luxury materials contain a higher percentage of cotton, which absorbs and retains more water than other fabrics. This means heavier loads of laundry with increased dry times, labor and machine use.

Another issue was increasing costs for linen replacement. The resort had older dryers with controls that only offered a few dry settings. Linens were being over-dried, and some were even scorched. Replacing these linens can be costly, according to Jean Westhuis, Heidel House’s executive housekeeper.

To help combat these challenges, the Heidel House partnered with equipment manufacturer UniMac.

THE DRYING SOLUTION

Company representatives recommended installing a 75-pound tumble dryer equipped with a UniLinc™ control system, which includes OPTidry™ Over-dry Prevention Technology.

The tumble dryer was the right fit for the resort because it offered some of the industry’s leading features. For example, its multiple burner heat system provides quick, stable temperature control, ensuring high-quality drying for linens. Additionally, the dryer has a self-cleaning lint filter, which reduces fire hazards.

OPTidry connects sensors located within the lifters to a rotary transfer switch. The result is a pinpoint dryness reading throughout the entire load, which allows the machine to automatically shut off once dryness levels have been reached.

According to research, hotels over-dry laundry by more than eight minutes per load. If this extra time were eliminated, a laundry using a 75-pound dryer could save hundreds of dollars a year in utilities and labor costs. Also, the linens experience 31% less fiber loss when over-drying is eliminated, providing significant savings for on-premise laundries (13-25% of an OPL budget is spent on linen replacement).

“In my first year on the job, we had a number of linens and towels that were ruined from overheating,” Westhuis says. “Using the new tumble dryer with over-dry prevention technology, we’ve yet to see a damaged piece of linen.”

And while the OPTidry-equipped tumble dryer can dry the same volume of linens as the resort’s older tumblers, the loads dry faster, increasing throughput.

TOTAL CONTROL MANAGEMENT

OPTidry is available only through UniLinc. The total control management system records more than 100 functions using a time-and-date stamp of activities. Westhuis can use a computer to download real-time reports that provide operational details.

Upon her first review of reports, she learned employees were regularly using improper drying cycles. By reviewing the dates and times of the improper uses, she was able to pinpoint the staff members responsible and provide a training session for corrective action.

Westhuis also commented how the reports show the amount of time between the end of a cycle and when the tumble dryer door is opened. This information was used to identify linen quality issues. For example, when the linens laid in the tumble dryer for an excessive time, they acquired unsightly wrinkles that were not up to the hotel’s standards.

Additionally, UniLinc alerts provide managers with important maintenance information in order to make sure machines are running at maximum efficiency. The system is available on both washers and tumble dryers, simplifying training and providing a truly networked laundry room.

UPDATING FOR THE FUTURE

The Heidel House faced issues that many other hotels and resorts are dealing with today. By taking a proactive approach to find a solution to the problem, the resort is now saving money through lower natural gas use and less frequent linen replacement. In addition, monitoring laundry operations has never been easier.

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.

This conference features educational and business sessions for drycleaners, launderers and suppliers to the industry.  Lots of networking opportunities including nightly hospitality suite, afternoon pontoon boat rides on the lake  and golf scramble at the Lodge.  Sunday afternoon offers golf at the buetiful Geneval National Golf Course for those more serious golfers who love the game.

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

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

RIPON, Wis. — Speed Queen has added Huntley, Ill.-based Haiges Machinery as a distributor for its on-premise laundry (OPL) equipment. Haiges will be responsible for distributing Speed Queen OPL equipment in Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

“We are pleased to welcome Haiges Machinery to the Speed Queen family of distributors,” says Bill Bittner, Speed Queen national sales manager. “Haiges is an established distributor in the Chicagoland market and has an excellent reputation for customer service in the territory it serves.”

MADISON, Wis. — G&K Services Inc., which owns and operates an industrial laundering facility in Green Bay, Wis., has agreed to pay $330,000 to settle state claims under Wisconsin’s air pollution laws. The judgment resolves charges that G&K Services failed to comply with certain requirements for handling air emissions at its Green Bay facility from 2004 to 2007.