Back to Basics: Equipment Settings (Conclusion)

CHICAGO — It’s a simple concept.

When industrial laundry equipment is on the right settings, goods are more likely to be processed efficiently and with the expected quality.

It’s also easy to get lost in the busyness of the operation and overlook monitoring those settings.

American Laundry News communicated with five laundry operators about getting “back to the basics” with equipment settings.

Are manufacturers and dealers involved? Why or why not?

Nick Fertig, Director of Central Laundry, Rosen Hotels and Resorts: Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

The majority of the time, it is clear what the root cause is that results in the adjustment of operational settings. In those cases, my team and I have handled situations like this many times before, and it is a normal day on the job.

Other times, you can come in the morning after a great shift and all of a sudden, a piece of equipment that worked flawlessly the day before is an absolute mess.

Usually in these scenarios, the vendor is brought into the process after our attempts are unsuccessful, and nine times out of 10, it’s a much deeper mechanical issue that is not easily identifiable.

Joe Liparulo, General Manager, Bates Troy Healthcare Linen Services: Only if there is an issue with a piece of equipment that can’t be repaired. In some cases, the dealer has to be involved with parts availability.

Rocco Romeo, CEO, HLS Linen Services: Manufacturers and dealers are important in providing information on preventative maintenance schedules and other guidance to ensure equipment is running smoothly and meeting the needs of the plant.

This includes regular on-site visits to ensure equipment is being properly maintained and to address any issues that your maintenance department has not been able to resolve.

This will lead to additional training of your maintenance staff on the equipment as well.

Jeremy Sanders, Production Manager, Huebsch Services: We do utilize the manufacturers from time to time, especially when programming is an issue.

One of the main reasons we decide to buy a piece of machinery is based on the partnership we create with the manufacturer. We need to know that if the machine is not working according to specs, we will receive support to reduce our downtime.

They are also the best source when it comes to identifying the most optimal settings to use for certain applications.

What’s your operation’s process for ensuring your equipment is set properly and hitting the quality marks?

FERTIG: Two things. First, constantly being on the floor reviewing products. We watch it on every piece of equipment from start to finish every single day. We randomly sample and use the feedback from our associates handling it.

Second, we get candid feedback from the properties that we serve. Is it hitting their expectations and are they happy with our services?

LIPARULO: PMs and hourly tracking of key indicators such as hourly productivity and presentation of product, which means is the linen coming out of each machine looking as good as it gets before it is placed into the cart going to the customer.

ROMEO: Preventative maintenance is a very important part of the process of ensuring equipment is set properly and hitting quality marks.

Each operator knows when equipment is not set properly, and it is imperative that the communication chain be set up to encourage reporting of any issues along with timely resolution of the issue so that the equipment continues to hit quality marks.

Regular recording of key performance indicators on equipment will also ensure that equipment is being properly maintained along with corrective actions (e.g., ironer bed temperature, pH, etc.).

Rewash rates are also a good indicator of a potential problem with equipment. The importance of chemistry cannot be underestimated.

SANDERS: Each day our operators perform their 5S Lean Workplace checklist. During this process, they set the parameters for quality checks throughout the day.

We’ve also implemented job tasks for operators that specifically monitor settings to make sure the equipment is meeting expectations. If not, we inform our maintenance team to review during their scheduled preventative maintenance.

Steve Scrooby, Chief Engineer, Bates Troy Healthcare Linen Services: Every shift, I personally like to walk through our plant every couple of hours and observe our product coming out of each machine.

I like to monitor them and make any fold or speed adjustments as needed, and to be able to identify any issues with each piece that our staff may address to make improvements on our quality or throughput.

This also gives me the opportunity to check in with the operators to see how the equipment is running. They are our first line of defense in identifying issues before they have gone on for any length of time.

Please share any other thoughts about laundry equipment settings.

FERTIG: This is not something that is ever really taught, trained, or highlighted, but it is an absolutely essential skill.

Most of what I have learned has been through trial and error. A lot of folks coming into the industry think I just bought this shiny, new equipment and it is going to run perfectly for a very long time. This leads to a lot of frustration and misunderstanding.

A simple change of the seasons from warm weather to cold means your dryers and irons will be running drastically different and require a ton of TLC to get back in line.

Without this knowledge and experience, operators are left in the dark banging their heads against the wall and pointing the finger at what they perceive as faulty equipment.

I wish this was a topic vendors could be more honest about and speak more openly about, but I understand why they don’t. It can be overwhelming, and if one vendor is upfront about the constant need to observe and fine-tune equipment while another sells it as set it and forget it, who would you choose to buy from?

It is an unfortunate reality that you are forced to face in time. The sooner you accept this and choose to develop the necessary expertise, the better off your operation will be.

LIPARULO: Whether you have an ultra-modern plant with the newest equipment or an older plant with older equipment, the key indicators remain the same.

Proper settings of speed, doing PMs regularly and hourly tracking of productivity will always dictate those companies that are as successful as they can be and those companies that miss the mark way too often.

SANDERS: As we continue to grow the laundry business with equipment that is either fully automatic or semi-automatic, we must remember that machines will do only what we program them to do.

Therefore, we need to continue to inspect what we expect—especially from our equipment.

Miss Part 1 about the importance of equipment settings and what machines need the most adjustments? Click HERE to read it.