Back to Basics: Equipment Settings (Part 1)

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.

Overall, share the importance for operators to be checking equipment settings.

Nick Fertig, Director of Central Laundry, Rosen Hotels and Resorts: It’s an extremely important function for laundry leadership.

In a perfect world, this is part of a laundry director’s day-to-day activities. However, as we get pulled in a million different directions, it becomes a function performed as frequently as possible.

That is why it is so important to instill a culture of quality in the rest of the team. They must be your eyes and ears on the floor when you are not present, and they have to be developed with the necessary skills to address concerns as they occur.

Rocco Romeo, CEO, HLS Linen Services: It is very important that operators check equipment and ensure that original settings for equipment are maintained and monitored for any changes. This will ensure proper processing and production in accordance with manufacturer specifications and plant process control.

It is imperative that there are checklists for the operator to complete to ensure the settings are correct and to document any changes or variances so that corrective action can be taken.

Jeremy Sanders, Production Manager, Huebsch Services: It is vital for the operator to understand the equipment they work with to ensure a safe and effective production day.

Checking the equipment for the right settings is pivotal to make sure the product is processed efficiently and effectively to maximize the quality with the least amount of cost.

What equipment needs the most oversight? Why?

FERTIG: In my opinion, it is the ironers. There are so many sensors, settings and deteriorating parts that come into play.

These pieces of equipment run nonstop from shift start to shift completion and are true workhorses. They are extremely sensitive and require frequent fine-tuning as their environment changes.

One week, sheets could be folded perfectly and then suddenly everything seems off. What changed? Condition of the pad? Condition of belts? Air pressure? A sensor knocked slightly out of place?

All these factors, if not immediately correctable by your maintenance team, will require you to adjust your settings.

A pad that has started to thin out or a belt that has become a little more slick, both of which don’t require a full replacement, means you and your team will adjust speeds, temps, etc., to maintain the quality standards of your operation.

Joe Liparulo, General Manager, Bates Troy Healthcare Linen Services: All equipment is important to monitor.

Speed of the irons in relation to speed of the feeders and the crossfolder. Loads per hour out of the tunnel dryers will always dictate the transfers per hour out of the tunnel washers. Loss pieces fed to out the stackers on the irons. I could go on, but all equipment is important to monitor—and each hour at that.

ROMEO: Dryers and ironers in my view need the most oversight.

Dryers need to run efficiently to ensure proper drying at recommended times and to control utility costs.

Ironers require ongoing cleaning, belt replacement, pad replacement and ribbon replacement to meet quality requirements and production requirements and to ensure production efficiency of equipment is optimized.

SANDERS: For our operation, we find that our dryers need to have the most oversight. We need to ensure that our garments are conditioned correctly so they enter our steam tunnel with the appropriate moisture content.

We also need to make sure that our dryers completely dry our toweling, mops and other products that need to be fully dried. To make sure these results stay consistent, we must monitor the settings on a regular basis.

What equipment stays more consistent over time? Why?

FERTIG: For me it is washers.

Both conventional and tunnel washers have minimal settings that need to be looked at. These are more “set it and forget it” pieces of equipment that require only preventative maintenance to ensure operational status.

Even a press fits into this category. Perform preventative maintenance (PMs), watch a few loads through the unit to ensure it is hitting its marks and you are good to go.

About the only thing that will ever change in these units could be the chemistry and that is handled by your chemical vendor and based on personal feedback you provide regarding staining and quality issues.

LIPARULO: Only the equipment that is monitored hourly. PMs are a huge part on all equipment.

ROMEO: All equipment needs preventative maintenance to stay consistent over time.

SANDERS: Within our operation, we find that our floor mat roller is the most consistent piece of equipment. It may sound simplistic, but for our smaller operation, we need to roll several thousand floor mats per operating day to meet the demand.

We also specialize in non-standard rental floor mats, so our rolling machine is utilized to the max for both rolling and scanning of the RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip.

Check back Thursday for the conclusion about manufacturer/dealer involvement and processes used for adjusting settings.