CHICAGO — As businesses continue to work toward more normal operations, laundry businesses are seeing increases in the volume of goods they process.
While growth is good, sometimes a plant’s capacity can become strained. Then, it may be time for the laundry to look at adding equipment, in the space it has, to keep up with increasing pounds per hour.
The question then becomes one of evaluating the laundry’s current operation and determining the best course of action as it grows.
American Laundry News spoke with representatives from two consulting firms who shared their expertise on laundry equipment expansion.
First up is Ken Arnopole, owner of Arnopole & Associates, a professional laundry design and consulting service specializing in the West Coast and Hawaii since 1979, who shares about what a laundry needs to consider before even thinking about new equipment.
INFORMATION IS KEY
When it comes to determining the need to add laundry equipment and expand, information is key.
“First of all, it’s going to depend a little bit about is it linen supply? Is it garments? What kind of plant?” Arnopole says. “Second of all, from a management point of view, it’s important that the plant itself know what it’s currently doing for the best optimization of what they have.
“And by that, I mean, a lot of the plants I go review, they don’t know how many pieces per hour each department does. They don’t have an objective point of view.”
As an example, he shares one instance where the son of the owner of a plant in Los Angles wanted a new building.
“He drove the BMW with the personalized license plates,” Arnopole shares. “Dad started the company with one route at a time. The young kid that wants to build the laundry that his dad doesn’t want to spend the money, but the kid wants the fancy place. Their focuses were different.”
As he worked on designing a new plant, going over square footage based on the company’s production needs, frustration set in. The operation didn’t need a new facility; it needed to remodel its current plant, which could have doubled production.
“I believe an operator needs to have, first of all, the full knowledge of what their costs are,” says Arnopole. “What their space currently is using and why.
“There are a lot of things that should be looked at to make sure that they’re currently operating efficiently before buying another shirt press just get more shirts out or add another washing machine to the line.”
He says that’s one of the first questions he asks: Does the laundry really need new equipment, or is there something else that needs to be adjusted in the plant?
For example, say a laundry has five 200-pound washers in line, and the operation needs to increase from processing 1,000 pounds per hour to 1500 pounds per hour.
“Do you buy one 400-pound washer or get a little bit more out of one or two of what you have?” Arnopole points out. “There are a lot of decisions that have to be made based on what your needs are.
“But now, if I do more wash, where do I put it when it comes out? Do I have the space on the floor to hold it prior to the next production step? And if I wash more, am I going to be able to press more? Are my ironers going to be able to handle the extra production, or my folding machines, or my presses?
“So, it isn’t just a matter of how many pounds you put through the washroom. It’s how many pounds you put through the entire plant.”
Another factor to consider with equipment expansion is return on investment (ROI), Arnopole shares.
“You don’t want to spend $70,000 on a 400-pound tilting washing machine when you might be able to run your existing washroom for two more hours until the payback’s there,” he says. “It’s so dependent on the actual operation.
“There are so many things to look at when it comes to increasing production within the facility. And No. 1, obviously, is make sure you’re producing enough and you’re at the limit before you spend your money.”
Arnopole recommends that laundry operations conduct a regular audit of its facilities, equipment and processes.
“Every five years or so, go through the plant; do an audit of everything,” he says. “Look at all the systems, all of them in an overall sense. What’s the age of the equipment? Do you need to replace it or not? How much water do you use? All of those factors work into production audits.”
Arnopole suggests using an outside, independent source to help with an audit and planning equipment expansion and then partnering with equipment suppliers, chemical providers, etc., to create the expansion solutions needed for the specific laundry operation.
“Get some good honest answers and get some good feedback,” he recommends. “That’s when they’re even considering expanding their equipment.”
Check back Thursday as Ted Barry from John Barry & Associates looks at his firm’s steps toward maximizing productivity in the space available.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].