RIPON, Wis. — Managing an on-premises laundry (OPL) operation means always being on the lookout for hidden efficiencies and ways to improve production, whether it’s through labor, utilities, water usage, laundry room design or technology.
If you’re building or remodeling a laundry room, or you’re wondering how to improve efficiency and decrease the costs associated with your current laundry operation, here are perspectives from three distributors serving the OPL industry on factors to consider:
Q. What changes in laundry room design and layout can OPL managers make to maximize production?
Craig Dakauskas, vice president, Commercial and Coin Laundry Equipment Co.: An on-premises laundry room should be organized to optimize throughput. Personally, I would recommend the flow of an ideal laundry room to be designed as follows: A washer is the first thing a housekeeping employee sees and can access upon walking into a laundry room with a laundry bin. He or she can then move on to the dryer, then an ironing table and folding table if applicable. Finally, on the way out, there should be room to store clean linens and laundry bins. This laundry room layout can help make the jobs of housekeeping staff easier and ensure maximum throughput, which can in turn cut down on labor costs.
Tom Schwartz, sales engineer, Washburn Machinery: Laundry room design should be set up to flow from the “dirty” side of the room (where the unwashed linens are) to a clean side. On the clean side should be laundry carts and tables designated only for clean linens. OPL managers should also aim to ensure that their housekeeping staff can move from machine to machine easily. You can help maximize throughput by
ensuring that washers and dryers are close enough to each other that your staff doesn’t have to walk far to transfer linens but far enough away that they still have room to maneuver.
Q. What are some ways that OPL managers can reduce utility costs?
Ryan Lucken, operations manager, Washington Automated: Aside from utilizing technology to ensure all programming is fixed to the most efficient settings, utility cost reduction can be found in new, quality equipment. Most machines have specific “Eco” cycles that reduce water and energy usage. Some washers have rinse cycles that spray through the linens like a shower—instead of a washer that fills up like a bath—which can save as much as 39% in water use and leave behind 22% less chemical residue on linens. High-speed extractors, with a G-force exceeding 300, help reduce drying time by extracting more water in the washer before linens are even placed in the dryer. This extraction speed actually reduces energy usage.
Dakauskas: Dryers with moisture-sensing technology greatly reduce drying time by automatically shutting the machine off when linens get to a certain temperature and level of dryness. This technology can cut a dry cycle by around 30%. We’ve even seen some cycles decrease from 40 minutes to 19 minutes. This drying technology eliminates operator error and running a dryer longer than is necessary, cutting down on energy usage.
Q. What can OPL managers do to more efficiently clean linens while preserving linen life?
Lucken: The No. 1 thing OPL managers can do to preserve linen life is ensure they are using dryers with moisture-sensing technology that shuts the machine off when linens are dry. Extending linen life comes down to eliminating over-
drying, which is caused by keeping linens in a hot dryer for longer than is necessary. Scorching linens will cause OPL managers to have to buy new linens more frequently. One way to determine if your dryers are overdrying your linen is to look at how much lint is produced during each cycle; excessive lint is a sign of overdrying.
Dakauskas: In addition to utilizing moisture-sensing dryers, there is technology out there that allows you customize programming and cycles to match specific linen types, as well as to use less heat (in both washer and dryer) on specific cycles. The longer you dry linens, the rougher they get. You can extend linen life by reducing the amount of heat they’re exposed to.
Schwartz: The right washer will clean linens quickly while maximizing the little time they do spend inside with a spray rinse. A washer-extractor sprays your linens clean, instead of soaking them in a tub of water, which helps preserve linen life by better removing chemicals and substances (e.g., bleach, detergent, soil) that can deteriorate linen. Different loads require different amounts of chemicals for the optimal wash, and washing different linen types together can have adverse effects. Avoid washing a load that’s either too large or too small; this can affect the amount of chemicals linens are exposed to and either not clean them completely or damage them.
Managing an on-premises laundry operation often means looking for ways to improve efficiency and maximize production without having to put in a significant amount of additional work. This can be done by embracing technology and analyzing labor processes, machine programming, laundry room layout and equipment mix; however, you can’t improve what you can’t measure, so ensuring you have the capabilities to analyze your operation and set benchmarks is crucial.
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At the end of the day, the distributors agreed that having the right equipment can save time and money while increasing the production of a laundry operation.
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Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].