CHICAGO — Elgar Straub is managing director of VDMA (German Engineering Federation) Bavaria: Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies in Munich.
He has seen many technological advances in industrial laundry operations, and one that has been readily accepted and used in the European textile care industry is radio-frequency identification — RFID — technology.
Straub says that the numbers for one expert RFID company provide an example of how accepted the technology has become in European laundry operations.
“Datamars is a Swiss company, and they were one of the pioneers to use RFID for the textile industry, making it for the textile care industry,” he says. “Their other big market is cattle, believe it or not, mainly in Australia, in an area where cattle are running alone for miles.
“They have over 10,000 installations today for their RFID chips in the textile care industry. Over 10,000 installations means 10,000 customers.”
While European laundry operations have embraced the technology for many reasons, from controlling goods to reducing labor costs, RFID hasn’t been used as readily in the United States.
Why is this, and what can U.S. laundry operators learn from their European counterparts?
BENEFITS IN EUROPEAN LAUNDRIES
Dr. Timo Hammer is CEO of Life Science & Care at Hohenstein Laboratories, with headquarters in Bonnigheim, Germany, and a U.S. location in Ligonier, Indiana. Hohenstein engages in quality and product development testing, certification, and research and training to advance the industry.
He agrees that many European commercial laundries and textile services are now using RFID technology because it allows them to make their processes much more efficient and transparent.
“RFID enables automatic identification and tracking of textiles, which is particularly important in the industry to improve quality, service and cost control,” Hammer says. “The decision to use RFID is also based on the desire to meet the increasing demands for hygiene, traceability and sustainability.”
He says the advantages of RFID in the laundry are manifold:
- Automated detection: textiles are detected quickly and reliably without the need for manual intervention.
- Increased efficiency: processes such as receiving, sorting, cleaning and delivery can be accelerated thanks to automatic detection.
- Error reduction: the risk of mix-ups or losses is minimized.
- Transparency and traceability: each textile can be tracked individually, which improves quality assurance.
- Inventory management: RFID makes stocktaking and inventory control much easier.
- Hygiene and safety: the technology supports compliance with high hygiene standards as it enables seamless traceability.
“Laundries benefit from faster processes, fewer errors and better control of their stocks. This leads to cost savings and greater customer satisfaction,” shares Hammer. “Customers (e.g., hospitals, hotels) receive a more transparent service as textiles can be tracked accurately. This increases confidence in quality and hygiene.
“For management, processes can be continuously optimized thanks to the data provided by RFID. The technology also makes it easier to comply with legal requirements and quality standards.”
RFID IN THE UNITED STATES
Despite the advantage of RFID being available for U.S. operators, European laundries embrace RFID more, Doug Story shares. He is president and senior consultant of MorgenBrooke LLC, a specialty chemical cleaning consultancy in Sylva, North Carolina.
Also, Story holds patents based on RFID technology and has looked into its usage in operations around the world.
“The difference lies not in costs, which are often discussed in the U.S., but rather in market focus,” he points out.
“The answer is European and other markets are driven by something more than just, ‘Let’s wash it and provide the best service for our customers’ mentality.’ They are driven by a market that has embraced zero carbon emissions and sustainability as decided upon by their customers and governments of the region.”
Story found that the U.S. market is driven by serving its customers as conveniently and efficiently as possible.
Internationally (Europe and other locations), laundry operations aren’t too heavily burdened by the cost of the technology, and it is an easier “sell” to their customers on the idea. This allows the plant to benefit from the goodwill benefits derived from the technology once it has been implemented.
“The U.S., as of yet, has not gotten to that point,” he shares. “It will depend on what the customers want; they drive the market in the U.S. for the most part.
“As they start pushing their suppliers toward something more than just quality and price, our laundries will adapt, but until then, the embrace of RFID will be slow to moderate at best, driven mostly by first adopters and by the pressure of a poor and expensive labor market.”
Hammer says that although implementing RFID requires an investment of money and resources, the benefits are clear.
“As workforce shortages continue to grow, the need for automation becomes increasingly evident,” he says.
“For the sorting process in the industrial laundries and for the logistic chain also, mainly for industrial laundry processes, it makes everything much easier,” Straub concludes.
“You need fewer people, fewer employees, and, therefore, it’s worth doing it because in the end, it’s much cheaper than everything else. So, just use it.”
Click HERE to read part 1 about the rise and acceptance of RFID in the European laundry industry.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
