NOVEMBER 2015
Late News AmeriPride Services acquires First Class Linen in Mississippi MINNEAPOLIS — AmeriPride Services has acquired First Class Linen in Mississippi, according to a company press release. The production facility in Durant and its two service centers in Richland and Olive Branch will now operate as AmeriPride’s 30th U.S. branch. “We believe this is a great addition to the AmeriPride family,” says Bill Evans, president and CEO of AmeriPride. “The acquisition will help us expand our geographic territory and further solidify our market leadership in this region, and supports our ongoing efforts to grow profitably.” The purchase of the First Class Linen was completed on Sept. 16. In addition to the customers, facilities and equipment, AmeriPride has kept almost the entire workforce, the company says. Most employees and key management have agreed to stay on board, including Dan Wills, former vice president of sales and service, who will take over as the general manager. “AmeriPride has a great reputation in the industry, and I fully expect this to be a smooth and seamless transition,” says Wills. “Our production facility and service centers will remain open at full capacity, and customers should only see ALN positive changes.”
Volume 41, Number 11
Small changes can make big differences BY MATT POE, EDITOR CHICAGO — What does it take to improve the productivity, efficiency and profitability of a laundry? Hiring more employees? Acquiring the latest, most advanced high-tech equipment? A plant redesign and overhaul? In fact, making plant improvements doesn’t have to take a lot of time, effort and money. “Some laundries have realized a 30 to 40% increase in labor productivity through improved scheduling, reduction of congestion and production monitoring,” says Matt Alexander, president of consulting firm Pertl & Alexander LLC in Skaneateles, N.Y. “Even small improvements in utility efficiency have added up to large savings.” Small changes are sometimes the most ignored, but when combined, a group of small changes together in the operational aspects of the laundry could impact the business in a tremendous manner. IT PAYS TO MEASURE
Bob Corfield, president of Laundry Design Group LLC in Phoenix, Ariz., has explored the
question of small changes for laundries over the years. His main recommendation? Benchmarking. “If a plant is not benchmarking their operations for productivity, utilities and profitability/costs, then they need to bite the bullet and engage in a comprehensive program to measure all that can be measured,” Corfield says. “Once they have fully committed to a program, and have some initial data points, they should seek out viable comparisons and see where they stand. “This is no easy task, but commitment and consistency is required, and it costs very little.” Armed with benchmarking comparisons, Corfield says, a laundry can set out looking for small improvements in a variety of areas, in some cases with little or no investment. He names a few example areas, such as workflow scheduling, improved route scheduling, energy projects related to water and equipment tuning and, most importantly, customer evaluation. “Each of these are high-value, essential activities that can have a dramatic impact on your plant and business, regardless if you are OPL or commercial,” he says.
Gregory Gicewicz, president of Sterile Surgical Systems (a.k.a. Textile Services Inc.) in Tumwater, Wash., agrees with Corfield that laundries first need to get a measure of their operations. “Laundry productivity is largely a factor of your people, your
processes and your technology, the equipment,” Gicewicz says. “Before making any changes, it is best to first understand where you are in terms of efficiency and then work intelligently to improve in the See CHANGES on Page 15
Time to go high-tech in healthcare? Several factors need to be considered before taking action BY MATT POE, EDITOR ATLANTA — Linen processing in the healthcare industry is changing. That’s because the linens are changing. The sheets and gowns and other products used by healthcare facilities were all once made from traditional fibers. Today, those fibers are going high-tech. In order to help combat hospital-acquired/ associated infections (HAI), vendors are creat-
ing linens with antimicrobial properties using a variety of processes and materials. However, the industry is just in the beginning stages of this new technology. There are several factors that healthcare facilities and laundries need to consider before investing in these new linens. A panel discussed these considerations at this spring’s Clean Show here during the educational session titled Going Hi-Tech: Emerging Textile Technologies. The panel included James Mangini, director of linen services at Maine Medical Center; Ty Acton, global sales VP, Tingue, Brown & Co.; Dr. Fontaine Sands, an associate professor at Eastern Kentucky University; Joe Scully, president of In Textiles LLC; and Doug Story, VP of corporate support for Gurtler Industries.
www.americanlaundrynews.com
INSIDE Texcare Asia Reaches Growing Markets
“THE WORLD IS CHANGING, IN MY VIEW, AND FROM A PROCESSING STANDPOINT, WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXPERTS.” —JAMES MANGINI, MAINE MEDICAL CENTER From a textile manufacturer’s point of view, according to Scully, the proper antimicrobial technology is the “holy grail.” He says that there are many different types of technology See TEXTILES on Page 19 The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
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Find out how the show is ready to welcome technology and market leaders to Shanghai, China, Nov. 25-27.
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(Image licensed by Ingram Publishing)
Panel of Experts
How can loading and unloading become more efficient in a plant?
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Tackling Laundry at Washington State
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Milton Neal, director of equipment operations at Washington State University, made sure its new laundry gets the stains out.
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