DECEMBER 2016
JENSEN, ABS team to form Gotli Labs AG PANAMA CITY, Fla. — JENSEN GROUP and ABS Laundry Business Solutions have joined forces to form a new company, Gotli Labs AG, JENSEN reports. The purpose of the new company is to consolidate data management in heavy-duty laundries. Both companies have been offering similar applications for productivity management. JENSEN Cockpit provides real-time information to overview and track-and-trace the entire laundry process together with a wide range of production statistics. The Production Information Management System (PIMS) by ABS helps to increase the efficiency of available resources by planning and measuring staff and equipment. PIMS is also built to record time and attendance data and export that to a payroll system. JENSEN says Gotli Labs AG is merging these two products into one solution for production management: Globe— Gotli Labs’ Operational Business Expert. The new company will operate independently from ABS Laundry Business Solutions and the JENSEN-GROUP, and be headquartered in Steinhausen, Switzerland. ALN
Volume 42, Number 12
Effective, efficient laundry route service strategies Textile rental and supply company AmeriPride uses technology, optimized vehicles to accomplish efficient delivery BY MATT POE, EDITOR CHICAGO — AmeriPride Linen & Uniform Services, headquartered in Minnetonka, Minn., provides linen and towels, uniforms, floor mats, and restroom and cleaning supplies to nearly 150,000 customers across the United States and Canada, according to Ben Saukko, spokesperson for AmeriPride and Canadian Linen. “We are recognized as one of the largest textile rental and supply companies in North America,” he says. Those goods are processed at more than 115 production facili-
ties and service centers. And that means a lot of pickups and deliveries. Saukko says that AmeriPride’s fleet includes 2,000 vehicles. How does a company with so many goods to be picked up and delivered, and so many vehicles, keep track of it all? How does it do it efficiently, both in terms of service and energy use? “At AmeriPride, we believe that efficient pickup and delivery is achieved as a result of our newer vehicles, our eco-friendly technology, better planning and comprehensive training and service management,” says Saukko. AmeriPride’s delivery model
offers laundry and linen service companies that pick up and deliver goods some ideas for creating a more efficient delivery service—
from the fleet to technology to driver training. See ROUTE on Page 6
Century Linen & Uniform at 101: Past, present and future Third-generation laundry business doesn’t rest on laurels BY MATT POE, EDITOR GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. — One hundred years ago, Century Linen & Uniform didn’t exist here. To be honest, it didn’t exist until last year. Up until 2015, Century was known as Robison & Smith Inc. “My grandfather, Willard
Smith, started the business in 1915 with [Frank] Robison,” says Dick Smith, president and CEO and the third generation of the Smith family to run the company. “It became Robison & Smith … until our 100-year anniversary, which was October 2015.” At that point, Dick’s son, Matt Smith, was moving into more of a leadership role within the business. “I came back in 2012, and I started working on routes, drove routes for a summer,” says Matt. “Before 2012, I worked here for many years through high school, started off washing trucks and opening new
sheets and copy-marking them. I worked in our drycleaning department, and then I came back full time after going to college and working for someone else. “After riding routes, I got into service management, basically a route supervisor/account manager. Then I worked with our sales team, and then I became one of our regional managers. I did that for 21/2 years. And now I’m vice president of our hospitality and industrial division.” With Matt moving up in the company, Dick says it was time to “freshen up our identity,” rebrand.
www.americanlaundrynews.com
INSIDE Columnist at Large Eric Frederick discusses the importance of training programs.
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AmeriPride uses newer vehicles, eco-friendly technology, better planning and comprehensive training and service management to be efficient at delivery, the company says. (Photo: AmeriPride)
“The name Robison & Smith never said what we did,” Dick says. “It could have been a law firm. It could have been an accounting firm, different things. We were missing a lot of electronic media contact—we were kind of missing the boat on the Internet. It was hard for our sales reps to go to customers, ‘This is so-and-so from Robison & Smith Inc. We are in the blah, blah, blah business.’ Now it’s just Century Linen & Uniform, and it’s just self-explanatory.” The Smith family acquired See CENTURY on Page 10
The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
[4]
Panel of Experts Our experts look back at 2016 and ahead to what may come in 2017.
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[16] PRODUCT SHOWCASE
Late News
DETERGENTS, CHEMICALS & INJECTION SYSTEMS
11/17/16 5:50 PM