Laundry Operations Av Steen Sagaard Laundry Logics

Steen Søgaard, Laundry Logics, on
Laundry Operations
Published in the UK in association with TSA - Textile Services Association
Title: Laundry Operations
Year of publication: 1st Danish edition: Apr. 2004

1st English edition: Sept. 2014
English edition: 2nd (Feb. 2015)
Author: Steen Søgaard
Illustrations: Steen Søgaard et al.
Front-page layout: Laundry Logics aps
Language: English
English translation: Nathalie Ina Kühl &

Steen Søgaard
Proof-reading: Gillian Farrar, TSA, &

Richard Newton, Opeque
Published by: Laundry Logics aps,

Tornegade 4, 2., 3700 Ronne, DK
info@logics.dk
in association with: Textile Services Association,

3 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AR, UK
ISBN:
Copy right: Steen Søgaard 2014 ©
www.laundryoperations.co.uk
Preface
This book is written as an introduction for laundry industry employees to under-

stand and appreciate industrial laundry conditions, processes, production set up
and optimisation methods.
The intention of the book is to give a general introduction to the industry's history,
development and contemporary operation, and a specific review of how modern
manufacturing theories, techniques and practices are used in industrial laundry
production processes.
Seen in isolation, the book is not a guide on how to run a laundry, and it has not
been within the task frame to show concrete cases. It is a briefing on the laundry
operation, conditions, relation to the market and surroundings and its planning
tasks. Greater emphasis has been given to where and why machines, processes
and methods are used, than on how they work and are operated.
The book content is designed for use in self-study, teaching and reference.
However the full extent and significance of the techniques are best acknowledged
and understood used in practice in actual laundry operations, or even better, in
simulation models.
The first part of the book is designed to be a presentation of the industrial laundry
for a newcomer to the industry and therefore has an introductory angle.
The second part is a specific discussion of the details of laundry production facilities
and operations, which are essential for the production, planning and stock control
aspects within which operational staff will work.
Generally there is very little literature on industrial laundry subjects in terms of

historical documentation, materials science, engineering, manufacturing techno-
logy and methodology, and there is only a limited supply of education other than
on a strictly basic level. The largest part of the formal material is about textiles and
chemicals. Much knowledge transfer therefore happens from word of mouth or
heuristic - that is learning by doing oneself.
Good people with deep insight in the book's themes have kindly contributed with
knowledge, advice and guidance within their respective discipline. For this I owe a
big Thank You to:
Bo Rasmussen, Jensen Deutschland

Claus Linde, Botved Vaskerimaskiner
Peter Beirholm, Beirholms Vaeverier
And I also want to thank:

Gillian Farrar, Textile Services Association
Richard Newton, Opeque, and
Murray Simpson, Textile Services Association,
for their kind and qualified assistance in the translation and proof reading of the
manuscript.
Steen Søgaard, Allinge, Denmark, August 2014

1.1 The earliest industrial laundries
Table of contents
1. THE ORIGIN OF INDUSTRIAL LAUNDERING .......................................................... 7
1.1 The earliest industrial laundries ......................................................... 7
1.2 The ways of industrialisation ............................................................. 9
1.3 Spill over effect ............................................................................. 10
1.4 The laundry industry today.............................................................. 12
1.4.1 Competition ............................................................................. 12
1.4.2 The industry in a global perspective ............................................ 13
1.4.3 Stakeholders in the industry ....................................................... 15
2. THE LAUNDRY OF TODAY ............................................................................ 17
2.1 The laundry's function and objective ................................................ 17
2.2 The laundry conditions.................................................................... 18
2.3 What does an industrial laundry process do ....................................... 22
3. THE LAUNDRY OPERATION .......................................................................... 26
3.1 The difference in short and long term ............................................... 26
3.2 Which and who's demands? ............................................................. 27
3.3 Connections in the laundry operation ................................................ 32
3.4 The tasks in the laundry ................................................................. 36
4. THE PRODUCT ........................................................................................ 50
4.1 The textiles and their properties ...................................................... 50
4.1.1 Natural fibres ........................................................................... 55
4.1.2 Synthetic fibres ........................................................................ 59
4.1.3 Textiles design and -production .................................................. 60
4.2 Types of dirt and their removal ........................................................ 61
5. LAYOUT & ORGANISATION .......................................................................... 67
5.1 Mechanisation of the working places ................................................. 67
5.1.1 The Primary Storage System ...................................................... 68
5.1.2 Sorting-in ................................................................................ 70
5.1.3 Internal Transport and Classified Storage..................................... 73
5.1.4 Washing .................................................................................. 75
5.1.5 Draining .................................................................................. 92
5.1.6 Transport between Draining and Drying ....................................... 95
5.1.7 Drying ..................................................................................... 96
5.1.8 Transportation in the After-Processing ......................................... 99
5.1.9 Batch-storing on Clean Side ..................................................... 100
5.1.10 Separation and Shaking ......................................................... 101
5.1.11 Piece-Storing on Clean Side .................................................... 102
5.1.12 Feeding, Ironing, and Folding ................................................. 103
5.1.13 Finishing .............................................................................. 110
5.1.14 Folding ................................................................................ 114
5.1.15 Additional Processes .............................................................. 117
5.1.16 Sorting-out, Packaging, and Wrapping ..................................... 117
5.2 The laundry’s Supply .....................................................................117
5.2.1 Water .................................................................................... 117
5.2.2 Steam ................................................................................... 125
5.2.3 Chemicals .............................................................................. 127
5.3 The work and its organisation .........................................................137
5.3.1 Decisions in the Short Term ..................................................... 139
5.3.2 The Pre-Conditions for the Organisation of the Work ................... 139
5.3.3 Organising the Work ............................................................... 141
5.3.4 Bills Of Materials, BOMs ........................................................... 146
6. OPERATION STRATEGIES .......................................................................... 150
4
6.1 The Characteristics of the Good Solution ..........................................152

6.2 Planning of the Production in Short Term .........................................155
6.3 Key Figures and Measurement points ..............................................157
7. THE LAUNDRY OF TOMORROW .................................................................... 160
7.1 The Markets .................................................................................161
7.2 The Productions ............................................................................162
7.3 The Suppliers ...............................................................................164
8. THE PRODUCTION AND ITS DECISIONS.......................................................... 171
8.1 The Flow of Products .....................................................................172
8.2 The Strategies of the Operation (II) ................................................175
8.3 The Characteristics of the Good Solution (II) ....................................177
8.4 Product Mix-norms ........................................................................179
8.5 Key Figures and Measurement points (II) .........................................181
9. PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES IN THE LAUNDRIES ................................................. 187
9.1 Time ...........................................................................................188
9.2 Planning & Optimising ...................................................................191
9.3 Production Forms ..........................................................................194
9.4 Capacities ....................................................................................196
9.5 Bottlenecks and Product Flows ........................................................199
9.6 Manning ......................................................................................205
9.7 Consumption and Flows of Products ................................................207
9.8 Buffers ........................................................................................208
9.9 Supplies.......................................................................................212
9.10 The Good Laundry Production .......................................................217
9.11 Purchase Strategy .......................................................................218
10. THE SURVIVAL OF THE LAUNDRY............................................................... 221
10.1 Real Economic Increase ...............................................................221
10.2 Success in Reorganisation Processes .............................................225
11. NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................. 228
Definitions .........................................................................................228
12. CHARTS AND LOOK-UPS ......................................................................... 243
Physics ..............................................................................................243
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ................................................................................. 248
Steen Søgaard ...................................................................................248
5
PART 1
The laundry and its

working day
6
1. THE ORIGIN OF INDUSTRIAL

LAUNDERING
You may wonder why something, which through thousands of years has been a
household task, suddenly became an industrial process...
1.1 THE EARLIEST INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRIES

There are many myths about this innovative change.
The Americans prefer the explanation, that when the gold diggers went out to dig
during the California Gold Rush, there were no women in the mines to do the men's
laundry. Not that it mattered much – men know that men smell – but when, on a
rare occasion, a woman came by the saloons, it could be of some importance to be
clean and wear clean clothes.
The first washing machine

A story is told that a smelly prospector, longing for female company, on his way to
town hooked up a jury-rigged washing machine to a donkey engine (a small steam
engine used for loading and unloading), and the first mechanised washing machine
was invented. In other words, men found a technical solution to a social problem –
the lack of women. There might be something to it. Through the ages, washing has
been one of the most gender-specific tasks in both American and western European
cultures. More often than not, no women meant no washing.
And since the first washing machines appeared, we have seen the consequences
of this work pattern. At the time of the gold rush, between 8 and 12% of Scandi-
navian women were employed as domestic servants. Today it is less than 0.1%.
Back then, only 4% of American women worked outside the home. Today it is 90%.
Few developments, if any, have had a more profound impact on the national west-
ern economies than that of women's entry into the labour market, made possible
among other developments, by the mechanising of the more labour demanding
household tasks.
7
But the story about the smelly prospector is probably apocryphal. Already during
the beginning of the 19th century, a good while before the gold fever raged in Cali-
fornia, parts of the washing processes in small craft laundries were already mech-
anised.
The truth is more likely that the heavy laundry work in households was hard, te-
dious, slow and never-ending. Large, heavy pieces of cloth soaked in a boiling so-
lution of water, lye and soap took its toll on the back, shoulders, arms and hands
of the women.
It took two days to work through the washing of the household's clothes and five
days later you could start all over again; and so it would repeat, year in and year
out. Rough, red and swollen hands bore clear testimony to the women in town who
washed the clothes themselves and who had no people to do the dirty work, literally
speaking.
Figure 1 - Donkey engine & tree fellers, CA, USA, © Central Sierra Historical Society
Washing machines in the laundry industry

It was simply not possible to bring these practices into industry. Industrialisation
of the rest of society, primarily the textile industry, brought the need for mechani-
sation of the washing and drying processes. Already at the end of the 1700s, at
least one English textile manufacturer had a system of steam-powered machines in
his factory used for washing and drying.
But it was only when the cities grew, when water pipes and sewers were laid in
the ground, and when the requirements for cleanliness increased with the under-
standing of the causes of disease, that the industrialisation of the laundry industry
really took off.
In 1782 a patent application for a Sidgier machine to carry out the mechanical
washing of clothes was filed, but when designing most of the washing machines for
use in-house, the inventors sought to imitate the human (female) hand scrubbing
8
1.2 The ways of industrialisation
the clothes. Out of twelve illustrations of washing processes and machinery in Ben-
jamin Butterworth’s "The Growth of Industrial Art" from 1892, eleven are exclu-
sively depicting women carrying out the process.
Figure 2 - An early 20th century laundry
1.2 THE WAYS OF INDUSTRIALISATION

Only one of the illustrated machines produced for commercial use is not operated
by a woman. There is no operator of that machine; it is powered by a belt connected
to a steam turbine arrangement. Like similar contemporary machines, it consisted
of a rotating drum, which forced water through the clothes by a combination of
rotation induced g-force and gravitation – in much the same way that centrifugal
machines are working even today, over one hundred years later.
Ingenuity, in combination with a requirement of large quantities, replaced house-
work with industrial solutions, and hereby the feminine with the masculine.
Figure 3 - Boundary Laundry, Staff & Workers, 1906 © London Metropolitan Archives (collage 254097)
9
1.3 Spill over effect
The paths of technologies part

During the 1800s the innovation of technology came to a crossroads. Household
machines followed one path - the industrial machines another. At the end of the
century housewives purchased mass-produced copper boilers to replace the set
coppers, but also wash- and scrubbing boards, wringers, ironers, clothes lines and
numerous other, more or less ingenious, patented appliances, at lower and lower
prices.
The logic of manufacturing

In contrast, the trend of industrial machine development followed the logic of fac-
tory manufacturing. The engineers split up the laundry tasks into specific process
steps and incorporated the craft of washing in the machine design, while taking
advantage of economies of scale. For example, hand ironing was replaced by large
cylindrical ironer rolls and chests, which had no place in the households, but could
iron hundreds of sheets every hour in the laundries.
Laundries grew larger. The market development forced laundering out of the hands
of the craftsmen, in a business characterised by many small operating units, and
into a business dominated by factories with fewer but larger industrial units. The
business went from craftsmanship via manufactures (hand made in large scale), to
mechanisation, mass production and division of labour.
The technical development in the direction of larger and more specialised machines
and a higher degree of automation, supported the industrialisation.
Laundering is production
Notwithstanding that the term "wash" in official statistics is still rated as a service,
laundry operations today are actually distinguished by the industrial production's
characteristics. Laundry factories are large buildings with several complex flows of
goods, dozens of specialised machines and up to several hundred people engaged
in the operations.
The modern laundry operation is characterised by the typical production's tradi-
tional features such as:
• identifying portion sizes on continuous batch washers (batch sizes)

• sizing of the customer's on-site textile supply (stock sizes)
• frequency between collection of dirty clothes at the customer’s premises
(collection times) and,
• time from collection, sorting, washing, finishing and delivering of clothes
in the laundry (lead time).
And, as with any production, the laundry operation is subject to a run of complex
constraints, scarce resources and priorities that determine the laundry cost profile
and responsiveness. Besides being talented, the competition in today's markets
requires laundry operators to show sharp professionalism in the preparation, mak-
ing and implementation of management decisions.
1.3 SPILL OVER EFFECT

Concurrently with industrialisation and specialisation, the laundry operations be-
came increasingly more unpredictable and complex. Specialisation, which to begin
with only covered the first process steps in the laundry, came to play an increasingly
important role in other areas of the laundry.
10
1.3 Spill over effect
Industrial complexity
The productions became so complex that they grew to be immeasurable. There
were too many variables. It is a mathematical fact that an increasing number of
variables can make any system break down. The industrialisation brought with it
too many restrictions and compulsory relationships. The operation of laundry fac-
tories favoured other and different conditions than the operation of small craft
shops and households. In the small craftsmen-shops, dependencies were fewer and
less strict. One or only a few people could handle and command all the functions,
and decisions could be undone and remade.
In the industrial operation an individual only carries out, and holds responsibility
for, one or a few steps in a series of special functions, which leads to interdepend-
encies. A workstation is dependent upon previous (upstream) and subsequent
(downstream) workstations' work rate, quality and decisions.
The internal workflow and storage of work-in-progress became important. Con-
veyor speeds and cycle times forced fixed, invariable work rates and the lanes in
the conveyor systems forced fixed, invariable batch sequences. The new types of
machines forced the operating managers to make decisions that could not be un-
done, and to make them earlier than before.
A conveyor in front of a continuous batch washer (CBW) forces the wash room
manager to determine batch sequences when the batches are queued in the con-
veyor systems, long before each batch is loaded into the CBW and the conse-
quences hit the shop floor. The CBW design advances certain category sequences
– baths must be utilised, chemical residues reused, tumble driers loaded evenly,
and some category sequences do this better than others.
The time, from a decision is made and until it is put into effect, is getting longer
and is today measured in hours, while the possibilities of remaking a decision have
almost been eliminated by equipment design. In other words, today it is necessary
to predict the course of events several hours into the future, while at the same the
economic impact time has increased. More than ever, it is necessary to plan well.
But the planning for a laundry operation has become as complex as the production
itself. To eliminate this complexity, most laundries have specialised on market seg-
ments. The laundry has, by concentrating on one or a few types of customers, been
able to remove big chunks of article numbers in the category catalogue, thus re-
ducing the number of variables.
Specialisation removes variables

Dedicated processing lines were developed in the laundries; one line for sheets,
one for the duvet covers, one for pillowcases, etc. Whole laundries were specialised
to a single type of product, e.g. dust control mat laundries, flatwork laundries,
garment laundries, etc.
By concentrating on fewer products, laundries reduced the number of planning
variables and the workday and planning tasks became manageable again. The risk
of making mistakes and the burden of costs were reduced. Industrialisation con-
tributed to this market specialisation with additional engineering specialisation.
Figure 4 - Dust control mats
11
1.4 The laundry industry today
Standardisation
However, industrialisation is also regimentation.
In the post-war period, the structure of the supplier level has changed from a
network of many specialised mom-and-dad-workshops, focusing on one or a few
elements in laundry processes, into consisting of a few large turnkey manufacturers
today, who are able to supply machines and equipment to all the processes along
the laundry process lines; from sorting, through to packaging.
The demands on the suppliers have been sharpened. The competition between
them has forced larger and fewer units. As in other industries, the global competi-
tion between suppliers forced evolution in a single direction, where no single man-
ufacturer is allowed by its competitors to stand out with a unique product, a special
quality or a particular solution developed. In an open, competitive system innova-
tion and development spread rapidly to all suppliers. The product ranges are stand-
ardised and the pressure on prices increased. The differences between the suppliers
level out and as a consequence, the development also levels out the differences
between the laundries.
1.4 THE LAUNDRY INDUSTRY TODAY

1.4.1 Competition
Today, the majority of laundries in the western world supply standard products in
standard qualities within standard lead times at standard prices. The differences in
the laundry productions have almost entirely disappeared, and with them the dif-
ferences in the the product range and the service quality.
Price competition
That leaves the laundry with price and delivery reliability. And reliability just has to
be met. The laundry is left really with only one parameter of competition, one han-
dle to turn: the price.
In order to reduce unit costs further and survive the increasing price competition,
laundries continue to accelerate the industrialisation and specialisation further. The
laundry operations keep getting bigger and bigger and more and more specialised.
Depreciation cannot be ignored

Competitiveness comes at a price. Cost-wise, specialised production equipment has
an advantage over general solutions, but it is expensive to acquire and depreciation
is high. To be able to reach the low, competitive unit cost requires large volumes.
And since the production equipment is a fixed cost, that cannot be laid off or re-
cruited, the laundry has to have large volumes all the time, both in the short and
the long term.
In order to continue to keep volumes high, the laundry has to increase the demand
for its products, but it now only has the price to compete on. The result is canni-
balisation – the laundry has to lower its prices even further. So, even if the laundry
actually has taken great trouble and compromised a number of earlier competitive
parameters in order to reduce costs, the pressure on costs remains high. Industri-
alisation does not stop. In it, there is a kind of a built-in self-reinforcing autonomy.
Economy of scale
One way to reduce costs further is to exploit economies of scale in purchasing,
administration, distribution, etc. In many western markets, where small and me-
dium independent laundries disappeared, acquired by or merged into large, multi-
12
national laundry groups, this has also been the general trend. The industry struc-
ture has changed towards fewer, larger and more specialised units, concentrated
in large laundry groups.
Denmark is a good example. At its peak, there were as many as one hundred
small, independent, cooperative laundries in Denmark. Today there is one. On the
other hand, one of the largest groups in Europe was, until 2004, Danish. Today it
is part of an international conglomerate.
The internationalisation
Today, small independent laundries are up against big national groups. The large
national corporations are up against even larger multinationals. Multinational cor-
porations are under pressure by investors and shareholders, who having alternative
investment opportunities, have different and more growth-friendly industries in
which to invest. Obvious examples are the financial markets, automotive, computer
industry and software industry.
In multinational and global communities, effects spread from the international to
the domestic and from the large to the small. In a free market, there is no hiding
from competition and performance requirements.
1.4.2 The industry in a global perspective

In concrete figures, the relative distribution of industrial laundries (production
units) in known markets looks like this today:
Figure 5 - The distribution of production units in the western world
13
Out of approx. 5,500 production units in the western countries, the majority are
located in Germany and the USA, which only to some degree is consistent with the
relative population sizes, cf. Figure 7 - Populations below.
Figure 6 - The distribution of production units in the eastern world
The major part of the 18,500 production units in the eastern countries are located
in China. The localisation of laundries only to some degree is consistent with the
relative population sizes, cf. Figure 7 - Populations below.
Figure 7 - Populations in major markets
14
China does not fit into the graph. With more than 1,351 mio. inhabitants she dwarfs
all other countries, so we have omitted China from from the graph above.
In total, there are an estimated 24,000 heavy-duty laundry production units glob-
ally (i.e. laundry operations with a production volume of more than 15 tons per
week), which together wash some 33 million tons of textiles annually.
In addition, at least some 65,000 professional laundries (units producing less than
15 tons weekly) wash app. 21 million tons of textiles annually, and a, albeit un-
known, very large number of private household washing machines.
The laundry groups

The concentration of production units in large corporations have, for example, led
to the two largest groups in Europe having more than 70 production sites and 13
European groups each having more than 10 production sites.
The U.S. has the largest group of more than 400 production sites and 34,000 em-
ployees and a turnover of approx. 245 million € annually. More than 20 American
corporations each have more than 10 production sites.
Typical industry numbers

A typical western laundry production unit turns over approx. €3 million per year,
with approx. 60 employees in the production (source: own approximation).
The variable costs in the laundry average at approx. 70% of the turnover. Depre-
ciation costs in average approx. 5% (source: Jensen Group).
In Europe alone, industrial laundries turn over approx. €10.7 billion together and
employ approx. 134,000 people (source: ETSA, year 2011-numbers).
In the Western world, industrial laundries turn over some €15 billion annually and
employ approx. 350,000 employees (source: own approximations).
Worldwide, the industrial laundries turn over approx. €25 billion and employ some
1.1 million employees (source: own approximation).
The perspective
With increasing demands on hygiene and sanitation (e.g. hospitals, nursing homes,
food and pharmaceutical industries), increased leisure and travel activities (e.g.
shipping and hotels), increasing global industrialisation (e.g. garments and textile
production), the general increase in activity in industrialised countries and general
economic development in developing countries, the market for industrial laundering
continues the steady growth it has experienced over the past several decades. We
know that rising living standards means increasing hygiene standards, which re-
quires more washing. Washing is a by-product of, or rather a means to, higher
living standards.
1.4.3 Stakeholders in the industry

Many of the companies and individuals who make up or are in contact with the
industry, have formed associations with different purposes on the laundry side,
supply side, the customer side and staff side.
Objectives are multiple and different groups are formed:
• improve negotiating position, employer associations and unions

• exchanging experience, supplier associations and technical societies
• marketing and lobbying, trade associations
• conduct regular laundry business, co-operations and networks, or
• pursue specific purposes, interest associations and associations which
exist both nationally and internationally.
15
Moreover, the industry has a range of stakeholders, such as:
• national public authorities

• inspection authorities
• education institutions
• certification bodies
• technical institutes
• research institutes
• knowledge centres
Industry associations
The following are the current western, national and international industry associa-
tions:
• TSA - Textile Services Association, Great Britain

http://www.tsa-uk.org/
• ETSA – European Textile Services Association, Europe
http://www.etsa-europe.org/
• WIRTEX - Wirtshaftsverband Textil Service, Germany
http://www.wirtex.de/
• GEIST - Group. des Entrepr. Industrielles de Services Textiles, France,
http://www.geist.fr/
• ASSOSISTEMA – Associazione Sistema Industriale Integrato Servizi
Tessili e Medici Affini, Italy, http://www.assosistema.it/
• FTN - Federatie Textielbeheer Nederland, Holland
http://www.ftn-nl.com/
• FLB - Fédération des Loueurs de Linge de Belgique, Belgium
http://www.fbt-online.be/
• ST - Sveriges Tvätteriforbund, Sweden
http://www.tvatteriforbundet.se/
• BVT – Brancheforeningen for vask og tekstiludlejning, Denmark
www.danskevaskerier.di.dk
• NRV – Norsk Renseri- & vaskeriforening, Norway
http://www.nrv.no/
• TRSA - Textile Rental Services Association, USA
http://www.trsa.org/
One step closer

This is the background and an outline of industrial laundries and the Textile Rental
(laundry) industry as a whole. It is with this knowledge in mind that we step inside
and take a closer look at the laundry…
16
2.1 The laundry's function and objective
2. THE LAUNDRY OF TODAY
2.1 THE LAUNDRY'S FUNCTION AND OBJECTIVE

With the soiled goods in the sorting area and an impatient market waiting outside,
the industrial laundry's primary function is to:
Prepare the work for processing
Function and objective

Historically, the laundry's function has always been its purpose: prepare the work
for reuse.
However the industrialisation has made the cost of running small laundries, tied to
a single customer, too high compared with the benefits which can be gained by
collecting and centralising the laundering from more customers in one site. The
simple equation that the more pieces to spread the investments over, the better
equipment you can afford to invest in, has meant that the laundries have become
larger and larger and they have begun serving more and more customers. Washing
clothes is no longer only a matter of having clean clothes on the body. It has also
turned into a matter of economy on an industrial scale, for the customers as well
as for the laundries themselves.
The practical function of washing clothes has become a means to achieve the eco-
nomic objective of reducing costs and making money.
Throughout the 20th century, the economic advantages of centralising the launder-
ing and taking advantage of specialisation has become ever increasing. The heavy
laundry work and the falling laundering prices enticed the households to send the
clothes to the laundries. The requirements for cleanliness grew. Laundries grew
accordingly – until household washing machines were so cheap and easy to operate,
that they spread from the wealthiest homes into all households. The 60s and 70s
drained the laundries of private household customers.
But the demands for cleanliness kept growing at a steady pace. Through the ex-
pansion of manufacturing, food processing, healthcare and tourism industries, new
17
2.2 The laundry conditions
market needs evolved. Needs which were larger than the households' and which
could drive an entire industry.
When defining the laundry's objective, in most cases you now have to add:
... to meet an economic goal.
whether it is to earn money in a private laundry company or to minimise costs in a

large business.
When we build, equip and operate an industrial laundry, both its practical operation
and its economic objectives have to be met.
Dry-cleaning
Clothes can however, be made ready for reuse in other ways than by washing.
During washing a dissolution and dispersion of contaminants in water is taking
place, but other liquids can also be used. Some fabrics even require washing in
water-free liquids, such as hydrocarbons – dry-cleaning instead of washing – but
the functional logic is the same. Many laundries have supplemented their equip-
ment with dry-cleaning machines and offer dry-cleaning on par with washing.
Dry-cleaning can, in some cases, solve stain problems which washing cannot.
Whether the clothes are dry-cleaned or washed, the customer is usually less con-
cerned with the process, as long as the clothes come back clean – at a low price.
The techniques of, and the requirements for, dry-cleaning is a chapter entirely in
itself and will not be discussed further here.
2.2 THE LAUNDRY CONDITIONS

Each splitting up of the laundry processes into sub-processes has been done with
the purpose of specialisation (to increase employee productivity) or automation (to
completely eliminate the need for manual intervention). In the modern laundry, the
clothes passthrough a series of sequential process steps, which are all created to
increase the quantity produced per working or clock hour.
Automation and bottom line

Advanced industrial laundries are, as a consequence, characterised by a high de-
gree of mechanisation, automation and specialisation, and high employee produc-
tivity, while older laundries are characterised by manual processes and low em-
ployee productivity.
This is not to say that modern laundries automatically earn more money than laun-
dries with older technology. Automation in itself does not necessarily translate to
higher margins. When the automation is a consequence of a market with large,
stable and homogeneous volumes of the textile categories and qualities that the
laundry has specialised in, then the possibility for good earnings exists, however it
still depends on market prices.
Therefore, there are markets where automation is ill-suited, where the quantities
or categories vary strongly over the seasons. In other words, earnings are a result
of the laundry's capacity to meet market demands at the price the market is willing
to pay, and does not necessarily have to do with the company's technological level.
Laundry investment decisions are, like in all other industries, depending on the
return on the investment, the ROI, that is the asset's ability, for as long as it is
competitive, to return the depreciation of the entire investment.
18
The impact of repetition

Even though washing may be the most important part of the laundry processes,
the issue of preparing textiles for reuse implies more than the washing process
itself. And since industrial scale means:
• many pieces
• a lot of times
• subject to economic constraints,
- all factors relating to the reuse of the textiles become important, also each step
in the circulation between the customer and the laundry.
The tough competition, the volumes and the repetition of processes makes every
nickel and dime on the floor interesting, which means that not only the processes
within the laundry's own walls are of interest, but every step in the flow of goods
between the laundry and the customer, and back again.
It is the repetition of laundry processes that generates payback potential when the
laundry specialises and automates. Historically the most labour and cost intensive
sub-processes have therefore been driving the gradual industrialisation of our in-
dustry.
But whatever the degree of automation, the main process in the laundry is still
washing – as fast as possible to work dirt out of the textiles, in hot, chemical-rich
water baths. Time, mechanical action, temperature and chemistry: the four func-
tional parameters when washing, which are inversely proportional to each other.
Increase one, and you can reduce another in more or less the same ratio.
All other sub-processes in the laundry either lead up (upstream) to - or away from
(downstream) the washing.
The processes in the laundry production

Almost all laundry categories' way through the laundry production can be divided
into the following process steps:
• sorting in and categorisation (pre- or post-sorting, registration)

• preparing for the washing (separation, pocket-emptying, labelling)
• portioning (process route conditioned pool or portion wash, registration)
• washing (prewash, wash, rinse)
• water extraction (pressing or centrifugation)
• drying (pre- or full drying)
• separation
• machine ironing
• finishing
• heat pressing
• hand ironing
• folding
• sorting out
• picking
• possibly packaging
•
- with stocks and buffers for storage of work-in-progess between each process step,
in addition to stocks of bulk and finished goods at each end of the laundry.
19
Connected processes outside the laundry production

From the time the work leaves the laundry and until it comes back again, it goes
through a number of processes, which can be divided into these steps:
• transportation to the customer

• storage on-site
• dressing in / bed making / table laying
• use
• undressing / removing / clearing
• storage on-site, and
• transportation back to the laundry
Since the laundry's combined influence on the customer's economy is crucial to

their choice of laundry, each of these sub-processes must be carried out economi-
cally for the customer and with the greatest possible quality per cost ratio.
Tear down the walls

Depending on the competitive situation, the laundry cannot free itself from looking
at its performance, as part of a working process with a customer, causing both
direct and derived costs for the customer. The laundry does not just provide a piece
of clothing on a cart in the courtyard at the customer's site. The laundry is part of
the customer's total business - a part, the customer with good reason would choose
not to include, if he is given a better total alternative.
This is both a limitation, because it requires the laundry to take wider considera-
tions than just its own output, but it also offers the laundry a number of options.
To deliver a product or a service that reduces the customers costs, not only on the
laundering, but maybe also on cost drivers, that are not at first related to the laun-
dry services, puts the laundry in a stronger competitive position. New possibilities
surface: rental care is just one, which has improved the laundry's business eco-
nomics and the customers cash position, paid for by cost reductions on textile in-
vestments (by the textile supplier), by increases in the productivity (by the em-
ployees), and by reductions in the consumption of water (by the water supplier)
and chemicals (by the chemical supplier).
Looking at the effects

Example:
A hotel may choose to buy their own linen and let it be washed at the laundry,
which has advantages and disadvantages for both the hotel and the laundry:
• the hotel has to invest a considerable sum in bed linen (a hotel with 100
beds needs some 300 sets of bedding at maybe 25-30 € per set, as a total
approx. € 8,000. In return, it can choose the designs that best fits into the
hotel interior design,
• the laundry is let off investing in the bedding. In return it is subject to the
quality (durability and processing instructions), chosen by the customer.
A large number of different textile qualities in the laundry means small
portions, many changes, more rewash, more wasted time and more textile
damage – i.e. high operating costs.
Alternatively, the laundry could offer to invest in the bed linen and rent it out to
the hotel:
20
• the laundry gets access to the possibility to reduce the number of

categories and select fabric qualities to suit industrial processing. In
return, it must provide an investment (although, to some extent, reduced
by large volume discounts)
• the hotel gets a more narrow design range to choose from. In return it is
let off the huge investment in linen. Because of the laundry's larger
purchase volumes, the price of renting linen might even be as low as the
hotel's own depreciation and interest, had it invested in the linen itself.
The result is that the laundry gets its operating costs reduced, the hotel gets its
cash flow improved, and both advantages are paid for by savings in textile procure-
ment (i.e. by the textile supplier), increase in laundry productivity (i.e. by the em-
ployees) and a reduction of the laundry's water consumption (i.e. by the water
works) and chemistry consumption (i.e. by the chemicals supplier).
There are many examples of this effect, and laundries have greatly benefited –
rather than simply acting as a component supplier – to see themselves as an active,
dynamic partner in its customer's business.
Planning
Internally in laundries the industrialisation has meant specialisation, more people
and more tasks. The risk of unpredictable production requirements, bottlenecks,
lack of supplies, goods congestion, allocation chaos and missed deadlines has risen
correspondingly.
At the same time, the outside competition has inexorably increased the require-
ments for low operating costs and forced the producers to justify every decision
financially. Today, even the smallest change counts.
This has created an internal efficiency pressure and an external price and lead-
time pressure, but this can be relieved by controlling the flow of goods through the
right planning methods, control of the production, utilities consumption and opera-
tor deployment.
With goods flow scheduling and synchronisation the laundry's operating economy
is kept in control, i.e. its variable or operating costs. Operating economy and the
bottom line is a direct result hereof. Somewhat simplified, one could say that the
industrialisation of production has required a similar industrialisation of planning.
Important activities in a modern laundry's operation therefore include:
• coordination of the production with the market's demands

• dimensioning of capacities and stocks
• sizing and allocation of production buffers
• picking and prioritisation of batches for production
• planning of product flow routes through the laundry
• allocation of employees to workplaces
• supply of consumption articles
• distribution of products
- and each of these activities covers features that are both labour- and knowledge
intensive.
Other activities in the laundry production

Finally, statistical purposes, wage and collective agreement systems, public author-
ities and industry associations may prompt additional functions in the laundry, for
example:
21
2.3 What does an industrial laundry process do
• weighing in
• piece count at the pre-sorting station
• piece count at each workstation
• documentation of processes, qualities and hygiene
• certification
• surveying of supplies and
• measurement of emissions and the administrative burden of legislation
This was a brief review of basic tasks in the industrial laundry production.
Now; what products flow through the laundry during a working day – where does
it all come from?
2.3 WHAT DOES AN INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY PROCESS DO

Wherever you find a need to produce, rent, use or recycle textiles in a larger scale,
you will also find industrial laundries. The list of textile categories is long. Where
textiles are produced or used to wear, for hygienic purposes, to protect, function-
ally, ornamentally in a larger scale - all these purposes can give rise to an industrial
laundry.
Textiles in all shapes and sizes

These are just a few examples of uses. You might probably be able to come up with
even more.
Carrying Hygienic Protection Functional Orna- Production

mental
nightwear towels duvet covers sails curtains dying
underwear towel rolls pillowcases straps gobelins bleaching
skirts washcloths sheets parachutes neck ties embossing
socks bath mats barrier sheets flags bow ties finishing
gowns diapers operating table covers rucksacks impregnation
petticoats handkerchiefs burial sheets sleeping bags
trousers wash leathers shroud body bags
t-shirts dishtowels table cloths straitjackets
shirts dishcloths table mats
jerseys floor cloths napkins
blouses mops carpets
coats yarns mats
gloves protective masks upholstery
scarfs caps blankets
uniforms hairnets shower curtains
cloak smocks aprons
cape
chasubles
Figure 8 - Textiles in all shades and sizes
Laundry specialisation
The specialisation of laundries has centred on these textile types and their treat-
ment in the laundry production, which has created concepts such as:
• flatwork laundries
• dust control mat laundries and
• garment (workwear) laundries
22
The laundry's geographical location to the customers it serves, has also given rise
to specialisation, which has led to special laundries (on-premise laundries) such as:
• hospital laundries
• prison laundries
• cruise ship laundries
• hotel laundries and
• nursing home laundries
The distinction between the laundries

In industry terminology, laundries on the same site as the customer they serve (On
Premise-Laundries) are distinguished from laundries located away from their cus-
tomers (Central Laundries).
On-Premise Laundries (OPLs) are typically found in hotels, hospitals, cruise ships,
residential homes, factories, etc.
We also distinguish laundries, which rent out textiles (Linen Suppliers) from laun-
dries, which primarily wash the customers' own textiles (which can be both On
Premise and Central Laundries).
Moreover, the largest industrial laundries (Heavy Duty Laundries, HDLs) are dis-
tinguished from the smallest institutional laundries (Professional Laundries, PLs).
The limit between these two types is at approx. 15 metric tons of work per week.
Professional Laundries are typically college laundries and coin operations, where
the machines are smaller than in Heavy Duty Laundries, but not so small as in the
households. Machine sizes (measured on washer extractors) in the Professional and
Heavy Duty Laundries range from 5 kg. up to 450 kg. per batch.
Figure 9 - An On Premise Laundry (OPL), onboard the luxury cruise ship "The Eagle"
The industry can also be divided into privately run and publicly run laundries, where
the latter typically are OPL's, located in close proximity to hospitals, nursing homes
or prisons.
Finally, laundries are distinguished by their production methods, where pool-laun-
dries primarily wash clothes in large pools of similar, non-customer-specific textiles
(equivalent to stock production in other industries) and where portion-laundries
23
primarily wash the textiles in customer-specific-portions (the equivalent to make-

to-order production).
Figure 10 - A central laundry
Figure 11 - A linen supplier
24
Figure 12 - A Heavy Duty Laundry (HDL)
Figure 13 - A professional laundry
Focus
In the continued review, we look exclusively at Heavy Duty Laundries.
And as laundry production, like any other production industry, is complex and in-
tricate in its entirety, we will in this book divide it up, hold it out at arm's length
and look at it piece by piece. This will give us a chance to create an overview of the
laundry operation.
25
3.1 The difference in short and long term
3. THE LAUNDRY OPERATION

The function of the industrial laundry is to deliver an economically viable service on
time at the agreed quality standard.
You now know a little of the textile types which you might get to meet in the
laundry, you've seen how production processes can be broken down into sub-pro-
cesses and you know that laundry services do not start and stop at the laundry's
own gates, but are a part of a bigger loop in the customer's overall operation.
Finally, you also know that there is a considerable need for planning, both strate-
gically (i.e. between seasons), tactical (within seasons) and operational (from hour
to hour) to keep the laundry operation aligned with its purpose.
On a daily basis, this is essential.
3.1 THE DIFFERENCE IN SHORT AND LONG TERM

Sometimes we are all surprised by everyday issues which emerge and are often not
recognized for what they are. You saw an example of the laundry which - by ex-
panding its business to include rental of textiles - could reduce its production costs
and simultaneously reduce its customer's textile costs.
At first glance it was indeed a sound decision. But what was it that actually took
place, when the laundries started renting out textiles?
The principle task of the laundry

They took over a task that previously was not the task of the laundry. The decision
had consequences for laundry production all right, but might have hid itself among
all the other daily decisions. Actually the laundry expanded its business.
A principle (strategic) decision was made about expanding the business area. It
was a sound and economically well based decision, but should the laundry in prin-
ciple be occupied with renting?
If the answer to that question is yes, is there anything else the laundry should rent
out, such as flags, carpets, car seats? Or how about upholstered chairs?
26
3.2 Which and who's demands?
It is a strategic question, which on longer terms has a major impact on the laundry
operation, its economy and competitiveness. When considering strategic questions,
you are dealing with the root of the laundry operation, which is the question of what
concrete market demands the laundry meets and, for whom.
And it is actually the most legitimate questions one could ask the laundry: What
demands does the laundry meet – or rather, what demands should the laundry
meet and whom for?
The importance of an articulated mission

Before we answer that question, we need to consider its implications, and some-
times it's healthy to find similar issues in comparable situations – to learn from
experiences of others. Let's try.
In the century before last, before the car was invented, it was sensible and sound
business practice to make horse-drawn carriages. If you asked the manufacturers
what they were doing, they would answer:
"Making carriages, of course."
But time changed the market demands from carriages to cars, to put it shortly.
And if today we began to look for the companies that 150 years ago made carriages,
we wouldn't find many - if any at all. But why?
"Because they made carriages, of course."
They focused on what they could make, instead of what the market was in need
of. Had they instead produced vehicles, and in that way met a need for transporta-
tion means, the story could have ended very differently. Then they would slowly,
but surely have followed the market and its demands. It would have hurt, because
they would have had to cannibalise their business. They would have had to let in
motorised vehicles into their productions, scrap their knowledge of horses, use their
competences in suspension, wheel- and chassis constructions, and complement
them with knowledge of combustion engines. But today their enterprises would
maybe have evolved into a size and an economical weight their forebears would
never have even dreamt of.
For the most part the difference lies in the way we regard our businesses. The rest
comes from our ability to run the business from day-to-day.
3.2 WHICH AND WHO'S DEMANDS?

Back to the laundries - which demands should the laundries meet?
The laundry's objective (mission statement)

There is no standard answer to this question. Each laundry has to answer for itself,
depending on its ambition, ownership, customer base and financial demands & abil-
ities. And yet there is some consensus, because the less good try to emulate the
really good.
Some examples may point out the differences. Let’s use a fictional laundry for the
purpose, Learner's Industrial Laundry, and formulate some objective alternatives:
• use washing technologies to meet the demand for making textiles reusable
(which excludes dry cleaning and ultrasound, but not textile rental)
• apply hygiene technologies to meet the demand for making textiles
reusable (which excludes disposable items but includes dry cleaning and
ultrasound)
• meet the demand for hygienic protection (which includes sales of
disposable items such as diapers, but also much more, e.g. condoms)
27
With the strategic objective, the laundry has given itself a scope and a frame within
which it can combine its product range and focus on market segments. With an
articulated objective, the business purpose and limits are easy to communicate,
e.g. to the laundry employees, it is easy for them to focus their efforts, with the
objective forming a backbone in the company's decision making, regarding market
adjustments and its business development.
You can also choose to focus on the laundry customer and follow through thick and
thin, but who is the laundry customer actually?
Who is the laundry customer?

The customer is usually the one who pays the bill, but actually it is, in this context,
less interesting who is paying and receiving, because today a laundry can sell its
outstanding debts to a bank or a factoring company as well as having a mother
company in an entirely different industry paying the bills.
We could instead try to identify the person, who decides on the choice of laundry.
It would be an hotelier, hospital director, the factory manager or similar decision
makers though often they are not the users of the laundry services. But rather they
let themselves be influenced in their decisions by the users of the laundry's ser-
vices. So, who uses the laundry services end product?
In the hotel it is the guest who uses the clean towels, the bath mats and lies in the
bed linen, but each guest leaves the hotel today or tomorrow and in practice has
no influence on the choice of laun-
dry. So the question must be put
differently: Who’s working day
does the laundry service influence
the most?
This, we know: The hotel cham-
bermaids.
In most cases it is the operating

staff at the hotels, in the industries,
the hospitals, nursing homes, pris-
ons, boats, etc., who are depend-
ing on the laundry services. They
are the ones, who hang up the tow-
els, make the beds, wear the
gowns, wash the floors, etc. They
are the ones, who depend upon
how much clothing is delivered,
how heavy it is, how clean it is, how
it is folded, how it is transported,
when it will be delivered, when it
gets picked up, and so on.
Figure 14 - Cleaning lady in a hotel (by courtesy of JP Bureau)
The laundry could therefore justly choose to formulate their objective to:
delivering everything the cleaning assistant needs,

in implementing her work
28
- which includes everything on her cleaning cart, as well as the clothes she herself
wears. Easy to remember, easy to visualize, easy to relate to, and easy to com-
municate.
Figure 15 - Cleaning ladies in a hospital's operating room
Figure 16 - Cleaning lady in a public school
29
The personified objective

In this way we have personified and identified the laundry's customer. And we stand
a pretty good chance to find out what this customer needs.
If the laundry sets a goal based on a person (or rather a role), it has a timeless
definition – at least as long as there are cleaners around. The laundry has set itself
the task not to rise to the occasion, but to rise with the occasion.
There is also nothing in the definition, which limits the laundry's focus to the pro-
cesses, which lie within its own walls. There is nothing in the definition, which holds
the laundry from undertaking textile rental, managing the customer's linen depot,
selling disposable diapers, or selling the washing machine and laundry consultancy
if the customer chooses to wash the textiles by herself.
It was perhaps the plainest and most lucid objective, that a laundry could set,
because it is palpable, aimed at a function and directed at a person - easy to un-
derstand and easy to explain.
Why?
But why is it so important to identify the demand?
Because it is the only way to realise how the laundry best solves its tasks. There
are no other ways to realise what to demand from the production, from the em-
ployees and from the laundry suppliers. There is no better way of understanding
why the laundry is doing well, or doing poorly, in the market.
It is only when the laundry has a deep and profound understanding of who the
customer is, what his/her professional needs are, and how the laundry services fit
into his/her working day, that we are able to tell a good solution from a bad, a good
product from a bad, and a good machine from a bad.
Simple questions?
Put yourself in your customer's place. Look at the products and services your laun-
dry provides. Look for things to do better. Ask the simple questions - such as:
Why do we fold the tablecloths?
It seems silly, of course we fold the cloths.
But why? Is the question really that silly? A billion dollar industry is based on the
answer to this exact question, so it should be rather well founded, one should im-
agine.
Then again why do we fold the tablecloths? Do the folding marks add to the value
of the cloth in use, do they look decorative on the table or do they make the table
easier to set?
No, they don't.
Then why are we making folding marks? Would it be possible to find another solu-
tion, a solution that still worked well in the laundry, but didn't have the folding
marks as a side effect? If we did - how would the new solution affect our competitive
edge? What would happen to our business, if our competitor introduced such a
solution?
Well, maybe we should give it a second thought and investigate the possibilities of
making tablecloths free from folding marks. Our own habitual thinking has a ten-
dency to judge such questions naive or downright stupid, but it is such breaks with
habitual thinking, that leads to development or maybe even a revolution that may
push a business or an entire industry forward.
My point being: only when we understand who the customer is and what her de-
mands are, are we able to see the laundry solutions from her perspective. It is only
from her perspective that we can judge the quality of our solutions.
30
By the way – we fold the tablecloths to make them manageable when handling,
transporting and storing, so the question should actually read: Is it possible to
obtain the same handiness without the folding marks?
If there is a good, positive, economical answer to that question, it is bound to
shake the industry.
Mega trends
by Thomas Krautschneider, man. partner, Salesianer Miettex Gmbh
Thirty five years ago, my father, Hans Krautschneider, explained to me that the future of
laundry was textile rental. That not only hotels but also hospitals and all kind of industries
will not own their linen und uniforms, not operate their laundries themselves, but rent a
service from a textile service specialist. What sounded like science fiction in the late
seventies became very real in most of the developed world. But what will the future bring to
our industry?
In my view there are 4 megatrends that are likely to transform the textile rental industry -
change the game or completely disrupt the way we were doing business:
1) Hygiene is and will be the top priority for all professional laundries. Today we see the
outbreak of different types deceases, formerly unknown or located in remote areas of
the world. Commercial interaction, social development and international travel let
bacteria and viruses spread quickly around the world. Perfectly hygienic products,
processed with listed and validated washing formulas (time, temperature, chemicals
and mechanics) will become the standard not only in hospitals but for all textiles in
the uniform business AND hotels. The highest standards are crucial to our business
since we will face more competition from disposables in “typically textile” products.
The good thing is that, if we as an industry get our act together, deliver a much
better product, to a better price, with less environmental impact.
2) Environmental consciousness will certainly continue to change the way we do

business. Sustainable production and more efficient transportation have changed the
industry in Europe so far: we use 30% less energy and 40% less water per kilo
produced than 10 years ago! Some European counties have implemented policies on
reduction of energy. At first this seems like a burden and additional costs but in the
end it is good for the bottom line of laundries AND saves natural resources – a win-
win-situation that lets all stakeholders push for further innovations in this direction. I
believe that engineers, logistic specialists, data analysts and green procurement will
bring another reduction of 15-25% in the consumption of natural resources over the
next 10 years.
3) Corporate Social Responsibility is a trend that first came from big US corporations in
the early nineties and since then constantly gained ground in Europe. In the last ten
years almost 50% of all textile rental companies have installed some kind of CSR
policies. I believe that in ten years all will have. CSR begins with the fair treatment of
the near social environment, customers and employees, but also has an impact on
the whole textile chain from crop to cradle (growing, production, recycling). This
means that the impact CSR has is not only local but all along the production chain,
truly global. More and more conscious customers will demand to know where and
under what circumstances the textiles have been produced. We better be prepared!
31
3.3 Connections in the laundry operation
4) Industry 4.0, RFID and robotics are undeniably a megatrend – many “old” industries
have been transformed in the past decade: music, publishing, television, telecoms,
cinema, banking, retail, hotels, transportation, etc.
Fast internet, cheap storage space and gigantic processing power have changed the
way things work. The connection of things seems to be the next frontier.
What does it mean to our business?
UHF RFID has the potential to open up huge opportunities in tracking of flat linen for the
first time. Since bulk reading over greater distances is available, it is technically possible to
read high volumes of tags in just a few seconds at any location in and outside the laundry
facility. This enables the laundry to track individual items (a bed sheet for instance) and
keep inventory on the point of service as low as necessary: the just-in-time delivery seems
possible. The goal: better inventory management and substantial savings due to lesser
“dead linen” costs.
UHF RFID is likely to impact the previous mentioned megatrends as well: if you can track
every single bed sheet, you know its history (where was it?), quality (how often has it been
washed?) and of course the perfect hygiene (in what machine and when has it been
processed?).
UHF RFID seems the key technology when it comes to bring workflows in the laundry to the
new machine age: robotic-systems will improve laundry productivity and make the job a
nicer one. Imagine systems capable of automated sorting, in and out-counting, automated
tracking, and even driverless delivery systems. Implemented in the right way and with
production techniques adapted to these new data flows, I am sure that laundries, textile
rental companies and end-customers can benefit greatly from these new technologies.
These systems will first be implemented in rich economies, where wages are high and the
workforce is aging. But costs will come down and eventually the benefits of automation will
make these systems spread quickly, as they did in the car industry some twenty years ago.
Today, when I try to discuss these changes with my eleven year old son, I find myself in
the same position as my father thirty five years ago… But for my son, a digital native,
these changes are not even radical enough and sometimes I think that I should listen to his
science fiction ideas… like delivering and collecting linen with drones!
3.3 CONNECTIONS IN THE LAUNDRY OPERATION

Laundry operation and planning depend on the laundry's objective. A sharper pic-
ture of the objective of the tasks in the laundry is surfacing: you know now, who
the laundry works for and from this you can deduce what textile categories you
should expect to find flowing through the laundry, you know that the laundry is
subjected to a production's technical limitations, you know the headlines of the
processes taking place in and outside the laundry, and you know that laundry must
meet customer demands while at the same time meeting its own financial targets.
Learner's Industrial Laundry, LIL Inc. – our imaginary laundry

Let us take a closer look at the individual laundry and use our test laundry, Learn-
er's Industrial Laundry, which is characterised as following:
32
• privately owned
• textile rental (linen supplier)
• produces more than 15 metric tons/week (heavy duty)
• produces to stock (pool production)
• supplies the cleaners you meet in hotels and health care facilities
The product range in LIL Inc.

With this knowledge in mind, one can identify the full range of products that LIL
Inc. should be able to handle. Without going through the entire range, one can
certainly point some important products out (somewhat simplistically):
• white flat sheets 100% cotton (C)

• white transfer/drawsheet 100 C
• white stretcher sheets 100 C
• white incontinent (laminated or barrier) sheets
• bright duvet covers 50/50 polyester/cotton (P/C)
• coloured bedspreads 50/50 P/C
• bright pillowcases 50/50 P/C
• white face towels 30x30 cm 100 C
• white hand towels 50x100 cm 100 C
• white bath towels 70x140 cm 100 C
• white smocks 50/50 P/C
• white smock dresses 50/50 P/C
• white tunics 50/50 P/C
• white trousers 50/50 P/C
In total there might be a product range of approx. 150 different textile types, which
the laundry washes for its two types of customers, hotels and health care facilities.
The production in LIL Inc.

When the laundry is privately owned, we know that it has a bottom line focused
objective (i.e. it wants to maximise operation profits). Since the laundry also rents
out textiles, one of its business areas is the procurement of textiles – it has been
able to take production requirements into account when selecting the textile prod-
uct range (uniform, durable, light weight, easily drained, and bleach friendly qual-
ities). Finally, we know that it produces more than 15 metric tons per week, which
would indicate that it washes in pool (produces to stock).
We have not yet dealt in detail with the production modes, but pool wash means
that the textiles supplied to each customer are so uniform that it does not matter
whether the customer gets the exact same piece returned after washing. It might
as well have been replaced by another, similar piece.
The production mode has the effect, that all soiled textiles can be collected in large
pools in the sorting in and produced at will, while in the meantime corresponding
qualities and quantities of finished goods are returned to the customer from stock.
This eases the pressure on production, but in turn requires large stock volumes.
The relationship between stock and production

It was indeed an important realisation (that stock sizes and time pressure in a
production are linked) that you should understand fully, because, as in all other
productions, the laundry process steps are interdependent. When stepping into the
laundry, whether you are working in the laundry or are a supplier to it, you need
33
to know how the decisions and actions spread their effects into all departments of
the laundry.
Regardless which production you enter, the same applies: decisions taken in the
production have implications for the distribution and the stocks, and vice versa.
LIL Inc.'s stock sizing

An example:
Learner's Industrial Laundry Inc. has a hotel customer with the capacity of 100
beds. Normally the laundry would book 300 sets of bedding for such a hotel, i.e. 3
times the number of beds, for 1 set in use, 1 set in the wash and 1 set in stock at
the hotel.
But in reality, the stock depends upon the hotel's largest usage between 2 arbitrary
and consecutive collections (Largest Usage Between Two Collections, LUB2C or
LUBTUC), which is dependent on the longest interval between two collections
(LIB2C). Longer time between two collections (LIB2C) require larger stocks with
the customer, and vice versa. Greater variation in consumption between any two
collections (UBC) requires larger stocks with the customer, and vice versa.
Gross demand
The customer takes from the stocks until they run out, one textile category after
another. The ratio between the customer's average consumptions per day and her
stock sizes thus determines the longest possible time between necessary supple-
mentations per category. When all the laundry's customers' demands are summed
up for a day, the laundry gets the day's gross demand, i.e. what is needed out
there on a given day.
But the laundry already has some of the textiles stored in finished goods, which
may – in principle – be picked and delivered immediately. The laundry doesn't have
to produce these categories and volumes on that given day.
You deliver your customers' gross demand, but if you wash in pool, you don't pro-
duce the gross demand.
Net demand
You more or less produce the net demand, which is the difference between gross
demand and available finished goods. It is the net demand that is going to weigh
on the laundry production on any given day.
But the laundry would prefer to have a good correlation between the production
load and available capacities – otherwise it may end up overloading the production
one day, just to under-load it the next. So the laundry might choose to produce
more than net demand one day in order to take the load of the production the next,
and in this way even out the production load over the week.
The balance between the flow of goods and capacities

The laundry wants a uniform production load each day, so the customer collections
should – ideally – result in a certain mix of categories and volumes, which loads
each process route through the laundry equal to the route's capacities, which in
practise is each route's bottle neck capacity.
You are, in other words, able to calculate an ideal mix of categories and quantities
(a product mix norm) from the laundry's process route capacities, or rather a ratio
between categories. This product mix norm, which is a direct consequence of your
capacities, should fit the market your laundry operates in, in a way that allows you,
in practise, to plan pick up routes and times that suit your product capacities and
level out your flow of goods.
That is why the product mix norm has a considerable influence on the planning of
collections, deliveries and frequencies.
34
Everything is co-dependent
Without really noticing it, we made a loop there:
• the product mix norm determines pickup locations, frequencies and

planned routing,
• the locations, frequencies and planned routing determine pick-up-
intervals,
• pick-up-intervals determine Largest Usage Between Two Collections
(LUB2C) for each customer,
• LUB2C for each customer determines necessary stock volumes per
category with the customer,
• actual day stock volumes with each customer determine actual routing,
• actual routing determines actual categories and volumes en route to the
laundry, as well as estimated time of arrival,
• actual volumes and actual time of arrival determines the product mix in
the production, i.e. the flow of goods at the sorting in stage,
• actual product mix allows comparison with the product mix average,
• comparison results allow the laundry to correct pick up frequencies in order
to get a better norm match.
The loop has been closed on a level, which – hopefully – matches the production
equipment's capacities.
If capacities are changed, it will influence all the way through production, distribu-
tion and internal and external stocks. And conversely, if the laundry has low load
degrees, it is possible to change them, but it requires that the preconditions for the
loads are changed (e.g. pickup frequencies) and this has implications for the entire
laundry.
The effects spread like ripples in water

The causal relations above are simplifications (there is among other things a hy-
gienic limit upon the time dirty clothes can be stored) but it does not reduce their
validity. Wherever you make decisions in the laundry, effects spread like ripples in
the water, because the next questions one might ask are how:
• large should the laundry truck pay load be?

• large should the laundry carts be?
• large should the machine capacity on each process step in the laundry be?
• large should finished product stocks in the laundry be?
• large should the internal production buffers be?
• many employees should the laundry have?
- when everything is sticking together like drying spaghetti. Where do you start?
What one man carries

Many sizes in laundries, both bag sizes, engine sizes, vehicle sizes, buffer sizes,
stock sizes, and many more, are derived from one simple practical circumstance:
the strength of a grown man's arms.
Earlier a major part of the handling in the laundry was done by hand, and when a
grown man carries some 30-40 kg. at a time, many sizes in laundries has 35 kg.
as their basic dimension – they multiply.
If we want to wash large loads, we design the machine to load for 3 times 35 kg.,
in total 105 kg., the machines empty the carts into load 35, 70 or 105 kg, and
tumble dryers take 1 or 2 batches of 35 kg, etc.
35
3.4 The tasks in the laundry
The good thing about a base multiple of 35 kg is that it quickly fills the washing
machine. In this aspect, 35 kilos are a batch size, which fits both the small and
large laundry well because with it we get a high average load degree – in this aspect
a small batch size is sound operating economy.
But a washing programme takes some 40-60 min. to complete, no matter how
much is in the machine, so the industrial laundry prefers larger batches, even
though they are difficult to handle manually. The machines must be loaded and
unloaded automatically, and transportation between the machines should also ide-
ally be automatic, so industrialization, for purely practical reasons, has demanded
mechanisation and automation.
Now that we know a little about how things in the laundry work, let us go back
to...
3.4 THE TASKS IN THE LAUNDRY

We know about Learner's Industrial Laundry Inc., that 4 types of bed sheets, among
others, are received in the laundry:
• flat sheets
• transfer/draw sheet
• stretcher sheets and
• incontinence sheets
The distinction between programmes, categories and articles

The laundry will receive many pieces (articles) of each type of textile over time. LIL
Inc. is a pool laundry and owns the textiles so they choose to mix the articles in the
sorting in, regardless of the customer who supplied them. It is an advantage in
terms of load degrees, for the uniformity makes it possible to combine portions of
each category.
Alternatively, customer-owned textiles would mean, that every article would have
to be labelled in order to be washed in a pool batch, or would have to be washed
in an entirely customer specific batch, separated from other articles in the laundry
– often resulting in small portions.
But if the goal is to work with as large batches as possible, could we not just mix
all articles in one big, universal category?
No, unfortunately not. The various textiles types cannot be treated the same way
throughout the laundry. An example: incontinence sheets have to be fully dried and
folded, while the ordinary flat sheets are pre-dried, ironed and folded to get a qual-
ity finish. They follow different process routes down through the laundry.
And even if they had followed the same route, such as ordinary sheets and draw
sheets, they might not require identical treatment on the machines. Draw sheets
are, for example, washed with a stronger bleaching than conventional flat sheets,
and rolled more slowly, because of their density. The machine programmes thus
also have an influence on the categorisation.
In other words we have to distinguish between:
• article (the individual piece of linen)

• category (a group of articles which may be processed alike)
• programme (the machine setting adjusted to a specific category)
We must then define the categories taking into account both process routes and
programmes.
36
Process Routes
The process route is the sequence of process steps, which a portion of a specific
category follows down through the laundry on its way from the sorting-in to the
sorting-out. On a floor plan of the production it can, in other words, be drawn as a
line, which extends from one end of the laundry, from workstation to workstation,
and on to the other end.
Each process step consists of a number of activities on a number of workstations,
such as washing in a washing machine, and feeding, ironing and folding on an ironer
line.
We also have to distinguish between:
• process routes (the sequence of process steps, a batch of a given category

passes through on its way downstream in the laundry)
• process steps (the sum of activities a batch is subjected to between buffers
and between internal transportation)
• Work In Progress, WIP, (internal buffers or queues of textiles waiting to
be processed)
• Work stations (the machines and manual workplaces, which together make
up a process step).
Trim the machines!

Which brings us back to the distinction between articles, categories and pro-
grammes: when should you open a new category or make a new programme?
With regard to the consumptions, each programme should be carefully adjusted to
the current category. No more and no less. For the same reason, a category con-
sisting of several article types should be divided into two or more, if this makes it
possible to reduce the overall operation cost. In this way machine trimming has a
major impact on a laundry's running costs and its categorisation. In a laundry,
where all machines are trimmed hard, there are usually more categories than in
laundries, which ignore or take trimming lightly.
It is worthwhile
It had of course been easier just to throw ordinary sheets and draw sheets into the
same category, and dispense enough bleach to make both article types clean, and
run the ironer line slow enough to dry both types, but only few run a laundry for
easy living. On the contrary - they do it to earn money.
Bleach is a cost, and if the laundry is able to reduce the bleach consumption, with-
out jeopardising quality or running costs, it ought to do so for more than one rea-
son. Moreover bleach usually tears on the textile fibres (and pollutes), so if you
generally overdose bleach, the textiles wear out faster and thereby increase the
necessary textile investment, which in itself is a cost far greater than the bleach.
It is worthwhile to sort regular bed sheets in one category and draw sheets in
another, it is worthwhile to setup a wash programme for each of the categories,
and it is worthwhile to adjust machines and dispense correctly. Machine trimming
is altogether worthwhile if you want to run a sound laundry. All economically sound
production starts off with precise machine trimmings.
And all machine trimming is adjusted to the categories so categories are an in-
escapable part of the trimming. The question here is: when should a new category
be opened? Example: Should pieces of the same article type be sorted in a very
dirty category and less dirty category in order to save chemicals?
It depends on the rewash.
37
Under dosing chemicals and rewash

This brings us to the dosing.
It is possible to reduce the chemical consumptions so much that you end up under-
dosing with the result that not all the items in a batch are clean after wash. You
need to rewash some of them. The question is now: Should the dosing be adjusted
to the dirtiest piece in the batch, causing too much tear on more or less all the
other pieces in the batch, or should the dispensing be adjusted at a lower level,
causing rewash to a greater or lesser extent?
It is a widely held view, that dosing for the dirtiest piece in a batch causes exces-
sive chemical damage to the less dirty bulk of the batch.
Most laundries strive toward a general rewash level at some 2-5% and use the
rewash percentage as one of the laundry's most important key performance indi-
cators.
But since items for rewash are only picked out downstream along the process
routes, perhaps only after ironing and finishing, the rewash items accrue costs,
even though they are going to be rejected, causing a substantial cost waste. This
cost should be weighed against the cost of a higher chemical consumption, textile
wear and environmental costs.
The processes in the laundry could, in schematic form, look like Figure 17 - The
laundry's wash room, flat work and garment sections.
38
Figure 17 - The laundry's wash room, flat work and garment sections
The processes in the laundry, one by one

From the sorting-in into the sorting-out section, the laundry includes the individual
process steps:
Sorting-in and categorisation (pre- or post-sorting):

• the purpose of the sorting is first and foremost to recognize the textiles, make
decisions on their treatment and sort into categories that can be processed
equally. Sorting is therefore most often taking place before the first process
step, except in countries like Germany, where the authorities do not allow
contaminated textiles to be handled, i.e. while dirty. All sorting and categori-
zation here are therefore either done already at the customer's site, as source
sorting, or in the laundry after washing. Sorting after the wash is called post-
sorting,
• secondary purposes of the sorting in may be registration, billing, quality
checks or volume statistics per customer type, customer, category, day or
calculated in other ways.
Figure 18 - Emptying of bags in the sorting-in
Preparing to wash (separation, pocket emptying, tagging):

• some categories require that the individual pieces of textile are opened and
shaken, like tablecloths, which may contain paper napkins and other items
from the table setting. This is done as part of the sorting-in,
39
• other categories require a screening or search, e.g. smocks and trousers,

which may contain harsh, sharp, inking or dangerous objects such as lighters
and pens. These categories are therefore thoroughly run through either by
hand or on a light table,
• finally, customer-owned categories require marking of each piece of textile,
unless an entire batch comes from the same customer, and it is able to pass
through the laundry undivided.
Figure 19 - The work at a light table
Batch splitting (pool or portion, process route conditioned):

• then (or at the same time) each category is split up in standard sized batches.
The purpose of the batch splitting is to avoid under- and over-loads of the
machines in the subsequent processing, that is to maintain a high load degree
on the machines,
• if more alternative routes are available for a category and if they do not have
the same basic batch size (e.g. if the category can be washed on a 100 kg
washer extractor as well as on a 50 kg continuous batch washer) the laundry
also has to decide on choice of process route.
Figure 20 - Sorting in chutes
40
Wash, rinse and conditioning:

• washing is the laundry's primary processing step, which object it is to dis-
solve, loosen and carry away dirt and remove stains, odours and bacteria by
means of water, chemicals, heat, mechanical action and time. The sorting in
and wash sections are usually physically separated from the rest of the laun-
dry due to the risk of recontamination (the clean textiles becoming dirty or
infected with bacteria again). All subsequent process steps in the laundry
serve to end the wash, increase finish quality and facilitate the transportation
and/or reuse of the textiles,
• subsequent process steps usually commence already in the washing machine
in the form of purging out dirt and used up chemicals, neutralisation of alka-
linity residue, deletion of the bleach residue, adding of softener to reduce
static electricity, and drainage (in washing extractors).
Figure 21 - Washing machine, Continuous Batch Washer (CBW)
(by courtesy of JP Bureau)
Figure 22 - Washing machine, Washer Extractors (WE)
Water extraction
• is either done by means of applying high pressure to the textile batch (up to
40-50 bars) in a separate process step, or by means of high speed rotation
41
(extracting or spinning) in a drum (reaching G-factors of up to 500), leaving

a moist retention in the textiles of some 40-60% (of the textiles' dry weight).
The extracting is either carried out directly in the washing machine's own
washer drum or in a separate centrifugal extractor.
Figure 23 - Water extraction: single-stage-extraction press (left); cycle centrifuge (right)
Drying (pre- or full drying):

• the primary purpose of drying is to remove excess water so that the post-
treatment, i.e. downstream processing, can take place quickly and in a good
quality. Categories, which are folded immediately after drying, e.g. terry tow-
els and barrier sheets, are fully dried, and this removes virtually all the resid-
ual moisture. A full drying cycle typically takes 15-25 minutes.
Other categories, such as tablecloths and flat sheets, are best downstream
processed with a certain residual moisture left. These categories are pre-dried
(pre-conditioned). A pre-drying typically takes 1-8 minutes.
The tumble dryer's function is to lift the textiles and blow hot, dry air through
them. The airflow in the dryer is adjusted so that the textiles do not fall down
and lie on the bottom or are blown out against the drum walls, but hovers in
the middle of the drum, cf. Figure 24 - Drying principle in tumble dryers;
principle and in real life,
• the treatment in the tumble dryer also often serves the purpose of breaking
up and separating the textiles. When the textiles come out of the presses and
washer-extractors the portions are most often pressed so hard together, that
they are difficult to separate by hand. A compressed batch coming out of an
extraction press is called a press cake or cheese (firm, flat and round like a
layer cake). The slow rotation and the falls in the tumble dryer "hits" the press
cake to pieces so each piece of textile is made free in a few minutes. So,
although the residual moisture in reality need not be brought down further in
the dryer, a short cycle in the dryer is often necessary anyway "to break the
cake".
42
Figure 24 - Drying principle in tumble dryers; principle and in real life
Figure 25 - Tumble dryers, a dryer line
Separation:
• when the textile pieces hover in the tumble dryer's drum, as the drum rotates,
long pieces (like flat sheets, tablecloths and duvet covers) tend to twist, turn
and entangle themselves. When such a batch is emptied into a cart, some
laundries choose to separate the pieces from one another in a separate pro-
cess step, and place the items in carts (or hang them up in pre-feeder lines)
ready to be processed at a pace similar to the subsequent machines' process
speed. This separation may be done mechanically as well as manually,
43
• secondary objectives of processes between drying and finishing may be sort-

ing (post-sorting) or modification of batch sizes, e.g. halving, doubling or tri-
pling of the batches.
Figure 26 - Manual separation
Machine ironing (& folding):

• this is designed to flatten, straighten and dry textile items under high heat
and pressure, and thereby remove wrinkles and creases. Today ironers are
fitted with feeders (which, at the same time, reduce the workload and in-
crease the process speed).
• they are also equipped with folders (which folds the individual pieces so, that
they are easier to handle and transport) and stackers (which sort and gathers
items in stacks) so, that the ironer lines also serve the secondary purpose to
prepare items for packing, transport and storage. Since ironing usually is the
first, and often also the only time each textile item is spread out in its full size
in the laundry, ironers may also serve as an opportunity to check items for
processing defects, stains and holes, and this is either done manually or au-
tomatically (using scanners).
Figure 27 - An ironer line with feeder, ironer and folder
44
Hot finishing:
• polyester-blend gowns and blouses are straightened and flattened by driving
dry, hot and strong air currents by each item (like a flag flapping in the wind).
This method is much faster than manual ironing and pressing, as required for
pure cotton qualities, and is sufficient for a variety of polyester-containing
garment categories,
• a secondary purpose of the finishing process may be quality control.
Figure 28 - A tunnel finisher
Hot pressing:
• as hot pressing is a semi-automated process, treating only one textile piece
at a time (slow and expensive), it is only applied to clothing not suited for
ironing or hot finishing. Its function is to smooth and dry cotton textiles under
high heat and pressure, and thereby remove curls, wrinkles and creases. All,
or major parts of the piece, are processed simultaneously under the press'
hot, hard and smooth surfaces
• a secondary purpose of the pressing process may be quality control.
Figure 29 - A table cloth press
45
Manual ironing:
• aims at smoothing and drying the textile piece, but at lower heat and pres-
sure. A hot steam iron is manually pressed against a small part of the textile
item, which smoothens out curls, wrinkles and creases. Since ironing is a
manual and partial process (slow and expensive), it is only applied to textiles
not suited for ironer lines, heat finishers and heat presses.
• a secondary purpose of the ironing may be quality control.
Figure 30 - An ironing table
Folding:
• all kinds of textile folding, whether it is applied to towels, underwear, stretch
linen, uniforms or other categories, serve the same purpose, to facilitate gar-
ment packing, transport and storage
• a secondary purpose of the folding may be quality control.
Figure 31 - A terry towel folder
Sorting:
• is a process step designed to gather article types, which have been separated
into different categories, and customer-specific articles which have been min-
gled with other customer's or pool articles, in order to pick and pack articles
46
to a specific customer or to store similar articles in the laundry’s finished

goods stocks,
• secondary purposes may be statistical records, quality control and billing ba-
sis.
Figure 32 - Sorting out and stacking finished goods
Packaging:
• is designed to guard against recontamination, i.e. to avoid the textiles become
dirty again on their way from the laundry to the customer. In some cases
each stack is foiled, in others the entire cart is covered with plastic or cloth.
Figure 33 - Foiling of a textile stack, and covering an entire cart
47
Pick & pack:

• is designed to prepare the distribution, usually in accordance with customer
requisitions (i.e. pick the required articles, customer by customer) and routing
(route by route), by packing the picked articles on laundry carts, in order to
prepare truck departures and keep deliveries within planned time schedules.
In many laundries articles are picked from store shelves (pool laundries),
whereas a minor part of the laundries pick, pack and return the exact same
items as were delivered by the customer (portion laundries).
Figure 34 - Packing laundry carts and trucks
48
The laundries may have other special process steps than those mentioned here
(autoclaving, stonewashing, dressing, proofing, etc.), like most laundries have a
workroom for repair works. However those mentioned above cover the vast major-
ity of activities and the most costly processes in the industrial laundry production.
Sectioning
And thus we have gone through the laundry, from one end to another.
The larger laundry might have sectioned its processes into departments corre-
sponding to each process step, and might, for example, have a washing section
(wash room), a dryer section, a finishing section and an ironer line section between
which, the employees do not necessarily rotate.
In smaller laundries the machines and workstations are mostly positioned between
each other, and most operators are able to operate two or more workplaces.
49
4.1 The textiles and their properties
4. THE PRODUCT
But regardless of production methods, buffer sizes, allocation systems, batch sizes,
lot sizes and job rotation systems, laundry production first and foremost comes
down to the textiles and their treatment.
This is where it all starts.
It is the textiles' possibilites and limitations, which the entire laundry production is
aimed at and designed for. It is the fibres' nature and the way they are spun to
yarns, the way the yarns are put together in the textiles, their coloration, tensile
strengths, linting, spin susceptibility, and so on, that determine how we may design
and construct the processes in the laundry.
Textile knowledge is therefore a basic, essential competence in the laundry, re-
garding how processes and programs are to be designed, how to identify the tex-
tiles in the sorting in room and when we procure textiles for stock.
4.1 THE TEXTILES AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Textile
Basically anything, which can be made into clothing, is a textile – whether it is a
yarn, a thread or a fiber – and the produced clothing itself is also covered by the
concept of textile. The name is derived from the Latin term textilis and the French
texere, which means to weave. Where the term originally applied only to woven
products, today it includes all types of clothing, regardless of its manufacturing
method.
On account of the textiles' perishability, only few archaeological traces of early tex-
tiles have been made. The earliest finds are from neolithic cultures dating back to
5,000 BC. Cotton, wool, silk and flax was used in ancient Egypt. In India evidence
has been found of woven cotton goods used 3,000 BC and in China there is evidence
of silk uses at about the same time. In an historical perspective, areas such as
Flanders, Artois and Cologne were particularly known for their skills – Arras for
luxurious silks and velvets, Ghent, Ypres and Courtrai for linen damask, Brussels
for tapestries and Cologne for Orfray embroideries (from Latin: "auriphrygium", i.e.
"aurum", gold, plus "Phrygius", Phrygian).
50
Textile manufacturing remained an artisan craft and a hamlet occupation until the
mid-18th century, when industrialisation especially within the textile manufacturing
took on a revolutionary speed, with spinning and weaving mills, up until the almost
fully automated factories, which characterise the industry today. Besides develop-
ments in machines and processes, an even greater number of man-made synthetic
fibers, processes to improve textile properties and qualitative tests have pushed
the evolution big steps ahead.
Fibres
A fiber is any threadlike material whose length is at least 100 times greater than
its diameter or width. Textile fibers are fibers that have an adequate:
• length,
• strength,
• fineness,
• flexibility,
• elasticity,
• curl,
• moisture absorption,
• response to heat and light,
• reaction in the washing processes, and
• resistance to insects and microorganisms
- for yarn propagation and clothes manufacturing. After many centuries of experi-
mentation cotton, wool, flax, jute and silk have all proved to be the most suitable
natural fibers, in addition to a variety of artificial and synthetic fibers.
Staple fibers are short fibers, whereas filament fibers are extremely long fibers.
Filament fibers are usually thin, smooth and shiny, while the staple fibers are short,
thick and dull.
Manufacturing costs
But in spite of fiber properties, the manufacturing costs of the yarns have had a
crucial influence on the spread and use of the different fibers. That the natural fibers
require large land areas for cultivation, special climate and irrigation conditions and
perhaps also a special fauna is of great importance for the cultivation, harvesting
and transportation costs. And as qualities and quantities are difficult to control,
fluctuating crop yields have also had great influence on price formation.
In contrast, the man-made synthetic fibers can be produced near the consumers,
quickly, do not require special growth conditions or space, and the quality and
quantities are easier to control.
The textile manufacturing process involves many steps depending on what proper-
ties we want from the textile. But they all start with the extraction or production of
the textile fiber.
The cotton production process

The processes of textile production differs from fiber to fiber, but the treatment of
the most important of all fibers, cotton, follows these headline process steps:
51
• bale breaking
• batting (removes vegetable matter from the cotton fibres)
• lapping (removes dust to create flat, fleecy sheets called laps)
• carding (combines the tangled lap into loose strands called slivers or tows)
• combing (removes shorter fibres and strengthens the thin slivers)
• drawing (combines several thin slivers into one thick)
• slubbing (splits the sliver in two slubbings, adds twist and winds them on
to bobbins)
• roving (reduces the slubbing to a finer thread, adds more twist to produce
rovings)
• spinning (thins and twists the rovings creating the yarn)
• winding (the yarn thread on to bobbins)
• warping (rolling the thread on to a warp of a loom)
• sizing/slashing/dressing (adding starch to reduce yarn breakage)
• weaving (shedding, picking and beating up)
- and you got the cloth.
Yarns
Yarns include:
• individual (a single thread of S- or Z-twisted fibers, see below, grouped

filaments or individual, thick untwisted monofilaments)
• twisted (two or more threads twisted around each other), or
• cabled (two or more twisted yarns twisted around each other).
The direction of the twist affects the yarn strength, elasticity and other properties,
just as the cabling direction has.
Figure 35 - Types of yarn twist
Yarn numbers
Yarn numbers are particularly important for the quality, durability and processing
of the textiles. Over the years there has been a rich variety of systems for charac-
terising yarns, based on numbers, lenghts, weights and diameters. Even though
there have been several attempts at standardising the characterisation system,
today some of the older systems are still in active use.
52
A conference held in Paris in September 1900 (Congrès International Pour L'unifi-

cation Du Numérotage des Fils) strove to single out an international, metric stand-
ard. They decided that:
the yarn number is the length in meters of 1 gram of the yarn,
- or as it is also expressed in the industry:
the length in kilometers of 1 kilogram of the yarn
- which would apply to all yarns (except raw and thrown silks).
Examples: 1 kilometer of yarn number 1 weighs 1 kilogram. If 5 kilometers of a

yarn weighs 1 kilogram, it is a yarn #5. Yarn #30 requires 30 kilometers to reach
a weight of 30 kilograms. The higher the yarn number, the thinner the thread.
A strong, heavy sheet may be woven from a yarn #10, while a poplin shirt may be
woven from a yarn #30.
And then, you are still likely, in English-speaking countries, to meet the custom of
numbering yarns according to the number of 840-yard cotton hanks in a pound.
Weaving
Weaving is the manufacture of textiles (fabric or cloth) by interlacing longitudinal
(warp) and transverse (weft or filling) yarns, usually on a loom. The pattern the
yarns are woven together in is called the weave.
In contrast we have non-woven products (as we know them from disposable dia-
pers and kitchen cloths) and techniques such as felting, bonding and laminating.
Weaving, as the most common method for producing textiles, includes the classic
weave types:
• plain (or tabby),

• twill and
• satin weave
Figure 36 - Plain, twill and satin weaves
- and the more advanced:
53
• pile,
• jacquard and
• dobby weave
The jacquard patterns are (often complex) patterns woven into the product. Origi-
nally it was punch cards, which controlled the jacquard patterns. Today computers
are used to distinguish and control which warp threads are part of the pattern, and
which are to be lifted by the harnesses.
Dobby-looms also make woven patterns, but far less complicated, often repetitive,
geometric patterns, which are (some times) faster and cheaper to produce.
Finishing
When the fabric is woven, before it is shipped to the customer, it undergoes a series
of mechanical and chemical treatments in order to make the product more com-
mercially attractive, such as:
• burling (mending and knotting)

• scouring
• milling
• crabbing
• steaming
• bleaching or dying
• washing-off
• drying
• tentering
• brushing & raising
• cropping (or cutting)
• singeing
• mercerisation (making the cotton fibres smooth, lustrous and strong)
• pre-shrinking
• thermo-fixation and
• calendering (creating a flat, smooth and glossy textile surface)
The fabric's balance

One of the conditions, you are aware of in the weaving, is to have similar charac-
teristics and weight of the threads along the length of the product (the warp) as
well as across (the weft). You want a good balance in the fabric. Crucial to balance
is how much fiber each thread contains, as indicated by the yarn number.
The weaving's importance in the laundry production

The weaving itself can be tight or loose, so even if heavy yarns are used (low yarn
numbers), one may end up with a relatively light item, depending on the weaving.
And vice versa.
The weight of the product is important in the laundry since the loading of the
washing machines, water extractors and tumble dryers, in most cases, are limited
by weight rather than volume.
Because of this, a sheet weighing 800 grams is more expensive to produce than
one weighing 600 grams. 200 grams might not seem like much, but 30,000 sheets
per year carry 6,000 kg extra (dead) weight through the production so to speak
and raise the cost of production similarly.
Drying times are also partly determined by the weight of the product. Heavy items
reduce, for example, ironing speeds significantly.
54
Weaving is also important in the sense that loose weaves are easier to wash clean
than tight ones. Very densely woven fabrics are difficult to wash clean if the dirt
has been allowed to work its way thoroughly into the fabric. A difference in thread
density of only 10% may be noticed on the textile's washability.
The choice of yarn number and weaving results in the weight per area unit (gram-
mage), usually measured in grams per square meter (gr./m2). Grammage therefore
has a major influence on a woven fabric's economic consequences in the laundry
production, and it is a key figure in the laundry's textile procurement.
What does the laundry want?

First of all they want a financially sound business, and products which are able to
"sell themselves" to the users, i.e. textiles that are beautiful, profile the customer
and feel good in use.
Translated into textiles this means – beyond the design – homogenous products,
which retain their shape, strength and color and a long lifespan, in order to keep
stock replacements down. It means production suitability, i.e. goods that are easy
to wash clean, dewater, dry, and finish. Simple finishing implies high productivity,
i.e. products which are easy to separate from each other when loading the feeder,
easily run through the ironer line and which, without special effort, cause few de-
fects (such as undulating seams or folded selvedges).
What does the laundry's customer want?

He wants appeal and a financially sound business.
To the hotel, the cruise ship and the hospital this means, quite literally, spotless,
clean, smooth and shiny bed linen without holes, in an appealing design, which fits
into the environment it will be used in. He wants security of supply, low cost in use,
i.e. both in terms of laundering and bed-making, and uniform quality.
These are the things the laundry takes into account when buying textiles, whether
it comes to natural or synthetic-fibred textiles.
4.1.1 Natural fibres

Natural fibres can be divided, as shown in Figure 37 - Natural fibres.
Cotton is by far the most important of all the fibres (constituting almost 40% of
the total world production of textiles), partly because cotton insulates well and feels
good against the body, and partly because of its excellent wear- and absorption
properties. On the other hand, cotton fibres are relatively inelastic and, as a con-
sequence, cotton goods curl easily.
Commercial cotton is cultivated in approx. 90 different countries. The major pro-

ducers are, in the following order, China, India, USA, Pakistan, Brazil and Uzbeki-
stan, who together produce 86% of all cotton in the world. The total world produc-
tion of cotton for the season 2009-10 amounted to approx. 103 million bales of 480
pounds, equivalent to just under 22.40 million metric tons. The world production
has on average remained stable at around the 22 million metric tons since 2004.
55
Figure 37 - Natural fibres
The 2009-10 seasons’ largest producers of cotton fibre in the world are shown here:
Country millions
of bales
China 32,5
India 23,9
USA 12,2
Pakistan 9,8
Brazil 5,9
Uzbekistan 4,1
Turkey 1,8
Australia 1,6
Turkmenistan 1,3
Greece 1,0
Figure 38 - The 10 largest cotton producing countries in the world
(Source: United States Department of Agriculture.)
56
Partly because of increased popularity of synthetic fibres, the world price (i.e. the
"A" index) of cotton dropped significantly from about 120 US-cents/pound in 1995
to approx. 35 cnt./lb. in 2001. The past 5 years have more than recovered the lost
ground, with an increase in cotton price on the world market from 59.1 cnt./lb. in
2006 to 168.2 cnt./lb. in 2010.
(source: Cotlook Ltd.., United Kingdom).
In contrast to the oil-producing countries, which largely have been able to control
world oil prices by controlling the production volumes, cotton growers have not had
the same luck. During the marked drop in cotton prices, production volumes have
remained virtually unchanged.
The total world production of the major textile fibres in 2006 was 74.7 million metric
tons, including cotton and distributed as in the figure below.
Figure 39 - The relative distribution of textile production in the world

(Source: Oerlikon Saurer Textile).
In total the synthetic fibre production accounts for 41.4 million metric tons. In com-
parison the world production of raw silk (mulberry and non-mulberry) only accounts
for 127 thousand metric tons (year 2009).
(Source: India Ministry of Textiles).
Fibre length
Textile strength increases with fibre length. Cotton is available both as fine, long
fibres of 30-40 mm. (from Egypt and the U.S.), but also as somewhat shorter fibres
of 15-25 mm. (from India and Brazil).
The constituents of cotton

Raw cotton is composed mainly of cellulose (82-88%) but also of pectin substances,
proteins, fats and waxes, which are removed by ebullition (boiling). After the ebul-
lition the cotton consists almost entirely of cellulose.
57
Cellulose gives the cotton great resistance to the usual detergents and alkalis met
in the laundry, but it is sensitive to acids, especially during heating. Under the right
(or wrong) conditions, acids break down cotton to hydro-cellulose in seconds.
Bleaching of cotton
Cotton is a bleach-friendly textile, which facilitates washing and stain removal, al-
though the cellulose gradually converts to oxy-cellulose under the bleaching agent's
(sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide) oxidation. What happens is that the
cellulose, which consists of a long chain of sugar molecules (up to 3,000 molecules
in each chain), breaks up during the oxidation and shrinks.
You are actually able to measure this chemical deterioration (or tear), which occurs
during washing and bleaching, quite simply. Cellulose can be dissolved without
damaging its constituent molecules. And since solutions with short molecules more
fluid than solutions with long molecules, and as fluidity (= 1/viscosity) is directly
proportional to the chemical wear, the fluidity is a key indicator of the cotton's wear
and tear.
But since the bleaching effect is an oxidation process, the molecules oxidise and
break down naturally, to some extent, in ordinary atmospheric air.
Good washing and bleaching methods provide lower fluidity. The increase in fluidity
is therefore another of the laundry's important key figures.
Shrinkage
Shrinkage is a textile's size reduction in the course of the laundering and is meas-
ured along the length of the product (warp direction) as well as across (weft direc-
tion). These dimensional changes are the result of the mechanical stretch, to which
the threads have been exposed during the yarns' fixation in the looms, and it is
thus a release of a tension that is the product of manufacturing methods.
Woven cotton goods can shrink 0-20% in the warp direction and 0-10% in the weft
direction. Special shrinkage types are seam, edge and trimming shrinkage, and
felting (flax and wool).
Cotton goods shrink most in the first few washes. Very dense or heavy items may
shrink up to the first 10 washes before the effect wears off. Dimensional changes
are not dependent on alkalinity, temperature or washing time, once the shrinkage
has begun to fade out, but during the first washes, washing time plays a role.
Shrinkage can be counteracted by wet-stretching, so that ordinary clothes-line-
drying and machine ironing eliminate shrinkage to some extent in one direction
(vertical and along the ironer line). Tumble dryers do not produce this side effect.
No stretching takes place in the dryer, causing the false effect, that the dryers
shrink cotton goods.
Mercerisation
The cotton can be treated in several different ways to achieve certain textile prop-
erties. Mercerisation is a common treatment.
Mercerisation exposes the cotton to a strong, cold soda – sodium hydroxide – and
a strong stretch to prevent shrinkage, which increases the lustre, strength, affinity
to dye and resistance to mildew (the cell walls swell and fibre's cross-sectional
shape changes, from oval to flat), but also increases the affinity to lint and reduces
the cotton's absorption ability.
Other treatments are sanforizing (see below), dyeing and many, many more.
Sanforized™
Shrinkage can be avoided if the textile manufacturers’ sanforize (pre-shrink) the
fabric. Sanforizing consists of a pushing together of the product in the same ratio,
as it is expected or observed to shrink during the subsequent laundering.
58
Seam and edge shrinkage are problems, which occur when the fabric and seam-
thread do not experience the same shrinkage, causing seampuckering. This effect
can be difficult to remove without damaging the seam threads.
4.1.2 Synthetic fibres

Synthetic fibres can be classified as in Figure 40 - Man-made fibres below.
Synthetic fibres do not occur naturally, but are produced artificially, either by
transforming (regenerating) substances, found in nature, or by artificial (synthetic)
composition. The many confusing and strange names (only a small selection is
mentioned here) comes from the inventors' and manufacturers' desire to incorpo-
rate the product with a unique trade name (brand) and follows no real classification
system.
Figure 40 - Man-made fibres
The most important group of synthetic fibres is polyesters, which have largely the
same physical and chemical properties and will therefore be discussed all together
here.
Polyester
Polyester's history goes back to a manic-depressive, but talented American chem-
istry professor, Wallace Hume Carothers (1896-1937), who in the early 30s began
research on artificial fibres for the replacement of imported silk. America's most
important silk-supplier at the time was Japan, but trade relations between the two
countries were strained. As a result of Carothers' work at Dupont chemical basic
59
research laboratory, Dupont learned to control the polymerisation processes (con-

densation reactions) and created in 1934 the product Nylon. Sadly Carothers took
his own life shortly after.
It was two chemists, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson, in Manches-
ter, England, who continued Carothers' work. In 1941 they patented Poly-Ethylene
Tere-phthalate (PET).
Together with the inventors W. K. Birtwhistle and C. G. Ritchiethey, they created,
on the basis of PET, the first usable polyester fibre, Terylene, which shortly after
was put into industrial production by ICI, Imperial Chemical Industries.
Polyester blends well with cotton and the combined product has, in industrial terms,
better properties than the pure cotton product, as cotton partially reduces some of
the polyester's disadvantages, including static electricity.
Polyester properties
Polyester has good properties in the laundry, the wear resistance is high and the
product endures broadly the same processing and treatments as cotton without
being damaged by bleaching.
Polyester goods absorb virtually no water during the wet laundry processes. The
fabric dewaters easier and faster than pure cotton, which is important for spinning
time, drying time and ironer speed. Polyester products and polyester blends are
cheaper to produce in the laundry, and, by sheer economic grounds, are often cho-
sen whenever the laundry has the option.
Pilling
One problem with mixed fibre products is that polyester is more durable than cot-
ton. What happens is that cotton is gradually worn away, leaving the stronger po-
lyester fibres exposed. The exposed polyester fibre-ends accumulate on the surface
of the product and form small nodules, which gives the product a shabby, dingy
appearance. The effect is called pilling.
4.1.3 Textiles design and -production

The textile factories' design rooms face the task of having to reconcile the needs of
users for colours, styles and fibre types with the laundries' needs for strength, pro-
duction suitability and consistency. This is not an easy task.
For reasons of price competition between the laundries, the designers had to,
through the first decades of automation of laundry processes; focus their attention
on the demands of the productions before the users. It was more important to be
able to produce at low costs in the laundries, than to meet the demands for smart,
nice and comfortable clothes. At the end of the day, the wallet decides.
This trend is changing. Competition and industrialisation have standardised the
products, prices and services in a way that design again is becoming a competitive
parameter, which the users (the laundry customers) are responsive to.
Design
When the textile factories design (select model, construction, material, colour, pat-
tern and tailoring) they combine the knowledge and understanding of:
• the user's lifestyle and working day, and the role, the textile play in use
• textile handling routines of the user and the laundry
• design influence on the profile of the user
• the fabric's grading in the laundry's existing product range
• its influence on the laundry's operating conditions, and
• its production suitability in the textile factory's own production
60
4.2 Types of dirt and their removal
Weaving and finishing

From the design-rooms the cuts are transferred to the production, which is primarily
interested in:
• construction (balance, density and weight),

• choice of materials (cotton, polyester, blends),
• yarns (open-end, ring-spun, filament, spun, yarn number, yarn type)
• weave (tabby, twill, satin)
• weaving (canvas, dobby, jacquard)
• finishing (e.g. dyeing and bleaching)
• making up (model, cutting, sewing), and
• tolerance requirements
And finally, the textile factories put effort into assuring the quality, partly through
test-washing, external tests, own ISO-routines, own controllers, and textile-school-
ing of their customers.
4.2 TYPES OF DIRT AND THEIR REMOVAL

We have already seen that the primary function of the laundry is to make textiles
ready for (re)use and that the most important part of this function is to remove
dirt, stains, harmful bacteria and bad odours. Washing processes therefore first and
foremost have to serve the purpose:
To remove dirt from clothes, carry it away in the wash liquor (suspension),
prevent re-precipitation, disinfect and, if necessary, eliminate bad odours.
Dirt types
Dirt (soil) is generally divided into the following types:
• water-solubles (salts, perspiration, acids, etc.)

• greases (fats, oils, sebum, etc.)
• pigments (solid particles):
o water attracted (hydrophilic) particles (metal oxides, road dust, etc.)
o water repelled (hydrophobic) particles (soot, squama, etc.)
• proteins (blood, milk, sauce, pus, etc.)
• deposits (calcareous deposits, soil incrustations, proteins, etc.)
• colouring (fruit, vegetable, colour and rust, etc.)
• micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, spores, etc.)
Water-soluble substances
The water-soluble substances come almost exclusively from what humans consume
and excrete, i.e. sugars, dextrin-like substances, fruit acids, salts and proteins,
etc., as well as urine, sweat, faeces and blood.
In principle, water-soluble substances are removed with water alone, provided
they have not had time to dry up, so usually they can be removed without addition
of chemicals or additives. In the strict sense you do not have to use the process of
washing, which is used in the productions with great economic benefit. There are
sound economic reasons for, and benefits associated with, the process of splitting
the washing process into the two steps of prewash and main wash.
61
If the water-solubles have been allowed to dry up, which is generally the case, it
can sometimes be difficult and require a long time to dissolve them in water only –
time, which the industrial laundries do not have.
Fats
Fats, such as food grease, lubricants and sebum, are (under normal water pressure
conditions) water-insoluble, but can emulsify, i.e. be crushed into fine droplets
which are suspended in the wash liquor with the addition of emulsifiers and wetting
agents during simultaneous machining (mechanical action). Sebum is especially
difficult to remove.
Solid particles
Among the solid particles crumbs, needles, bedpans, pencils, coins, maggots, bi-
cycles and prams count in the curious and odd end, but it is mostly insoluble parti-
cles such as carbon from smoke and soot, as well as dust and street dirt.
The solid particles can often be removed in the prewash, but not always. They say
that it takes just as much effort (mechanical action) to remove solid particles from
the textiles, as it took to get them in there in the first place. Work clothes can be
particularly difficult to get clean again and require long cycle times in the washing
machines. There need not be any binding agent involved (such as protein/albumin
or fat). The particles can be worked into the weaving, the yarns and even into the
fibres' porous surfaces. The particles can even be tied to the fibres by their electric
particle charges.
Colouring substances
Colouring comes from food, beverages, cosmetics or non-colourfast clothes.
There is a big difference in how easy or difficult colouring can be removed. Beetroot
juice is a strong colouring agent, but the color is not fixed to the fibres and can
easily be removed. Red wine, cosmetics, ink and surplus dye contain colour sub-
stances that are able to fix on to the fibres and are very difficult to remove again
in any other way than by bleaching. The bleach damages (reduces) the dye chem-
ically.
The insoluble substances

The non-water soluble substances such as rust, copper, zinc, nail polish, etc., can-
not be removed in the wash, either with lye, bleach or mechanical action. This type
of dirt requires special treatment with solvents, acids or other removal agents, and
this is often very time-consuming.
Stains
In most cases, stains can be removed in an ordinary wash. However, neither an
ordinary wash or, a rewash can have an effect on stubborn stains. In these cases,
special stain removal methods need to be applied. The stains could for example
derive from the black spots of mildew, which occurs when the clothes are wet (dark
and warm) and contain micro-organisms. This black colouring (caused by dead bac-
teria) occurs in the cotton fibres' porosities and can be difficult to remove.
Stains can come from innumerable sources and stain removal is usually carried out
only by the most experienced laundry assistants, as the assistant at the same time
takes on a special responsibility for, and runs a special risk of, textile damage.
Disinfection efficacy
Disinfection efficacy is (still) achieved mainly be means of the wash liquor's tem-
perature.
62
There have been made many attempts to measure the disinfection efficacy of the
wash, and early experiments in Krefeld, Germany, showed that in the wash-liquor
one should generally expect to find the following amounts of bacteria:
• after 1st pre-wash (at 20°C): 200,000 bacteria per millilitre (bpml.),
• after 2nd pre-wash (at 38°C): 120,000 bpml,
• after 3rd pre-wash (at 60°C): 1,000 bpml,
• after the main wash (at 85°C for 30 min.): 0 bpml.
- which in all cases are relatively small quantities. During the warm months of the
year, clothes contain up to 20 million bpml. in the 1st pre-wash.
(Source: the book "VaskeriVask" by The Danish Technological Institute, 1966).
The ideal temperature for bacteria propagation is around 25-30° C. Lower and
higher temperatures reduce proliferation.
Freezing does not kill bacteria, but reduces their reproductive rate. But higher
temperatures kill. At 60° C, the bacteria slowly begin to die, which is used for low-
pasteurisation of food products (heating for about half an hour). Continued heating-
up to 85-90 ° C kills the bacteria already after 5-10 minutes, except a few, not very
commonplace types.
Some of the laundry chemicals also have effects on bacterial occurrence. Chlorine
has, in itself, a strong bactericidal effect. Even at low temperatures (25-28° C) all
bacteria are killed after a short stay in chlorine solution.
Dirt in the clothes

The most commonly occurring dirt types in laundries’ sorting are mixtures of the
first types: water-soluble substances, fats and solids.
The washing must primarily consist of a thorough pre-wash and a grease dissolving
main-wash, possibly followed by a bleaching.
Determinants in the washing process

The result of the washing process is determined by four elements that influence the
process time and outcome in a reciprocal or compensatory relationship:
• chemicals
• wash time
• mechanical action and
• wash temperature.
- if you increase one of them, you may decrease one or more of the others in the
same ratio and vice versa. cf. Figure 41.
Without duration of action (cycle time) or mechanical processing, no chemical effect

is achieved during the washing. Conversely, with a longer cycle time, the dosing of
wash detergents may be reduced proportionately. Also the temperature influences
the washing process. As a general rule, an increase of 10-15˚C in temperature
doubles the effect of chemicals.
Thus the four basic parameters of the washing process are compensatory related
to each other and determine the wash process time, capacity and quality. Figure
41 also shows the parameter ratio as it was, when women washed along the river
banks: a lot of mechanical action for a long time, with almost no temperature and
no wash detergents.
63
Figure 41 - The four determinants of the washing process
In the two examples in Figure 42 - Parameter substitution below, the dosing of

wash detergents and the temperature in the left figure can be reduced, provided
that mechanical action and time is increased in the same ratio – as in the figure at
the right.
Figure 42 - Parameter substitution
Test pieces
As one of the most important processes in the laundry, it is necessary to be in full
control of your wash. The industry has developed fabrics artificially soiled in stand-
ardised way (so-called test pieces or test fabrics) to test washing results. They
characterise the washing process' ability to remove dirt and stains – i.e. washing
64
effect, depositions, bleaching effect, enzyme action, phases of soil removing and
mechanical action).
The test samples are pieces of clothing artificially stained with representative soil
types, such as carbon, olive oil, blood, cocoa, red wine, and milk. This gives the
laundry the opportunity to test the wash process quality by comparing the samples
before and after washing. Industry chemists make extensive use of test pieces and
fluidity measurements to make sure that washing programmes are within accep-
table quality range.
Examples:
• German wfk-Cleaning Technology Research Institute's test piece wfk-

PCMS55, which contains 13 soil types,
• Swiss EMPA Testing Material's test piece EMPA102, which contains 15 soil
types,
• Danish Technological Institute's test piece, which contains 10 soil types.
Washing liquor
The washing liquor is the mixture of water, washing active substances and excipi-
ents, as well as the soil and dirt dissolved and suspended in it – i.e. the washing
water and everything in it, when drained from the washing machine.
Detergent effects
The primary effects (the outcomes we want to see) of the detergents on the wash-
ing results are their washing ability, i.e. their ability to:
• remove dirt,
• remove stains and
• disperse dirt (suspension effect).
Their secondary effects (the side-effects we don't want to see) are:
• chemical wear,
• greying,
• inorganic deposits (calcareous) and
• organic deposits (soap).
Suspension
Suspension effect is the wash liquor's ability to keep soil and dirt floating in the
wash liquor so it does not re-deposit on the washed fabrics. The wash liquor su-
spends a little in itself, but the larger part of the suspension effect comes from
aiding agents such as CMC (Carboxy-Methyl-Cellulose) and complex phosphates.
The wash liquor's suspension capacity is limited, even with suspension agents, so
the laundry risks dirt re-depositing, if the suspension ability is not in keeping with
the level of dirt in the clothes. Re-deposition causes greying, which can be a prob-
lem in laundries with poorly tuned washing liquors.
Lime soap
One last factor to be mentioned is lime soap (soap curd).
Lime (calcium and magnesium minerals) in the raw water reacts with (the fatty
acid-part of) soap in the washing liquor to form lime soap (salts), which tend to
cluster (agglomerate) in curd-like masses. Lime soap then deposits in the textiles.
65
Wash after wash they are accumulated and give the clothes a dull, grey appearance,
sometimes also a special, not-so-pleasant scent, and makes the textiles hard and
rigid. Maybe you know the phenomenon from home – dark grey towels, once bright
white, you have to break over your knee to fold.
Greying is a sign of a poorly tuned washing process or poor raw water treatment
and is therefore often used as a key performance indicator in laundry control pro-
cedures. Once the soap curd builds up in the clothes, it is very difficult, close to
impossible, to remove again.
Is it dirty at all?
But, that being said, it is also a fact that most of the washing, taking place in
industrial laundries today, is not so much aimed at removing dirt, as to disinfect
and smoothen.
A set of bed linen from a conference hotel, where the guest has only been lying in
the bed one night, or from a day ferry, where the guest may just have taken a nap
on top of the bedspread, is in most cases not even dirty. The wash is balanced
accordingly. Should, on occasion, a fitted sheet with street dirt, lipstick and dried
blood pass through the laundry; it usually ends up in the rewash bin and requires
special treatment.
66
5.1 Mechanisation of the working places
5. LAYOUT & ORGANISATION

You now have knowledge of the laundry's market, market needs, laundry products,
and its competitive conditions. You also know that the historical starting point is
that all processes in the laundry have been manual and that industrialisation has
introduced a wide range of mechanised and semi or fully automatic solutions sub-
stituting a large part of the manual work.
The following is focused on quality, eligibility, benefits, and drawbacks of the tech-
nical solutions, rather than the task they solve (which was discussed in section 3.4
on page 36).
5.1 MECHANISATION OF THE WORKING PLACES

The physical layout of the laundry and its workplaces is usually based – as a con-
venient and practical starting point – on the process routes down the laundry, start-
ing with soil side storage, uncategorized clothes, followed by areas for sorting-in,
washing, water extraction, drying, etc., with room for storage between the different
working places.
Laundry Layout
The laundry has often soil side storage and sorting-in at one end of the building,
sorting-out and packaging in the other and all the individual process steps distrib-
uted like beads on a string down through the building in between, as in the sche-
matic overview of the production below.
In the following you will read about the mechanical solutions in the order in which
the clothes encounter them on their way down through the laundry (reflections on
capacity sizing, you will find in the second part of the book).
67
Figure 43 - Steps in the production process
5.1.1 The Primary Storage System

When the clothes are received in the laundry (before they are sorted and catego-
rized), they come in bags, bundles or on carts, either stored on the floor (in carts)
or hung up in rail systems (in bags) mounted in the ceiling (the primary conveyor
or storage system).
68
Figure 44 - Storage of soiled, unsorted clothes in carts on the floor
Figure 45 - Storage of soiled, unsorted clothes in bags in the ceiling
69
The Differences
There are a few key differences between the two storage layouts (floor and ceil-
ing):
• by storing in carts you (usually) have the freedom to choose any cart,
giving access to specific customers' goods and perhaps specific
categories required in the production or sorting out (if sorted at source).
On the other hand, carts on the floor carries with them a heavy task of
unloading and emptying the bags (usually weighing around 10-30 kg per
bag),
• by storing in a conveyor system you avoid the heavy work of moving
carts (the bags run on the rail systems in the ceiling) and emptying the
bags (they are hung in a strap at the bottom of the bag and are easily
emptied by opening the bag). On the other hand, the conveyor system
imposes a precedence in the choice of bags, which forces you to take the
bags from one end and work your way through the line of bags, line by
line. In smaller conveyor systems the precedence constraint can,
however, to some extent, be overcome by a recirculation loop.
With a conveyor system, the laundry gains some advantages (with respect to
workload), but loses, in terms of sequence, scheduling freedom. This functions
conversely in the case of the cart solution.
5.1.2 Sorting-in
Identification of the type of fabric, emptying pockets, separating and opening the
clothes, removal of foreign items, labelling, counting, and (pre)sorting in chutes or
carts is still almost exclusively done manually, see Figure 20 - Sorting in chutes at
page 40.
Figure 46 - Sorting chute
70
The only parts of the sorting-in-process it has been possible to mechanise is the
weigh-in (or counting) and portioning, see Figure 46 - Sorting chute.
Weigh-in of batches
The weigh-in of each category in the quantity needed to fill the machines down-
stream can take place in several ways, but the larger, modern laundry has placed
the sorting staff on a platform under which the batches can pass either in wash
bags or on an (automatic) conveyor belt.
The number of necessary sorting chutes on the platform depends on how many
categories the laundry needs to sort simultaneously per customer type (when, for
example, the trucks bring back linen from hotels, hospitals, or industries).
The textile pieces are dropped in the sorting chutes, which may have a counting
frame integrated, which counts the number of items passing by.
When the batch in the chute is sufficiently large (in terms of either number or
weight), the chute bottom opens and the batch falls down on a conveyor belt (as
in Figure 47 - Conveyor belt under sorting chutes) which transports the batch to
the washing room or into a wash bag in a conveyor system, which releases the
pneumatic locking arm and the wash bag rolls out on to the lines of the bag storage
system, which stores (queues) the categorized textiles (secondary or classified bag
system).
Figure 47 - Conveyor belt under sorting chutes
Data Recording
The sorting-in function is also responsible for recording all necessary data for each
batch that is sent downstream into the production, i.e. category, quantity, perhaps
priority, customer, process route, and choice of location in the queue area, so that
all subsequent processing can be carried out without any further information re-
quired.
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Figure 48 - Data registration in the sorting-in
Pre-sorting
The advantage of pre-sorting (i.e. sorting prior to washing) is that it is possible to
categorise in order to know what's washed, to control what's washed together, and
to get the opportunity to remove any foreign objects before washing. It is also an
advantage, that the laundry has the opportunity to adjust batch volumes, if batches
from a customer are under- or overfilled. Finally, it is an advantage that (mainly)
the laundry can sort the textiles while they are dry and light.
The downside is that the laundry sorts the textiles when dirty with the risks of
infection that follows.
Sorting-in, the First Process Step

Sorting-in is one of the more demanding functions in the laundry. You need certain
textile knowledge, and often you need knowledge of the laundry customers, their
supply conditions, and the choice of process routes. Moreover, as the first process
step, the sorting-in feels the pressure if the downstream production in the laundry
is calling or waiting for batches (pull), or if the trucks bring back large volumes of
dirty clothes to the laundry (push).
Production Planning Starts in the Sorting-in

Since the sorting-in and the laundry assistants are often responsible for batch pri-
oritisation, batch sequencing, and process route selection, they also indirectly con-
trol staffing of the work places – the allocation.
Production planning is thus, in practice, already carried out here in the sorting-in,
by virtue of the choice of bag (batch) and process route. Only the most skilled
laundries have realised this and benefit from using the sorting-in planning to ac-
tively control the rate of production and the laundry's variable costs. The vast ma-
jority of laundries have acquired such large textile supplies (textile "pools") that
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they either do not realise the sorting-in's control of the flow of goods or do not have
to take it into consideration. They are focused on the pools instead of on the plan-
ning.
5.1.3 Internal Transport and Classified Storage

The transport of the categorized clothes away from the sorting platform is auto-
matic in the larger, modern laundry, in bags suspended in conveyor systems in the
ceiling.
Figure 49 - A bag in the conveyor system, on its way out of the sorting-in area
In the smaller or older laundry the bags are transported manually in carts on the
floor.
Figure 50 - A laundry assistant pushing a cart into the laundry production
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The categorized clothes are then stored in soil-side-conveyor systems, either on

tracks in the ceiling (in a conveyor system), or in carts in line-up-bays on the floor
in front of the washing machines.
Figure 51 - Bags in a soil-side conveyor-system
Conveyor-systems
A conveyor system is a number of parallel rails mounted to the ceiling and sloping
down towards the drop points (e.g., from the sorting platform to drop points in
front of the washing machines). Wash bags in sizes between 25-150 kg are sus-
pended from a trolley with two or more wheels, and can, by itself (with gravity),
move down the tracks.
The conveyor system only requires energy to a limited extent (for the pneumatic
stops). On the other hand, it takes time to run a bag down to the drop point, which
complicates recirculation and random selection of bags on the tracks.
Figure 52 - A trolley and wash bag
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The conveyor systems' fixed tracks and positions force the laundry to choose bags
in certain sequences from one end of each line. This precedence constraint is a
severe limitation for the planning and demands that decisions regarding the batch
sequence are made already when the bags are hung up, which can be many hours
before they are sent into the production.
This constraint can be softened by dedicating an entire line to a specific category
(e.g., track 1 holds duvet covers, track 2 sheets, track 3 small terry towels, etc.),
but dedicated tracks limit the possibility of utilising the entire conveyor system's
capacity to its full potential since it is not a given that the incoming volume of a
specific category fits the dedicated conveyor capacity.
For the same reason, a system with many, short lines is – for planning purposes –
more favourable, than one with few, long lines, given the same number of positions,
see Figure 53 and Figure 54.
Figure 53 - A conveyor-system with few, long lines
Figure 54 - The same number of positions distributed on more, shorter lines
5.1.4 Washing
From the line-up bays with the categorized batches one or a series of batches are
selected, which are brought forward to the washing machines' openings manually,
on conveyor belts, or along conveyor system lines.
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Loading the Machines

The loading of the washing machines is, in the larger, modern laundry, done auto-
matically by leading the wash bag along conveyor lines up to the drop point over
the machine chute and the bag is opened automatically by means of pulleys, see
Figure 55 and Figure 56.
Figure 55 - A step conveyor loading a continuous batch washer
Figure 56 - Automatic loading of an open-end washing machine
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The clothes in the bag fall (in the right amount) into the machine and if the sorting-
in, the storage system, and the washing machines are connected electronically
through a network (Local Area Network, LAN), all the information needed for the
washing is automatically transferred to the washing machine, which then selects
the correct program. The washing process starts.
A Technical Breakthrough
And isn't the washing machine, strictly speaking, one of humanity's greatest tech-
nical achievements, along with running water, sewer systems, antibiotics, vaccine,
electricity, central heating, and the car? It's hard to imagine a technical solution to
a human need that has had more influence on society, social, and gender bias, and
the labour market – far greater, than computers and the internet, which of course
have changed the ways we seek information, spend our leisure time (playing com-
puter games), and our participation in social networks, but they have not improved
our basic qualities of life, i.e. equal rights between genders, access to foods, higher
hygiene standards, and higher living standards in general.
The washing machine's justification is so basic that we find it impossible to imagine
a life without it.
The Development of the Washing Process

The general trend of the development of washing processes can be shown in prin-
ciple by using the washing parameter circle, see Figure 57 below, with long cycle
times and high temperatures, in the older wash (left), replaced by chemicals in the
modern wash (right).
Figure 57 - Industrialisation of the washing process
Inter-fibre Fluid Motion, IFFM

Not one of the most familiar, proverbial or fluent terms, we have, but that’s what
it’s called in the industry…
The washing serves the purpose of removing dirt from clothes, carrying the soil
away in the wash liquor, preventing the soil from re-depositing, disinfecting and, if
necessary, removing bad odours. We also know that we need to be aware of those
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consumptions downstream, which derive from the wash processes, and we know
that the washing machines remove the soil by soaking and flushing it with wash
liquor or rinse water. Precisely the flushing, i.e. the moving of the wash liquor
through the fabric and past its fibres, is important because it's not enough just to
soak. This motion is the so called inter-fibre fluid motion (IFFM).
The active wash detergent soaked up in the textile fabrics is used up during the
washing, so in order to keep the wash process active, we need fresh, active deter-
gent to pass by the dirty fibres, substituting the used up detergent. We need to
keep the liquor flowing; to keep it in motion.
This motion can be generated by using one or more of the following principles:
• impact:
o drop height (drum and ribs),
o splashing (water, pumps and pressure),
• vibration:
o pulsation (high frequency, micro waves),
o splashing (water, pumps and pressure),
• friction:
o against external surfaces (ridges),
o against the fabric itself (currents, turbulence & swirls),
• pressing:
o between two or more surfaces,
• flow:
o gravitational,
o mechanical bath movement (propelling),
o mechanical drum movement (spinning), and
o pressure.
And we distinguish between the situation, where:
• the batches stay in the compartment/drum and the baths change (as in
ordinary washer extractors, WEs), or
• the baths stay in the compartment and the batches change (as in
Continuous Batch Washers, CBWs).
Many different technical solutions have been tried through the ages, ranging from
the wash boiler, via the rotor washer, the rocking washer and the drum washer to
the continuous batch washer.
Mechanical Action
The washing machine's main contribution to the washing process, besides accom-
modating the encounter between the clothes and the wash liquor, is the mechanical
action although it has given way to chemical processing throughout the ages.
Laboratory studies in the late 1950's showed, that what a drum washer takes 20
minutes to wash clean, a rocking washer takes 10 minutes and a rotor washer only
3 minutes. That the drum machine, nevertheless, is the most widely used is due to
the fact that it, compared with the rotor washer, solves both the washing and the
drainage, it is reliable, durable, easy to manufacture, inexpensive to buy, has a
tradition in the laundries (dating back to 1840), and the cycle time (historically)
has not been that important until recently in the industrialisation process.
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And where the washing time is not that important, as in the households and coin
ops, the most widely used machines are still today the auto-extracting drum wash-
ers, whereas the washer in the modern industrial laundry today is a continuous
batch washer, a CBW. In the following we will have a closer look at these two
machine types.
The Washer Extractors

The washer extractor loads between 5 and 450 kg usually divided into 1, 2, 3, or 4
compartments or pockets (although there are examples of machines with up to 16
pockets).
A Washer Extractor's Drum Split

The pocket split serves the purpose to reduce the size of the batches to be washed,
easing manual loading and unloading, while keeping to the machine sum-load high.
It also serves better balancing of the drum during spinning.
The other side of spinning in the washer drum is that the portion weights need to
be very closely matched (or rebalanced using ballast tanks) since otherwise the
entire machine will get out of balance, which may have catastrophic consequences.
Figure 58 - An open-end, single pocket, washer extractor
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Figure 59 - An open-end, double pocket, washer extractor
Figure 60 - An open-end, triple pocket, washer extractor
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Pass-Through or Open-End Washer Extractor

The washer extractors are loaded in front either manually through the door or au-
tomatically through chutes or load pipes from above.
Open pocket machines (or open-end) are loaded and emptied through the same
opening while pass-through washer extractors are emptied on the opposite side of
the loading opening, similar to cargo ship's bow-to-stern roll-on/roll-off-loading.
Pass through-washer extractors allow the physical separation (barrier wall) of
soiled clothes and their processing (soil side) from processing washed clothes (clean
side), which in some cases may be a regulatory requirement or a demand from
particularly sensitive customers (such as hospitals, pharmaceutical productions,
and food companies).
Automatic emptying is done by tilting the entire machine, opening it’s unload
hatch, and slowly rotating the drum.
Figure 61 - A washer extractor tilts and empties automatically
The Washer Extractor's Operation Principles

The fundamental function of the washer extractor is to accommodate the encounter
between the dirty clothes and the wash liquor in a smooth, stainless, perforated
and rib-equipped steel drum, enclosed in a waterproof jacket that ends in a tank at
the bottom of the machine.
With the batch of clothes well in place, the drum is filled with the baths in the order
in which the washing is progressing, i.e. first pre-wash, then main wash, culminat-
ing in the final rinse. The batch stays in the drum and the baths change. The drum
rotates and the perforated ribs lift the clothes out of the liquor creating liquor flow
(inter-fibre fluid motion), and let it fall into the liquor again, causing a mild me-
chanical action.
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This principle is space saving (machine sizes can be kept at a minimum), but re-
quires that the baths are drained after each washing step.
Water Reuse
A good part of the laundry's economy is, therefore, to allow water collection in tanks
and recycle as much as possible.
The reason for this is of course the possibility of reducing water consumption, but
since the washing detergent is usually dosed so that there is a slight excess of
chemical (wash) action left in the liquor when it is drained, it is also possible to
reduce chemical consumption a bit, by reusing the wash liquor in the pre-washes.
Furthermore the wash liquor from the main wash also has excess temperature
(whether it be 40, 60 or 85°C), which, when recycled, reduces energy consumption
for bath heating (raw water is usually only 8°C). Therefore, it makes good sense
collecting waste water in insulated tanks where ever possible and recycle or heat
exchange the drained waste water with the fresh water supply. Laundries with large
categories in similar colours can even benefit financially and environmentally from
having storage tanks for each colour of recycled water.
There is obviously a limitation in the usability of the recycled water depending on

chemical residues, temperatures, and colours (categories), but these restrictions
can be programmed in the machine controls so that water management and supply
is automatic.
Figure 62 - Steel storage tank for wastewater
Some categories produce more recycled water (e.g. sheets) where others hardly
return any water at all (e.g. mats), but almost all categories are able to be supplied,
to some extent, from the storage tanks. So, good water management requires a
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planning effort to manage category sequences in such a way that the wastewater
tanks are kept constantly filled, without overflowing.
Figure 63 - Concrete tank for white waste water
Processing Time
Time has an even greater influence on laundry economy than consumptions of wa-
ter, chemicals and energy because the laundry pays by the hour and because a
clock hour in the laundry usually spells some 30-50 staff hours. One of the main
concerns in the laundry, therefore, has to do with maintaining high work efficiency,
but also to keep a steady flow of goods and high machine efficiency – three con-
siderations which are not always in line.
These three performance indicators are, by professionals, called Employee Alloca-
tion Efficiency (EAE), Batch Allocation Efficiency (BAE) and Resource Allocation Ef-
ficiency (RAE), and depict the efficiency with which the planners are able to keep
batches flowing down the process lines in the laundry and – at the same time –
keep people and machines busy.
And it is a trade-off or a balancing act because increasing one of the indicators is
usually only possible at the cost of the other two. You probably recognize the situ-
ation: with lots of batches lined up in front of every working place in the factory
you are able to keep high employee efficiency, but buffers reduce lead time.
Time, in all its aspects, is important in the production. In laundries that means
time during which:
• batches are idling (in queues, buffers or storages)

• machines are idling
• employees are idling
• transportation time
• preparation time
• processing time
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The design of machines, processes, and chemistry has primarily been aimed at
reducing consumption of the expensive employee time, but also at reducing process
and queue time even if it has sometimes been at the expense of product quality
and production flexibility.
Influence on Quality and Media- and Time Use

A large number of factors by the washing process and the washing machines influ-
ence the time, energy, chemical, and water consumption, as well as the quality of
the washing.
The most important are:
• the diameter of the drum (the diameter of the stainless/corrosion resistant

inner drum, in which the clothes lies; in millimetres),
• percentage of perforation (the number of holes as a percentage of the drum
in proportion to the surface of the drum) ,
• hole size (the diameter of the holes of perforation; in millimetres)
• the height of the ridge (height of the ridges in the drum, which lift up the
clothes from the wash liquid; in millimetres. Is important to the mechanical
action),
• rotation speed (the speed, with which the drum rotates; in rotations per
minute),
• reversing mechanism (change of the direction of rotation),
• mantle gap (distance between the drum and the vessel, which contains the
wash liquor; in centimetres),
• wash liquor ratio (the proportion of wash liquor compared to the proportion
of clothes; in kg. of clothes per ltr. of wash liquor),
• load ratio (the amount of clothes compared to the drum volume; in kg clothes
per ltr. of drum volume),
• quality of the water (degree of hardness, pH value, humus, compounds,
residual of chemicals, colour, temperature, taste, odour, etc.),
• water level (the distance between the bottom of the drum and the surface of
the wash liquor, in centimetres, but in reality, the interesting thing is the
level of water compared to the top of the pile of clothes),
• number of pre-washes and main washes (baths without/with chemistry and
temperature),
• dosage of chemicals (over/under dosage, dilution, active content of chlorine,
time of dosage, etc.),
• bath temperatures (the temperature of the pre-wash, main wash, and final
rinse; in °C),
• final rinse (number of rinses it takes to flush out the wash liquor),
• washing time (duration of the time the clothes are in the baths; in minutes),
• rinsing time (duration of one rinse; in minutes),
• cycle time (the time a batch spends in each batch in the CBW; in seconds)
• programme time (duration of the time from when the washing extractor
begins to when it ends; in minutes),
• intermediate spins (extraction of water between pre-wash, main wash, final
rinses; in number, rpm and G-factor) and
• final spin (extraction of water after final rinse; in number, rpm and G-factor).
Some of these factors have to do with the machine, some with the programming,
and others with the dosage of water and chemicals, which therefore demands that
proper dosage and programming are aligned for the machine in use.
And thereby are the concrete conditions, shortly discussed, which bind together
the four basic elements of the wash, as they were shown in Figure 41 - The four
determinants of the washing process on page 64.
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Some Examples of Value

As examples we can mention some of the many experiences and standard numbers
in the industry regarding drum washing machines:
• drum rotation during the washing should entail a G-factor of approximately

0,7 to give good lifts
• the mantle gap is normally between 20 and 100 millimetres,
• percentages of perforation are normally between 20 and 30%,
• the height of the ridge (Hr) should be calculated in relation to the G-factor
during washing. If the G-factor is 0,7, the formula is:
Hr = (diameter of the drum / 25,4 - 15) x 6,35, measured in
millimetres,
• wash liquor ratios are normally between 3:1 and 6:1 litres of water/kg
clothes in every pre wash/wash. Too little water will re-precipitate the soil
on the clothes, too much water reduces the mechanical action,
• volume ratios for pure cotton goods are normally between 10:1 and 13:1
litres of drum volume/kg clothes and are 30% lower when it comes to
polyester-mixes,
• the total washing time is normally between 10 and 30 minutes,
• number of final rinses is normally 3 (alkalinity residual drops very little
thereafter),
• rinsing time depends on whether it is the first or later rinses, but normally it
is between 1 and 5 minutes (the effect of the rinse approaches asymptotic
chemical equilibrium in the water),
• the total program duration of a wash is normally between 25 and 60 minutes.
Spinning will be described separately in the next chapter.
By investing in a washer extractor, here are the conditions, which above all are to
be taken into consideration:
Price, mechanical action (i.e. ridges and drop height), water consumption, G-fac-
tor, drum fixture, controlling, quality of the components, and demands on mainte-
nance – in this order.
The Continuous Batch Washer (CBW)

The CBW loads between 25 and 170 kg per batch, but whereas the washer extractor
can only contain one batch (one category) at a time (possibly divided into more
compartments) the CBW can contain a larger number of batches and categories at
the same time.
The Difference between the Continuous Batch Washer and the Washer Ex-
tractor
The biggest difference between a washer extractor and the continuous batch
washer is that in principle inside the CBW the baths remain in the compartment
and the clothes move from compartment to compartment and thereby from bath
to bath, compared to the washer extractor where the clothes remain in the com-
partment and the baths are changing.
Hence a continuous batch washer is an array of baths (a number of compartments
after each other) in one long machine – first prewash in compartment 1, second
prewash in compartment 2, first wash in compartment 3, etc. – finishing with the
last rinse in the last compartment. The clothes are either pushed forward by Archi-
medes-spiral shaped, perforated compartment partitions from compartment to
compartment (like in a mincing machine), see Figure 66, or a perforated shovel lifts
them, see Figure 67.
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Continuous batch washers are normally available in sizes 5 to 25 compartments.
Figure 64 - A 13-compartments universal continuous batch washer – schematically
Figure 65 - The same 13-compartments universal continuous batch washer – real life
Cycle time and program time

When the first prewash in the CBW is over, for example after 4 minutes, the clothes
are pushed on to the next prewash. After another 4 minutes, the clothes are pushed
on to the first wash. The total time, in which the clothes are inside the continuous
batch washer (program time) is in this way divided into a number of equally sized
part times: cycles.
Because all of the compartments in the continuous batch washer are welded to-
gether into a long cylindrical drum (possibly 20 meters long), the cycle times in
every compartment have to be the same. If you e.g. would like that the clothes
should have a processing time in the first compartment of 4 minutes then the pro-
cessing time will have to be 4 minutes in all compartments. Every 4th minute every
compartment's batch will be pushed forward to the next compartment – a new
batch is filled in the first compartment simultaneously and a completed batch will
be pushed out of the last compartment.
But, as we already experienced with the washer extractors, the main washes take
more than 4 minutes – they might for example take 11 minutes. If you want the
first main wash to take (at least) 11 minutes, then the washing process will have
to be divided into three compartments, each with a cycle time of 4 minutes (for
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example compartments 3, 4, and 5). Hence the washing time for the first main
wash will be 3x4 minutes, or 12 minutes in all. The rest of the wash and the rinses
should be dimensioned in the same way and the continuous batch washer might
therefore end up being 12 compartments long (1 compartment for the first pre-
wash, 1 for the second prewash, 3 for the first main wash, 3 for the second main
wash and 4 for the final rinse).
Every 4th minute a batch will be pushed out of the CBW, but the program time for
the wash of this batch has been 12 compartments times 4 minutes cycle time in
every compartment, so 48 minutes in total.
Capacity of the Continuous Batch Washer

Instead you could have chosen a cycle time of 2 minutes.
The prewash would then divide itself to two compartments instead of 1 and the
main wash would divide itself to 6 compartments instead of 3. The continuous batch
washer would have been twice as long, but would still have the same accumulated
prewash, main wash, and final rinse times. With 24 compartments instead of 12
the program time would still be the same (24 times 2 minutes = 48 minutes), but
the cycle time would have been 2 minutes. Every second minute a batch would
therefore be pushed out when the continuous batch washer was running and the
capacity of the washer would therefore be twice as big (with the same portion size).
If the batch size is 50 kg, then the total time capacity would be 60 minutes / 2
minutes x 50 kg = 1,500 kg clothes per hour. With program times of 48 minutes
(excluding spinning) and batch sizes of e.g. 100 kg in comparison, 12 washer ex-
tractors (= 1,500 kg / 60 minutes x 48 minutes / 100 kg) would be needed to
match a 24 compartments 50 kg continuous batch washer. But a 24 compartments
CBW takes up a lot less space than 12 washer extractors, so the CBW are also
preferable when it comes to space in comparison to the washer extractors.
The Continuous Batch Washer is Foreseeable

The continuous batch washer is a space saving solution to get lots of washing ca-
pacity, and it is also simpler and cheaper to automate a system with one load and
one emptying point instead of 12 for example. Besides the cycle time gives the
same, regular interval between the fill-ups, whereas 12 washer extractors are func-
tioning asynchronously with the consequence that a changing number of machines
must be filled and emptied at the same time, which easily causes queue time and
thus lost capacity.
Solutions with CBWs are elegant and foreseeable – far more foreseeable than the
same number of washer extractors.
The Principles of the Continuous Batch Washer

The same basic elements apply for the washing in the continuous batch washer as
in the washer extractor, i.e. a combination of mechanical action, time, chemistry,
and temperature. Furthermore, many of the conditions, which are mentioned under
washer extractors, also apply for the continuous batch washers, e.g. distance of
the ridges, percent of perforation, hole size, wash liquor ratios, though the sizes
are a little different.
E.g. the volume ratios for the continuous batch washers lie in the region of 55:1
to 60:1 litres drum volume per kg clothes in the first compartment (against 10:1
to 13:1 in washer extractors) and 30:1 to 36:1 in the following compartments
caused by the condition that the drum does not rotate all the way around as in the
washer extractors. The wash liquor ratios are approximately the same in the CBWs
as in the washer extractors (i.e. in the region of 5:1 litres per kg clothes).
But there are also conditions, which are unique for the continuous batch washer,
among others that the clothes need to be moved between the compartments.
Whether the clothes are moved by means of Archimedes-spiral shaped, perforated
87
compartment partitions or by the means of a perforated shovel, both functions are

carried out by a whole rotation of the drum. Unless you want the clothes to be
moved one compartment ahead, you should avoid rotating the drum a whole round.
The act of the washing in the CBW cannot happen by full rotations as in washer
extractors, but has to happen by rocking the drum from side to side, which raises
other conditions for the design of the ridges, etc.
Figure 66 - The Archimedes helix in a continuous batch washer
Figure 67 - Perforated shovels in a continuous batch washer
The Mechanical action in the Washing

And under these circumstances, it is harder to create a G-factor of 0,7. Hence the
tendency has been that the mechanical action has been worse in the continuous
batch washers than in the washer extractors, although the manufacturers of the
continuous batch washers are inclined to deny this. Continuous batch washers
therefore have, in a historical aspect, always been known to function better in the
categories, which are the least dirty, e.g. duvet covers and sheets, whereas e.g.
smocks from slaughterhouses and the fishing industry have been more difficult to
get clean in the CBWs. With a little humour injected, one could say, that the con-
tinuous batch washers have been best for cleaning clothes, which are already clean.
Only when the cycle is brought to an end, does the drum turn a whole round and a
new cycle can begin.
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The Water Reuse is Built In

The condition that the clothes are being pushed through the continuous batch
washer from compartment to compartment at the same time makes the conditions
for the use of the continuous batch washer very different.
As a consequence of the pushing principle (and the perforated compartment par-
titions), it is possible to tilt the washers’ axis of longitude a little bit. As a result a
slight gradient in the washer will emerge – from the last to the first compartment
– and thereby you are able to make the water stream against the movement of the
clothes from the final rinse zone, moving through the washing zone and on to the
prewash zone.
Figure 68 - The ”counter-flow” principle in a continuous batch washer
The water is slowly moving through the clothes, through the compartments and the
zones, from one end to another. The effect is that the farther through the continu-
ous batch washer, the clothes move, the cleaner water they will meet. These CBWs
are called counter-flow washers, and the water reuse is built in, even though in new
washers pumps are used instead of the gradient. At the time when the water arrives
at the first compartment, it has been used to rinse, wash, and prewash, in this
order and it cannot get any dirtier. When it leaves the machine the last function is
consequently to moisten and rinse the clothes from food scraps and larger particles
in the first compartment of the continuous batch washer.
The Downsides to the Continuous Batch Washer – Changing of Category

A substantial downside is that it is hard to change categories in the continuous
batch washer accurately because the water in principle flows through the zones and
the batches. If the batches are not from the same category it will create a higher
risk, that the baths have a destroying effect on the clothes in the downstream
compartments in the CBW, either because of the temperature of the baths, the kind
or proportion of chemicals, or colour residual in the water. This creates a demand
for planning of the order of batches.
89
Incompatible categories (i.e. categories, which cannot follow each other through
the continuous batch washer) can be separated from each other with empty com-
partments so that the water has time to flow out of the washer before the next
batch of clothes meets it or the baths can be emptied (changing of baths), but this
is expensive in water and compromises one of the big advantages of the continuous
batch washer. The modern continuous batch washer can wash with 4-5 litres of
fresh water per kg clothes whereas the older washer extractor might wash with as
much as 25-30 litres of water.
A genuine counter-flow CBW, therefore, demands a very uniform production,
hence the first CBWs only produced one or few categories, e.g. only sheets.
Emptying of the Continuous Batch Washer

Another downside to the continuous batch washer is that if the washer is stopped
- there are clothes in all of the compartments. The batch in the first compartment
has only had a prewash, the batch in the second compartment has not yet been
washed, etc. If you want to take out the clothes without having to fill in new ones
this is done by running each compartment empty.
But running an empty CBW consumes almost the same amount of water (because
of the need for lubrication of the rubber o-rings), as running the continuous batch
washer filled so it is expensive to empty a CBW. Unless you have a need for capac-
ity, which requires a continuous production on the CBW, you cannot count on get-
ting the full benefit of the advantages from the CBW when it comes to water con-
sumption, though it will still be better than older washer extractors.
The Cycle Time Applies to All Batches in the Washer

A third downside is that the cycle time applies to all the batches in the CBW. If you
have variations in the cycle times (categories with different washing times) it again
has great demands for the planning of the orders of categories in the washer. If
you e.g. fill 11 batches with a cycle time need of 2 minutes in a 12-compartmented
CBW and then merely fill one batch with a cycle time need of 4 minutes in, then
the cycle time will increase for all the batches in the CBW. Both the 11 portions,
which are lying upstream, and the 11 following batches downstream will gradually
have their program time extended, depending on their position in the CBW.
This condition of course also applies by queue and waiting. When a CBW is waiting
e.g. because all tumble dryers are full, then all the batches in the CBW will wait in
the washer and not only the finished portion, which is on its way out of the last
compartment. The processes in all the compartments of the washer stop.
Precedence
A fourth downside is that the CBW will give the batches precedence as the washer
necessarily sends out the batches in the same order in which they came in. This
also demands a thorough planning of the order of batches.
The Dependency on One Machine

A fifth downside is the dependency on one, single machine where as you have a
greater security of function with the alternative in an equivalent number of washer
extractors, as the possibility that all the washer extractors suddenly break down at
once is imperceptibly small. This downside has kept a lot of laundries from changing
from one technology to the other.
Clogging of the Continuous Batch Washer

A last downside is that the continuous batch washer can ”clog”. Even though this
might sound daft, it happens from time to time that by accident batches are put in,
which are way too large (e.g. a bag of folded sheet, which weighs about 100 kg
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instead of a bag of shaken sheets, which weighs about 30 kg) or that two or more
batches are put in the first compartment at the same time.
The first compartment is bigger than the following, so usually only the following
compartments will clog and maybe only in the middle of the washer. If you suffer
from claustrophobia, the inner drum of a 25 kg continuous batch washer is a night-
mare. It has happened more than once that people have died in the continuous
batch washers either because the washer by mistake was turned on or because the
chemical dissolutions steal the oxygen inside.
The Hard Advantages

In spite of the downsides (which to a certain extent can be handled with due care
and good planning), the continuous batch washers still gain larger currency and are
spreading from the largest and most specialized laundries down to the more versa-
tile laundries, mainly because of the very low water consumption and the automa-
tion of the heavy load- and emptying effort. The washers make for a good working
environment, a high level of productivity, and low use of supplies, and this is crucial
when you have to invest – we will get back on this subject later in the book.
The Universal Continuous Batch Washer

A development, which has really pushed the penetration of the continuous batch
washers into the market, is the development of the universal continuous batch
washer.
The universal continuous batch washer has impermeable separations of the com-
partments, both in the outer and inner drum so that the baths are not mixed be-
tween the compartments. The counter-flow, when it is wanted, is achieved by the
means of pumps. When counter-flow is possible this will be pumped between the
compartments whereas there will be fresh water or reusable water pumped in when
the counter-flow has to be switched of. The advantages of the counter-flow pipes
are kept and, at the same time, the most substantial downside (the mutual impact
of the baths) is abated.
But as all batches necessarily are pushed one compartment ahead by every whole
rotation of the washer, spinning is, per definition, precluded. Hence draining cannot
take place directly in the washer, but is moved outside where centrifuges or presses
are used, as seen in the next chapter.
By investing in a continuous batch washer the conditions, which first and foremost
are focused on, are: price, mechanical action (i.e. ridges and drop heights), cycle
times, water consumption, flexibility, drive, operation, quality of the components,
and demands on maintenance – usually in this order.
Figure 69 - The universal continuous batch washer – principal drawing
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5.1.5 Draining
When the wash is concluded the clothes are soaked and should be drained before
it can be completed.
Principles of Draining
Draining can be done in fundamentally different ways:
• Dripping and air drying (e.g. on a clothesline or in a tumbler),

• Spinning (in a washer extractor or a separate spin dryer) or
• Pressing (in one- or two step presses),
- each with their specific pattern of costs and time consumption and qualities.
Time is a pivotal element in the modern, industrial operation of a laundry and the
historical drying by the hanging up of clothes, which takes hours, is therefore no
longer useful other than for single, difficult pieces like curtains.
Spinning
As a washer extractor already has a perforated, axle-mounted drum with the pos-
sibility of rotation, it has been natural to exploit the opportunity of dimensioning
the machine for high rotation so that the draining could take place directly in the
washer extractor.
In this way, today, it is possible to create a gravitational effect on the clothes as
much as approx. 600 G, a very powerful intensity. The spinning is at once both an
efficient and relatively gentle way of driving out water from the clothes.
Residual moisture after spinning (measured as the weight of the residual water in
the clothes in proportion to the weight of the clothes when dry, in percentage) is
normally between 40 and 60%. The difference is discernible on the clothes.
Figure 70 - A cycle centrifuge
Spinning takes time; both because it takes time to speed up the revolutions as well
as down and also because it takes time to drive out the water from the clothes. The
more time the machine spins, the more water it drives out until a certain limit,
which is dependent on the G-factor and the textile (the graph for the residual mois-
ture in proportion to the time of spinning levels off). Spinning in washer extractors
usually takes from 4 to 10 minutes, which is not sufficiently fast on a cycle washing
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system. Special cycle centrifugal extractors only spend 2½ to 4 minutes. Neverthe-

less it can be necessary to place 2 centrifugal extractors after a continuous batch
washer.
By investing in a centrifugal extractor the conditions, which first and foremost

should be focused on, are: price, cycle time, G-factor, quality of components, and
demands on maintenance – usually in this order.
Presses
As a continuous batch washer does not have the same, natural, built-in possibility
for spinning, it has been of some importance to consider other faster ways to drive
out the water from the clothes. Gravity's or the centrifugal extractor's "pull" in the
water may be replaced with a mechanical pressure, which is done in the membrane
presses making them an alternative to the centrifugal extractors. The presses are
also faster.
The membrane press consists of a basket with perforated bottom for containing
the clothes, a membrane, which can close up on the rugged surface of the clothes
and a hydraulic pressure system, which can provide pressure on the membrane
and, via the membrane, against the clothes.
At the end of a pressing cycle a hard compressed batch of clothes in a large "cake"
("press cake") or “cheese” comes out of the press. The diameter of the press cake
has, through the ages, been augmented to increase the velocity of the water ex-
traction, but the tumbler's load openings constitute a natural limitation to the size
given to the diameters of the press cakes.
Figure 71 - A membrane, basket and bottom of a single-stage press
Pressing takes time and leaves residual moisture in the clothes depending on the
pressing time, but whereas the spinning took 2½ to 4 minutes, the pressing only
takes 1½ to 4 minutes. Although it has been difficult to reach the same low levels
of residual moisture as in the best centrifugal extractors, the higher level of residual
moisture has been an acceptable cost to gain access to the advantages of the con-
tinuous batch washer. Some products, though, cannot be pressed e.g. barrier
sheets; some products cannot be pressed fast enough e.g. duvets which are under
the risk of bursting or rupturing; and some product cannot be pressed hard enough,
e.g. special types of work clothes, which are under the risk of crumpling, thus the
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pressing of these products have to happen in several steps with incorporated

pauses between each step.
Lately a high pressure press has been developed with a pressure (on the clothes)
of almost 60 bar, however, regardless of the pressure and the form of the press
cake the pressing does not have the same physically possibilities to drive out the
water from the clothes as spinning does.
Figure 72 - The Press Cake
The Two-stage Press

The presses are made as single- or two-stage presses where the single-stage press
works as described above. The two-stage presses are in principle nothing more but
two single-stage presses, which are assembled after each other, and they both
follow the cycle of the continuous batch washer. Instead of the whole step of press-
ing is happening in one cycle it is allocated in the two-stage press over two steps:
one pre-press and one main-press, but the extra, price-raising step of pressing has
solely been used for compensating on the missing pressure in the given cycle time.
Figure 73 - A two-stage press
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There is a tendency for problems to occur with crumbling and creasing in a press
more frequently than with spinning. Another disadvantage by press is that buttons,
certain types of RFIDs, and other solid objects in the clothes can be pressured into
breaking or breaking out of the clothes. The presses also have the limitation, that
certain types of clothes, which the water cannot or only hardly penetrates, are
under the risk of bursting (like balloons) by pressing e.g. dust mats and barrier
sheets where the water is often stuck in pockets.
Residual Moisture
The residual moisture is an important key figure in the laundry because it is pivotal
for the quality of the after treatment and also for the duration of the after treatment
process steps. Laundry employees, therefore, have a habit of ”sticking their hands”
into the batches of clothes when the batches are on the way from draining to drying
and after treatment to try and feel the moisture in the clothes.
The moisture, which is not extracted mechanically has to be dried out, e.g. in the
tumble driers or in the ironers. By longer spinning or higher pressure in the presses,
the drying time can be minimized and the ironing speed can be maximized.
On the other hand clothes are not to be dried too far upstream from the ironer, for
the sake of the ironing quality. The wetter the clothes, the better the finish quality
of the ironer. The risk of normal air-drying between the processes, therefore, has
to be minimised either by reducing the time of storing or by covering the clothes
with plastic.
There are a lot of economical considerations, in addition to the considerations of
quality and working environment, before the choice of method in draining and pro-
cess time is made.
By investing in a press the conditions, which first and foremost need to be taken
into consideration, are: price, cycle time, residual moisture (pressure), hygiene,
quality of components, and demands on maintenance – usually in this order.
5.1.6 Transport between Draining and Drying

Washer extractors in the older laundry are emptied manually into carts, which are
manually driven to the places of deployment in front of the tumble driers.
In the modern industrial laundry the presses or the centrifugal extractors are emp-
tied at the end of the continuous batch washers and the washer extractors auto-
matically empty the clothes out on a shuttle, which will carry the batches to the
first available tumbler.
Pairing of Batches
In some cases the tumble dryers are dimensioned so that they require 2 or more
batches of clothes from the continuous batch washer (e.g. a 35 kg continuous batch
washer followed by 70 kg tumble driers). Thus pairing of batches demands that two
or more successive batches have the same needs of drying-time and drying-tem-
perature and pairing, therefore, makes it more difficult to plan the order of the
batches in the continuous batch washer (reduces the freedom of planning), which
makes the possibilities of realising a laundry’s fully economical potential more dif-
ficult.
The shuttle can be used in a limited form of storing batches by e.g. holding 2 or 3
batches at a time and it can therefore take part in balancing an asynchronous tum-
bler process and reducing potential waiting time on the continuous batch washer.
95
Figure 74 - Shuttle between the washer extractors and the tumble driers
And in between a larger number of combinations of washer extractors, continuous

batch washer, centrifugal extractors, presses, manual transport and semi and fully
automatic transport can be found, just as it is possible to put in cake breakers
between the presses and the ironer lines, where it is not necessary to pre-dry the
clothes in tumble driers, but only to break up the press cakes, so that the feeders
can get hold of each piece of clothes.
5.1.7 Drying
From the draining almost all types of clothes are carried to tumble dryers, either to
be fully dried or to be pre-dried, or just for breaking up the press cakes (in some
cases garments are being carried directly to tunnel finishers, and dust mats directly
to folders, by-passing the tumble drying process step).
Figure 75 - A tumbler-line with pass-through tumble dryers
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Principles of Tumble Drying

The tumble dryers are using the same principle as air-drying on a washing line on
a hot day, i.e. using hot, dry air, to evaporate the water. Only here, the air current
and the air temperature are artificially increased to minimise the drying time. The
heating sources are either gas, steam, or oil depending on the local supply and
prices.
The clothes dry by being lifted up in the perforated drum bottom of the tumbler
and it then soars in the drum, avoiding being pushed up against the drum wall or
falling down on the bottom again (cf. Figure 24 - Drying principle in tumble dryers;
principle and in real life on page 43).
Loading the Tumble Dryers

The loading of the tumble dryers in the modern industrial laundry is done automat-
ically, directly from the draining machines and here is a quick approximation, which
you can use for the capacity calculation of tumble dryers:
Necessary number of tumble dryers downstream from a continuous

batch washer:
average drying time

no. of tumble dryers =
average washing cycle time
An example, for a one week production:
full drying clothes:

volume: 7,300 kg.
average wash cycle time: 3 minutes
average drying time: 22 minutes
pre-drying clothes:
volume: 19,500 kg.
average wash cycle time: 2.5 minutes
average drying time: 4 minutes
7.3 x 22 + 19.5 x 4

no. of tumble dryers = = 3.4 ≈ $ %&'(&)
7.3 x 3 + 19.5 x 2.5
You may want to remember this one. It is easy to calculate and gives you a good
measure for the dimensioning of capacity, although it does not take into consider-
ation that the batch washer's resulting cycle time is the longest cycle time among
the categories actually in the batch washer. If you often mix short cycle time cate-
gories with long cycle times, the resulting cycle time will be longer than the nominal
one – reducing the necessary number of tumbler dryers and, at the same time,
reducing the resulting output from the processing line.
Drying times are decided on the basis of:
• the residual moisture in the batch when the drying process is started,
• the target residual moisture in the batch when the drying process is ended,
and
• the tumble dryers' ability to evaporate water.
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Tumble dryers are available in batch sizes up to 250 kg both as open pocket and
as pass through-machines. The filling ratios come in a range from 25:1 and 30:1
litres of drum volume per kg clothes.
The Advantages of the Modern Tumble Dryers

The modern tumble dryers have advantages compared to the earlier models, e.g.:
• automatic filling and emptying,

• recirculation of the whole or part of the discharged air,
• heat exchanging exhaust air with fresh air,
• automatic residual moisture measuring,
• automatic emptying of the lint filter,
- otherwise the principle of tumble-drying has remained unchanged through the

last 6-7 decades.
Lint Filters
The lint filters play a certain role as the constant streaming of air through the
clothes in the tumbler is also carrying with it all loose textile fibres. These fibres
are ”caught” in filters in the same way as is household machines, and the more lint
caught in the filters, the harder it is to push the air through the tumbler. The stream
of air drops, bringing down the drying efficiency and, as a consequence, increasing
the heat and electricity consumptions.
Modern machines, therefore, measure the differential pressure over the lint filter.
If the difference is rising above a certain acceptable level the tumbler will either
give a signal or automatically empty the filters (e.g. by shaking).
Synthetic Fibres in the Tumble dryers

Man-made fibres in the product may impose certain conditions on the course of the
drying process, it's temperature, or cooling. Some of these fibres have low burning
points or get constant creasing or crumpling above certain temperatures. Some
synthetic fibre products are characterised by their so called thermo-elastic point
(e.g. 67° C) above which the fibres get a constant change of form - crumples or
creases. With these products it is necessary to cool down slowly through thermo-
elastic range (e.g. max. 2° C per minute).
Cooling is also used to reduce the risk of spontaneous ignition after the batch has
been emptied from the tumbler (e.g. rubber mats).
Fire Hazard
As a characteristic of tumble dryers, there is a fire hazard combined with the pro-
cesses. It has often happened that clothes have spontaneously ignited in the tumble
dryers due to superheating. With temperatures as high as 140-160°C there is a risk
of fire, which has made some manufacturers build in fire surveillance and automatic
extinguishing system in the tumble dryers.
Drying Times
The drying times for pre-drying are usually around 2-8 minutes whereas main dry-
ing takes between 10-30 minutes. Batch separating in tumble dryers usually takes
about 1-2 minutes and serves as sole purpose to separate the items of the press
or centrifugal "cakes" to make it possible to have access to each piece of clothing.
Today this task can be solved by the so-called cake-breakers, which do nothing but
break the press cake and separate the batch items.
Actually the press cakes are often so heavy and hard that veritable crashes from
the tumble dryers are heard and these may even budge when the cake falls down
98
on the bottom of the drum until the cake is opened, and the pieces are separated
and are able to move freely.
When the drying is finished the tumble dryers are emptied under rotation either
by blowing out the textile pieces, by making the machine tilt a little so the clothes
fall out, or by pushing the clothes out with inclined ridges.
When investing in a tumble dryer the conditions which first and foremost need to
be considered are: price, heating source, evaporation rate, noise, drive, residual
moisture measuring device, quality of components, and demands for maintenance
– usually in this order.
5.1.8 Transportation in the After-Processing

From the tumble dryers the batches of clothes follow different process routes, de-
pending on the character of their finishing requirements. There are several solutions
to the need for transportation, depending on the volumes which pass through the
different process routes. The majority of transport though, lead to a small area of
storing of batches (a buffer) either in line-ups on the floor or in storing lanes in the
addict.
The buffers and their control are strictly important for the controlling of the pro-
duction. In the second part of the book we will approach the meaning of the buffer,
the issues, and the solutions more closely.
In the older, smaller laundry the dryers are emptying the batches into a cart, which
is manually pushed on in to the production and then placed in the buffers in front
of each working station.
Figure 76 - Carts with clothes in front of the ironer-line
In the modern, larger laundry the dryers are emptying the batches out on a con-
veyor, which leads the batches to conveyor bags in a bag hoist, so that the clothes
from here on can be transported to each workstation in bags under the addict, until
they are dropped in front of the relevant workstation in the after-treatment. At
every workstation there will be a small batch buffer.
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5.1.9 Batch-storing on Clean Side

The storing of batches on or between processing stations in the production are
called Work In Progress, or most often just WIP.
WIP is stored in the buffers in front or behind the many workstations in the pro-
duction of the laundry.
The Buffers
The WIP is either placed on the floor, in carts of many different shapes, sizes and
materials, in bag conveyors or hanger systems in the addict (Cleanwork Systems).
In the modern laundry a great part of the storing in the production is placed in the
addict mainly to make room between and in front of the workstations, but also to
ease the work of transporting and emptying.
Figure 77 - Conveyor bag on rails
Precedence is a Disadvantage
A disadvantage of the conveyor systems is that they enforce the batch order a
precedence which has the unfortunate consequence that, once a decision is made
about the batch (category) order, this decision cannot be remade. A major part of
the planning flexibility is lost here. This makes the planning more difficult and re-
quires the plannersto be able to foretell the consequences of their planning deci-
sions a long time in advance. The sorting-in suddenly has to be capable of assessing
the consequences, which the order of the sorting will get through the production all
the way to the sorting-out many hours ahead. But are they able to do that?
It is a principal question, which it is worth taking into consideration, for its conse-
quences are profound.
Stocks Remedy Human and Technical Limitations

The answer is often no.
If the people in the production cannot assess the consequences of their own plan-
ning the laundry either has to live with the decisions – or ensure that it is able to
100
make good for their unfortunate consequences. An efficient way to do this is by

building up stocks big enough to allow so much extra clothes both at the customers,
on the finished production stocks, and in the production that bad planning decisions
do not stop the flow of goods out of the laundry or the laundry's capacity utilisation.
Oceans of Clothes
And this is actually exactly what has happened in pace with the industrialisation.
Everywhere.
With the clothes the laundry parries the consequences of bad planning. But with
such quantities we lose touch and sense of value with the clothes, not only our own
people in the production, but also our customers. Only a few laundries know exactly
how much linen they have in circulation – just as only a few customers know how
much they have in stock.
Billing systems are based on how much is delivered to the customer disregarding
how much is returned. An article in Laundry & Cleaning News, May 1998, by Richard
Merli, focused on the problem with these words:
"One of the most serious sources of financial draining for commercial

laundries and linen rental companies is the loss of linen and textiles,
estimated to be running at 1,000,000,000 US$ per year, in the US alone".
That was in 1998!
Neither pool production, precedence constraints nor requisition systems should be

blamed for these loses. It is the entire industrialisation process with its specialisa-
tion, soaring volumes, increasing speeds, and growing complexity, which has com-
plicated the material flow beyond control.
But the amount (which only represents the loss of linen and textiles, not the other,
financial losses caused by bad planning and bad control) quantifies the importance
of material flow control to a laundry's finances, a proportion, which we should take
into consideration, when we invest in production equipment or textile stocks, and
when we design machines and call for facility tenders.
In the second part of the book we will show how to correctly use this knowledge
in the organisation of the production and the choice of production equipment.
5.1.10 Separation and Shaking

To fully exploit the ironer lines and the tunnel finishers when they run, so that no
energy or capacity is lost by having too large gaps between the pieces of clothes or
actual idling, a kind of preparation of the batches of clothes is often required.
In the older and smaller laundries the preparation is done by hand in the way that
the batches in the carts are separated manually, piece by piece, and each piece of
clothes is put handling friendly on desks or in elevation carts. You call this separat-
ing, because the long pieces of clothes (as sheets and tablecloths) are often twisted
and intermingled into one big lump.
In the larger and more modern laundries they have automated the separation and
put in automatic separators between the dryers and downstream buffers. The sep-
arators then does what the human hand would have done, that is, putting a claw
down the batch of clothes and grabbing the first piece it meets, lifting it out of the
pile and dropping it e.g. on a conveyor, which supplies the after-treatment ma-
chines.
101
Figure 78 - A separator at work
5.1.11 Piece-Storing on Clean Side

If you have already grabbed a single piece of clothes during separation and also
know that each piece later has to be placed in the feeder clamps of the ironer line,
then it would be rational to deliver the pieces in such a way that this could also be
done automatically. Piece storing solves this task. At the same time the piece stor-
ing hands the opportunity that you can store a large number of pieces and thereby
ensure a continuous production once the ironer line is started.
Figure 79 - Clothes in the clamps of a rail system in front of the ironer line
The piece storing is carried out by putting two corners of each piece of clothes
(typically sheets, table clothes or duvet covers) in a pair of clamps, which is led by
conveyor rails up under the addict, letting the pieces hang down from the addict in
their full length. When the ironer line is running, the pair of clamps automatically
delivers the corners of the piece of clothes to the feeder clamps, which spread out
102
the piece and feed it to the ironer. The need for interference by human hand is
reduced.
The disadvantage is that the buffer has to be emptied considerably fast as the
pieces of clothes air-dry faster when they hang spread out in this way (which will
deteriorate the quality of the ironing).
Figure 80 - Piece-stored clothes in front of the ironer line
5.1.12 Feeding, Ironing, and Folding

The smoothing of the clothes in the industrial laundry is automated to such an
extent, that now it is possible to iron many thousands of pieces of clothes per hour
with only 2-4 persons in front of the ironer and a single person behind it. But these
high velocities of production have, at the same time, required that both the feeding
of pieces in one end of the ironer and the folding of the pieces in the other end have
had to be automated as well.
Feeders
To make the feeding able to have the same high process speed as the ironer, the
number of feeder stations has, through time, been enhanced up to 4 operators
directly on the feeder. If there is a piece storing installed in front of the feeder, the
possibility exists of building up a stock, which reduces the influence of the work
speed of the operators on the speed of the ironing as well as making it possible to
place an optional number of operators in front of the piece storing.
The feeders functionally work in a way where they spread out the piece of clothes
very tight by spreading the clamps from each other (it is required that the clothes
can take the traction, which is not necessarily the case, when it comes to privately
owned clothes) and at the same time brushes make sure that the clothes are still
stretched both lengthwise and crosswise during its passage into the ironer. There
are also feeders without clamps.
An increasing peripheral speed from the first to the last cylinder in the ironer makes
sure, that the clothes are properly stretched under the whole ironing. Also here, in
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the ironer, the balance in the weaving plays a role as it influences the evenness of
the drying of the item, and also edge seams can be teasing and either tipping up-
wards or downwards and hence creating creasing on otherwise high quality finished
table clothes.
The clothes are put in, so that they will continue into the ironer either on apex or
hem, i.e. either two sheets side by side with the shortest edge in front or one sheet
crosswise with one of the long edges of the sheet turning towards the ironers exit.
Whether the laundry chooses one or the other way to orient the items is a balance
between 1) the laundry's wish to utilise the full extent of the ironer's heat surface
and 2) the folder's ability to receive and fold the clothes.
Ironers
In the ironers the damp clothes (app. 40-50% residual moisture) are stretched
over a smooth steel surface which are so hot (160-250° C) that the evaporation
happens in a few seconds and leaves the clothes smooth in a quality, which is hard
or impossible to achieve by hand ironing. The faster the evaporation, the better the
finish. One single quality-disadvantage by ironed clothes is the potential marks af-
ter the guide tapes, which are pulling the pieces of clothes off the cylinders.
Figure 81 - The ironer cylinders, the chest, and the bridge in cross section
The Principal Structure of the Ironer

The processing function of the ironer is principally solved by:
• a feeder surface (table),

• hot surfaces of steel (chests and bridges) for the heating of the damp clothes,
• felt padded, perforated cylinders (each successive cylinder's diameter larger than the
preceding one's) to:
- stretch each piece of clothes,
- supply pressure on the piece against the chest's hot steel surfaces,
- suck evaporated moisture out of and away from clothes, and
- pull the clothes through the ironer,
• tapes or cords to pull the clothes off the cylinders and carry them over the bridges, and
• a surface to receive the finished item (a "beak") and bring it out of the ironer.
104
The Process
The clothes are exposed to a high pressure and intense temperatures as they pass
between the ironer's hot steel chests and cylinders. At the same time the evapo-
rated moisture from the clothes is sucked out through the perforated cylinders.
The higher pressure, the hotter steel, and the bigger the surface of heat, the more
powerful evaporation you get. And the more powerful evaporation, the shorter pro-
cessing time and the better finish you get.
But as the temperature has a natural limitation, since the clothes can burn if the
heat is too strong, and the pressure places strain on the construction of the ma-
chine, the heating surface has always been one of the parameters, which has had
the greatest significance for the ironer's ability to evaporate, and therefore also
always had the focus from the side of the engineers.
Regarding temperatures, studies have shown that a normal lab-coat textile with
residual moisture of 45% can be dried in 10 seconds at 160°C, and in 7 seconds at
180°C. For this reason the refinement of the ironers has focused on improving the
so called "heat deposition rate" (larger heat surface, higher heat and higher pres-
sure) through out the last decades, more than totally revising the solution of flat-
work finishing.
Sizes of ironers
The ironers come in steam, gas or oil-heated versions with cylinder breadths be-
tween 2100-5000 millimetres, cylinder diameters between 210-2000 millimetre and
the number of cylinders between 1-5, and are normally described like this: number
of cylinders x cylinder breadth x cylinder diameter (e.g. 3 x 2100 x 800 millimetres
or 2 x 2100 x 1200 millimetres.).
The speed of the ironing process is given as the number of metres of a measuring
tape that would pass through the ironer in 1 minute during the ironing operation,
e.g. 28 metres/minute. With an evaporation rate of 500 litres of water per hour and
residual moisture in the clothes of 50%, it would then theoretically be possible to
run 1.000 kg of moist clothes through the ironer per hour. If the residual-moist in
the clothes (after spinning and drying) were 40% though, the productivity of the
ironer would principally be increased to 1.250 kg. per hour, which emphasises the
correlation along the process routes in the laundry.
Besides the fact, that the clothes are being smoothed by being pressed against the
hot chest surfaces under the cylinders, it is also stretched by means of the increas-
ing peripheral speed of the consecutive cylinders, which to some extent neutralizes
possible shrinking in the ironing-direction.
The Distance between the Pieces of Clothes in the Ironer

Conditions, which have influence on the productivity (besides the ability to evapo-
rate), are the distance between the pieces of clothes in the ironer, both length-wise
(longitudinal) and cross-wise (lateral) and the thickness of the clothes – provided
that the feeding and folding capacities are properly balanced to the speed of the
ironing.
The faster the ironer is running, the faster it has to be fed to exploit the heat-
surfaces. In the sense that actual ironing only can be maintained in pace with the
feeding, the ironing productivity is therefore variable, depending on the number of
feeding operators and their feeding speed. The suppliers, therefore, are able to
produce ironers with productivity of over 1,100 pieces of sheets per hour, but if
1,100 sheets are not fed into the ironer or if 1,100 pieces of sheets are not taken
out of the ironer, the potentially high ironing productivity does not really benefit –
and is only great, but wasted construction powers.
So, we have to be familiar with the production of the laundry and the bottlenecks
to be able to exploit the laundry's full potential. And it does not necessarily ease
105
the process of planning that the planners of the laundry with their decisions deter-
mine where the bottleneck is to be found and thereby risk moving them around
throughout the day.
In the second part of the book we will go through the difference between real and
false bottlenecks and their influence on the production and the economy of the
laundry.
Figure 82 - An ironer with large pieces of clothes fed
Figure 83 - An ironer with small pieces fed in 4 lanes
Large Piece and Small Piece Ironers

The ironers can either be specialized for large pieces of clothes such as sheets,
duvet covers and tablecloths, or for small pieces such as pillowcases, cloths, and
napkins. The two types are called large piece ironers and small piece ironers. In
reality it is the feeder and the folder, which determines which types of clothes are
106
able to be processed on the ironer, because it is the feeder and the folder, which
decide, whether to place a large piece in it, which fills up the whole breadth of the
heat surface, or four small pieces side by side.
There are also combination-feeders and –folders making it possible to change be-
tween large and small pieces, or running different sizes side by side (split-ironers).
To finish the nomenclature:

All clothes, which are run on ironers, are called flatwork in comparison to drywork
and garments, which are dried in tumble dryers or tunnel finishers.
Figure 84 - The ironer line with feeder, scanner, ironer and folder
Folders
You already know that it is necessary to fold the pieces of clothes so that they are
easier to transport and stock. With regards to ironing almost all folding takes place
as an integrated process in the ironing, done by a folding-machine, which is inte-
grated into the ironer. The ironer line consists of a feeder, an ironer, and a folder,
but when you, as a layman, are presented to the ironer line, it is hard to tell the
three machine parts from each other.
The Principal Function of the Folder

The principal function of the folder is to create an edge, a pleat or a hem around
which the clothes can be folded so that the item's size is reduced with every fold.
The folds are created either by folding the garment around knives or small cylinders
or by making an opening between two pinch rollers and forcing the fold by means
of air gusts.
Folding, Step by Step

The folding of a sheet could look like this:
• a first, longitudinal middle-fold (length-fold), which halves the breadth,

• a second longitudinal middle-fold, which halves the new breadth,
• a first lateral middle-fold (cross-fold), which halves the length,
• a second lateral middle-fold, which halves the new length,
• possibly a third lateral middle-fold, which halves the new length.
This fold is called double-half-fold (or two-half-fold), cf. Figure 85 - Principle

drawing of a double half fold, and is very common in the Middle and Southern
Europe, more because it presents a nice pile of clothes in the linen-room than
because it makes the bed-making easy or leaves the bed better looking.
Figure 85 - Principle drawing of a double half fold
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Folding Types
Other folds of importance (cf. Figure 86 beneath):
• half-fold
• French fold (tri-fold, closed)
• S-fold (tri-fold, open)
• M-fold (quarter fold, open),
- as well as a number of special folds:
Figure 86 - Principle drawings of folds
The ironer-folder must be able to receive all types of clothing, which you may iron,
whether it is ironed in 1, 2 or 4 lanes. If nothing else, it must at least allow the
garment to pass through without being folded. There are even ironer lines, which
combine the lanes so that small items are ironed side-by-side in two lanes on one
side of the ironer and larger items over the two lanes in the other side (split iron-
ers). Conceptually the split ironers require an unseemly lot of time to synchronize
with the other working stations. Usually they run empty on one side or the other,
and there are almost always queues in front of this type of ironer.
The last option of the folder is a so-called by-pass, which just sends clothes through
unfolded.
When Unfolding the Clothes again

Solutions to folding exclusively aim at solving storing- and transport-problems. A
single exception is the famous M-fold (accordion-fold), which also aims at easing
the unfolding of the clothes – and that is a pity. At some point, all folded clothes
have to be unfolded before they can be used, so all folds should take this into
consideration.
M-folded clothes should not be opened in the direction of the length before you set
the table or make the bed. You grab the top of the length-edge and open it while
you throw it over the table or the bed. As a parallel to other folding options, the M-
fold allows a quicker putting into operation. With increasing numbers, as when 200
beds have to be made for example, this has an increasing significance.
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With help from a skilled machine supplier, the laundry can in this way reduce the
costs for the laundry customer by taking into consideration the conditions of her
work – as we already saw earlier in the book (cf. paragraph 2.2 ).
Folding-wishes are Culture Conditioned

Besides practical and economic considerations, culture and habits also have a pow-
erful influence on the folding-requirements.
In Scandinavia the M-fold has found its expansion first and foremost for table-
cloths, but to a certain extent also for sheets. In Scandinavia they do not dine in
restaurants as often, and when it happens it is usually to celebrate in groups. As a
consequence, in the Scandinavian restaurants the tables are large (for 4, 6 and 8
persons) and the tablecloths are long.
In the Mediterranean countries they dine in restaurants more frequently and more
often only 2, 3 or 4 people which is why the tablecloths there are mostly square
with a length of 1 to 1.2 metres. They are easier to handle. In the Latin countries
the French fold is more common (folds the tablecloth in thirds on one side and then
halves it on the other side).
Optical Scanning
In the ironers it is often the first and last time under the process of the production
that the clothes are spread out in their full size. In no other places in the laundry
is it, in the same way, possible to examine the (flat) clothes for finish quality (clean-
ness, holes, stains, spots, discolorations, etc.).
Earlier it was the responsibility of the ironer operators to examine for quality, but
now this job has also been automated by the means of optical inspection, so that
the operators can concentrate on feeding the machine.
The scanner is installed as an integral part of the ironer line and is controlling the
finish quality on the item's way from ironer to folder.
Figure 87 - The optical scanner in operation
Stacking
The smaller pieces of clothes, which actually do not need folding, but possibly only
have to be halved once (in each lane) are treated in stackers, either directly as
extension of the ironer or as secondary folders, installed after the primary multiple-
lane folders.
The stacking serves the purpose of making simple folds, putting the folded items
on top of each other, counting them and in some cases also sorting them so that
items of the same type are coming out of the ironer line in stacks, ready for sorting-
out and packaging.
109
Figure 88 - The Stacker
Even in older, smaller laundries feeders and folders are being used, but laundries
with clothes from private customers, where the quality of the clothes is either hard
to judge or regarded as weak, they still fold by hand.
By investing in an ironer line, the conditions, which first and foremost are taken
into consideration, are:
Price, ironing-speeds, heat deposition rate / ability to evaporate, finish quality,
exhausting, moveable parts, folding-options, feeding ergonomics, quality of com-
ponents and demands on maintenance – usually in this order.
5.1.13 Finishing
In the larger, modern laundry the garments (shirts, jackets, trousers, coats, coat
dresses and other types, which cannot be finished on the ironers) get their finish
done in tunnel-finishers.
Figure 89 - The Tunnel finisher
The tunnel-finisher is in principle a kind of tumble dryer, processing the clothes on

hangers.
The Fundamental Function of the Tunnel Finisher

The process is made up of 4 process steps (and in the tunnel finisher, 4 zones):
110
1. heating with saturated steam, which makes the textile-fibres swell and
pliable to stretch,
2. finishing with air-mixed steam, which stretches the fibres by means of a
strong stream of air,
3. drying with hot, dry air, and
4. cooling down.
Figure 90 - Principle drawing of the inner of the tunnel-finisher
The Basic Elements of the Process

The basic, functional elements of the process are:
• temperature,
• time,
• steam-/air ratio, and
• stretch.
If you compare the basic elements of the wash, chemicals are replaced with the
steam-/air ratio and the mechanical action is applied by means of the stretching,
but also these basic elements to some degree have a compensatory relation to each
other.
Procedure
The steam wets and heats the textile so that it will be pliable to stretching. After-
wards the hanger-positioned clothes are exposed from above to a powerful stream
of air-mixed steam and this stream creates a pull in the clothes as when a flag is
flapping in strong wind. Subsequently the moisture is dried out of the clothes with
dry gas- or steam-heated air and finally the clothes are air-cooled slowly below the
thermo-elastic temperature-area.
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High Process-speed
In this way, hundreds of pieces of clothes (400-1,600) can be produced in one hour
and tunnel-finishers therefore have had the same significant influence on the
productivity as the ironer lines, when the production volumes and qualities permit
it.
The feeding is a bit different as the clothes need to be hanged on hangers, but is
based on the same principles as with the ironer, that is, that the clothes from the
feeder stations are either stored on hanger carriers on rails or go directly into the
tunnel.
Matching
On the other side, finishing is a lot more demanding on the sorting-out side, as
most of the garment items are unique and sometimes fitted to the individual wear-
ing them. The uniforms have to get back to the persons, who turned them in, and
often there are names embroidered or bar codes glued onto the clothes. Trousers
have to be matched with ("married" to) shirts and sets have to be matched with
others sets from the same person, corridor, department, or company. There is an
enormous work in sorting downstream from the tunnel, which very conveniently
also can happen by the means of conveyor-rails, RFID-chips in the clothes, and a
number of different sorting solutions (recirculation, cascade etc.). When the num-
ber of pieces of clothes in circulation is big enough for automatic systems, the au-
tomatic handling is both saving work, but also reducing the many errors, which can
appear by manually handling large numbers of items. The logistics in themselves,
in this part of the laundry process, can therefore be demanding and usually requires
involving computers and dedicated software.
Laundry Identification
Because of the large numbers of garments and item relations, the branch has,
throughout many years, shown great efforts in reducing the time and efforts nec-
essary to recognise each piece of garment. For many years, labelling was known
as a little heat seal patch with a number or a name. In the neck, on the breast
pocket, in the waistband, on the ankle, or where ever you could find room for it. In
the laundry you would have had to have every single piece of clothes in your hands
to read the customer number, and this takes time. Too much time.
Bar Codes
Then the bar codes came along in the beginning of the 1970’s, as we know them
from our groceries. Originally, they were classified in the international Universal
Product Code-system. The system was developed to fulfil a need of fast reading of
prices at the cashiers in the stores with groceries and for better controlling of
stocks, but soon spread out to all sorts of shops and into the industries.
The system is controlled by the UCC, Uniform Code Council, from where the pro-
ducers of the staple goods are given an access authorisation for the system. UCC
hereafter issues a 6-digit Manufacturer Identification Number, which identifies the
user and is to be included in the 12-digits UPC-codes, which the user afterwards
may issue.
The first 6 digits in the UPC-code identify the code-issuer. The next 5 digits are
used to identify the product. The last digit is a control-digit, which is used to deter-
mine if the scanned UPC-code is correct and properly read.
Consequently, the bar code is only a number, but a sort, which can be read me-
chanically. To this number a lot of information can be attached, e.g. the purchase-
price, the sales-price, the placement, the date of use, the last date of washing, the
ID bearer, modifications, etc. The information is saved in the central computer sys-
tem of the company, with the bar code as the unique identifier. By reading the
112
number a central computer is capable of finding the relevant and actual price with-
out the operator having to do a manual registration for example.
But if the codes do not have to be read outside of the house there is no further
need for standardisation. You can make your own numbers and systems. And the
laundries do this. If systems already exist with numbers in the bookkeeping, these
can be transferred to a bar code system in a seamless transmission. Else there are
a large number of standard systems, developed by the equipment suppliers, which
can be adopted in the laundry.
Figure 91 - A bar code
The bar codes has increased the reading and decoding speed, but still the code has
to be found and properly held (within line of sight of the reader) to be read and this
slows down the pace compared to other laundry processes.
RFID's
A chip (microchip, transponder, tag or RFID - Radio Frequency Identification) con-
sists of a silicone micro-processer, a metal coil of aluminium or copper, which works
as aerial, and a protection cover made of glass or polymer. The whole RFID-system
consists of a chip (with aerial), a reader (with aerial) and a computer system.
Reader and antenna are collectively known as an RFID station.
The reader (the transceiver – which both transmits and receives) is supplying the
inactive chip with electro-magnetic energy and a radio signal, which the chip mod-
ulates for the purpose of receiving and sending data to the reader. The distance of
activation is up to 1 meter and does not contain a need of being in line-of-sight as
opposed to the bar codes. The systems are also multiple readable now, working by
the means of an anti-collision-feature.
The RFID-system is a classified radiofrequency-band with certain breadths. Every
RFID-system is working within a single band width, e.g. the low-frequency band
30-500 kHz. Usually it is the low frequency systems, which are used in the produc-
tions.
As the chips gained acceptance, they made it possible to read the code without
having to find the chip itself and holding it in a certain way. When the reading units
activates the little chip (e.g. 10 millimetres in diameter) e.g. in the sorting-out, the
electric circuit of the unit will send out a pre-programmed 64-bit code and to this
code the large amount of information about the clothes can be attached. In return
they were and are relatively expensive and are barely able to cope with the hard
treatment in the laundry, so their use still has not been common for all garments
113
in the laundry - only the most expensive ones like uniforms and mats. Until it is
technically possible and economically beneficial to put chips in all laundry items,
some of the clothes still either have to be identified manually or simply categorised,
not itemised.
Figure 92 - 3 pcs. of 22 millimetres RFID-chips, 13.56 MHz
After finishing and possibly sorting, the garment has to be folded in the same way
as the flatwork, but whereas the ironer-folders are fully integrated in the ironer
lines, the garment folding often happens as a separate process step.
Figure 93 - Sorting-out lanes after tunnel-finishing, (by courtesy of JP Bureau)
The conditions, which first and foremost need to be taken into consideration when
investing in a tunnel-finisher are: price, medium of heating, process speed, finish,
ergonomics, hangers, quality of components and demands on maintenance – usu-
ally in this order.
5.1.14 Folding
Besides the ironer folders, you will find garment and terry folders in the industrial
laundry and they work from the same principles though on different scales.
Terry and garment folders fold the clothes around a template of knives by means
of air gusts or metal swords.
114
New challenges
by Andrea Azzoni, Dir., DATAMARS SA
Lower market prices and shrinking margins are no news, but

how to survive in this arena? There is one basic recommen-
dation:
Control your business.
It is very important to have a cost structure that streamlines

the operation focusing on value added activities. Automation
will play an important role, especially in the European mar-
ket, and will let you increase the productivity per person,
focusing your people on the core competences of your busi-
ness.
But operations are just a part of this picture, the other important point is: Control your
assets, they are an important part of your profit & loss.
Have you ever wondered how many textiles you have in circulation, where they are exactly,
how many units you process per day, how long they last and why, which are your conscien-
tious customers and which are not?
Technology can help you answering these and many other questions. RFID has been in use
in the laundry market for more than 25 years and up to now it has mainly targeted
garments, dust control and flatware with single/small quantities and a clear tracking and
sorting objective. With the affirmation of the UHF RFID technology in the laundry market,
laundries can now control bulks of flatware textiles during all their life cycle, and plan
carefully the purchases without throwing money in over-sized stocks.
Which are the benefits in the use of control technologies in general? Concrete, successful
business cases in the industry have shown a return on investment in control solutions up to
some 20-30%. We have seen laundries looking empty at a first glance, because they have
optimized their workflow and got rid of un-circulating stocks thanks to control applications
and process automation.
A common mistake when analyzing control applications' pros-and-cons is the pure and quick
comparison of the textile cost with the technology cost. The benefits deriving from control-
ling the laundry operation go beyond the cost of the textile.
The information supplied by control systems will result in proficient management of all your
operation and supply chain. Control systems give you, e.g., stock reduction and invoice
precision. You have to take into consideration the the total cost of ownership when you
analyse the benefits of control systems in the laundry.
Control systems bring a transparency into the laundry operation, and into the relationship
between the laundry and its customers. And control systems are not just a chip in a textile.
It means dealing with processes, operations and IT systems, and has to be properly
managed in order to give the expected results.
Properly formulated business cases take into consideration the laundry's current and alterna-
tive or future states with and without control systems, measured on a scale defined by key
laundry performance indicators, whether your laundry uses pool-stocks or customer-
dedicated stocks.
115
Figure 94 - The garment folder
Folding, Step by Step

The folding of the garments is usually divided into 3 steps, depending on the type
of clothes and the feeding method:
• a first (lateral) cross-fold (halves the length of the item),

• two concurrent (longitudinal) length-folds (leave the item in its final
breadth) and
• a second cross-fold (leaves the item in its final length).
The terry folding (which also includes undergarment, stretch sheets, diapers etc.)
usually includes 1 length-fold and 1 or more cross-folds.
Types of Folding
The terry-folders make these folds:
• half-fold,
• closed tri-fold (French fold),
• open tri-fold (S-fold),
• fourth-fold,
• special folds, and
• by-pass.
Most folders pile the clothes in stacks in certain numbers before the pile is pushed
out. Some folders even sort the stacks in lines of similar garments.
Depending on the speed of the operators, the capacity of the folders is around
1,000 pieces an hour (with cycle times about 3-4 seconds).
116
5.2 The laundry’s Supply
When investing in a folder the conditions, which first and foremost are to be focused
on: folding options, price, cycle time, folding quality, stacking options, ergonomics,
quality of the components and demands on maintenance – usually in this order.
5.1.15 Additional Processes

With the processes and machines, that have been described up until now, the laun-
dry is capable of treating the majority of the clothes, they receive in the sorting-in.
What is left might be a number of additional, special treatment workplaces, such
as the shirt press, the tablecloth press, the shirt finisher, the ruff iron, the roller
towel ironer and the sewing room, which will not be discussed here.
5.1.16 Sorting-out, Packaging, and Wrapping

The clean, dried, folded clothes that are collected from the respective processes
and workstations in the laundry flow out through the sorting-out area. This is where
the pieces are gathered again either by type, customer or into sets.
Mostly the items (in pool systems) are put into the finishing stock from where they
are picked according to the customers' requisitions when the cars are packed for
delivery. In some cases the items (in portion systems) are gathered customer-wise
and packed directly from the production, are pushed to the pick and pack ware-
house from where it is loaded on to the trucks.
If necessary, the clothes are strapped, i.e. a string is tied around the pile of clothes.
In some places the pieces of clothes are wrapped in plastic or paper, many places
it is put into bundles, but most places it is packed in laundry carts, which can be
rolled directly onto the trucks.
This was a short description of the processes in the industrial laundry. On the fol-
lowing pages we will take a closer look at the supply of the laundry and the planning
of the work.
5.2 THE LAUNDRY’S SUPPLY

The most important supply in the laundry is water, energy and chemicals (excluding
labour). Even though the water in reality only represents a small part of the oper-
ating accounts in the laundry, the water consumption, the quality of the water and
the treatment of the water is a core competence and interest in most laundry-
person’s perception of the handcraft.
5.2.1 Water
Here are some of the interesting facts about water (Earth’s hydro-sphere) and its
uses, see Figure 95 below.
Washing of clothes is a worldwide activity. 24,000 industrial laundries in the world

wash 34 million tonnes of clothing on an annual basis. In their washing processes
they use 500 million m³ of clean, fresh drinking water. This equals the amount of
water required to keep 700 million people alive.
An industrialized, high-tech society uses 6 times more water to wash clothes, than
for survival. A non-industrialized society requires more than 10 times more to
achieve the same standard of hygiene. Therefore the resources required to laun-
dering is the key to raising a society's standard of living, a necessity in many coun-
tries outside the West, and thus making laundries and their technologies the key
technologies in industrialising development countries.
117
• 70.9% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, equalling 1.4 billion km3

• 97.0% of the world’s water is ocean saltwater
• 2.0% of the world’s water is found in glaciers and polar ice caps
• 0.9% of the world’s water is available as liquid, fresh, groundwater supply
• 0.1% of the world’s water is found in rivers, lakes and ponds
• in 2030 fresh water demand will exceed supply with 50%
• the Earth's population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2030
• 40% of Earth's population live where there is moderate or little water
• 8% of all water is consumed by private households
• 22% of all water is consumed by industry
• 70% of all water is consumed by agriculture, beef being the highest user
• the human body consists of 55% to 78% water depending on body size.
• to function properly, the body requires between 1 and 7 litres of water per day.
• on average approx 2 litres daily is the minimum to maintain proper hydration
• 40% of the world's inhabitants have insufficient fresh water for minimal hygiene
• 2.2+ million people died in year 2000 from waterborne diseases or drought
• in the next 20 years the quantity of water available will decrease by 30%.
Figure 95 - Facts about water
The volume of water consumed by coin-operated laundries and household washing

machines is more than twice as great.
You may wonder why so much water is used in the laundries and textile factories,
as water is not included as a part of the textile, and the water only functions a
medium, which carries the washing chemicals into the fabrics and the dirt away
from it. But washing is, at the same time, one of the keys to higher hygienic stand-
ards, which is the key to higher living standards. Thus, water is in more than one
way the means to higher living standards, but at the same time also one of the
scarcest resources globally.
Even though industrial laundry processes use fewer resources than on-premise-
laundries and domestic washing, the scarcity of drinking water require that our
industry maintain high ambitions in regards to consumptions and emissions from
its processes. In general, this calls for sharp, practical positions and approaches to
our use of water, like:
• being the most basic element of all life forms’ corporeal metabolisms,
water is the most basic element of life,
• as fresh water is the only constituent of the hydrological cycle that
connects water sources with life forms, any intervention in the
hydrological cycle is crucial and must be eliminated/limited with regards
to:
- occurrence
- volume
- duration
- quality, and
- impact,
• consequent measures:
- safeguard all parts of the natural hydrological cycle from man-
related influences, down to the ppm-level
- eliminate or limit all fresh water usages not related to biological
metabolisms
- take water in at a lower quality grade, than necessary (e.g. black
toilet water, grey shower water, grade A water, surface water, rain
water etc.)
118
- up-cycle: upgrade water quality from intake to return to the hydro-

logical cycle
- reuse process water in closed loops
- add nothing
- account for each and every process involving water, in design and
production,
• increase standards and performance continuously (e.g. “choose
products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human
health and the environment, when compared with competing products
or services that serve the same purpose”, as stated in President Bill
Clinton’s Executive Order 13101 from 1998).
If you really want respect from laundry people, there is nothing better than being
able to determine, by tasting or feeling the water, if it is raw, natural water, which
contains hardness, or treated water, which is softer. Raw water might leave a cal-
cium and mineral-like aftertaste, where soft water might leave a sort of flat after-
taste. A performance indicator which also impresses peers, is low water consump-
tion in the laundry. Skills are often determined by the fact of how much water is
used in the laundry. A laundry, which only uses 4-6 litres of water per kg clothes,
is “skilled”. A laundry, which uses 25 litres per kg clothes, but makes more money,
has a better finish quality, pollutes less, has a better working environment or… this
is rarely as important as the water consumption.
The cost of water and wastewater is usually around 1-5% of the revenue.
Water Supply
The laundry is supplied with water from municipal or private water works, from own
drillings, seas, lakes or rivers, and the quality of the water varies a great deal
depending on its sources and treatment.
Damaging Impacts
Rainwater contains no minerals or salts, but on its path through the atmosphere
can absorb oxygen, nitrogen and contaminants, and react with CO2 from decom-
posing, organic matter (e.g., leaves and branches) to form carbonic acid, making
the water acidic.
The rain water, now acidic, percolates down through the soil layers and is filtered
from larger particles, but meets and washes out salts and minerals. As ground
water, it now seeks toward the ocean; bearing all its salts with it and well into the
ocean it will evaporate again and leave the salts and minerals dissolved in the sea.
The underground flow of the ground water will therefore act as a mineral pump,
which slowly moves the salts from the earth and out into the seas.
In this circulation, time is scarring. One raindrop, which has fallen on open land,
might take 90 years to reach the groundwater mirror between 20 and 200 metres
underneath and even longer to reach the ocean. With this perspective of time we
haven’t yet seen the full consequences of the modern society’s pollution.
If you concentrate on cubic metre regular ground water (raw water) from an area
of land with a moderate content of minerals in the underground, e.g. in Denmark,
you end up having a salt residue of 8-900 grams.
To remove or reduce the damaging effects in the raw, natural water, such as:
• hardening constituents (calcium and magnesium),

• iron and manganese
• carbonic acid,
• organic compounds (humus) and
- the•water has to undergo special treatments.
oxygen
119
The Hardness of the Water

If the acidic rainwater is passing through dissolvable compounds of calcium or mag-
nesium, the acid in the water will dissolve them and lead them to the groundwater:
thus the more acidic rain and the chalkier underground, the harder the groundwa-
ter. The quality of the water in lakes, seas, and rivers looks like the quality of the
rainwater and almost does not contain any hardness or salts. On the other hand, it
is often so full of bacteria that it can neither be used for drinking nor washing
purposes without first being treated.
Usually the hardness is due to compounds of calcium, from chalk and gypsum and
more seldom because of magnesium compounds. Chalk-filled underground such as
the white chalks of Zealand, Denmark, southern and eastern counties (east of the
line between Severn and Tees) in England and Masstricht, Holland, but also the red
chalk in Norfolk and Yorkshire, England, and the grey chalk in France, gives hard
water. The hardest water in the USA is found in Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona
and Southern California, and in Australia it is found in Adelaide.
On the other hand the thin soil-layer on bedrocks as in Norway, Southern Germany,
Northern Italy as well as in Hawaii, New England and the South Atlantic Gulf in the
US, the west coast of Canada (fed by glaciers and snowmelt), and in Melbourne,
Australia, gives softer water.
The hardness of the water is usually measured in degrees of (German) hardness,

d°H, or parts per million (ppm; 1 ppm = 17,85 d°H).
1 d°H indicates, that 1 litre of water contains 10 milligrams of chalk (CaO), or 7
milligrams magnesium (MgO).
Water-hardness varies a great deal from region to region. E.g. in Denmark it
ranges from 3 d°H in Varde, Jutland, to 30 d°H in Naestved, Zealand.
In general the water hardness varies in the UK and the USA as shown in the illus-
trations below.
Figure 96 - Values of water hardness in the UK
(Source: Cambridge water company)
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Figure 97 - Values of water hardness in the USA
(Source: map prepared by S. Wright Kennedy, 2011 - City of Manhattan Beach, CA)
The hardness can also vary from bore to bore and as the larger water works are
supplied by a number of drills, the hardness at the laundry can vary over time,
depending on which drills the water works use.
The hardness of the water is indicated with the following indications:
0- 4 d°H : very soft (0-70 ppm)

4- 8 - : soft (70-150 ppm)
8 - 12 - : medium hard (150-200 ppm)
12 - 18 - : quiet hard (200-300 ppm)
18 - 30 - : hard (300-500 ppm)
30 - - : very hard (500- ppm)
The hardness can be divided into a temporary and a constant hardness
Temporary Hardness
The temporary hardness is due to dissolved chalk, which can be removed by boiling
the water, which drives the carbonic acid (binds the chalk) out. What is left is the
solid chalk (as incrustations), but as practically all laundry water today is ion-ex-
changed, you will no longer meet the problem of temporary hardness in laundries.
The Constant Hardness

The remaining constant hardness is mainly due to gypsum (calcium sulphate,
CaSO4) and magnesium compounds. These compounds cannot be boiled out of the
water, as they may remain dissolved also in water free from carbonic acid. The
constant hardness can though, in spite of the name, easily be removed by using
an ion exchange column, such as most laundries do.
Determining the Hardness

There is an easy way of determining the hardness of water. Hardening constituents
in the water bind soap, making lime-soap (or soap curd) which removes some of
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the dissolved soap's properties, such as its ability to foam or form suds. Only when
all hardening constituents are bound the water begins to foam when shaken. If you
keep adding drops of a standard soap-water solution to a measured amount of
water until there is constant foam when shaken, the number of drops of soap solu-
tion is a simple indication for the hardness of the water. It is a cheap and reliable
method, which also contains a touch of handcraft.
Water-tests are made on a daily basis in the laundry, but it is not always possible
to catch raw water intrusion. The ones responsible for the washing have to be ob-
servant of the state of foam in the washer extractors (where foaming soaps are
being used). If there is an intrusion of raw water, the foam in the wash liquid "dies"
(is decreased) at once, and this is a warning of the need for instant special precau-
tions.
Concurrently with the natural soap being replaced with the (non-foaming) deter-
gents, the washing assistants have lost this possibility and likewise the continuous
batch washers, that lack the possibility of seeing the washing liquid, have totally
eliminated it.
The hardness of the water can be removed either by means of chemicals or ion
exchange.
Chemical Removal of Hardness

Softening with chemicals has been done with many different means (complex phos-
phates, EDTA, meta-silicates, caustic soda etc.) and earlier the most common
method in the industrial laundry operation was the decarbonising with soda and
hydrate lime.
Other methods for removing hardness in water include partly or total deminerali-
sation as well as reverse osmosis, where the total demineralisation, as the most
radical, leaves less than 0,01 grams of salt per m3 and no hardness.
Removing the Hardness by Ion Exchange

Today, practically all laundries soften all their process water in ion exchanger col-
umns, which leave the original 870 grams of residual salt per m3 in the water, but
no degrees of hardness.
Softening by means of ion exchanging lets the raw water pass a filter resin bed
usually consisting of small, 1-2 mm. diameter, plastic beads, which are capable of
exchanging the calcium- and magnesium ions in the hard water's bicarbonate com-
binations with the sodium ions from regular salt.
In principle, a substance such as zeolite A in Figure 98 beneath is charged with
sodium ions. In the zeolite a crystalline network is formed by silicon-oxygen bonds
and aluminium-oxygen bonds (the dark spheres are oxygen, the light ones are sil-
icon or aluminium) and creates in their interior a series of long channels. In these
channels positive sodium ions from the salt are bound. When the hardness-forming
calcium and magnesium ions pass, sodium ions drive them from their places in the
water's bicarbonate combinations and engage instead to the zeolite.
Since the sodium bicarbonate does not precipitate in the laundry processes (in con-
trast to the boiler plant processes), the impact of the hardness in the laundry is
neutralised. On the other hand the sodium bicarbonate converts into soda by heat-
ing and the soda yellows the cottons content of oxalic cellulose, e.g. during ironing.
To prevent yellowing you can add more acid in the final rinse water.
Ion exchanges exist in the nature (chitosane and zeolite), but the modern filter
substances consist of small, porous, synthetic polystyrene beads with a relatively
big inner surface (50-100 m2 per gram).
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Figure 98 - The zeolite A-structure with oxygen and silicon (sodium-ions not shown).
Figure 99 - The plastic beads from a water softener
The Capacity of the Filter Substances

The filter substance has a certain ion exchange capacity corresponding to the con-
tent of bound ions of sodium, and this capacity limit is in practice reached quite
suddenly (in few m3 of water). When all the sodium ions have been released to the
passing water, the filter needs to be regenerated – the captured calcium and mag-
nesium ions are driven away and replaced by new sodium ions. When the filter
volume is emptied from sodium ions and completely occupied with calcium and
magnesium ions, the filter can be regenerated with a powerful solution of regular
salt (a salt brine).
The filter substance (the spheres) is not consumed or worn out, unless it is flushed
out, and therefore has a long life, often measured in decades. Adding new filter
volume usually constitutes less than 5% per year.
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The Exchange Ratio

The ion filter has to have a capacity, that allows a high and fast flow treated water
(high flow rate). The filter's exchange ratio is indicated as the amount of calcium
oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO), which 1 m3 of filter substance can obtain.
For the natural minerals, which were used first as filter substances, the exchange
ratio were under 10 (kg CaO per m3 filter substance). With synthetic filter sub-
stances the exchange ratios are around 50 or more.
The Capacity of the Filter

The total capacity of the filter is measured as the amount of water (in m3), which
the filter is able to soften between each regeneration, e.g. 200 m3 raw water with
a hardness of 20 d°H. The flow capacity through the filter is usually between 3,6
and 100 m3 water per hour at the same d°H.
Figure 100 - Ion exchanger columns, parallel, small and large system.
Iron Compounds
The raw water possibly also contains iron compounds.
The water works usually remove possible iron combinations. If iron (or manga-
nese) is found in the water, this is usually caused by processes or actions inside of
the laundry’s own systems. Iron is seen as brown or red discolorations of the
clothes, just as it acts as a catalysing agent on the alkalis' and the bleaching agents’
breaking of the textile fibres and are directly damaging for the filter substance in
the ion exchangers.
Iron and manganese compounds are removed by oxidation.
Carbonic Acid
Carbonic acid in the water makes the water aggressive in the sense that it attacks
the water pipes of the laundry and increases the content of iron in the water. In
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particular in hot water systems and in ion exchangers the carbonic acid works in a
corrosive manner, most often caused by the presence of oxygen in the water.
Oxygen
Oxygen in the water does not disturb the washing process itself, but causes corro-
sion in iron pipes and iron tanks with the nuisances that iron compounds in the
water causes, see above. Corrosions are especially dangerous in boilers and pres-
sure pipes. In turn the content of oxygen in the water decreases with increasing
temperatures. A way to remove oxygen from the water is thus to boil it.
If the condensate upstream from the boilers is kept over 80°C, you largely avoid
oxygen- and corrosion damages.
5.2.2 Steam
In a historical perspective, the heat supply necessary for the processes in a laundry,
has been delivered as steam. Today there are alternatives like electricity, gas, and
oil, which gradually are pushing the steam out of the laundries or at least divide
the central boiler room into decentralised heating units, closer to the processes in
the laundry, at the same time reducing idling and transmission losses.
As an example, the "electrified laundry" removes the emissions completely from
burning off the fossil fuels from the laundries, but presents the laundry with other
challenges like price, security of delivery and speed of heating (Energy Deposition
Rate).
Most of the industrial laundries have their own boiling room and a steam central
with a steam boiler, oil or gas furnace, economiser, condensate tank, oil- or gas
tanks, etc.
Figure 101 - The boiler room of the laundry
The Production's Requirements of the Steam Supply

The demands in the production for the steam-supply are:
• high, constant working temperature (working pressure), e.g. 160° C, and

• dry steam.
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With the large, a-synchronic flow rates in the laundry’s steam consumption, it can
be hard to meet the demands.
When an older washer extractor starts with e.g. 100 kg of clothes, it will consume
in the region of 45 kg steam in a matter of the heating from 10° to 60° C of the
first wash, i.e. in a matter of 1-5 minutes. In a smaller laundry with 5 of these
machines placed side by side for example, plus the other steam consuming ma-
chines (tumble dryers, ironers, tunnel-finishers, presses etc.), the steam consump-
tion can vary from almost nothing to about 300 kg of steam per 1-5 minutes, cor-
responding to 4,000 kg steam per hour during peak demand (when all the machines
are pulling steam at the same time).
With a smaller boiler (the largest continued production of steam is 2,500 kg per
hour), situations might emerge where the boiler cannot supply the needed amount
of steam. The pressure and the steam temperature will drop and thereby all the
process speeds in the laundry will drop: the washes and the tumble dryers will take
longer time, the ironing will not completely dry the clothes, they will have to be
ironed again, etc. The speed in the whole laundry drops, but the costs from the
employees accrues at the same pace, increasing the cost per produced item. A
constant pressure of steam is indeed very important in a laundry.
Wet Steam
When the water evaporates in the boiler, droplets of un-evaporated water can be
pulled from the boiler and up in the vapour and with the steams into the steam
pipes. The steam becomes “wet” and contains fine droplets of water, which does
not have nearly the same content of energy as dry steam and which might even
have brought dirt from the boiler with it, which causes more wear in the pipe works
and valves. Besides, the moist in the steam can get onto the heating surfaces of
the machines and cool and make the transition of heat from the steam more diffi-
cult. Finally, the water drops will quickly fill the steam traps up and can in some
cases overload them. The best and most secure operation is achieved with dry
steam.
Steam Drying
Steam can be “dried” by reducing the steam pressure in the piping, which will also
secure a constant steam pressure, e.g. by reducing the initial pressure in the boiler
from 11 bar to a pipe pressure of 8 bar. Variations in the boiler pressure will then
not be seen in the production unless the boiler pressure drops to under 8 bars.
Demands for the Quality of the Steam

The quality of the steam is important for the unproblematic running of the heated
machines in the laundry production and for the life of the machines. Important
precautions are:
• correct alkalinity for protection of the boiler steel,

• correct content of bicarbonate in the boiler water,
• no hardness,
• correct total content of salts in the boiler to reduce the risk of boiling over,
• correct phosphate excess for the prevention of incrustation and corrosion,
• correct sulphite excess for the prevention oxygen contents in the boiler water.
The Economy in the Production of Steam

But the operation of the boiler room cannot be considered in isolation from its eco-
nomic aspects.
When you burn 1 kg of fuel oil, you will develop about 36,000 kJ, which through
the heating surfaces of the boiler are transmitted to the boiler water, which then
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evaporates. To evaporate 1 kg of water, about 2,300 kJ is consumed, and therefore

you might think, that there will be a production of 36,000 / 2,300 = 15.6 kg steam
per kg oil, but some of the energy in the oil will be consumed when heating up the
boiler steel, some to heat the air supply, some will be lost in the smoke, like va-
porised oil in some cases can be sent out unburned with the smoke.
The Evaporation Ratio

In practise you will therefore find, that from 1 kg of oil, only 8-13 kg of steam will
be produced. This number, the evaporation ratio, is an important key figure in the
economy of the laundry.
The Efficiency of the Boiler

The production of the boiler might then be e.g. 10 kg of steam with an energy
content of (at 11 bar) 2,780 kJ per kg oil (with a low fuel value of 36,000 kJ),
corresponding to an efficiency of: 10 x 2,780 / 36,000 = 77%.
The Flue Gas loss

It is important to evaluate the exhaust fumes for temperature as well as the effi-
ciency of the combustion. For the combustion, air is used. If the amount of air is
properly balanced, the flue gas contains about 12% carbon dioxide. You use this
number as a measure of the combustion efficiency (deviations indicates flue gas
losses in the combustion).
Certificate is Necessary on Larger Boilers

The operation of a boiler implies the hazard of explosion and in most countries
demands a special, certified education, as the boiler's state demands supervision
and authorisation from the authorities.
Analysis of Operations
To make sure the laundry's boiler room is well operating and run, the operators
normally carry out analysis of a number of factors during operation, e.g.:
• feed water quality and consumption (fresh water, put in the boiler),
• condensate quality (used, condensed steam returned from the production),
• make-up water quality and consumption (compensates water wasted during boiler
blowdowns),
• quality of the boiler water itself (the water, which is in the boiler)
• consumption of raw water (the untreated water, which is led into the laundry),
• the production of steam (the steam, which is produced in the boiler and piped to the
production),
• quality of the flue gas,
• oil consumption, and
• burning time (the time the boiler burners are in operation)
Most analysis is carried out on a daily basis.
5.2.3 Chemicals
Another of the four base parameters of the wash is chemicals. Chemistry is a com-
plex subject and research area. The following review only mentions headlines and
a little bit of history and will not make the grounds for the operation of an industrial
laundry's wash section.
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Types of Chemicals
The most important types of chemicals, which are used in the industrial laundries,
are:
• tensides (soaps and detergents),

• alkalis,
• enzymes,
• acids,
• bleaching agents, and
• adjuvants.
Tenside
Tensides are all substances, which have the ability of removing dirt when they are
dissolved in water. How simple it may sound, the removing of dirt from a textile
includes more abilities, that is:
• reduce the surface tension,

• wet the surface of the textile,
• penetrate the fibre structure,
• disintegrate the dirt,
• cling to the water on one side and the dirt on the other,
• disperse the dirt (spread it out and keep it floating in the water)
• make sure that the dirt is not re-deposited on the clothes.
If dirt and oil were not disintegrated and dispersed by the tensides, it would have
had a tendency to flocculate, that is, gather in larger and larger lumps, which would
cling to the textile again. The more disintegrated the dirt is, the easier it is to dis-
perse, rinse and wash out of the textile.
The ability to cling to the water and at the same time cling to the dirt, the tenside
possesses because of its chemical structure – with the molecule's hydrophilic (wa-
ter-loving) end it will cling to the water and with the molecule's hydrophobic (water-
fearing) end it will cling to the fibres of the textile and the dirt.
Tenside is the European term for all types of washing-active substances and comes
from the English word tension and is derived from the most important ability of the
tensides, the ability to reduce the surface tension in water. In Europe, synthetic
tensides are known as synthetic detergents.
In the USA the term for washing-active substances is surfactant, which refers to
the surface-active abilities of the substances and synthetic surfactants is the Amer-
ican term for non-natural detergents.
Micelles
The surface-active substances in the tensides consist of long non-polar chains with
polar ends. The chains create spheres, micelles (cf. Figure 102 beneath), where the
polar (hydrophilic) ends are turning outwards, that is, out against the solvents. The
inner of the micelles, the polar (hydrophobic) ends, are fat dissolving and can obtain
fats – the fat creates an emulsion in the water. The outer of the micelles, the polar
spheres, have great solubility in water.
A certain concentration of the surface-active substance is required in the solution
to make it possible to create micelles. This threshold concentration is called the
Critical Micelle Concentration and the conductivity of the solution is – to a certain
extent – an indication of the micelle concentration.
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The function of the micelles is to surround the dirt, break it into pieces, lift it away
from the fibres of the clothes, and keep it floating in the water.
Figure 102 - Micelle. The yellow spheres symbolise the polar ends of the micelle.
(This amazing model is made by Amalgam Modelmaking Ltd. © - www.amalgam-models.co.uk)
Electrical Charge
The tensides are classified regarding their electrical charge.
Anionic tensides are the most important and most used. From these the Linear
Alkylbenzene Sulfonates – abbreviated LAS – are the most common. As fat-soluble
substances the tensides are dangerous for the living creatures’ cell membranes,
which consist of fat and protein. Dissolved in water their hydrophilic part is nega-
tively charged and can react with the hardness-creating positive (calcium and mag-
nesium) ions. The anionic tensides are especially suited for oil-based dirt, but often
cannot be alone.
Non-ionic tensides are electrical neutral when they are dissolved in water, which
keeps them from being deactivated by the hardness in the water. They consist of
alcohol ethoxylates; they are especially suited for emulsifying oil-based dirt and are
often mixed with anionic tensides.
Cationic tensides are positively charged when they are dissolved in water and
therefore they do not react with the also positively charged hardness-creators. They
have important wetting, foaming, and emulsifying abilities, but they are not very
good tensides. They are usually used in softeners and earlier they were hardly de-
composable. Today cationic tensides have been developed, which are easier to de-
compose. As a consequence the softeners are no longer as dangerous to the envi-
ronment as they have been earlier.
Finally the ampholytics react different, depending on the pH-value of the solution.
They are mostly used in shampoos and cosmetics.
Historically the first tenside was soap.

From a solely chemical point of view, all combinations, which have been formed
by a reaction of non-water dissolving fatty acid and an organic base (or an alkali
metal), are called soap. In practise it is only the fatty acid-alkali combinations,
which are used in the soap industries.
The Soap
At the time of Homer, they did not use chemicals at all (except from water). They
washed by stamping the clothes against flat rocks in the river with their bare feet.
Already around 600 BC in the Phoenician culture they made soap. The first refer-
ences to soap in the literature can be found in the Greek doctor Galen in the second
129
century BC. Plinius the Elder (who died by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79) writes
about soap, but not its use in the washing. He writes that the galls coloured their
hair with an ointment, which was made by boiling the goat tallow (fat) with ashes
of wood (which contain the alkaline soda). This is the simplest way to make soap.
According to a roman legend, the name soap derives from the mountain Sapo
where they sacrificed animals. The rain washed the alkaline out of the dead bodies
and ashes from the woods on the mountainsides. In the Tiber by the foot of the
mountain the woman realised that the clothes were cleaner and easier to wash,
when they used this mix of alkaline and ashes, which they picked up from the clay
of the river.
Types of Soap
Soap is an alkaline-salt from a fatty acid. We distinguish between hard (sodium
bicarbonate) soaps and soft (potash) soaps. It is almost exclusively the hard soap,
the so-called neat-soaps, which are being used industrial.
Neat-soaps are made from liquid and solid fats.
Solid fats can be:
• Tallow,
• Lard, and
• Palm kernel fat.
Liquid fats can be:
• Oleic acid, and

• Olive oil.
The Making of Soap

By the old method you boiled the fats with alkali to make a mix of thin liquid soap-
glue and a watery solution of glycerol. If you add regular salt to this mix, the neat
soap will be released with a fat content of 60-65%. By drying and rolling, the fat
content will end at 80-85%.
The modern making of soap is taking place with synthetic fats in autoclaves under
pressure, decomposing the fats into water and fats, which are separated.
Titer – the contrary of the melting point

It is the soap, which gives the foam. But the ability to foam depends on what fatty
acid the soap is made of.
Usually you cannot analyse what fatty acid a soap is made of, but you can use the
solidifying (coagulation) temperature (its titer), as a good guide. The titer is usually
between 25° and 45° C.
Detergents
An estimated 90% of the tensides (soap and detergents) used in the laundries, are
synthetic detergents.
The detergents, or the sulphonic soap, emerged as a consequence of the fat ra-
tioning under the First World War. The first industrial remedy appeared on the mar-
ket in Germany (Persil, a product with perborate and silicate). The first remedies
however consisted of short-chained molecules (alkyl naphthalene sulfonate-types)
and were best suited as humidifiers.
E.g. in modern industries, the fatty acid alkyl naphthalene sulphonate is made from
sulphur trioxide (in the form of gas) and alkyl benzene, which then is neutralised
130
with the alkali caustic soda, and you then get an anionic tenside, which possibly
can be spray-dried to powder. Figure 103 beneath shows the principle drawing of
a modern detergent production construction.
Figure 103 - The making of washing powder
The advantage of the detergents is that they do not react with the hardening con-
stituents in the water and that you avoid lime soap. Besides, they wash in weakly
acidic solutions and this is significant for the washing of wool and silk, which only
131
endures very low alkali reactions. Finally the detergents are not that easily decom-
posed by oil and fats.
And they are just as good, if not better, in removing dirt as the real soaps and
today many laundries solely use detergents.
‘Why?’ you might ask yourself; when the soap is cheap, bio-degradable, made
from sustainable resources, whereas the detergents mainly are made from petro-
chemical components. First and foremost because soap makes grey lime soap in
the clothes with hard water, and they are naturally decomposed when stored, and,
finally, detergents have become more effective. Detergents simply leave the clothes
cleaner.
Wet Water
Water, under a natural atmospheric pressure, is in itself not very fast in penetrating
the clothes and making it wet and thereafter drain from the clothes again. The
water molecules seek together because of their electrical polarity. The effect is that
the surface tension of the water practically minimises its surface area. Water's sur-
face tension creates a threshold value for penetrating the surface and making new
surfaces, which will stop the water from penetrating threads and fibres. One of the
tensides’ most important functions is therefore to decrease the surface tension –
they are “surface active”, i.e. they are capable of decreasing the surface tension of
the water. When the particles have been loosened from the clothes, the surface
active substances will lie as a membrane around the particles, keep them floating
in the wash liquid, and stop them from clinging to the clothes again.
The surface tension is easily shown to the naked eye if you put a drop of water on
e.g. a mirror. From the side of the nature the drop has a certain size, whereas drops
of soap dissolutions are smaller.
From 1 millilitre of clear water there will be about 25 drops, whereas 1 millilitre of
soap water can make around 65 drops. Because the soap water penetrates the
clothes more easily, we say that the water has been made “wetter”.
Figure 104 - Large and small drops of water (by Andreas Sogaard).
The maximum reduction of the surface tension is obtained by the addition of 1 g of

soap per litre of water. More soap will not improve the washing performance in
regards to the surface tension.
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The Amount of Foam

Earlier the dosage of soap was adjusted in proportion to the amount of foam in the
machine.
The foam height in a washing machine is an expression of the excess washing
activity in the wash liquid, but the excess washing activity in the liquid also has to
do with the amount of clothes and how dirty it is, so the dosage of various qualities
from the same category of clothes can be difficult and should be closely supervised
during the washing processes. The foam cannot be too tall because this will stop
the mechanical action and it is an expression of an unnecessary excess consump-
tion. But it cannot disappear, either, because then the wash liquid has lost its
washing ability. Earlier, when the washer extractors with glass doors let the wash
room operators see the wash liquid, it was very important to constantly supervise
the wash liquid in the machine. It is either harder or almost impossible with the
continuous batch washer.
And as the natural, foaming soaps are rarely used any more, those responsible of
the washing are left with the task of evaluating the performance of the wash liquid
in other and more difficult ways. Throughout the last decades, a search has been
made for measuring methods to evaluate the wash liquid while washing, but nobody
has succeeded in this quite yet. Approaches to solving the problem have been
measuring the conductivity of the wash liquid, that is, the content of ions (which is
not precise and does not always tell everything about the performance of the wash-
ing) and of the surface tension of the wash liquid.
Alkali
The alkalis have no direct washing ability in themselves, except for the fact that
they are able to emulsify fatty acids and mineral oils. But they will saponify the
fatty acids. You are in this way able, to a certain extent, to “make” soap by washing
greasy products, e.g. lab coats from the butcher’s productions processes, with al-
kali.
The alkali is used in the wash:
• for sustaining a pH-value, which can give the soap the best possible
washing performance,
• to affect certain types of soap, e.g. fatty acid and proteins, so that they
are easier to remove from the clothes,
• to soften the water, if there are any residual lime or magnesium
compounds in the water, and
• to remove residual fatty acids from the clothes.
An alkali is characterised by a pH-value of between 8 and 14.
Types of alkali
Throughout the times different types of alkali have been produced, e.g.:
• sodium hydroxide (caustic soda – soda lye in dissolved form)

• potassium hydroxide (caustic potash solution, in dissolved form)
• metasilicate,
• calcined soda,
• ammonia water (ammonium hydroxide), and
• borax.
The industrial laundries have preferred liquid remedies mainly because measuring
and dosage of liquids is easier. Sodium hydroxide has been and still is the most
used alkali in its form as lye. Potassium hydroxide is gaining currency in made-up
remedies, but as a pure alkali it is still too expensive.
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In the house hold products the calcined soda has been the most commonly used
alkali, partly because it is a low-alkalic product, which serves better to manual
handling, in contrast to e.g. metasilicate, which is high-alkalic. Due to the same
reason metasilicate has been the most commonly used alkali for powders in the
laundries in combined products (which both contain tenside and alkali).
The sodium hydroxide has the largest buffer capacity (that is the ability to keep
the same pH-value when neutralising acid is added).
The Acids
The acids are characterised by an acidic reaction (pH-value between 0 and 6) when
dissolved in water. The acids are not normally used in the washing but only for the
lime soap treatment, for bleaching, or for neutralisation of the alkali.
There have been a number of acids in use in the laundries. Some of the liquids
acids are:
• hydrochloric acid,
• sulphuric acid,
• nitric acid,
• carbonic acid,
• acetic acid, and
• formic acid,
- and some of the solid acids are:
• oxalic acid,
• sodium silico fluoride, and
• zinc silicon fluoride.
In the washing processes today, only acetic acid and oxalic acid are used, the acetic
acid for acidification in the last batch of rinse water (for neutralisation of residual
alkali from the main wash) and the oxalic acid for removal of rust stains from the
clothes.
Bleaching
Bleaching is an important process in most laundries, because it both brings back
the whiteness to the clothes, which have become grey, and removes spots, and at
the same time has a powerful potential damaging effect on the textiles.
Bleaching can be done, so that the clothes suffer no harm, but it takes professional
understanding, attention and process control.
Types of Bleach
Bleach comes in two different types:
• oxydating (chlorine or oxygen containing) remedies and

• reducing remedies.
Chlorine-Based Bleaches
For the chlorine-based bleaches almost solely sodium hypochlorite is used, which
is bought as a ready-to-use bleaching essence, and gives a gentle, even and pre-
dictable bleaching. The bleaching essence can contain various levels of active chlo-
rine. Bleaching essence of standard concentration has to contain around 140-150
grams of active chlorine per litre, but active chlorine is bound during regular decay
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and by exposure to light and warmth so the bleach gradually will lose its strength
by exposure to regular sunlight.
The bleaching either takes place in the prewash or during the rinses.
During the bleaching the temperature is important mainly because it helps getting
the best possible performance of the chlorine without it becoming too aggressive
and to avoid chemical wear on the clothes. Except by cold bleaching, which is the
gentlest way, but also the slowest, the temperature in the fibres should not be
higher than a little more than 40° C and the wash liquid should have a pH-value of
10. With a temperature around 40° C and a pH-value of 10,5-11 it is possible to
reach a good bleaching effect with a relatively low chemical wear during an 8-10
minute bleaching.
However, the chlorine reacts, with an increasing temperature, more and more ag-
gressive towards the cotton fibres and the division of the chlorine to salt and oxygen
begins (at 55° C). With the increasing temperature of the wash liquid, the chlorine
will “burn out”, but on the way the cotton is worn more and more. Therefore, you
should rinse chlorine out of the clothes more than “burning” it out, as it has been
carried out in practise in many laundries.
Resistance from public authorities and environmental movements against the use
of chlorine-based bleaches in the laundries has been caused by the fact, that resid-
ual, active chlorine will combine with nitrogen containing organic materials in the
nature and create chlorinated nitrogen compounds. It is these chlorinated nitrogen
combinations, which are dangerous to living organisms in the water environments
and actually not the chlorine itself – even though the fish probably do not care.
Possible chlorine odour can be removed by adding an anti-chlorine remedy (fixing

salt, sodium sulphate) in the last rinse.
Oxygen-Based Bleaches
Of the oxygen-based bleaches a number are used in the industry, mainly hydrogen
peroxide, and the currency of the oxygen-based bleaches is gaining.
Compared to the chlorine, the hydrogen peroxide has the advantage that it is (of
course) chlorine- and odour free, but it has the same or many, even bigger dam-
aging effects on the clothes, especially if the washing lye’s alkalinity rises above pH
11,5. For the sake of the environment the combination of low alkalinity remedies
win, e.g. caustic potash solution, and bleaching with oxygen is gaining currency in
the laundries.
Reducing Bleaches
The reducing bleaches are not harmful to the clothes as they do not contain either
chlorine or oxygen, but instead they function by reducing (absorbing) these sub-
stances.
The most important reducing remedy is sodium dithionite. The reducing bleaches,
though, have an unpleasant side effect: iron, zinc, copper and other metals, i.e.
buttons, buckles and the likes, in the clothes get noticeable dis-colourations.
Adjuvants
Additionally there are a lot of adjuvants like:
• softener,
• complex-forming phosphates,
• starch,
• optical brightener, and
• enzymes,
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- which will only shortly be discussed here.
Softeners
Softeners are added to the final rinse and have more purposes. Earlier it was an
important purpose to put a little odour on the clothes. Now, with the penetration of
synthetic fibres in the textiles in the market, one of the most important purposes
is to reduce the risks of static electricity.
The softener will layer thin around the textile fibres and has the purpose of making
the clothes seem softer. But the layer also reduces the textiles' ability to absorb
water, so if used on cloths or towels, it will decrease the suction capacity.
Complex Phosphates
Many of the complex-forming phosphates have in time become prohibited by the
means of legislation (metaphosphates, polyphosphates and pyrophosphates), but
they have served the purpose of binding possible residual hardness in the washing
water without precipitation, which can leave unwanted incrustations in the clothes.
In the phosphate free washing detergents, the phosphate has been replaced by,
among others, citrate, zeolite A, polycarboxylates, which are not poisonous to water
living creatures or (expected to be) a hazard to the environment, but also a tran-
sition of EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid, which among others is used in
the treatment of arteriosclerosis), NTA (Nitrolo Tri-acetic Acid) and phosphates,
which are damaging for the environment.
Starch
Starch serves several purposes:
• to make the clothes stiff,

• to give an appearance of the clothes being thick/heavy,
• to keep the clothes smooth and clean for a longer time, and
• in some cases to reduce the risk of lint from the clothes.
Starch is made from plant-parts, e.g. from potatoes (large starch grains) and dif-
ferent sorts of grains as rice (small starch grains) and maize (big and small starch
grains). Usually rice- and maize starch is used in the laundries. The extracted
grains of starch are suspended and, when stocked, kept floating in cold water by
constant stirring.
The starch is added in the final rinse. By the following machine ironing, pressing,
or hand ironing the grains are heated, melts and stick to each other, so the starch
will form a thick starch mass, which binds fibres and threads together. The effect
of the starch is reduced by powerful spinning and can be partly deleted during
tumble-drying.
Optical Brightener
Optical brightener (in the old days bluing) is a fluorescent substance, which absorbs
light at one wavelength and throws it back at another, higher. The clothes with
optical brightener will absorb the ultraviolet light and throw it back as blue light,
which makes white clothes look whiter – in northern Europa, oddly enough. The
need for optical brightener is cultural conditioned. In southern Europe they like it
better, when the clothes shine a little reddish and this is what optical brighteners
make the clothes do here.
With optical brighteners the textile manufacturers create a quality effect, which
the textile does not have from the side of the nature. Earlier the laundries were
forced to continue with the use of the substance, as the clothes else would “fade”
after numerous washes, but the legislation has also put an end to the use of this,
all things considered, unnecessary chemical in the laundries.
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5.3 The work and its organisation
Enzymes
Some dirt types can be particularly hard to remove with regular wash-active sub-
stances or stain removers, e.g. when the dirt is in copious amounts or is dried into
the clothes. One of the largest progresses in the washing detergent industry is the
development of enzymes (organic catalysts), which today are found in practically
all prefab washing detergents. The enzymes all have in common that they catalyse
the processes (by “cutting” the dirt into pieces) so that a wash can be fully efficient
at 40-60 °C with enzymes, as well as a wash at 90 °C without enzymes.
There are several types. The proteases work against protein in e.g. grass, blood,
dairy products and eggs. The amylases work against starch in e.g. rice, pasta and
porridge. The lipases work against fats, both vegetable and animal, in e.g. butter,
olive oil, chicken fat, and lipsticks. Finally the cellulases help “cutting” the cotton
fibrils away and make the main fibres smoother, softer, clearer in the colour, and
more resistant to dirt.
5.3 THE WORK AND ITS ORGANISATION

Without the people and the market, the laundry is just a building with a potential.
It is the workers, the planners, and the leaders that unleash this potential - with
their hands, skills, strategies, systems and methods. At the same time the payment
costs are usually the biggest single posts in the laundry’s accountant, even in the
more automated laundries.
The typical flatwork laundry spends 40% of its revenue on payments, whereas the
typical garment laundry spends 18% of its total revenue on payments. On average
the typical industrial laundry spends 38% of its total costs on payments. The rest
of the costs divide themselves as in Figure 105 below. See also TSA's (United King-
dom) and FBT's (Belgium) websites for examples of national cost indexes.
When All is Said and Done

There has always been something special about the working conditions in a laundry.
Let us, just this once, put it the way it is: Laundries have been warm as hell, moist
as a Finnish sauna, mucky, with an infernal noise of leaking air valves, spinning
washer extractors and screeching breaks. The workers drank water every hour, ate
salt tablets, and were tied to a single, poorly equipped workstation, carrying out a
heavy, monotonous, exhausting work, all day long, which practically did not require
any preceding knowledge of anything - arms and legs, and not that much more.
When recruiting new personnel, one-half dropped out within the first two weeks,
usually because of overload injuries – unless the recruiter was able to pinpoint the
tough ones. And the tough ones were not the BA’s, the BCom’s or the MSc’s. The
tough ones were women, sweating, smoking and spitting like men, with hair in their
armpits, cursing, most often in a language you did not understand, slapping you in
the face if you got too fresh with them.
The Work in the Modern Laundries

But when that is said, the industry is also changing. Today we have modern, indus-
trial laundries – with well-equipped workstations, modern management principles,
good working environments, and educated, committed employees – even though
we still have to fight off a reputation that reaches out from years back. The old,
out-of-date laundries disappear, sometimes into larger laundry groups, with staff
functions, specialised production units and a willingness to invest in the future.
Slowly, the working and management conditions in the laundries begin to resemble
other, comparable industries. Slowly the running of a laundry is rising up from the
traditional preconception of the trade, to find its place in a modern, technological
society. But we are not quite there yet.
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Figure 105 - The cost distribution in the typical industrial laundry
(Source: Beirholms Væverier a/s)
By designing the workstations and the planning of work today, an important con-
sideration should be taken to the working environment. Organisation and designing
the work in the laundry today also includes terms such as:
• job rotation,
• job expansion,
• job enrichment,
• partly self-controlling working groups,
• formalised education
• responsibility sharing,
• health & safety committees,
• works committees, and
• staff-elected board members,
- as in other similar industries.
From Handcrafting Company to Industry

In a flat organisation with few promotion possibilities, there is not a long way to
the top, which has also meant, that the laundries’ manager positions earlier have
been held by laundry craftsmen. Today the tendency is that bigger and larger units
of production and companies, with better and more educated employees and man-
agers, are coming along.
A Sexy Industry?
The traditional, general conception of the laundries has even rubbed off onto the
industry's suppliers.
Put bluntly: It is not a sexy industry to be employed in or to be a supplier to, the
same way it is to supply the car or aircraft industries. The smell in the laundry
leaves us, to some extent, alone by other rival industries.
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And then again, not. We see it with the laundry and supplier groups quoted on a
stock exchange. Stock prices are low. Not because the laundry or its suppliers are
earning less or not performing as well as their colleagues in other industries but
because there is more appeal to owning a stock in a software, computer or medical
company. It is cool in a way we cannot yet match.
What the laundries and their suppliers lose are not earnings but the subtler ele-
ments of valuation – as the difference in the pricing of two paintings. A Picasso just
sounds better than a Capisso.
But if we are to make the industry more appealing, we only have the jobs, the
working conditions, the technology, and our ability to run the companies to do it
with – our earning powers.
5.3.1 Decisions in the Short Term

In the short term – that is, when the clothes are in the sorting-in, the machines are
trimmed, the employees are well trained and the customers are eagerly waiting in
the dispatch department – the laundry's earning powers depend alone on the flow
of goods through the production, keen production methods, and clever organisation
of the work. And since production methods and techniques focus on controlling the
flow of goods, and since clever organisation (as we are going to see in a later
chapter) also depends on the flow of goods, in the short term that is what it is all
about - controlling the flow of goods. During the working day that is simply all we
are left with.
On the other hand, the choices made on short term have great impact on a ma-
jority of the costs - because they by definition constitute the total variable costs,
some 70% of a laundry's cost complex.
Short-term variables
So how do we control the flow of goods? What are our options?
Not many. Production methods and material flow control come down to no more
than four parameters:
• the number of batches in a planning lot,

• the lot's batch sequence,
• each batch's route down the laundry production (the process route), and
• the allocation of employees to the workstations.
But these choices are made all the time – day in and day out. And here is my point:
If these choices are based on misconceptions or lack of knowledge,

experience, or insight, it may have fatal consequences for the laundry's
economy.
Remember that one. This is the secret behind all – and I really mean each and
every – successful production, because of the simple fact, that in the accounts a
pound sterling of costs weighs more than a pound sterling of turnover. And it is not
a little but more than 5 to 10 times more.
5.3.2 The Pre-Conditions for the Organisation of the Work

The work in the laundry is organised based on two very different, but closely linked
types of decisions:
The Flow of Products

By making a choice about the flow of products, i.e. the batches of clothes, which
need to be sent into the laundry, their order and the process routes they have to
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follow, the laundry has implicitly made a decision on which working stations should
be manned, and when.
And it is often implicit in more than one sense because not so many laundries are
making these decisions with regards to the overall control of the production, but
more often with regards to the individual actions i.e., emptying of the sorting-in;
finding certain categories which are missing in the sorting-out; maintaining a low
water consumption; avoiding jamming of the tumble dryers; or something totally
different, that is out of our current understanding. Often, the person who is respon-
sible for the choice of batches for the production (the Americans call them bag
jockeys) is not the same person or is not responsible to the person, who is in charge
of organising. A common planning of the whole production therefore rarely takes
place. The planning is often influenced by culture and customs because missing
planning, which is an active, forward-looking act, can be replaced by customs and
culture. You simply do what you are used to doing and this becomes the plan. But
actually you cannot not-plan. It may sound a little odd put that way. But, on the
contrary there is a big difference between letting random plans happen and to cre-
ate specific plans, which are aimed at compliance of a certain purpose. And the
most important part of the organisation of the work and planning begins with the
decisions, which superintendents and washing assistants continually make about
how clothes are to be sent into the laundry production.
We will have to take a closer look at the importance of adjusting and controlling
the flow of products.
Manning the workstations

When a decision has been made about the flow of batches into the production, then
the next step in the organisation of the work is to make a decision on the manning
of the workstations (employee allocation).
Here the skills of the employees (what they can do) play a great role and their
abilities (how well they are doing it), as well as the consideration of the work load
on the employee. We know that it is healthy for the body and the mind to change
working place sometimes – different muscle groups are being used and the brain
gets new tasks to coordinate – but we also know from practise, that the employee
productivity increases by 10%, when the planners let the best employees work on
each workstation.
Every Job Fills Out its Time

We also know, that every job fills its allotted time.
At a random working station, where the process speed depends on the working
speed of the operator, the process speed will increase, when there are many
batches lined-up in the upstream buffer (waiting to be processed), whereas it drops
as the buffer empties. The buffers in front of the working stations serves as a kind
of reservoir dams in front of locks, which can store excess volumes when there is
a pressure on the lock and release these volumes again, when the pressure eases
and “drought” kicks in.
But it is equally important to establish that the employees are adjusting their work-
ing speeds so that the buffers rarely run totally empty, but rather are full most of
the time. In fact, generally all the time.
Flexibility Gives a Higher Productivity

Finally, we can also easily realise that the flexibility is important for the utilisation
of the capacity when you look at a simple example: if several random people have
to pee at the same time, the problem is in most cases solved faster (or just as fast)
with access to 3 unisex toilets, than with access to 1 men’s room, 1 ladies’ room
and 1 handicap toilet. It is a simple and statistical fact.
140
If this knowledge is brought into the laundry, you will see that the more working
stations each employee is capable of operating, the easier it is to plan the produc-
tion. This also applies to the machines. The more different categories, a single
workstation and each machine are able to treat, the easier it is to get the clothes
through the production.
Good Planning Starts Without Buffers

Through the laundry's choice of flow of products, it makes the task of manning
more or less complicated.
You have just seen that the buffers have an easing effect on the planning, because
they allow for breaks and interruptions in the flow of products without letting the
workstations run out of clothes. But because the buffers are “hiding” variations in
the working speed and interruptions in the supply, you should entirely disregard
them and look at the organisation of a production without buffers, if you want to
see the really good planning (how to use the buffers as a kind of thermometer, is
shown in the other half of the book). Actually, it is in a production without buffers,
that the efficiency of the planning is shown best. Here, all the inexpediencies and
imbalances are shown with frightening clarity, because there are no buffers to hide
bad planning or bad organising.
Good planning without buffers is a precondition for good planning with buffers.
This is a good fact to remember.
5.3.3 Organising the Work

At the same time it is also very important to state that it is impossible to forecast
all the consequences of the flow of products in the production, without the aid of
computer-based systems. Instead, most laundries’ planners, washing assistants
and bag jockeys have chosen to focus on a few parameters – often the parameters
which are having a direct influence on their own job situation, more than fulfilling
the whole purpose of the laundry.
Bag Jockeys
In many laundries the washing assistants are responsible for the choice of batches
for the production, but as they at the same time are responsible for the water
consumption in the washer extractors and continuous batch washers, they make
sure to choose batches and batch sequences which are giving the lowest water
consumption. Understandable and reasonable.
But the categories and batch sequences, which give the lowest water consumption,
can have unlucky consequences for the capacity load in the drying section or further
downstream in the after-treatment, e.g. on the tunnel finisher or the ironer lines.
If the washing assistant is skilled, he can balance the consideration of the water
consumption with the consideration of the tumbler load so, that there are not too
many stops created because of the long series of fully-dried-clothes, but more than
two of these considerations present and you are not capable of handling them with-
out the use of computer-based tools.
The Obvious Considerations

Something even more tangible is the personnel in the after-treatment. They will be
keen to maintain a steady flow of work thus appreciating a steady flow of batches.
Rather than put aside the considerations for water consumption, chemicals con-
sumption, energy consumption, prioritising of the express batches, distribution
routes, capacity alignment etc.
With enough space in the buffers, with clothes enough in the sorting in and on the
storing shelves in the sorting-out and with a big enough upstream production ca-
pacity, it is possible to run the laundry this way.
141
And it can be hard to see the difference. Cf. e.g. the Gantt-chart in Figure 106
beneath.
Figure 106 - Gantt-chart, plan of production with buffers
The Gantt-chart is taken from a smaller laundry. Good tumbling capacity. The con-
tinuous batch washer is starting off empty, but otherwise there are batches from
the previous day in front of all the workstations. The workstations are evenly and
fully manned throughout the whole day (except from the press-tables and the sort-
ing-out).
But this plan actually demands a very large buffer between the continuous batch
washer and the tumble dryers, which only few laundries have, and large buffers in
front of the other workstations. Without buffers, this plan would have been a dis-
aster, as we can see in Figure 107, below.
If we had seen the plan with the employees listed in the left column (instead of
the workstations), we would have seen, that the employees were also fully occupied
during the whole plan with a stable, non-nervous allocation. And that is good. But
the plan demands clothes everywhere, in the production and on the finishing stocks
and excess capacity upstream (from the sorting in).
Among the Blasted

We all are thankful when the right linen is at the right place, at the right time. There
is a calm, steady flow of batches through the production, in pace with the dispatch.
Everyone having worked in a production knows that among all the other blasted,
endless and stressing days, these quiet but very productive days occur.
If you decide to find out, what it is, that makes the differences you might come to
realise, that the flow of products, that is the mix and sequence of categories, is of
great importance.
In many cases you can recreate these agreeable days by following the same cate-
gory patterns. You have, in other words, identified a mix of categories and their
142
sequence pattern, which is optimal for the production setup. A good product mix
that you are able to line up in the sorting-in.
It might for example be that:
• 3 batches of sheets,
• 2 batches of duvet covers,
• 4 batches of pillow cases,
• 3 batches of bathing terry towels, and
• 4 batches of regular terry towels,
- in a certain order, exactly fit into the capacities of the workstations in the laundry.
Micro-Pauses
In a laundry with no buffers, and where the operators keep a high, steady pace,
you will find the small pauses that occur, when an operator awaits batches on a
workstation for a few moments, or a when a workstation awaits operators, or when
a batch awaits processing.
Figure 107 - Gantt-chart, plan of same production without buffers
These micro-pauses (as in this card is almost macro-pauses) are not to be found in
the real laundry. They are absorbed by buffers and varying working speeds, as you
saw above. But the knowledge of their existence is important, because when eve-
rything else is given (when the machines are there, the employees have showed
up, the clothes are waiting for treatment etc.), then the micro-pauses are the best
way to measure the efficiency of the production and the only way of increasing the
flow of products.
In the Gantt-chart you clearly see, that the chosen sequence of batches have se-
rious consequences for the flow of production through the continuous batch washer
and the tumble driers – with many, and long, waiting times on the continuous batch
washer and a very bad utilisation of the downstream workstations. The example is
extreme, but shows how terribly wrong it can go. The buffers can help the planner
143
in this laundry through the day, but the plan is still a disaster, only with the conse-
quences hidden in the buffers.
Later in the book we will see, how to use the buffers as indicators of bad planning.
A Heap
• of Considerations
batch priorities (from possible rush orders),
While• thecompletion
batch flow of
in customer-unique
this way is being goods,
worked out, the workstations have to be
manned.
• When doing
employee so aand
skills series
skilloflevels,
parameters have to be taken into consideration
– among
• others:
mandatory / optional number of operators on each workstation,
• upstream and downstream buffer contents,
• full / partial / no overlap,
• job rotation systems, etc.
In practice the organisation of the work varies from laundry to laundry, both with
regards to the conditions taken into consideration, and with regards to the line of
command and field of responsibility.
Economy First
You may use work organisation for several purposes, more or less intentionally.
However most laundries agree that it is all about keeping expenditure at a low and
controlled level – when it comes to the crunch, economy comes first.
And with the kind of competition most laundries are subjected to today, every day
and every hour of the day matters. In a practical, limited economy, costs and work-
ing capital carries great weight, which we have to respect when organising the work
in the laundry.
But hold on a second.

How can work organisation have any influence on costs at all? Is organisation not
just something white-collars invented to have something to talk about?
In smaller laundries with simple, clear productions, where few people handle most
operations, in close contact with each other, and the manager taking part in the
production, organisation mattered very little.
But laundries are bigger now, cycles are shorter, decisions reach out farther in
time, the work is specialised, involves more people, margins are smaller, and con-
sequences are more important than ever.
There need not be several hundred people employed before lack of authority, re-
sponsibility, communication, coordination and management costs. The batch flow
is a goods train roaring down the rails. At least it should be. The flow should stop
at nothing. And it is the duty of the work organisers to see to it that the right
operators are at the right spot, at the right time, doing what is necessary to keep
the batches flowing. Failing to do so may cost the entire laundry's total variable
costs to turn, start and speed up this train again.
Organisation of the work is not determined by education, professional background,
unionisation, collective agreements or the like. Not when it comes to controlling
costs and working capital. In this context the membership of a union is actually
irrelevant.
Economy is Material Flow

With batch sequences, process route choices and operator allocations we control
the material flow. From the material flow, inventories originate with work in pro-
gress and the total variable costs, and with that the major part of the laundry's cost
complex and working capital tie-up.
In this context the most important role of the work organisation is to place respon-
sibility, authority and information.
144
When the planners choose batches for production and arrange their sequences into
the laundry, we have to make sure they know:
• what articles are required in the dispatch department,

• planned dispatch sequences,
• the current load on all workstations,
• current buffer contents,
• work in progress,
• key cost, process speed and capacity load figures,
• and are able, and have the means to, calculate consequences ahead of
decisions accordingly.
When asking the planners to select batches for production we also need to give
them the authority to allocate operators in the laundry, in the sorting-in, in the
wash room, in finishing sections as well as in the dispatch department. And hold
them responsible.
If we do not place the authority with the real planner, we should not allow ourselves
to hold the planner responsible. And sometimes the batch flow is determined not
by cost, market or flow considerations, but by the shouting of the workers in the
laundry. They get more linen and the planners get peace.
Finally washer operators are inclined to choose batch sequences and process routes
which keep water consumption low, because that is what the managers normally
hold them responsible for. But sequences determine so much more, i.e. productiv-
ity. So what is most important – water or productivity?
Both, if the planners have the ability to balance both considerations at the same
time. If not, then productivity. Management should for that reason first of all give
the planners access to information on work and capacity load, before talking about
water consumption. And holding them responsible for it.
Responsibility, authority and communication. These three things.
Material Flow determines Allocation

The material flow governs allocation needs, so responsibility for material flow and
allocation should be placed with the same person – be it the planner, the washer
operator, the bag jockey, the foreman, the head lady or the matron.
And if we want to use the work organisation to limit and control expenditure we
must require from the material flow, that it is a flow of demanded articles, in the
right quantities and qualities, at the right time, at a minimum of costs.
The first four of these requirements are met by giving the person responsible ac-
cess to the necessary information to determine what articles are demanded, how
many, in what quality and when they are due.
But the last one - at a minimum of costs - has to do with execution, which has to
do with skills and skill levels, which have to do with allocations. We know it. Produc-
tivity increases by up to 10% when we allocate according to skill levels. The organ-
isation of the work has substantial consequences in more than one aspect.
Work organisation is also the sequencing of batches on each workstation. If you
produce apportioned (to order) you sometimes experience that even though eve-
rybody on the production floor is working hard and productivity is high, you cannot
seem to get the trucks going. Nothing seems to be completed before everything
has been pushed down the production lines.
Other days things go smoothly, the trucks leave in time, in a steady flow, even
though the production is calm and quite. In manufacturing industries this effect is
caused by the bills of materials.
In our industry the effect is the same, but caused by and called something else.
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5.3.4 Bills Of Materials, BOMs

We know it from the manufacturing industries. A chair can only be assembled when
the back, seat, legs, screws, bolts, nuts and everything are finished in the produc-
tion and are ready for assembly. It is this parent-child relation from the bills of
materials, and its need for synchronisation, which limits the assembly.
In the laundries the effect is also caused by parentage, not on the product level
though, but one and two levels higher – on customer and route levels – and is
called requisition or route synchronisation effects.
Route Sync Effects

The articles from a customer are sorted out in the check-in and sent into the pro-
duction. Only when all the articles from each customer are processed and gathered
again in the dispatch department (according to requisitions and route pick lists) can
we get the trucks going.
This way a loaded truck might wait – sometimes for half or full hours – for a few
pieces only.
As a result not only the batch sequences into the production, but also the se-
quences on each workstation, become important to truck departures. And both are
governed by organisation.
With a multitude of batches from different customers in the buffers, sequences
become important to the amount of work in progress and to the distribution.
If we leave it to the operators to choose sequences, understandably, they choose
the sequences that best fit their own purposes. We cannot blame them but doing
so they do not necessarily take the laundry's needs into consideration. With many
batches, categories, workstations and customers, the batch flow is in all probability
not synchronised and coordinated to suit the laundry's purposes.
Then one of two things happens: Either the trucks are not able to leave in time, or
the stress level in the laundry increases considerably. At worst, nothing is finished
until everything is finished.
So, batch flow control also means control of sequences on each workstation.
Then there are the partly self-controlling groups… They are of course a good idea,
because they allow each person to have influence on their working day but they
cost. How much, is hard to calculate precisely due to the statistical variables mixed
up in the equation, but we can say, that they cost delay, stress and money. Years
ago, Volvo built a whole factory on the Swedish western coast based on production
in self-controlling groups. Today it has been closed.
Customer Relationships in Pool Productions

Fortunately we produce in pools (make to stock), so we do not have any problems
with late deliveries and stress in the production – most laundries are likely to say.
Really?
The problems do not disappear in pool productions, they are merely disguised in
overloaded buffers and stockpiles; i.e.tied up in the working capital. The job is to
limit and control money deployment, which is both total variable costs and working
capital tie-up (not either or).
There is always a need to synchronise and coordinate, even in pool productions.
And reductions in costs must never happen at the expense of tying up working
capital.
When we say that organising is responsibility, authority and communication; then

practically it means controlling of the flow of production, allocation and the flow of
information.
It may sound dictatorial, as if only one or a few persons are to decide everything
in the production, but it all depends on how, when and to whom the orders are
146
given, and what information is provided alongside. Otherwise a train departure may
appear dictatorial.
But when we, the passengers, are given the proper information, in time, concern-
ing departures, destinations, travel time, etc., the dictatorial element disappears.
Then we are equal to the situation and are able to plan ahead, take measures, and
make decisions concerning our own work.
The Workgroups
What influence does the organisation of the work have on the group making and
appointment of group-leaders?
It should have great influence. And when the organisation practically means con-
trolling of the flow of production, allocation and the flow of information, then exactly
these three conditions should have decisive influence on the making of groups and
appointment of leaders.
The best way to make sure of communication, consequences and responsibility is

to constantly confront the people, whose work is co-dependent. This makes them
co-operate, it teaches them to trust each other and encourages problem finding
and solving. One way to make groups is therefore to take the flow of products, the
finishing of the work and the possibilities for access to information as one’s starting
point.
Since the flow of products is lengthwise of the production, the group making will
in these cases happen lengthwise. The lowest level of the workforce will therefore
be divided into groups along the production lines.
But lengthwise lines will not regard the needs of crosswise synchronisation.
Next level, the mid-level managers, will then take care of this function and go
crosswise with a group leader in the sorting-in or in the sorting-out depending on
the form of production (if you pull or push the clothes through). In this way the
whole laundry is covered.
Regarding management and group sizes, we speak of a practical organisation
about group making with a size of maximum 30 people. This is, what a human
being, as a leader, can manage. On the other hand the direction can then expect
that a mid-level manager is capable of managing up to 30 employees too.
But what about the staff functions?

- the really large laundries might ask, that is the logistics, procurement, sales,
development, administration etc.
Yes, actually their work will also be of the best, when they do it close to the people,
who are depending on them. Thus some of the laundries have moved the customer
contact out to the sorting-in or sorting-out. And this is clever. It gives a very con-
crete form of responsibility, when the group of employees, who do the work, also
"risk" being "confronted" with the customer.
Other laundries have moved the billing out to the sorting-in and then bill what the
customer has sent to the laundry. Sorting-in then gives the sorting-out instructions
on what to pull from the finishing stocks. In this system the customer has a constant
supply, even though the laundry might be washing in a pool. And the laundry is in
full control of the supply, its speed of revenue and the state in which the clothes
return. Here you can really talk about consequence, control and organisation. (By
the way, these are the same laundries, among the pool-laundries, which have the
lowest amount of capital tied-up in clothes stocks.)
Outside the laundry industry there are actually companies, which have moved the
whole direction, administration and staff functions out into the production. And even
though this might sound kind of chaotic, the experiences are good. It gives a feeling
of intimacy, responsibility and influence and it ensures good working conditions
because otherwise the boss cannot hear what they say on the other end of the line.
147
Anxiety and Stress

And finally organising should intend to create an atmosphere of security and confi-
dence with fixed boundaries. In a chaotic world one of the ways to confine uncer-
tainty is by making hierarchies.
And psychologists can tell us that anxiety and stress are best reduced by:
• classifying people in small groups (4-5 members),

• of different ages and both sexes,
• in good physical form,
• where group members are well acquainted,
• with a reputable, fair and generally accepted leader,
• in a light, dry, silent, temperate environment,
• where everybody is in sight of each other,
• not isolated from the outside world,
• with a well-defined, common target, and
• time limits well within reach.
Then we also know how to stress and frighten people, namely by doing the exact
opposite, for instance:
• isolate a person that is out of shape,

• among groups of strangers of same age and sex,
• in a hot, noisy, moisture and dark room,
• hidden from the outside world,
• with individual, shifting, and vaguely defined tasks, and
• under time limits way out of reach.
One hardly dare ask: Have we done everything we can to avoid stress and anxiety
in our own laundry?
Job Rotation and Organisation

Finally we have the question of job rotation. On one hand the job rotation aims at
varying working tasks and liabilities on the muscles, on the other hand one of the
purposes of organising is to keep group memberships intact. As a result, job rota-
tion should, if possible, happen within the same working group. Organisation can
therefore very well take the job rotation circles into consideration (which it actually
does, if it follows the production lines), but should not be overshadowed by it.
The conclusion of the organization of the work is that it must be based on the work's
practical implementation, in order, through the flow of goods, to control costs and
capital tie-up. Its most important task is to place responsibility, authority and to
show ways of communication. In practice this means controlling of the flow of
goods, allocation of the employees and the flow of information. Finally it should aim
at bringing people together, whose jobs are co-dependent.
Economic Structures and Organisation

And be aware not to choke on account plans and collective agreements.
Although it can be a little difficult to see how charts of accounts, accounting struc-
tures and collective agreements may affect the organization and operation deci-
sions, sometimes it is nevertheless the case. Of course, account plans are neither
good nor bad. They are just a fact. But often they do influence the responsibility
positions (when responsibility follows costs, which are established after the account
148
plans), which again has to do with the organisation. But this is the wrong way. The
organising should not be dictated by accounting systems.
The organisation of the work and the outline of professional boundaries must take
as point of origin the work's execution, because it is the work and its conditions,
which decide the various costs, the tied-up capital and the quality of the products.
Not the account plans.
The structures of accounting should have their basis in the organising, so the order
is: the work's execution, the organising, and the structures of accounting.
Otherwise you will easily end up in a form of box-, department-, account- or title
thinking, which some of the public service companies are famous of, and which
blocks reasonable, economically considered decisions. The examples are startling
many (treated patients occupying hospitals beds awaiting a care home room, the
military driving in first gear with the hand-break on throughout December month
to burn excess fuel, airport cargo chauffeurs who cannot service the airplanes be-
cause they are not allowed to scrape ice off the windscreen etc.).
Employee Productivity
One of the most commonly used key figures in the laundries is the employee
productivity. The payment costs are considerably large in the laundry and the rate
of payment is often used as an incentive, related to efforts or results, for example,
in bonus settlements or piece rates.
The employee productivity is both depending on the product mix and the amount,
flexibility, level of automation, skills and planning, so the productivity varies over
time in the same laundry and between laundries. The productivity can vary from
e.g. 15 to 80 kg. per employee hour from laundry to laundry and e.g. from 20 to
40 kg. per employee hour in the same laundry.
In the longer run it is of course about reducing the total level of costs in the laun-
dry, but this also includes giving the laundry better possibilities in making decisions
on short term. Good preconditions for decisions are reached by flexibility in the
machine-park and in the working force, machine trimming, skill level training,
knowledge of the best product mixes, overview of the consequences of the short
term choices, describing key figures and possibility of fast intervention and reor-
ganisation if necessary.
What Laundry Managers Need to Know

What the laundry managers need to know in the laundries today is therefore not
only about machines, chemicals, textiles, water treatment and working processes,
but even more about production techniques. If the laundry needs to do well in
business, it has to know how to get the best possible result out of the production
and actually use this knowledge both when it produces but also when it buys ma-
chines, prepare and arrange processes and controls the flow of products.
For this we use the operation strategies.
149
6. OPERATION STRATEGIES
When you know, what the tasks of the laundry is, which resources, it has at its
disposal and what the purpose of its operation is, then you are almost there, but
the most important thing is left:
How does the laundry solve its tasks in practise, and at the same time fulfils its
goals?
Pressure on Revenue
You have already seen that the pressure on the laundry’s profit has become larger
and larger throughout the years:
Figure 108 - Pressure on profit
150
- which means, that it has become more important than ever to mind the laundry’s
economical purpose, when it makes decisions on short or long term.
And this has not become easier.
The list of the factors, which influence the laundry operation and its bottom line
keeps getting longer and contains very different kinds of factors, such as:
• pool or apportioned production,

• number of categories in total,
• number of categories per customer type,
• product mix,
• batch sequences,
• batch priorities,
• number of process steps and workplaces,
• number of process routes,
• batch sizes and sizes of series,
• number and location of buffers,
• batch capacity and –sizes in buffers,
• queue systems precedence constraints
• resource capacities,
• pairing of batches,
• program times,
• cycle times,
• process speeds,
• empty comp.s in case of category changes
• preferences by category changes
• dependent and independent consumption,
• reuse of process water,
• set up-, start-, stop-, and idling costs,
• various number of feeders/workstations,
• skills,
• job rotation systems,
• optimisation criteria,
• availability of machines and employees,
• synchronising categories' entrance and exit profiles,
• EAE, RAE & BAE-indicators.
Figure 109 - Factors that influence the laundry operation.
To put the company’s function in accordance to its purpose includes, that every
single little problem and task in the laundry is being solved in such a way, that the
laundry with the solution closes in on its goals – that every little decision is made
purposely with regard to what the purpose if the company is and with regards to
fulfilling this purpose.
Costs Control
In most laundries the purpose is basically to create profit, both as profit for the
owners but also in order to give the company more degrees of freedom in regards
to:
• the competition from other laundries,

• investing in new machines,
• investing in the working environment,
• developing products,
• decision processes etc.
151
6.1 The Characteristics of the Good Solution
- but you do not create profits in the production, only costs. The profit is a conse-
quence, neither a means nor a cause.
In the production the purpose is to minimize the costs. When e.g. the next batch
of clothes is chosen in the sorting in, it has to be chosen with regards to minimizing
all the costs it will incur, both water- chemicals-, energy- and working force costs,
but also the derived costs, as e.g. subsequent empty compartments and tumble
dryer jams.
There are even more considerations yet: mechanical and chemical textile wear,
delivery times of the batches, resources and availability of the employees, idle
losses, etc. The list is awe-inspiringly long. And all these regards the laundry wants
the responsible employees to take…
A Complex Question
But who is responsible? Who are the planners? Has the laundry management even
given them the necessary information to make qualified choices? Do they know,
what you want from them? And from the company? Do they have the necessary
insight in the production and understanding of the correlations in the operation? Do
they have the proper education? Can they survey the consequences of their
choices? In the right time? Will they be rewarded when they have made good de-
cisions and helped to avoid making bad? What is a good decision? And how do we
recognize them? What is a bad decision and how to we detect it, should it show up?
These questions regard the level of professionalism in the laundry and to give
concrete answers, they will have to be answered in the concrete laundries.
As we do not have a concrete laundry, let us instead have a closer look at the
methods, which the planners can use and the measurement points and key figures,
which in time can tell if the decisions are correct.
6.1 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GOOD SOLUTION

E.g. a concrete objective could be:
• first and foremost to respect the times of delivery and deadlines, and then
• minimizing the variable costs.
You know from earlier, that the decisions, which are made on the short term in the
operation, can be boiled down to:
• the number of batches in a planning lot,

• the lot's batch sequence,
• each batch's route down the laundry production (the process route), and
Permutations
If you let the size of planning lot be e.g. 10 batches of different categories, then
these 10 batches can be send into the production in:
10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 3,628,800
152
- different sequences (not considering alternative routes). If you instead take 20,
30 or 50 batches, then the number of different sequences will be even more over-
whelming.
Many of these orders create their own, unique consequences in the production, as
shown in Figure 110.
Different Solutions have Different Consequences

One sequence might cause an average water consumption of 7.3 litres per kg.
clothes where as another might cause a consumption of 8.8 litres, one batch might
cause an average employee productivity of 58.2 kg. per employee hour, where as
another causes 61.2 kg per hour, etc.
If the laundry seeks to fulfil an economical goal, then one of these sequences, in
other words, is better than all other possible orders. In the example one batch
sequence will give the lowest variable costs while not having to put aside the times
of delivery and the deadlines.
There are two lessons to learn from this:
• different orders give different solutions with different consequences to

economy and leadtime. As the choices are being made by people, who
often choose from different backgrounds, the laundry will often have
various results from its production. But the laundry owners want the
best solution, every time, no matter who makes the decisions
• you cannot calculate all the possible consequences, there are simply
too many. If we had a large calculator, which could make 100 impacy-
analysis per second, it would still take 10 hours to calculate all
3,628,800 solutions. In 10 hours time the staff has gone home, the
customer has found another laundry, which actually can deliver the
product, and the laundry is no longer in the market. The decisions have
to be made much, much faster.
Optimisation is Searching
To increase the speed of decision-making, we will have to search for the optimal
solution and know, what we are looking for. We will have to recognize it on its
characteristics, as it evolves, instead of pointing it out among all possible solutions.
We have to understand, once and for all, what an optimal solution looks like and
what its characteristics are, so we are able to recognize it, when it appears in the
production. And then we have to choose batch sequences, process routes and allo-
cate employees to working locations in such a way, that we, for every choice, pro-
duce the optimal solution, decision by decision, and make sure, that it really is the
optimal solution we see in the production as it appears. And correct it, if it is not
the optimal one surfacing.
You might want to read this little paragraph again, because this is what it is all
about.
But what should you search for?

What does the optimal production plan look like, when the objective is to minimise
costs and at the same time respect deadlines?
There are no certain answers to this question because there are no unambiguous
measure to judge the optimality of a plan by. We usually don't know, if an alterna-
tive batch sequence, employee allocation or process route choices might result in
lower costs. Only if we know the consequences of all alternatives would we be able
to point to the bottom of the cost graph. But we do not know all alternatives and
are able to draw a cost graph that includes them all.
153
Figure 110 - The consequences of the batch sequences.
If we do not know the alternatives, there are no numbers or values, which precisely
can tell us, if a given plan is optimal, i.e. absolutely cannot be improved.
154
6.2 Planning of the Production in Short Term
Instead the best planners build their plans, decision by decision, in a way, that is
consistent with all the experience they are able to muster. Its hard work, but you
can learn a lot from doing this as a table drill before carrying the plans out in the
real laundry, because it gives you time and peace to calculate the consequences of
the different alternatives and it gives you a good insight in the details of the making
of a plan subject to your own laundry's preconditions.
In the second part of the book, we will show how you do this in practice.
6.2 PLANNING OF THE PRODUCTION IN SHORT TERM

When the optimal production plan's characteristics in your laundry are known, you
know what patterns you should try to recreate and what to look for in the execution
of your plans.
The best way to learn how to draw is by seeing the motive properly – to draw is to
see, they say. This also applies to the laundry operation. The best way to learn how
to operate the laundry is to learn to focus on the flow of products, to distinguish
the signs of illness from the signs of healthiness and by promoting and maintaining
an equal, high flow of products through the production by the means of relevant
and current operation strategies.
But it is a troublesome detective- and understanding work to make a healthy,
dynamic operation strategy and it would be going to far to go through the process
here. In the second part of the book we will go through a practical example of an
operation strategy.
A Dynamical Operation Strategy

If the laundry is precise in its way of forming its operation strategies in order to
regard the many situations, it might be put in in the production, there is a good
possibility, that it will make optimal plans, without there being any certainty of it.
Product mix-norms
Most strategies can be difficult to completely respect without the support from qual-
ified computer systems, but in the manually planned laundry you may use the
strategies to find good product mixes for the different kinds of everyday situations.
The product mix method is not dynamical, because it gives the same answer no
matter what the situation in the production looks like, but it is better than not-
planning because it at least has basis in a solution, which, under given circum-
stances is optimal. In the other part of the book we will show you, how to make
good product mixes.
An Operation Strategy for Every Purpose

Every situation may have its purposes and every purpose has its operation strategy.
If the laundry wants, in any given situation, to minimize the leadtime then it should
have made a strategy, which favoured solutions with short, global leadtime and this
would fundamentally look different from a strategy, which favours low costs.
Usually a laundry has only a few purposes and therefore only need of few operation
strategies. These could be:
• a basic strategy: to minimize all costs,

• an alternative strategy: to maximise the productivity of the employees,
• an exception strategy: to minimise the leadtime of given batches.
155
6.2 Planning of the Production in Short Term
The Advantages by Optimisation

Something else is that with access to a computer based simulation and/or optimi-
sation system you will gain a lot of advantages in the planning.
On the one hand you get the option of optimising, i.e. finding the exact solution,
which is fulfilling the purpose of the production better than any other solution under
the given circumstances. On the other hand you have formalised the planning, i.e.
freed it from the skills and abilities of the planner or the lack it. Thirdly you get the
possibility of saving and spreading data to a broader circle of persons in the laundry.
A computer based simulation-/optimisation system answers all the W-questions,
such as:
• who does what?

• when?
• where?
• for how long?
• for which batches?
• in which order? And
• why?
- answers, which are very hard to give with a manual system of planning, no matter
how much you prefer it to be that way.
Besides you can, with computer based models of the laundry, estimate the con-
crete consequences of e.g. changed technology, (what happens, if you put a new
machine in), changed product mix (what happens if we get a new big customer)
and changed manning (what happens if we remove 2 employees), before you make
the changes in reality. Don't speculate, simulate – is one way to put it.
But computer-based and intelligent production optimisation systems are still a
methodology, you only meet in the solutions from Laundry Logics.
The best laundries use the product mix method, some actually without even notic-
ing it. The rest sub-optimise by e. g. only paying regards to the water consumption,
the tumble dryer load or the load on the downstream workstations.
Oh Right, the Questions!

Now we can return to some of the questions, which we asked earlier:
• who are the responsible for the production?

• have they been given a proper education?
• have they even been given the necessary information, which allows them
to make qualified choices?
• do they know, what is expected of them?
• are they being rewarded for making good decisions and helped to avoid
making bad ones?
The most frequent answer is No:
• no, the management does not always know who are responsible for the
decisions being made in the production,
• no, the people, who are in charge of managing the variable costs in the
laundry (worldwide in the size order of around 15 billion €) are most
often unskilled albeit experienced workers,
• no, you have not, with a great certainty, given them the necessary
information, ...
156
6.3 Key Figures and Measurement points
...
• no, often you have not concretely told them, what you expect of the
operation and of them as planners, because most often the laundries'
management doesn't know the correlations between the decisions,
which need to be made in the production hour-by-hour and the
economical results they want to see in the accounts, when the year has
passed, and
• no, it has almost become ugly and disliked to praise and criticise in the
production, as if the employees are all alike and perform the same. Many
places they rather avoid it completely. It is sort of the same as stopping
the count of goals in a football match or making it illegal to measure the
time in a 100-metre run, happenings which the most of us look lightly
upon. It can be fun to work in the laundry though, but make no mistake:
no one is running the laundry for fun, and only very few of those
surviving in the market look lightly upon the running of a laundry.
In other words: the planners are those, who get things moving and the laundry has
not always appointed them to the task, like it is not very often it has chosen and
decided the company culture. And planning is in some cases a question of culture,
because missing, active, formalised planning can be replaced by habit, isolated
from the needs which the market and the owner might have. “We'll just do as we
are used to.”
Initiators in the Production

The sorting in and the wash room operators get things started, because it is them,
who push the batches into the production and sometimes they choose batches,
which suit them best, sometimes they choose what the sorting-out is missing in the
stock and sometimes the choose what people downstream in the production are
calling for, and sometimes we really do not know, why they choose as they do.
But one thing is for certain, they are not able to take everything into consideration
at once, the task is simply to complex for that – unless of course the laundry helps
them form healthy, valid operation strategies.
Nonetheless, they principally plan all the time, at least every time they send in a
new batch into the production. Maybe they do not know this, but they plan and
replan all the time.
So, let us repeat:
Nothing has greater significance in the laundry than forming and

maintaining sound, valid operation strategies for the production and
finding key figures and measurement points, which can ascertain the
planners that they are on the right track in fulfilling the strategies.
6.3 KEY FIGURES AND MEASUREMENT POINTS

Laundries make use of many analysis, methods, measurement points and key fig-
ures and they all have the purpose of controlling the costs spending in all its as-
pects.
To Drive a Car
A well-worn analogy is known as the following: running the company from key
figures alone is corresponding to driving a car only by the means of the rear view
mirror.
157
No matter if it is a little old, it is nonetheless important. The key figures are not
enough. They tell of a result of the actions the planners have already made, after
they have been made, but they do not tell which actions, they should make in time,
before they make them. The key figures are history. But they tell if what you wanted
to happen really happened. If too much time does not pass between the decision-
making and the estimating of the results, then you can use them to tell if the
grounds for decisions and the expectations match the reality – if the operation
strategies are valid.
But this requires, that the key figures are taken from measurement points in the
production, that reflect the measures in the operation strategies and that measur-
ing and evaluation happens frequently. It is best, when jumping in parachutes, to
know when to pull the string and when to expect to hit the ground.
Correlation between Decision and Consequence

If you are to create a correlation between purpose and function, the key figures
and measurement points need to be broken down into a hierarchy, from items of
accounts to the decisions in the production, to ensure that what you are measuring
is what you want to know more about.
In the second half of the book we will show, how you actually break the account-
ancy numbers down into actions, key figures and measurement points.
Here we only need to establish that this breakdown of impacts from decisions to
their causes shows that a few cost posts in the accountancy are a consequence of
more cost types in the production, which derives from even more actions, but, also
that these actions come from a smaller number of decisions, which are actually only
about a few things. This has, or should have, a major influence on the choice of key
figures.
Important Key Indicators

With a few key indicators the laundry is capable of controlling a very large part of
the costs in the production.
Examples of some of the traditional key indicators in the laundries and their meas-
urement points are:
• employee productivity (in total, and for the working places with most
operators),
• fluidity increase (on frequent articles and washing programmes),
• levels of filling (on the machines with the largest costs of operation)
• residual moisture after draining and tumbling (of most frequent
categories and mostly used tumble dryers and finishing machines),
• bottleneck identification (continuously, because they move around)
• buffer loads (upstream from bottlenecks),
• water consumption (in total, and on the most used washing machines),
• rewash percentage (total and possibly per process route) and
• CO2-emissions (on all or only the most consuming burners)
The measurements should be made and reported often, so that wrong settings,
decisions and actions are caught and handled while happening – not afterwards.
Not everything has to be documented. Residual moisture is checked often just by
sticking the hand into a batch and with a little exercise you can perceive even the
smallest differences. The fuel burners are checked by a glance through the mica
window at the length of the flames in the combustor.
And these constant evaluations do not necessarily have to be documented all the
time. Trust the washing assistants – they will grow from it.
158
The operation strategies also tell what needs to be focused on when you make plans
for the laundry production on longer terms and therefore they influence the re-
investment strategies of the laundry. And as you know from earlier, decisions made
in the production influence other areas of planning.
A total overview of the needs of planning in the laundry will look like Figure 111
beneath – where the main focus in this review has been put on the production.
Figure 111 - Planning tasks in the laundry.
And with this overview we will leave the laundry of today to turn our focus to the
laundry industry's possible future development directions.
159
7. THE LAUNDRY OF TOMORROW

Where the laundry industry is heading is to a greater extent determined by the
pressure, which the market's neighbouring businesses and the costs of the produc-
tion is putting on the laundry’s economy, environmental liabilities and demands on
revenues.
A Market in Steady Growth

We know about the global market of clothes washing, that it is steadily growing
with a yearly growth rate between 5 and 10% and that there for a long time in the
future will be an increasing need for the washing of clothes, so in this aspect eve-
rything seems good.
On the other hand we also know that washing is one of the oldest professions and
that the branch is mature to a rare degree, which calls for hard competition and
accumulating of the economics of scale, which again calls for a concentration of
laundries and suppliers in larger concerns and groups.
Optimisation along the Supply Chains

Hard competition makes hard demands for the production and optimisation of the
processes and flow of products, which calls for more automation and better control
analysis as well as industrialisation of the planning and reporting of the employees
and management. Fewer and larger laundry concerns, which supply larger units
(industries, hotels, hospitals and more), means an increasing need for optimisation
between the production units – in the supply chain – in the same way as it has
happened in other business-to-business-industries with the use of computer and
network based tools of planning.
Blurring of Sectored Barriers

Finally the fierce competition in the business with well-known, thoroughly tested
and widespread technologies also gives rise to neighbouring products, solutions and
technologies coming into the market from other industries, replacing the service of
the laundries, such as e.g. disposable products.
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7.1 The Markets
To compensate the laundries will eat their way into other markets, as we have
seen them do, e.g. into the cleaning industry (as service providers with facility
service).
7.1 THE MARKETS

In section 3.2 on page 27 we identified a fictive laundry’s objective, customer and
purpose:
To deliver all that the cleaning assistant needs,

when implementing her work
The Borders are Moving

And the cleaning lady, in all her shades, is a very good example of how the borders
of the market are gradually changing.
One Scandinavian laundry group has actually taken the hotel-cleaning cart to their
hearts and designed it, so that it – at the same time – fits both requirements,
cleaning lady and laundry, thus it can be used for packing clothes in the laundry
and afterwards can be used to collect the dirty clothes in. The laundry has taken
over the carts delivery, which traditionally has been developed and delivered by the
suppliers of the cleaning services or cleaning agents.
But also some of the products, which are lying side by side of the laundries' own
products in the cart, as e.g. toilet paper, hand soaps, shampoo bottles and paper
napkins, have slowly become a part of the product selections in the laundry – so
the cart can be packed in the laundry, ready for use at the customers.
If the cleaning lady in the hotel were replaced by a cleaning lady in a hospital, the
side products would be e.g. disposable diapers, incontinence sanitary towels and
disposable sponges. If we chose a waiter in a restaurant, the side products would
be paper napkins, dinner mats, candles and machine-washing detergents. And
nothing speaks against the laundries bringing in these products in their selections.
If you look at what the cleaning lady needs herself in carrying out her job, then it
is, besides working clothes and cleaning carts, items like buckets, mops, robber
gloves, washing detergents for the floor, universal cleaning detergents, polish sys-
tems and cloths.
The Horizontal (Transversal) Spread

Independent of how the laundry phrases its business, there is a long list of neigh-
bouring products, which to a certain extent can replace or supply the services of
the laundry. The laundry competes with these products, but the same products can
also be seen as a potential for further development of the laundry’s business area.
We call this: spread in the breadth, horizontal or transversal spread.
The Vertical (Longitudinal) Spread

The market will also open up in another respect, along the working processes and
the value chain, by including work in the laundry's "tool box" which has earlier been
carried out by the cleaning lady or the nurse and thereby serves as an additional
refinement of the services from the laundry. You move the borders of processing.
When the cleaning lady needs to wash the floor for example, then a part of her job
is to wet the mop in a floor cleaning detergent, and when the floor cleaning is done,
she will throw the mop in the wash. But when the laundry has the mop wet anyway,
in the final rinse of the wash, it is actually kind of crazy that the laundry spends a
lot of energy on drying it, so that the cleaning lady can wet it as soon as she re-
ceives it. It is somewhat smarter and cheaper for everybody if the laundry in the
final rinse adds floor-cleaning detergent and then only spin the mops. Then it will
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7.2 The Productions
be ready for use when it is delivered, which eases the cleaning lady’s job, whilst
reducing the laundry's energy costs. The laundry will then be larger and a more
integrated part of the solution to the tasks of the cleaning lady, which both expands
the business area of the laundry and competes more fiercely with other laundries.
It will get more intimate with the customer.
There have not been many examples of longitudinal spread in the laundry industry,
because here the laundries have not been that inventive, but other aspects such as
packaging of the duvet covers in room sets and packaging of garment parts in
employee sets are examples of current longitudinal spread.
Also other aspects of the companies’ tasks blend. E-trading systems allow the laun-
dry customers to request clothes, to see their stocks, or to return the clothes to the
laundry without being in personal, physical contact with the laundry's administra-
tion. And the laundry avoids a tedious, tiring and costly administrative routine typ-
ing in the customer requests, which are normally handwritten.
7.2 THE PRODUCTIONS

Competition always makes the laundries and their suppliers rethink the production
processes, their basic elements, connections and borders, but admittedly: the last
decades actually have not brought any technological breakthroughs at all. We are
still ironing in ironer lines after almost the same principles as 30 years ago. We still
fold… We still press…
The Techniques are Refined

The existing techniques are refined, rather than new ground breaking ones devel-
oped, with so-called technology leaps. A couple of techniques have floated around
for some time, that is the multiple readable RFID-tags, which would radically
change the preconditions for the sorting-in, sorting-out and controlling of the hold-
ings, and ultrasound washing, which maybe is more exotic than realistic. Maybe
structure-reading (scanning for recognition) is a reachable technique, which will
increase the automation of the sorting-in, but otherwise there do not seem to be
any ground breaking new techniques on their way. The textile industry may put its
money on I-Wear in the coming years, that is clothes, which are enriched with IT-
functions, such as small GPS-senders in fire suits, voltage nets in soldiers shirts,
pulse and temperature detectors in baby clothes and this might have an influence
on the laundry services, but only to a limited extent. Focus will partly be moved
more and more to the laundry processes’ environmental liabilities and new envi-
ronmental relieving technologies – cleantech. If the industry accepts the challenge,
it can have a decisive influence on the reputation of the industry and its solutions,
which may influence market penetration and revenues.
Development engineers are still working on reducing the costs of the laundry pro-
cesses by continuing the industrialisation, refining the techniques and bridging pro-
duction sections by means of automation, replacing people – as shown in Figure
112 beneath.
Focus on Payment Costs

It is fully in tune with the laundries’ wishes of reducing the costs. And as one of the
largest types of costs is payment, the focus is still on the places in the laundry,
where the need of operators is biggest. There are most people in the transitions to
and from the after treatment, i.e. on the way from the tumble dryers to the ironer
lines, from the tumble dryers to the folders and from the tumble dryers to the
tunnel finishers and so on, and again between the after-treatment machines and
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7.2 The Productions
the sorting-out. The development effort within the automation of our industry will
in time primarily focus on these transitions.
Figure 112 - The production sections in the laundry.
And on the Clothes

Another big cost in the laundries is the clothes – we know, that very large values
disappear every day from the laundries.
Textile item labelling and circulation control are methods of preventing and reduc-
ing these losses. But even though labelling might be payable, the repeated reading
(every single time the piece of clothes comes to the laundry) is expensive when
carried out manually, especially when it comes to reading in industrial volumes, i.e.
many thousand pieces a day. A breakthrough in the costs controlling of the laun-
dries would therefore be a payable method to control the path of each piece of
clothes.
Bar codes have been one step on the way, but they still have to be found by hand
and read one by one. Multiple-readable codes, e.g. chips, which allow all the pieces
of clothes in one bag to be read at once from a practical distance of e.g. ½-1 metre
would be a revolution. But the RFID-tag has to be cheap, small, flat, able to sustain
water, heavy pressure and high temperatures again and again, and these are hard
demands. We have not really got this chip yet, but it looks like it is within technical
and economical reach.
Another possibility for fully implementation of the RFID-technologies would be to
look at the value and the cost of marking along the value chain, from the textile
manufacturer via the laundry to the laundry customer, e.g. a hospital. With an
RFID-standard, which all parts of the value chain is able to benefit from; the cost
will also be able to be spread on all parts of the chain. There will be more "shoul-
ders" to carry the cost and therefore it will become within reach to everybody.
Controlling each piece will give the laundry the possibility of an even better control
of the processes, because it makes it capable of adding a long list of information to
the clothes such as:
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7.3 The Suppliers
• when it was taken into use,

• how many times it has been washed,
• if it has been repaired or changed in any way,
• last time it was in the laundry,
• which category it belongs to,
• how it should be washed and finished,
• where it is in the production right now,
• where it is supposed to be in the finishing stock etc.
- all of it information which can be saved in a database and tied to the code in the
chip. Besides telling when a piece of clothes was last seen and which customer it
was delivered to, before it disappeared, all the information can help the laundry to
automate the processes further.
Formalised Planning Systems

Now that we are on the subject of formalised collection of data and registration:
Formalised planning methods are gaining a footing in the productions, forced by
the necessity to find and eliminate any redundant cost, and by the fact, that there
are obviously no new ground breaking process techniques in sight in the near fu-
ture. Awaiting technological breakthroughs, we have to see everything through
EVA-glasses (Economic Value Added, where every penny has to bring the company
closer to fulfilling its function and purpose – or it should not be spend at all).
When the processes are automated, the machines are trimmed and maintained,
when the working force is trained, competent and ready, then planning is the most
efficient method of controlling and reducing major parts of the laundry's costs. You
have already seen how many possibilities there are for planning the batch se-
quences, how far the consequences of the actual batch sequence, process route
choice and operator allocation reach. Computer based planning tools and visualisa-
tion of the production and planning results, the so-called Management Information
Systems (MIS), begin to spread in the business, from the bigger western laundries
to the smaller eastern.
You also know now, that planning needs are oriented toward the production, the
distribution, the stocks and the work force, on short, medium and long term. As
most costs in the laundry have connections to the decisions made in the production
and the controlling of the stocks on short and medium term, it has also been here,
that the first software solutions turn up, and soon they will be catalysed by multiple
readable tag-solutions.
With the formalised computer based planning, there will also be an emerging
awareness of the technical limitations, imposed on most of the production equip-
ment, and this will move the machine and material development in the direction of
more flexible solutions and laundries, in order to make it easier to utilise the ex-
pensive capacities.
7.3 THE SUPPLIERS

The laundry, which is no longer considering its services isolated from their usage
at the laundry customer, but is considering itself as a part of its customers’ pro-
cesses and structures of costs, is stronger in the competition. You will not get
passed it: the laundry’s only raison d’être is to follow the needs of the market, in a
competition with the other laundries’ services and even substituting solutions.
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7.3 The Suppliers
Cross the Geographic and Business-Related Borders

One of the roads for following the market's needs is relating more to the customer
and letting your solutions be based in the total process across geographic and busi-
ness related borders according to the notion: there is a task, which needs to be
solved – how do we best solve it, if the laundry and the customer join forces, uniting
their knowledge about washing and after-treatment processes with the knowledge
of demands, qualities and preconditions?
But what about the suppliers to the laundries? Can they allow themselves to con-
sider their solutions isolated from the processes and connections, in which they are
supposed to be used and fit into?
In the old days, a machine supplier could deliver his device on a pallet in the court
yard and let the laundry take it from there, but the laundries are figuring it out
now. They have worked out what it is we need to know something about in the
laundries and what our core competence should be.
Running the laundry, of course, is our core competence. But nevertheless our sup-
pliers expect us to have an opinion about material thickness, geometric tolerances,
machining allowances, steel qualities, and to prefer one nuance of hammer lacquer
to another, because this is what they talk to us about.
Who knows…
We could turn the question around, and ask:
• who has the highest level of competence on machines?

- the machine suppliers, of course,
• who has the highest level of competence on chemicals?
- the chemical suppliers, of course,
• who has the highest level of competence on textiles?
- the textile supplier, of course.
I think you've got the drift now. But what then should the laundry's core compe-
tences be?
There are actually two: the market's needs, and the laundry production. At the
same time we should have in our mind a clear understanding of our customer and
her needs, and of the workings of our production. Not the details, but the entirety
and the system. We should have a firm grip of the mechanisms that generate and
support a steady flow of goods from people, machines, water, energy and chemicals
to the expecting customers – how to maintain, or even increase this flow, and at
the same time control its costs.
So the message to our suppliers should be: sell us what we need, which is not
necessarily what you have in your briefcase. And qualify and quantify your solu-
tions, thank you.
Heaven and hell

All the planning methods, systems and strategies originate in one and the same
reality:
Only when the goods flow through the laundry, in the right quality,
sequence and speed, is the laundry able to fulfil a market's demands.
Only when the laundry fulfils a market's demands is it able to survive in
the long run.
The flow of goods is our heaven, but it is also our hell. It is the flow of goods, which
gives us our income, but at the same time generates the majority of our costs. So
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7.3 The Suppliers
it is to the flow of goods we must tailor our strategies, our production equipment
and the deployment of resources.
And our leaders, employees and suppliers must adapt their contributions in a way
so that they either increase the flow of goods or reduce the total variable costs -
preferably both.
In the end it comes down to assessing concrete attributions to the flow of goods
and its costs. The rest is less important, or downright insignificant like the colour
of the machine for example. Whether the machine is producing 800 or 1,200 pieces
an hour is also irrelevant, if we are not able to supply it with 800 or 1,200 pieces.
The capacity of a process route depends on the planning, so we have to relate a
new machine's contribution to the laundry's product mix as well as to its planning
routines and skills. Colour, tolerances, gearing, Meantime Between Failure etc.,
simply have to live up to standards, and should not steal our attention from the
essentials.
The Rest
Of course, finish quality, delivery predictability, lead-time and credit is important,
when we sell. And, of course, noise, working heights, delivery time, certifications,
credit, the colour of your tie, and the like is important, when we buy. But the dif-
ferences between the articles leaving the laundry are so small, that they are in
reality like mass-produced standard goods, in standard qualities.
Should a laundry or a laundry supplier at long last be able to differentiate himself
from the crowd, be it on functionality or quality, in the end it still comes down to
the cost – be it the initial expenditure or the operating cost. Better quality or better
working environments are just added bonuses, which the customer more or less
expects to come free.
But we hit upon something important there: the distinction between initial expendi-
ture and operating costs. Total variable costs make up some 70% of the laundry's
cost complex. Write offs only 2-5%. Should we let our suppliers get away with
supplying us products on a pallet in the yard, and just leave it to us to take it from
there?
Can We Allow Ourselves Not To Care?

Can the laundry suppliers allow themselves to consider their solutions isolated from
the processes and context, which they are to be used in?
It's your money. If you think you can afford to talk about the colour of the hammer
lacquer, then yes. But in that exact moment, when you realize that you are not
only paying the bill just once, but every day and every time you use the machine,
and that all solutions should be aimed at either increasing the flow of goods or
reducing the costs of operation, then a machine's initial expenditure becomes less
important. As we get together with our suppliers in these kinds of co-operations,
which some of the laundries have with their customers, then the relationship often
becomes so close, that the acquisition price on a product is playing a minor role,
which puts the alternative machine suppliers checkmate.
Strange? The equation is quite simple.
How Much Is It?

Which machine should I choose?:
• machine A, which is 60,000 GB£, or

• machine B, which is 80,000 GB£?
This is the question most laundry suppliers want us to answer. Can you?
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7.3 The Suppliers
I can't. How do I answer a question like that? I would know a lot more if we,
together, could work out the machine's contribution to my process route capacity.
But I need even more than that. I also need to know the machine's operating costs.
If I knew that the total annual operating costs and write offs with:
• machine A was going to be 320,000 GB£, whereas they with

• machine B was going to be 260,000 BG£,
- I would have been pretty much closer to an answer. I should choose machine B
then, no matter its colour or the fact that the initial investment is higher.
If both machines last 10 years, machine B will have saved the laundry a bundle,
or to be more precise:
10 x (320,000-260,000) - (80,000-60,000) = 580,000 GB£,
- during its lifetime. Now, that's a language I understand. And strangely enough
the most "expensive" machine turns out to be the cheapest.
In fact we should have estimated the process route's operating costs, or, even
better, the entire laundry's operating costs – not only the new machine's – and
looked closer at how each machine-alternative fitted in with the laundry's flow of
goods. We should estimate the laundry's total costs, originating from the laundry's
planning and decision basis.
So, if our suppliers are to work out concrete and reliable estimates of the operating
costs, they also need to be able to distinguish between, and calculate the conse-
quences of, different product mixes and planning routines. Can they do that?
No, they cannot – in our industry. Or rather, they don't. But can we ask them to?
Why, yes of course. It is our money. Besides, we should never approach the task
of running the laundry casually or carelessly.
When the Most Expensive Is the Cheapest one

Try considering the aspects for a moment. If we asked our suppliers to quantify
their solutions based on our specific circumstances and routines, this would, for one
thing, mean that:
• seemingly expensive machines might, all things considered, be the

cheapest, if we compare operating conditions, which in some cases
would allow us to buy higher quality and maybe even choose bigger
solutions (e.g. a continuous batch washer instead of a washer
extractor), and for another...
• one of the reasons why machine B was cheaper in operation could be,
that it was supplied with a piece of software that eased, tracked or
optimised the use of the machine and its contribution to the material
flow (e.g. optimised the category sequences through a CBW and a dryer
line), and it could mean that...
• when a machine supplier's solution is cheaper than his competitors' in
operation, the discount is paid for by his colleagues in the laundry, that
is the water, chemical, energy, textile and workforce suppliers,
- in other words: everyone but the machine supplier himself.
The laundry gains by asking the suppliers to base their offers on the operating
situation, of course, but actually so do the suppliers. It allows them to make better
and more efficient solutions. And it promotes responsibility on both sides, because
the model aims the laundry's and its suppliers' efforts at the same target, bringing
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7.3 The Suppliers
them closer together – joining forces, exploiting knowledge. That is, if our suppliers
are able to quantify their solutions in our laundry's context.
But are we not able to demand the same kind of professionalism in our industry,
as professional buyers do in other industries?
But From Whom Should We Buy?

In this particular example, where a supplier is the turnkey supplier, you may ask:
Why should a laundry operator choose to buy all his machines from a turn key
supplier, if he, as an alternative, is able to piece together his plant equipment with
the cheapest washer extractor, the cheapest dryer line, the cheapest ironer line,
and so on, from different, independent suppliers in the market? (And dear supplier
– please do not sing a song about the steel quality, continuity in supplies, material
thickness, hammer lacquer nuances and so on. We are actually trying to run a
business here).
The answer is quite simple:
Only if the joint turnkey solution is able to give us the necessary quality and work-
ing environment, at the lowest total cost in our particular production, i.e. operating
and maintenance cost, as well as write offs. Everything else is wheedling talk and
cheap port.
Patchwork Solutions
Try to turn the question around:
Why should a laundry operator piece together a solution with machines and equip-
ment from a number of different, independent suppliers, who don't have anything
to do with each other, and will do anything to blame one another, and wouldn't
take ownership of even the smallest problem – when he is able to acquire a com-
plete solution from one and the same responsible turnkey supplier, knowing that
the machines are built to work together, with a qualified estimate of the operating
costs, based on concrete product mixes and category sequences, maybe even with
an efficiency enhancing software included, and where he is able to take out a
maintenance contract on the entire solution.
Haven't got a clue. There is no sensible reason to make it harder than necessary
on yourself, and especially not if it's going to cost you more in the long run.
So shouldn't we evaluate each offer on their contribution to the total economy in

the laundry? And shouldn't we demand from our suppliers that they understand our
productions and are able to qualify as well as quantify their solutions with respect
to our specific circumstances?
Why, yes of course. All arguments speak in favour of it. Nothing speaks against it
- except, perhaps, carelessness, lack of insight or respect.
So Where Does it End?

You might ask. Are the laundry suppliers supposed to issue operation or cost war-
ranties? How deep into the laundry do they have to go? Why not supply the laundry
owners with management teams, if the material flow really is determined by plan-
ning, and costs determined by the material flow? Why not lease out entire laundry
interiors, with production equipment, management and the works?
Yes - why not? That would certainly be taking full responsibility for solution im-
pacts.
It may not be the most natural development in the industry – and then again,
maybe not so farfetched, when you consider the perspectives. It wouldn't be that
much different from the kind of facility service the laundries themselves have em-
barked upon, taking over the cleaner and her functions – with the Danish ISS
group's activities up through the 80's and 90's as a renowned example.
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7.3 The Suppliers
The Value of a Good Reputation

There is a great step in the development though, which comes from the acknowl-
edgement that the business is small and that the “quick pay-off” does not exist. It
is about taking responsibilities for your actions. There are only a limited number of
laundries, they all know each other, and they know all the suppliers. The suppliers
can only come back if they delivered a proper product at a proper price in a proper
way.
And this also applies to the laundries: we can only go back to a customer, if every
single one of our laundry’s representatives have behaved themselves properly in
regards to the customer and done the job well. It is when we fail this approach that
new laundries are able to get into the market and grow bigger.
Less radical steps include data generating and data usages in the laundries.
Data Levels in the Production

Very shortly put, you can identify 3 levels of data in a production:
• The momentary data, which the PLC uses to control valves, motors and
pneumatics etc. in a machine,
• The static and retrospective (feedback) data, which can be pulled out of
the PLC-control about the number of items produced, speeds of processes,
manning, stop, error-states and the likes, and
• The dynamic and forward-looking (feed forward) data, which the laundry
uses to control the future actions, i.e. the data, which the laundry needs
for planning its production.
In many years the machine suppliers’ focus has been solely on the first level, the
control. In the last few years more and more applications of historic data has shown
,up and it would not be sticking one's neck out too much to expect, that focus in
the future will be on forward-looking, dynamic data e.g. in the form of simulation,
best practice-, planning or optimisation systems.
Small Steps Forward

Incremental steps in this direction is the on-going development of supporting soft-
ware like data collection and visualisation systems, the introduction of RFIDs and
PCs in the production, bridging the automation gaps between wash room and fin-
ishing sections, and the gradual improvements of the already known techniques
and technologies.
You have now read the first part of the book. Congratulations.
The Continuation
In the second part of the book we will go a little deeper into the subject of flow of
goods, bottlenecks and strategies of operation, and we will show you the definitions
of capacity and consumption, so that you know what is important and what to em-
phasise, when talking to the suppliers and designing solutions for the laundry.
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7.3 The Suppliers
PART 2
The laundry
production
170
7.3 The Suppliers
8. THE PRODUCTION AND ITS DECI-

SIONS
When the daily operation of the laundry is to be planned and carried out, we have
a wide range of expectations of each other and the roles we play in the laundry –
both management of employees and employees of management. We can actually
make the same demands to our suppliers. We can rightly expect our suppliers to:
• know their business, services and products,

• use laundry language (understands the industry concepts and
nomenclature),
• know the daily laundry production and its preconditions,
• know the issues of laundry,
• consider these issues in the dialogue,
• make a constructive contribution to the solution of relevant problems,
• take this knowledge into account in the design of their products and
services,
• relate their solutions to each laundry's specific production, and
• illustrate their solutions' actual and concrete consequences in the short
and long run.
This is worth thinking about when you talk to the suppliers.

Here in the second part of the book we will take a closer look at the production
and the production techniques, as they are used in some of the best run laundries.
We will specifically focus on the factors in the laundry, which affect the layout,
equipment and execution of the production, including the demands we must make
on ourselves, as leaders, and on our planners, employees and suppliers.
The starting point is a basic finding, you may recall from earlier, that:
Only when the goods flow through the laundry, in the right quality,
sequence and speed, is the laundry able to fulfil a market's demands.
Only when the laundry fulfils a market's demands is it able to survive in
the long run.
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8.1 The Flow of Products
8.1 THE FLOW OF PRODUCTS

The Flow of Products Is All That Counts
This statement is important because it is the flow of products, which creates both
the laundry's profits and most of its costs. It is in the flow of products that we, as
leaders, planners, employees, buyers and suppliers must fulfil our roles and accom-
modate our contributions and requirements in such a way, that the flow of goods
either increases or the total cost decreases; preferably both. It can hardly be em-
phasised enough.
The Effects and Parameters in the Flow of Products

In the first part of the book we learned that the two most important things to know
about in the laundry are the customer's needs and our own production, that is the
functions fulfilled by machines, employees, chemicals, textiles, etc., and how these
functions are linked in processes and how these processes are combined into a flow.
The flow of goods is sending its effects widely around in the laundry. It is frighten-
ing how little freedom of choice the planners have in their decisions, without causing
repercussions on other cost and decision areas, in other sections of the laundry,
and on other employees and decision makers – effects they most often do not see
or think of in the moment of the decision.
Put into boxes, some of the variables the planners have to take into consideration
when optimising the production are:
Figure 113 - The preconditions of the production and the effects
172
When planners optimise and line up a selection of batches (a product mix), they
must take into account the available employees, their skills and skill levels, availa-
ble capacities and process routes, and each resource’s processing time, consump-
tion, set up costs and precedence constraints.
Behind these values are decisions about education, training, load levels, start-up
strategies, lot sizes, profile synchronization, collection frequencies, maintenance,
investments, dye exchange techniques, machine trimming and product mix-norms
– consequently also collection frequency. A decision on collection frequency and
place has a direct impact on the production, which may not be entirely logical or
obvious. But behind the collection frequency a complex network of causes and ef-
fects is hiding.
Distribution Effects and Parameters

Optimisation of the distribution is based on the available cargo capacities; mileage,
geography, customer needs and priorities, and the product mix, which the planners
prefer in the production (cf. Figure 114 beneath).
Figure 114 - The preconditions of the distribution and effects
Behind these considerations is a number of preconditions, such as current customer

stocks, decisions on safety margin and pickup norms, and optimisation of laundry
inventories.
But the optimisation of stocks has its own network of causes and effects; cf. Figure
115 beneath.
On the basis of the longest interval between two collections (LIB2C), the maximal
picked-up amount and the customers’ sensitivities of deficit, the optimisation gives
a stock norm per item for every customer. The difference between the stock norm
and the actual stock per item gives the gross demand for each customer. And with
the gross demand we are back in the optimisation of production. The ends meet.
173
Figure 115 - The stocks' preconditions and effects
Now we know how conditions in the production, distribution and stocks interact. If
we bring the three decision making and optimising areas together, the interfaces
will pop up, as shown in Figure 116 below.
Figure 116 - The interrelations of the optimisation sections
So there is a direct link between production optimisation, distribution optimisation

and inventory optimisation, and back to production optimisation again. None of the
decisions, which planners make about one of these optimisation types, avoid influ-
encing the other two, nor avoid reflecting back on the first again. Thought-provok-
ing but with very specific effects.
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8.2 The Strategies of the Operation (II)
The consequences of the laundry’s decisions are waving through this closed deci-
sion system. Mathematically we can show how oscillations in a closed system vary
around the maximal deflection. (In mathematics the effect is described in this way:
in a linear dependence between two or more variables, the changes in the variables
are varying around the maximal deflection.)
The Cross Field

With the laundry’s knowledge of costs, the demands of the market and the functions
of the laundry, and with the suppliers knowledge of design, services and costs con-
tributions, then the field, where the laundry and the supplier best meet in a con-
structive collaboration is, their united knowledge about the flows of products.
So, regardless if we look at the daily operation decisions or the long-term invest-
ment decisions, every decision should be evaluated on its contribution to the flow
of products and this flow’s total costs.
And if we really have to, there is only one way ahead and that is, knowing the
strategies of operation, the product mix, the key figures and measurement points,
which are used in the best laundries and maybe even a little bit of underlying prod-
uct methods and terms.
So therefore…
8.2 THE STRATEGIES OF THE OPERATION (II)

In the first part of the book you briefly read about the term operation strategies
and you learned, that the operation strategies are used for orientating every func-
tion in the laundry production towards fulfilling its economical purpose.
An operation strategy is thus a method with which you can:
execute your production, decision by decision and batch by batch, in such

a way, that the total daily flow of goods best possibly fulfils the purpose
of the laundry, e.g. minimise the costs.
A Puzzle
A comparison is to do a puzzle, where every batch is a jigsaw puzzle piece:
• the best thing would be, if all the pieces were co-ordinate-labelled and
sorted in the sequence, in which they best lie. You can do this if you have
a computer system at your service, which knows about all the pieces,
and can sort them and number them for you. Such systems, like Laundry
Logics' Laundry Pilot, are emerging in our industry now,
• the next best thing would be, if there was a method, which could
recognise the actual pieces of the puzzle by their pictures, colours and
patterns and more or less group them. This is the work of the operation
strategies and they are an approach to optimisation. This kind of system
is also found as computer based solutions,
• the third best thing would be, if you had a general knowledge of the
occurring colours and patterns in a puzzle and more or less their
placement. This is done by the product mix-norms and is used as
approaches to the operation strategies. The best wash room operators
and planners have experience ratios for this kind of mix, they have fixed
call-of sequences, which they know work in certain situations,
A Concrete Operation
• the last Strategy
alternative is simply to spread all the pieces out and hope that
The operation
some of them fit are
strategies based on
together, at the
leastoptimal
some ofplan’s
the characteristics.
places. Not especially
rational, but there are actually some laundries, which are operated in
this way.
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8.2 The Strategies of the Operation (II)
When the planners know what an optimal plan looks like, they also know what they
want to see in the production and, with a little production technical in-sight; they
can form decision strategies, which seek to re-create these characteristics.
A (very simple) example of an operation strategy, which has the purpose of mini-
mising the variable costs, could look like the one in Figure 117 beneath.
It is necessary to mention, that a good operation strategy is more detailed and

takes more considerations than the example, e.g. a steady, low buffer content be-
tween the continuous batch washers and tumble dryers like this simple strategy is
striving to, create problems. Besides, there are more characteristics in the optimal
solution than this, and if you should work with the operation strategy in practice,
these characteristics should be broken down even more (in implementation strate-
gies, norm ratios, earliest start, precedence constraints, batch priorities, exceptions
etc.).
When you take a look at the production and all the batches, which are to be
found here, i.e. both the categorised in the sorting-in and the ones in the
buffers in the production, then start the next batch and choose its continuing
route down through the production, from the following criteria’s:
• choose those batches, which have the lowest total production costs per
kg. between buffers (both independent and dependent costs, including
set-up, change over, idling, stop, empty compartments, bath exchanges
and re-allocations). It favours the unmanned and low manned resources
and fast categories,
• if more of these batches have the same cost, then choose those whose
drying time most quickly will balance the tumble dryer load, which
ensures capacity balance and avoid jams,
• if more of these batches load the tumble dryers equally, then choose the
ones that can be started earliest downstream, which favours the working
stations with empty or nearly empty buffers, paralling the flow of batches
and increasing the lead time,
• if more of these batches have the same early start, then choose the one,
that empties the fullest buffer upstream, which takes the pressure of the
bottlenecks, paralling and increasing the lead time
• equilibrate manned workstations lengthwise in the laundry so that
employees are being moved from fast resources with empty buffers to
bottlenecks with full buffers,
• man to the largest possible extent with the most skilled employees on
every workstation.
Figure 117 - An example of a concrete operation strategy
*Very shortly put, there is a simple way to point out the batch sequences over the tumble dryers, which
removes the risk of jamming.
When you choose the next batch to wash, you simply choose the one which brings [the average drying
time of the batches in the CBW & dryers] divided with [the average CBW cycle time of the batches in
the CBW] closest possible to the number of tumble dryers running.
Seen in isolation, this strategy, which solely optimises the transition from one production section to
another, is sub-optimising, but in a broader context with other optimisation criteria, it is part of identi-
fying the ideal, total solution.
Other Goals, Other Strategies

The objective could have been different. You could for example wish to minimise
the lead time for all batches in a lot, minimise the number of employees on a shift,
maximise the employee productivity etc. There could have been other subsidiary
objectives involved, e.g. consumptions and machine load. Every single objective
would have forced the planners to revise the operation strategy. But the purpose
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8.3 The Characteristics of the Good Solution (II)
here is only to give you an idea of the principles when forming an operation strat-
egy, so let us leave it at this.
The Solutions’ Contribution to the Operation

The operation strategy is the very skilled laundry’s way of working towards fulfilling
the optimal execution of the production. Every change in the production (new em-
ployees, new machines, new textiles, changing of the process routes, cycle times,
dispensing, trimming the machines and the likes) should be implemented in the
choices of batch sequences in such a way, that their contribution to completing the
operation strategy is neutral or positive. With the knowledge of the concrete oper-
ation strategy, an employee, buyer or planner in the production easily understands
what the laundry management is emphasising in the production, helping him/her
to identify the criteria, which are most important to the laundry.
Very few laundries work that concretely, so as counsellors, managers, planners or
suppliers we have to know in advance what a good solution looks like in the laundry
production.
8.3 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GOOD SOLUTION

(II)
The good solution is identified in many ways.
On the one hand you will see that a production produces the right clothes, in the
right time, on the right machines with the right people, when it has an even, steady
flow of batches. People do not stress. Nobody is yelling or screaming. The batches
arrive at the working stations in an even flow, in the proper tact. There are no
waiting times or jams, the buffers have low fillings, the operators are working in a
steady, high pace and the sorting-out gets the right batches at the right time.
Everybody, who worked in a production know, that among all these confounded,
ceaseless and stressed days, there are calm, but very productive days. That is one
of the subjective characteristics of the good plan.
The Good Solution’s Gantt-Chart

You find the objective characteristics of the good planning solution in a Gantt-chart.
Below the cart is shown for a selection of the laundry’s employees. Every bar rep-
resents a clothes batch and the colours of the bars represent the workstations.
As you can see, there are practically no micro-pauses between the batches – even
though the plan is without buffers. Every employee stands at a workstation for
some time (the plan is not “nervous”), but it also changes on a regular basis (job
rotating). And there are high Employee Allocation Efficiencies (EAE-values), i.e. the
employees’ productive time in relation to their available time in the laundry.
Without buffers the plan could not be better, at least not regarding the usage of
the employees’ time. Whether it is optimal or not, we cannot see alone from a
Gantt-chart for employees. Here we need the information about the remaining con-
sumptions.
A very valuable exercise, which a planner can do, is to draw his production in a
Gantt-chart, with all its workstations, employees and batches like it looked on a
good day. It is a time-consuming task, but it gives you the possibility of seeing the
well-planned production from above and identifying its characteristics. You will
learn a lot from such an exercise.
177
8.3 The Characteristics of the Good Solution (II)
Figure 118 - A Gantt-chart showing an optimal production, without buffers
An alternative could be to record and look through the daily productions on video
to identify the flows of products and their timing on good days.
The Good Solution in a Diagram

The exercise might show, that the optimal plan (when the purpose is to minimise
the variable costs) has characteristics, which look like those in Figure 119 beneath.
• the workstations employed, are the cheapest (measured in costs per kg.
between buffers) even though they may be slower than other
workstations,
• regardless of the fact that the time demand only applies for keeping
deadlines; the solution has a short lead time, because this ensures a high
productivity and low labour costs,
• it is faster to produce in parallel to the series, so the activities are spread
out over many machines in the breadth of the laundry,
• batches pass downstream faster, if they are sent on to the next process
step right away, instead of piling up in buffers, so activities are not
compacted but spread out lengthwise (full overlap, i.e. the buffer
contents are low),
• the sum of micro-pauses are low (the buffers are never empty, especially
not in front of the bottlenecks; once the workstations are started they
don't pause; the employees don't wait for batches),
• the employees do not change workstation too frequently (no ”nervous”
planning),
• ...
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8.4 Product Mix-norms
• ...
• the processing speeds on every workstation are kept as high as possible
by allocating the most skilled employees, keeping high levels of buffer
contents and exploiting the whole breadth and length of the ironers,
• there are no or almost no down-time, idling or waiting time on the
machines, and
• the order of the categories in the sorting-in and the production is
according to the order of the customer’s needs, the sorting-out and
deliveries.
Figure 119 - The characteristics of the good solution
It is one of the most important learning processes in the operation of a production

to make you familiar with the optimal plan’s characteristics. Only when you can tell
the channels from the reefs, you can navigate securely into the harbour.
With the knowledge of the good plan’s characteristics you can, in advance of a
decision (about hiring, buying machines, new customers or the likes), ask yourself:
will my decision ease the laundry’s efforts to create a production with these char-
acteristics?
Or in the supplier’s construction of a machine: how do I make sure, together with
my customer, that my machine is used most often in a production with these char-
acteristics?
8.4 PRODUCT MIX-NORMS

The practical manual way to try to operate a laundry’s production towards a certain
goal is by the means of fixed patterns for category ratios and sequences – the so-
called call off-templates.
A call off-norm or -template for choosing (line up) batches in the check-in to send
into the production is that exact ratio between different categories, which (meas-
ured in processing time) best utilise the laundry capacities evenly along the process
routes.
The basis of the templates are categories grouped according to their process
routes, e.g. one group of categories, which have to pass a large item ironer and
one for categories passing the towel folders. Normally there are no more than 5 to
30 of such category groups in the laundry, depending on the level of detail.
Then the norm could look like this:
For each batch of dry work headed for the manual folding tables also select (at the
same time):
• 2 batches for the tunnel finisher,

• 1 batch for the small item ironer line,
• 4 batches for the large item ironer line, and
• 5 batches for the towel folders.
- arranged in a sequence, which among other things prevents dryer jams, bath
exchanges, empty compartments and empty buffers.
179
8.4 Product Mix-norms
These call off-cards, -templates or -norms are based on known, good results, and
attempt at recreating good results without, however, regard for the changes in the
laundry set-up, which occurs continuously.
The Configuration of a Product Mix-norm

Working out a norm follows two simple steps:
Step 1. Synchronise Distribution and Production:

Make a coherent master plan for an entire, typical week's production,
as if there were no day intervals, that is, take the freedom to plan as
if you had access to all batches from a week at the same time, as if
they all were accessible in the sorting-in Monday morning. Then split
the plan up, corresponding to days and shifts. You cannot do this in
real life, because linen and textiles collected on a Friday may be
produced on a Wednesday in the master plan. But, this is important
information, because it tells us how to release production potential by
improving planning preconditions, which are important input to the
distribution planning.
Synchronise distribution and production planning this way, and
adjust customer stocks accordingly. Finish master planning based on
the synchronised realistic day collections and deliveries.
Step 2. Plan each Production Shift:

Having done that, take each day's plan and make shift plans as if all
buffers were empty at shift start, empty again at shift end, and aim
at keeping all buffers almost empty during production - except
perhaps upstream from bottlenecks - but do not empty the laundry
entirely of the work in progress at shift ends. We do not want to start
each shift with an empty laundry, only to avoid redundant batches in
the buffers.
In this way make plans for each shift and each day in the week, by
means of good operation strategies. Use Gantt-charts, like the one
below, where each bar represents a batch, and the colour represents
the category.
Soon a pattern appears. This pattern is a template for the ideal batch
category sequence, a product mix, which makes the available batches
fit best to the laundry's process route capacities - the ideal product
mix and call off-sequence for each given shift's production.
You may want to make alternative product mix-norms depending on
the optimisation criteria, available capacities, categories in the check-
in, different days, different times of day, and the like. You then end
up with perhaps a plan A, a plan B and a plan C, for each of the
situations you expect to face in the production.
There is only one way of gaining solid ground under your feet – having a healthy,
valid strategy for the decisions, which are made in the production, communicating
the necessary knowledge to the right person and telling this person, if he/she is on
the right path. An important precondition for train service is that people know where
the train goes, where they themselves are going and that the train arrives and
leaves on time.
Fundamentally the same applies for the operation of a laundry.
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8.5 Key Figures and Measurement points (II)
The Necessary Information

But to use operation strategies in practice, whether it is for dynamic planning or as
the basis for product mix-norms, you need access to mission critical information,
like process speeds per batch category, and the total variable cost per kg. of a
given category along a process route. You need to know your production and its
key figures, which very few people actually do.
Something else is that, during the formulation of operation strategies and product
mix-norms you also experience some of the constraints, which machines and pro-
cesses place on good planning, like precedence constraints from conveyor systems,
long, closed process lines with no chance of intervention, and dependent consump-
tions in continuous batch washers, etc. And then formulating a good operation
strategy becomes as important an exercise to purchasers and machine designers,
as it is to planners and managers, because it uncovers critical considerations to
take when designing a laundry set-up and layout.
And like the operation strategies, the product mix-norms are also aimed at keeping
all three key performance indicator (EAE, RAE and BAE) values high - at the same
time.
8.5 KEY FIGURES AND MEASUREMENT POINTS (II)

When the most excellent laundries produce, they work with different methods of
planning, which they expect are giving certain results and they ensure themselves
continuously that these expectations are being fulfilled by measuring and calculat-
ing key figures.
In the lack of other expectations, the lesser excellent laundry expects to continue
on the same level as yesterday, last week, last month or last year. The key figures
will also tell that.
The Connection between Action and Consequences

When we are talking about results, we mostly mean economical results - Bottom
line results.
The bottom line is the result of all the costs higher up in the accounts, which at a
given time in the sequence of events have been decisions made out on the laundry
floor. With the key figures the laundry wants to make the connections between the
decisions in the production and the consequences in the accounts measurable.
The preconditions for good key figures are therefore knowledge of the connections
between the production and the accounts.
Let us look at an example:

The purpose of Learner's Industrial Laundry Inc. is to create a profit (preferably
large). The sales department will take care of the pricing and the customer negoti-
ations (based on the calculations of price, which again are based on the production
costs), the purchasing department will take care of the buying of products and the
machine and clothes investments (based on the comparable analysis of the costs
of the flow of products), and the personnel department will take care of negotiations
and the collective agreements (which on a certain level are based on comparing
with other laundries’ payment levels). There are goals for their decisions.
What is left is the production, which makes decisions on the consumption of vari-
able costs. The message to the production from the laundry owner is typically to
minimise the costs.
The variable costs can be broken down in the area of costs, which additionally can
be bound to the processes, to which we can find certain determining actions. In
other words you can attack the problem by finding the connections of causes first
for every type of cost and thereafter to create key figures and measurement points
from this (preferably in a way, where you avoid too many measurements).
181
This process of division ends in a hierarchic structure, which is quite extensive, so

below we will only show the principle:
Variable Costs
The total variable costs can be broken down into e.g.:
• consumption of working force (time consumption)

• water consumption,
• chemical consumption, and
• energy consumption.
Parts of these consumptions are independent (they are of the same size on the
same machine); whereas others are dependent (they vary depending on the pre-
ceding and/or following category or process).
Let us, for the sake of the example, take a closer look at the time consumption.
The Time Consumption

The time consumption can be broken down in a row of variable parts, which require
control and which are not given from the machine design or the likes (the further
breaking down is only shown for the ironing time consumption):
• sorting-in hours
• washing hours
• ironing hours (clock time), which is determined by a large number of
variables:
technical efficiency and uptime on the ironers, as a consequence of:
o pre-emptive maintenance & repairs
ironer speed, which is in part determined by:
o moisture retention, which is the result of:
- pressing cycle time & pressure
- spinning cycle time & G-forces
- drying time, which is influenced by:
> evaporation ratio
o steam pressure, which may be influenced by:
- synchronicity of steam consuming work processes
o operator productivity, which is determined by:
- working pace, as a result of:
> the number of allocated operators, in part determined by:
> operator skills
> operator skill levels
- micro-pauses, which are kept down by:
> a steady, low upstream buffer content, which is determined by:
» category sequences
» process route choices
lead-time, which is secured by:
o full overlap, which is achieved by:
- low buffer contents along process lines, which are determined by:
> category sequences
> process route choices
o parallel flows of goods, which are maintained by:
- steady, low buffer contents across the laundry
o high capacity utilisation of the bottle necks, which is secured by:
- steady upstream buffer contents
- ...
182
...
-
empty or low downstream buffer contents
-
short distances between pieces (lengthwise and across) in the
-
ironer
- no or low set up times between categories
• tunnel finisher hours
• folder hours
• etc.
Figure 120 - The correlation between cost types and operation decisions
The correlations can be further detailed, but the principle is the same.
Decisions with Far-Reaching Consequences

Our point is:
• we cannot keep track of all these parameters. We have to focus our effort
on the most important ones, that is, identify the cost drivers which carry
the greatest financial weight, and devise key figures and find
measurement points aimed at monitoring these,
• a few entries in the accounts cover several cost types in the production,
which involve even more actions. But these actions come from fewer
decisions, which actually only concern a small number of important cost
drivers in the laundry production,
• if we work out these cost drivers' weight we are able to identify the
decisions carrying the greatest financial weight. Traditional focus points
are:
o fresh water consumption
o energy consumption
o employee productivity
o fluidity
o rewash percentage
o steam production,
and the like, but most often there is a layer of governing parameters
behind these,
• working out a link hierarchy for all cost drivers in the laundry, you are
likely to experience that the underlying, governing parameters most
often are:
o category sequences
o buffer contents
o process route choices, and
o moisture retentions.
When our planners decide on these parameters they control, in other words, a ma-
jor part of the laundry's cost complex. The respect for and management of these
decisions should reflect this fact.
Breaking down the laundry's cost complex into this kind of hierarchy also shows
with which decisions the laundry needs to be particularly careful when formulating
the operation strategies, because category sequences, buffer contents and process
route choices do have wide and far-reaching consequences.
The connections also give hints as to how the laundry should allocate work and
size capacities. For instance it is often cheaper to extract water in a process step,
which does not require operators, rather than in a step that does (depending on
183
bottlenecks). In this case the planners should prefer to extract as much water as
possible in extractors or dryers, rather than in the ironers - if the object is to reduce
costs. It is indeed worth considering.
Hence this has, in its turn, influence on the relative dimensioning of the machines
and the capacities of the workstations.
Quantifying your laundry's cost parameters, in hierarchies like the one above, lends
confidence to your decisions and priorities.
Just remember that wages are not the only cost. When reducing costs, we have to
consider all costs. On the other hand, if our objective entails moving processing
from expensive workstations to cheaper ones, we should do it, also if it is at the
"expense" of lead time. And if we prefer to reduce costs in general, this should be
reflected in capacities, e.g. in a high drying to ironing capacity ratio.
The hierarchy also tells us that the resultant ironing speed not only depends on the
ironer itself and moisture retention, but also on buffer contents and category se-
quences, parameters, which we - to some degree - control by means of planning.
Allocation Efficiency
There is a great deal to say about micro-pauses, because they are fantastically
forceful key figures, however difficult they may be to quantify manually.
We have, in all industries, been extremely focused on the productivity measured
in kg./hour, in pieces/hour, in metres/hour or the likes, but the productivity in itself
does not tell anything of the potential pertaining to a laundry's production appa-
ratus. You probably know the example. One laundry has a productivity of 28 kg. of
clothes per employee hour – another laundry 58 kg. of clothes per hour. Which
laundry is best planned and makes best use its potential?
No idea! It depends to a large extent on which categories, the two productions are
built to handle and are actually processing, and on whether the productions are
keeping a steady, high working pace. And the productivity does not tell you any-
thing unequivocal about this.
But by focusing on all kinds of idling (machines, employees and batches) in the
laundry, on these small, normally imperceptible pauses that hide in buffers or be-
hind varying process speeds, we gain valuable access to knowledge of how much
or how little a laundry is getting back on its efforts – what one might call its "Return
On Potentials".
In the example (two productions without buffers) the micro-pauses for the em-
ployees represent 6% in the first laundry and 13% in the second. Now we know a
little more about which of the laundries, are exploiting the possibilities best – given
that both laundries’ operators are keeping a steady, high working pace.
If the micro-pause percentages during a working day, week or year are calculated
for employees, processes and batches, we get a very precise expression of the
efficiency, with which it has been possible for the laundry to distribute and allocate
work to the employees, batches to the workstations and processing to the batches.
And then the micro-pauses are direct expressions of the laundry’s ability to manage
the work and realise the production's potentials.
The arithmetic exercise gives us three allocation efficiencies, or key performance

indicators:
184
Employee Allocation Efficiency (EAE), which expresses to what

extent the employees have been operative during the time they have
been available for production
Resource Allocation Efficiency (RAE), which expresses to what
extent the workstations have been operative during the time they
have been available for production, and
Batch Allocation Efficiency (BAE), which expresses to what extent
the batches have been processed during the time they have been
available in the production.
If you multiply EAE by RAE, you get an aggregate indicator, which tells you if the
laundry has residual, unused potentials. The aggregate indicator is called the
Sogaard-Karnoe-Index, or just the SK-Index.
The SK-Index is the most effective indicator in the industry of waste of values, just
measured on time: wasted employee time, wasted machine time and wasted batch
time. And you can use it to compare across laundries, also laundries serving com-
pletely different customers.
So here is our point:
Optimality in a production requires high values

on at least the RAE and EAE indicators (a high SK-Index)
– at the same time.
Certainly not the easiest thing in the world:

To keep a high Employee AE, you need to reduce the total number of employees
in the laundry at any given time, avoid re-allocations, waits and jams, and maintain
steady, high buffer contents.
To keep a high Resource AE, you must reduce the number of set-ups, starts, re-
adjustments, changeovers, idling and jams, and keep steady buffer contents up-
stream from bottlenecks and steady, low downstream buffer contents.
To keep a high Batch AE, you need to reduce the total number of batches in the
laundry at any given time, especially upstream from workstations not in process,
maintain a steady, parallel, overlapping batch flow, avoid jams, and keep buffers
empty.
At the same time, please! Not the easiest thing in the world, when only a few batch
sequences and a few sets of process routes through the laundry, among the millions
of possible solutions, do that better than all other. The challenge, for the laundry
manager and planner, is to find exactly these sequences and routes, and keep doing
it, day in and day out, when volumes, category mixes, available machines, available
employees, consumptions, delivery deadlines etc. keeps changing, sometimes
within the hour.
The SK-Index underlies productivity in the sense, that only with a high SK-Index,
you are able to realise your laundry's full potential. Productivity calculations do not
tell us whether we are using the laundry to its full potential, or how to do so. The
SK-Index does that. And the allocation efficiencies tell us where to focus our atten-
tion and efforts, be it on the employee allocation, the batch allocation or the re-
source allocation.
And here is another point: We will only find out if we start planning buffer free.
Good plans with buffers are based on good plans without buffers. So, we might just
as well start off without buffers.
185
Comparison of Productions
The reason why one certain product mix gives you a good day in the production is
that the occurrence of all three types of micro-pauses are low, batch, resource and
employee micro-pauses, (a high SK-Index) and the batch order going into the laun-
dry is synchronous with the batch order going out of the laundry. With the SK-
Index you are able to look behind the product mix, being able to assess the product
mix on its allocation efficiencies alone. You have an objective measure to tell the
good plan from the bad ones.
And you can calculate the SK-Index no matter which categories constitute the
product mix, no matter which machines the laundry might have available, and no
matter what employees are available. Regardless of how different laundries might
look on the surface they can be compared on the basis of the SK-Index because it
indicates how good the laundry production is matched with its market.
The catch with the allocation efficiencies is that they cannot be calculated manu-
ally. You need a computer based planning system, which is capable of eliminating
the effect of the buffers and the variable working speeds. But the knowledge of the
principle behind the calculation of the allocation efficiencies gives the production
planners and the machine engineer direct in-sight into those circumstances, which
have the largest influence on the flow of products.
Quantify
To round off our "Learner's Industrial Laundry" example: you can actually only
make up your mind about how your daily key performance indicators and meas-
urement points should be chosen in the laundry when you know the laundry's ex-
penditure's weights and how they are broken down into cost-driving decisions made
on the shop floor.
If we are to conclude anything from this (limited) example, it would be sensible to
monitor:
• residual moisture after draining and after tumble drying

• employee productivity, possibly divided into workplaces
• buffer contents
• bottlenecks (on-going because they shift)
• machine loads
• rewash percentage
• flue gas temperatures, and
• CO2-emission.
But many key measurements, which affect the other areas of expenditure, are
missing.
186
9. PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES IN THE

LAUNDRIES
Many professionals in the industry think that the laundries are so different from
each other, that it is not possible to transfer reflections, techniques and methods
from one laundry to another.
We have just seen that with the allocation efficiencies and the SK-Index we are
capable of completely neutralising the differences between laundries and for exam-
ple compare a flatwork laundry in France with a garment laundry in the UK.
Are the Laundries Really that Different?

At some sort of superficial level they are probably right. And yet, regardless of
which laundry you might enter, the daily life revolves around getting a number of
batches through the production in the exact way that serves the company best.
The planning preconditions differ from laundry to laundry, but a batch is a batch,
regardless of which category name it might have, and it draws on a certain amount
of resources as it passes through the production, some batches more than others,
and the resource types can vary a little but they are also rediscovered in other
laundries. An employee is an employee, no matter what their name might be, and
a washing machine is still just a washing machine. If only the differences that the
machines, the employees and the stocks might show could be handled.
The laundry's task is to optimise the processes on the basis of these preconditions,
maybe along with softer constraints, such that Mary J prefers to operate the towel
folder. As most laundries can concur with the optimisation criteria “least possible
expenditure” or “shortest possible lead time”, then that job is also the same – re-
gardless of which laundry you enter.
The laundries are fundamentally – in terms of planning and production techniques
– almost completely similar.
The Production Technique is the Same

And that means that the reflections ahead of purchasing or designing the machines
and ahead of investing in process equipment are the same. What you are about to
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9.1 Time
learn about production techniques is therefore applicable for all laundries and for
all the production processes in the laundries.
The production techniques in the laundries are not even particularly different from
the production techniques in other batch industries. And as in all other industries
one of the most important factors is…
9.1 TIME
The production in the laundry is in many ways dependent on time.
The Planning Horizon and the Variables

When the laundry is planning the production, the planning horizon has great influ-
ence on its decisions. From hour to hour the planners cannot hire or fire employees,
sell or buy machines or change the customers stocks, but the farther horizon the
more they have the possibility of changing. In the very long run they even have
the possibility of selling or moving entire laundries.
Let us go over it one last time: In the very short run the laundries do not have
many choices to make, other than:
• the number of batches in a planning lot

• the lot's batch sequence
• each batch's route down the laundry production (the process route)
Time is a strict limitation because it, in the short run, limits the number of variables.
But the more levels of freedom the machinery in the short run can give back the
planners, the better preconditions they are going to have to fulfil the production's
objective. Preferably they would, in the short run, have all of the degrees of free-
dom that they have in the long run.
The Production Order and the Responsiveness

Time also has significance with regards to the laundry's responsiveness, because
when do you even know the laundry is about to produce? How early do you know
what you have to push through the production on any given day?
Only when the clothes bags are opened and all of the articles are categorised, does
the laundry know what to produce. No, some laundries might say, we receive the
requisition orders from our customers several days in advance.
That might be the case, but it is irrelevant for the production. In the production
we can only, as in any other production, produce what we have in the raw material
storage rooms and the laundries "raw material storage" is the dirty clothes. Unlike
other productions the laundry cannot, for the sake of hygiene, leave the raw mate-
rial to sit too long in the check-in, and besides that, we have no clue as to what is
in the storage room before we have opened the bags.
The necessity of pushing the incoming amounts down through the production lines
is one of the characteristics of the laundries. The customer pushes the clothing into
the check-in and the check-in pushes it further into the production, contrary to
most other industries where the customers, with their demands pull the production
through from exit to entry. Offhand it might be difficult to distinguish between
whether the production is characterised by push or pull, but an easy way to under-
stand the difference is by clearing up whether a need to produce may occur without
a market demand.
The answer for the laundry is a clear-cut yes. A customer can easily deliver dirty
clothes without demanding clean clothes, but yet a production need is created in
the laundry, whether or not there is a demand in the other end. When we design
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9.1 Time
and layout the laundries, workplaces, processes and machines, we ought to keep
in the back of our minds that the sooner the laundry knows the content of the "raw
material storage room", the check-in, the more capable it is of fulfilling its produc-
tion goals and purposes and the calmer the completion of the production is going
to be.
In this way the laundry production is characterised by not having knowledge about
the demand until very late and at the same time being strained by a constant pres-
sure on the in-sorting section. Both parts have an ugly tendency of disregarding
the planning because you instinctively feel the pressure to send batches into the
production. Clothes are pouring into the one end and at the same time it is de-
manded in the other end – do something!
As the captain of the laundry ship you are always under pressure to start the ma-
chines and get the ship going, regardless of whether you have not yet had the
chance of getting the nautical chart on the table or studied it thoroughly.
Lot Size and Optimality

The laundry planners should know of as many batches, categories, customer rela-
tions and batch preferences as long into the future as possible. If they know the
net demand for an entire production shift, they have a good shot at making good,
optimal plans.
I know. It sounds paradoxical to say good, optimal plans, because it implies not
good optimal plans - but this is actually the case. With the right tools and methods
you might be able to find an optimal plan, but imagine making a plan for just one
batch at a time. Well, if you ask for an optimal plan for just one batch, that is what
you get - with process route choices and allocation, so that you in the best possible
way get your demands fulfilled optimally for this one batch. Under the given cir-
cumstances the plan would be optimal, yes, but the more batches in a plan, the
better we are able to avoid empty compartments, bath exchanges, jams, idle work-
stations, queues, idle operators etc. Time is important here too.
In the other end of the scale, the knowledge of all batches in a shift gives the
planners the opportunity to assess and position each batch in the process sequence
in the place, in which it fits best – as a puzzle piece is placed in a puzzle. It is quite
easier to form a picture of the task and place the puzzles pieces in the right places,
if you have access to all of the pieces at once and can place them in an optional
order.
The same goes for the production planning. The better basis you have, the better
the plans become –even though they would all be optimal. The difference is the
time or the size of the series. A plan can be optimal and every plan in a row of plans
can also be optimal, but that does not make the production optimal when you look
at all of the plans.
And yet the planners can, in most cases, because of the constant push, the hy-
gienic demands and the little space, not treat themselves to the luxury of waiting
an entire day to produce – in other words to shift the production one entire day
behind schedule so that they produce today what was sorted yesterday. We must
choose our planning lot sizes somewhere in between all and one batch. The settle-
ment on the series size is normally made by an alignment of the market situation,
the storage space and the finished product stocks.
And besides, it is not good to plan too far ahead of time because the world changes
rapidly. One machine falls out, employees become sick and leave the job, new ur-
gent orders appear and so on. Short plans do not have to be altered. They end soon
anyway. With longer plans there is a greater risk that something changes during
its completion and that it has to be re-planned.
When we design the check-in and storing systems then it is also important to know
that it is okay to store clothes in a certain amount, because it gives the planners a
greater overview, but at the same time we must be sure that we, in our design of
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9.1 Time
the machinery, allow the planners to have the most freedom of choice possible
when it comes to access to the bags in the conveyer systems.
Lead Time and Processing

And finally the time, in which a batch is in the laundry, is important.
In shaping the laundry, its workplaces, machines and routines it applies, that both
the time, which the clothing is under treatment (and imposes costs), and the time
which the clothing moreover spends in the laundry (steals space), has to be reduced
to a minimum. Almost every operation strategy is aimed at reducing the average
lead time for the batches (not the lead time for one, two or a few batches, because
that can be done at the expense of the remaining batches and is called sub-optimi-
sation, but the average lead time for all batches in a given series).
In reality only a very little portion of the time is spent on processing the clothes
when you consider how much time they actually spend in the laundry. There are
variations in the distribution of process time and waiting time from laundry to laun-
dry, among other things because this distribution depends on planning, but roughly
speaking the time in which the clothing undergoes treatment is only around 10%
of the total time it spends in the laundry. It is relatively simple to increase the lead
time by reducing the waiting time, but as it is the processing time alone, which has
any bearing on the variable costs, it is the most important to focus on this.
Process Time
When arranging the laundry's equipment and workplaces and when completing the
production it is therefore first and foremost necessary to take steps towards in-
creasing the lead time by:
• separating the clothes into categories that can be treated in the same
way
• making sure the machines are flexible and there are alternative process
routes
• trimming the machines individually to each category
• training the employees’ skills (what they can do) and skill level (how well
they do it)
• minimising the total process time along a process route
• distinguishing between those machine set ups, which require the
machine to stand still (IED) and those, which can be completed when the
machine is in operation (OED)
• converting IED to OED and reducing the remaining IED to a minimum
• choosing parallel process routes whenever possible
• using the fastest process routes for a series of batches
• allocating the best skilled employees for each process.
And to an outsiders surprise only few of these steps have anything to do with the
process time of each machine in itself. On page 198 we explain the terms IED and
OED more in detail.
Waiting Time
Subsequently all waiting time (in other words all the time besides that, which is
spent on processing) should be limited, as for example:
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9.2 Planning & Optimising
• transportation time (e.g. shorten all transportation routes, possibly

automate the transportation)
• buffer time (e.g. make sure to send the batch along as quickly as
possible, i.e. full overlap)
• time spent queuing (e.g. avoid full-drying batches jamming the tumble
dryers)
• downtime (e.g. maintenance of the machines)
• time spent on set up, changeover and shutting down machines (e.g.
convert IED to OED)
• cycle time balancing (e.g. group categories of similar cycle times).
Wasted Time
And finally wasted time is to be avoided, as for example:
• idling and empty running

• empty compartments, and
• under-loading.
Some of these time-consumers are determined by planning, whereas others are

determined by the design of the machines and processes. For the planners it is
important to control the planning determined by time-consumers, and for the buy-
ers and designers it is important to limit the time consumption, which is dependent
of the design.
The design actually has a considerable influence on the opportunities for planning,
which are given by the production machinery, among others by designing conveyer
systems (precedence constraints) and continuous batch washers (batch sequence
imposed consumptions). The designers and buyers are thereby also, to a great
extent, responsible for the terms for the planners work.
9.2 PLANNING & OPTIMISING

The planning’s influence on the flow of goods is obvious and a consequence of the
decisions made from hour to hour – as you have already seen – but let us shortly
define, what planning is, so that you are able to distinguish between planning, se-
quencing and optimising.
Planning
Planning is a pre-arrangement aimed at making or using some-

thing specific and therefore involves the fulfilment of a specific
objective in the future.
In line with this definition, a production plan is an arrangement of activities, which

aims at completing a production in the upcoming time to fulfil a certain objective,
e.g. to have 600 sets of bedding ready tomorrow morning at 7AM. But the objective
can also be other things, for example, to avoid creating queues by the tumble dry-
ers; to keep the tunnel finisher fully occupied; to keep the water consumption below
9.0 litres/kg. clothes; always to choose batches for the production in the proportion
of 3 batches ironing clothes for every batch of full dried clothes; or the like.
The last thing, to choose batches in certain ratios, can be a standard practice, and,
as we have seen, the planning sometimes takes the form of standard procedures
or practices. But when you in the laundry do what you have always done, regardless
191
of the fact that all circumstances might have changed many times in the meantime,
and that you might not even remember why you do the things in the way that you
do them anymore, there is great risk, that you are not doing what will, in the best
way possible, fulfil the overall goal and objective with the production.
Various plans
The overall objective of the laundry production can be something like:
• produce with the lowest variable costs

• produce with the fastest possible lead time, or
• produce with the highest quality.
Maybe even combinations of several of those purposes. But as you've seen, differ-
ent planners create different results, unless one uses a formalised planning system.
One can make many production plans, with many different purposes, and different
people may have different goals with the same plan. Some plans will be imple-
mentable where others may not even be applicable, but there is nothing in the
concept of "plan" or "production plan", which tells anything about the degree of
feasibility, quality or fulfillment.
Planning Points
The places and the time, where the planners are able to make, remake and amend
decisions, are called planning points.
The more planning points you have in your production, the more degrees of free-
dom the planners have and the easier it is for them to create a good flow in the
production. It is therefore important to take into account the number and location
of planning points when laundries' layouts are decided and when equipment and
machines are designed.
Sequencing
Sequencing is the purpose to assign a number of tasks to a

number of resources subject to an array of constraints and
interdependencies.
In the laundry this part of the planning, which consists of making decisions about
the sequence of the batches through the production, is one of the few variables,
which are left in the short run.
The Optimal Plan

Hence the optimal plan is the plan, among all plans, which best fulfils a certain
purpose. In the matter of planning, optimisation is the task to find exactly the plan
among all other plans, which best fulfils the company’s purpose with the production.
Optimisation takes planning and sequencing to another level – and works as a kind
of superstructure to this.
Another thing, which is also important to think about in the matter of production
planning, is that a production is of a complex size, where the activities are creating
preconditions to each other (e.g. by means of residual moisture). Planning in itself
can be limited, e.g. you can settle for planning the work on one single workstation
or only plan in regards to the water consumption, but production optimisation does
not allow limitations, because optimisation implies, that all perspectives are con-
sidered in the fulfilment of the purpose of the production. Optimisation of a produc-
192
tion, therefore, usually cannot be restricted. You either, optimise the whole pro-
duction or, you simply do not optimise at all, you only plan. The production is the
whole production and optimising the production is optimising all the activities in the
production, unless the laundry is sectioned and no clothes or employees are moving
between the sections.
Optimisation
The production optimisation can therefore be defined as follows:
Optimisation is the task to find the exact arrangement of future

activities, among all other arrangements possibilities, that best
fulfils a certain, overall purpose with the whole production.
So, it would not be meaningful to say that some plans (under the same conditions)
are more optimal than others. There is only one optimal plan to the same task. It
would correspond to saying that some diodes were more switched on than others.
They are either switched on or off.
If you are capable of clearly defining an overall objective for a production plan and
search for or calculate the exact arrangement of activities, which best fulfils this
objective then, you have the optimal plan.
But if you look at a plan isolated, nothing will tell you what it really has to do with
the optimal plan. Only common sense and production technical experiences can do
that.
Waste in the Optimal Plan

An example to illustrate the issue:
A metal company manufactures terry folders and to this purpose, work pieces of a
2-millimetre steel sheet are cut out. The pieces have many different sizes and forms
(like puzzles) and the number of every size varies according to the demands on the
different models of folders. The steel sheets are delivered in the standard measure
of 1200 x 2400 millimetres. The task is now to cut the pieces out of the steel sheets
in a way that minimises waste, which really is kind of a puzzle.
The factory knows what the initial steel sheet weighs, and then weighs the waste
of every cut. When they estimate the waste weight in proportion to the weight of
the steel sheets, they get the waste percentage and know, considering steel prices,
that the lower the waste percentage, the better the bottom line.
The company has got 2 cutting planners, who each have their ways of doing things,
so the waste percentage is varying in between 8 and 10%, depending on which of
the two is making the cutting plans. In connections to getting a new plasma cutter,
the company bought a programme for optimisation of the cutters, which made the
waste percentage drop to around 4-6% overnight. Now the waste percentages do
not vary any longer with regards to who makes the planning, because the pro-
gramme always finds the best cut, no matter who serves it, but there will still be a
little variation in the waste percentages.
Sometimes the piece sizes fit together fine, whereas sometimes e.g. when there
are no small pieces to put in between the large ones, it might be completely im-
possible to keep a low waste percentage – even though the factory now has an
optimisation programme. Both the planning itself and the preconditions influence
the waste percentage.
The optimisation programme does not remove the waste and there might still be
a lot of waste, even though you use the optimisation programme, but the waste
percentage now tells you how well the preconditions for the planning are according
to the task. There is no longer a default factor in the picture, which is caused by
the human influence and which gives half-good, manual planning. Until you are
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9.3 Production Forms
able to make optimal plans, you cannot know if the planners are exploiting the full
potential of the production.
This you will only know when optimal plans are executed. In the optimal production
the key figures tell you how well the preconditions of the production are fitted to
the market. In the case with the metal company, the demand of the market for
folders sometimes did not fit with the standard measures on the sheets, which the
folders were made of and this fact surfaced as a high waste percentage.
You are capable of comparing an optimal folder factory’s waste percentage to an-
other optimal folder factory’s waste percentage, no matter of the other precondi-
tions, and you can then tell, which factory has best adjusted their cutting precon-
ditions for the task. The waste percentage will tell.
In the laundries there is waste too, waste of employee time, machine time and
batch time, a waste, we express with the allocation efficiencies (EAE, RAE and BAE)
and the SK-Index. The SK-Index and the allocation efficiencies can be used for
comparing, both internal in the laundry, over time and across laundries.
But We Still Get Clothes Out of the Door Every Day, Some Say
It is not enough just to get clothes out of the laundry doors. The way in which the
laundry gets the clothes from the sorting-in to the sorting-out, is crucial to its econ-
omy and competitiveness. If the management of the laundry has not given us
(planners) a formalised planning system, the necessary cost and key figures and
the authorisation to make decisions, we could choose to forget about optimisation
of the processes in the laundry and just go with the flow, so to speak. But then we
will deprive the laundry from the gain, which we, with the right tools could have
gotten from the production and we will deprive ourselves from the joy and pride of
doing a great job.
To recapitulate two important conclusions from earlier:
• one of the best ways of following the market's needs is relating closely to
the customer and let your solutions be based in the total process across
geographical and company related borders (cf. paragraph 7.3 The
Suppliers on page 164)
• it is in the flow of products, that we, as leaders, planners and employees,
have to adapt our solutions, preferably in such a way, that either the flow
of products will increase or the total costs decrease (cf. paragraph 8.1 The
Flow of Products on page 172)
If you choose to relate actively to the processes in the laundry, then you now have
the necessary knowledge about what planning, sequencing and optimisation is, and
which demands, possibilities, limitations and correlations, the laundry is submitted
to – which is the basis for an informed interest in production forms, capacities, flow
of products, bottlenecks, consumptions, buffers and pick-up frequencies in the fol-
lowing.
9.3 PRODUCTION FORMS

Apportioned Production
In a laundry with circulating volumes of clothes, the exact pieces of clothes, which
the laundry delivers to the customer, are returned to the laundry to be washed and
finished, then delivered back to the customer and so on. The textiles circulate in a
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9.3 Production Forms
closed loop. This kind of laundry production is called apportioned production, be-
cause the laundry keeps each customer's linen and textiles separated (apportioned)
from other customers' through the entire process.
In other industries this production form is called make-to-order production.
Pool Production
Other laundries break the loop, either by letting the customer herself or the drivers
sum up the customer's requirements or by counting the collected articles in the
check-in. Not the exact same items, but matching qualities and quantities are then
picked in the dispatch and delivered to the customer. This kind of production is
called pool production, because the laundry gathers all category identical items in
big batches (pools), irrelevant of which customer they have been collected from.
In other industries this production form is called stock production.
Differences Between Apportioned and Pool Production

From exclusively producing in portions the laundry industry has developed into
mainly producing in pools.
It is a natural conclusion to break the loop of circulating items. And break it pre-
cisely in the production because it allows the laundry to plan its day more or less
independent of distribution, instead of being dictated by times, sequences and
quantities determined by the market. So the most obvious advantage of pool pro-
duction is the possibility of producing in full loads. The check-in simply sends
batches into the production when they are full. This is only possible, though, if the
laundry has sufficient inventories to deliver from, while batches are being filled in
the check-in.
Conversely, if a laundry produces apportioned, it will have to ask the customers to
wait while their goods are being produced. The laundry stores the customers, so to
speak.
This is the main difference between apportioned and pool production in the laun-
dries.
The Biggest Disadvantage Of the Pool Production

Ideally you would have the advantages of both types of productions and at the
same time avoid their disadvantages. Modifying the pool wash can do this.
A major disadvantage of pool production is the disproportionately large invento-
ries, the oceans of linen we find in pool laundries all over the world. They are eve-
rywhere. We have already talked about them, but let us again have a short look at
the different kinds of stocks.
Other disadvantages of the pool production are wastage, indifference in the han-
dling of the clothes and imbalances in the customer stocks (see Figure 121 - Stock
types below), every one of them handled simply by means of the naturally built-in
strict control of the apportioned production.
Is Pool Production Necessary At All?

No, it is not. All laundries have to return to the customers, what they have collected,
in pool productions as well as in apportioned – unless of course the customer's
demands change, as they do in and out of seasons. But since the entire market
most often experiences the same seasons, there is actually no point in taking items
out of circulation. Inventory sizing focuses on season peaks.
The pool laundries only use the pools to reduce constraints and complexity and to
ease the pressure on the planners. But like all kinds of inventories, pools come at
a cost, quite literally. And only if you are able to quantify these costs you know the
potential hidden in the pool laundry. We know from experience that inventory man-
agement and material flow control in some cases have reduced a laundry's textile
procurement by up to 90% in 2 to 3 consecutive years.
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9.4 Capacities
It is the tough ones who say, that “if better is an option, good isn't good enough”.
• season stocks, i.e. the stocks of clothes, which are ready for the peak
season and returned again afterwards, we cannot avoid. You cannot plan
yourself out of seasonal changes
• the stocks, which emerge because of lead time, work-in-progress (WIP),
can be minimised by minimising the lead time. The lead time is both the
time in the sorting-in, in the production and in the sorting-out. The first
kind of time is used to fill the batches, so that, the laundry really cannot
do anything about, other than sorting as few categories as possible at
the same time. The other kinds of lead time you can do something about,
by planning the production accordingly, i.e. optimising with regards to
lead time. The latter demands a synchronisation of the production and
the distribution
• finally there are the sequence-triggered stocks, and these you can avoid
to a great extent, because it is “only” a question of the laundry thinking
in which sequences it sends batches into the production (synchronise
entries with exits). But, the batch sequence decides so many other
things, so you have to be careful not to let the consideration for the
stocks dwarf other considerations, e.g. the considerations of the total
operation economy in the production.
Figure 121 - Stock types
It influences the planners and management to understand stock and production

forms, because they are important signals about how much pressure is on the pro-
duction and thus how important capacities, planning and information are to the
laundry.
The lead time and overview over the production should, because of the intense
time pressure, be far more important in the apportioned laundry, than in the pool
laundry.
On the other hand the production costs should be far more important in the pool
laundry, because of the already high stock costs, than in the apportioned laundry.
9.4 CAPACITIES
Now that we are talking about the machines and the production lines in the laundry
production, an important term applicable is ‘capacity’. What actually is capacity?
You meet many answers to this question and only the fewest are right or can be
used in real life. As responsible people in the production we are forced to know
exactly what capacity is and so we will have to ask more in depth: is it the capacity
of a machine, a process route or the whole laundry?
The capacity of a single machine is only partly interesting, when you (again) return
to the fact that it is the flow of products through the laundry, which is interesting.
The process route’s capacity (of any given category) is actually more interesting,
than that of the single machine. The definition of capacity will have to reflect this
fact.
Capacity
In regards to planning, capacity is defined as:
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9.4 Capacities
a combination of:
• the capacity of each working place
• their load levels
• the way they combine in process routes
• the product mix over the process routes, and
• the sequence in which the batches are pushed down the process
routes.
Long, but precise. Let us illustrate why:

If an ironer line is capable of ironing 1100 sheets per hour, you cannot regard this
as the real flow of products, because you do not know, if 1100 sheets arrive at the
ironer every hour or if 1100 sheets are taken off the ironer per hour. We have to
think about how the machines are connected in process routes and then the route's
slowest machine in the actual plan determines the routes capacity. This is the
bottleneck.
If 1100 duvet covers were pushed to the ironer instead of 1100 sheets, they would
have taken more than 1 hour to produce, so you also have to take the categories
(the product-mix) into consideration. If the bottleneck machine is permanently un-
der-loaded, the capacity has to be reduced accordingly.
If the category mix or the category ratios in the batch sequences change during
the day, the bottlenecks move – if a continuous sequence of full-dried clothes is sent
through the tumble dryers, they jam and become the bottle neck, whereas the
bottleneck can be an ironer line, if the full-dried batches are mixed with pre-dried
instead. On the continuous batch washer, even a category change in itself influ-
ences the capacity, because it may cause the need to separate categories by means
of empty compartments, so you will also have to take the sequence of categories
into consideration when you determine capacities.
Conditions Which Influence the Capacity

The definition describes, in a concrete way, that the capacity can be increased in
more ways than one, e.g. by increasing the load-levels on machines (i.e. by better
machine trimming or category trimming), by choosing alternative process routes
(avoiding bottle necks), by changing the product-mix or… just by changing the se-
quence in which the batches are pushed into the production.
There are several things to learn from this definition, but the most important ones
are:
• capacities are dynamic, dependent of planning, which means that you

actually cannot say anything concrete about a given process route’s
capacity, before you know the product-mix and the batch sequence (the
plan), which is to be sent down the route
• capacity dimensioning of a working place has to be considered in relation
to upstream and downstream machines and working places.
Capacity Dimensioning
This specifically means, that e.g. the tumbler capacity in a wash room with a single
continuous batch washer followed by a number of tumble dryers can be dimen-
sioned as the ratio between the average cycle time and the average drying time for
the given category mix and its sequence (provided that the batch sizes are the
same), see page 97.
It turns out, that the pretty long definition of capacity actually gives a short, con-
crete and practical solution to dimensioning machines in the same process route.
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9.4 Capacities
Completely elementary, the capacity definition also tells that the process route ca-
pacity determines the total production capacity of the laundry, which also means,
that the more flexible, the process routes are (same batch size, flexible machines
and flexible employees), the larger the flow capacity the laundry has.
All kinds of sectioning, division and specialisation might cause advantages regard-
ing the reduction of the complexity, but all things considered they will at the same
time reduce the flexibility, capacity and the degrees of planning freedom in the
laundry and therefore they should be avoided entirely.
Change Overs
When capacity is defined as dependent on category mix and the sequence of
batches, then it's not just the process time that is important. A couple of terms,
which are important to look deeper into, if you are a buyer, machine engineer or
designer, when talking about each capacity of a working place, are:
• Inside Exchange of Die, IED, which either extends processing or requires

the machine brought to a complete stop, and
• Outside Exchange of Die, OED, which can be carried out during
processing without negative influence on process start, stop, speed or
time.
IED and OED are not the best of names, but originating in the car industry 50 years
ago they have become the common notions, so we still use them, also in other
industries.
IED and OED

The textbook example is the changeover of a press in a car factory.
On day in the spring of 1950 an 800 ton heavy car body-press was to be changed
over from the production of one car brand to another in Mazda’s car factory in
Hiroshima. During the process the operators discovered that a bolt was missing.
After one hour of search they “stole” a bolt from one of the neighbour presses, it
was shortened and new thread was lathed, so it would fit. The whole change over
took about 11 hours out of a working day of 14 hours. Not good, to say the least.
The Japanese quickly realised, that with due care, they could have made sure, that
all the bolts were there before the press was stopped. This type of preparation is
called OED, because it can be completed without stopping the machine.
Afterwards the planners analysed the changeover situation. Out of the original 11
hours, at first 9½ hours could be defined as being activities, which in reality did not
demand, that the press stopped (OED). In this way they gained 9½ hours of extra
capacity for each time, they need to change moulds. The remaining 1½-hours de-
manded that the press stopped (IED). This IED was later reduced but demanded
changes in the design of moulds and presses.
With an increasing number of set-ups and changeovers this distinction between
IED and OED has increasing importance to a process route's flow capacity. And
there are many set-ups and changeovers in the laundries.
The Significance of Repetition

Preparation of batch and category changeovers includes both the personal planning
of the work, but also the machine's mechanical action.
The personal part is e.g. finding the next batch for a washing machine and an
empty cart to empty the finished batch in, before the programme finishes. The
standstill of the washing machine will be as short as possible and the machine can
quickly start washing again. It is the responsibility of the washing assistants to
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9.5 Bottlenecks and Product Flows
make sure that this preparatory work does not (and I really do mean never, ever)
cause a bottleneck machine to stop.
But what is even more important and has a far greater influence, is the time which
the mechanical preparations stop or delay the processes.
The highest frequencies - or rather the shortest cycle times - in the laundry are
usually found on the continuous batch washers. Right down to every 120th second
batches are replaced in the compartments. During an 8-hour shift that amounts to
some 200 cycles.
If for instance 10 seconds are wasted in each cycle, or if processes may be im-
proved in such a way that the efficient processing time could be reduced by 10
seconds, it amounts to some 18 cycles wasted on each 8-hour shift.
18 cycles a day sum up to roughly 4,000 cycles a year. With a batch size of 50
kilograms 4,000 cycles equal 200 metric tonnes a year.
From here you can choose two ways to calculate the consequences, either work
out:
• how much these 200 tonnes of "free" production could have been sold
for (the mild one), or
• what the cost is of having the entire laundry wait for the batch washer
to waste 4,000 cycles (the right one).
In both cases the sums are awesome - provided the batch washer is a bottleneck.
But we never know that in advance. Our machine designers and engineers have to
assume that all machines are important to the laundry, every machine being a
potential bottleneck.
Here we also learned something about costs on bottlenecks. The cost of a bottle-
neck standing still (when being repaired, during changeover, is unmanned because
of pauses, processing products not necessary right now, products, which could have
been processed on other workplaces, products which are already unusable or will
be rejected downstream) is the cost of the whole laundry standing still. That hurts.
So we should ask ourselves, when considering the function of the CBW: when a
batch is transported from one compartment to the next could any of the prepara-
tions taking place have been carried out before the changeover... e.g. draining or
filling of water tanks, dispensing of chemicals, heating up or cooling down of the
wash liquor, or the like?
If the answer to this question is yes, by how much could processing time be re-
duced if processes were redesigned, and how much extra capacity would be re-
leased - the argument taken to its logical conclusion?
Secondly, but equally important, we must demand from our suppliers that they
convert as much IED as possible to OED.
Finally we must be able to carry out the remaining IED as easily and rapidly as
possible – on the assumption that all machines are important and potential bottle-
necks.
9.5 BOTTLENECKS AND PRODUCT FLOWS

We have mentioned the term bottleneck a number of times without fully defining
what we mean.
The knowledge about bottlenecks is important for the completion of the production
because the bottlenecks have significant bearing on the laundry’s economy and
199
performance. But there are different bottlenecks so you are forced to determine
which kind of bottleneck you are dealing with in each situation.
And just so there is no uncertainty to the matter – bottlenecks are neither “bad”
nor “good”. They are simply just a fact to which we have to offer special attention
when we are planning.
What Is a Bottleneck?
When we say bottleneck we often come to think of a transition from a large dia-
meter to a small diameter. From wide to narrow.
In a production this means from a larger capacity to a smaller capacity, i.e. a
decrease in the product flow along the production lines. If you define bottlenecks
as those places in the production, where a slowdown in the flow of the batches
occurs, then bottlenecks can practically always be found no matter how the pro-
duction is organised and how large the capacities are. Just take a look at a random
laundry and see all of the places where the clothes lie or hang waiting to be moved
further downstream.
You can surely have designed your production in such a way that all of the work-
places upstream have larger capacity than the workplaces downstream – does that
then make every workplace a bottleneck?
No. If most of these workplaces only run for a fairly short time during a work day
it does not serve any practical purpose to speak of them as bottlenecks. On the
other hand, if all the workplaces downstream have larger capacity than the work-
places upstream, are there no bottlenecks then?
Yes. If nothing else reduces the flow of goods, the market will and then the market
becomes the bottleneck.
You could choose to define a bottleneck as a resource, whose capacity is the same
as or less than the demands made on it. Besides being somewhat general, this is
actually a reasonable definition – hard to quantify, though, in a plan or over a day.
We are better off with a definition, which helps us to focus on the workplace, which
is the most important for the completion of a certain production. The bottleneck is
therefore rather the workstation along a process route, which is the slowest. If you
look at the completion of all of the batches for a delivery, the bottleneck would
consequently be the workplace along all process routes, which is the slowest. But
if this workplace only runs for 5 minutes out of a total lead time for all of the batches
of 6 hours, then this workplace isn’t that important after all.
It is the most important workplace we need to find.
The Flow Bottleneck

For a series of batches, no matter which process routes and distribution routes they
might follow, the most important workplace for the definition of the productions
total capacity – and therefore also the bottleneck – must be:
the workplace whose marginal, relative change of process speed

has the largest absolute impact on the total lead time.
That is the bottleneck in a production plan. And that is a measurable definition.

An example: Two machines take part in the production of a series of batches. One
of them is utilised for 10 minutes, the other is utilised for 2 hours and 48 minutes
out of the series' total lead time of 3 hours and 36 minutes. If the process speed is
altered by 10% on the first machine this means a reduction of the lead time by
maximum one minute. If the speed on the other hand is equivalently altered by
10% on the other machine, then the lead time will decrease with approx. 17
minutes. This is the bottleneck.
200
In any context you may view a production in, whether it is for a category, an hour,
a process route, a plan, a day, a distribution route or a season, you will always be
able to identify a particular workplace as a bottleneck. If you were to increase the
capacity of this workplace sufficiently another workplace would just crop up as the
new bottleneck. There is always a bottleneck.
Bottlenecks and Sensitivity Analysis

By this definition a bottleneck can, if you are very stringent, only be defined with
the help from sensitivity analysis, in other words by calculating which workplace
evidently has the largest marginal impact on the lead time.
In practice, however, a very easy cut through exists, which in most instances
points out the right workplace as the bottleneck:
the bottleneck is the workplace, which runs for the longest time
during a workday.
But all of our work places run all of the time, some laundries might say – does that
make every workplace a bottleneck?
The likelihood that it is in fact the case, that all of the workplaces run all of the
time through an entire day or an entire week, is so small, that you are inclined to
say that it is not true or, more likely, that the employees adjust their process speeds
to make it become true.
But, if this really were the case then the entire production would be a bottleneck
in relation to the distribution and the market demands. Such a laundry will, with
certainty, experience that it is not capable of delivering the right volumes at the
right time. It is not able to provide services to its customers – and not regarding
just one or a few categories, but regarding all categories. Even in this situation
there is one single workplace whose marginal adjustment in process speed has a
greater impact on the total lead time than all of the others.
There is only one bottleneck, also in this less than enviable situation, where the
entire production machinery is undersized in relation to the market demands with
regards to all of the categories in the product mix.
The Expense Bottleneck

That was the definition of a bottleneck when you look at the production with the
clock in your hand. But what if you look at the production with the wallet in your
hand? Do economical bottlenecks exist?
Try to enter the question into the definition of a bottleneck in general:
does a workplace exist where a marginal change in its consumptions would have
greater impact on the total production costs than any other workplace?
Yes, surely, you only have to take a look at the differences between the workplaces’
consumptions of supply and labour force. These bottlenecks are called expense
bottlenecks. An expense bottleneck is defined as:
the one workplace whose relative, marginal change of consumptions

has the greatest absolute impact on the overall variable expenses.
And these two bottleneck definitions are important when the laundry has to focus
its efforts when concerning planning, maintenance, training of employees, machine
trimming, reduction of IED and new investments: focus on the bottlenecks – first
and foremost the flow bottlenecks, secondly on the expense bottlenecks.
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Bottlenecks Move and Change – All Of the Time

On that note, however, we are not yet finished on the subject of bottlenecks.
You can conclude one more important thing from the definitions, namely that the
bottleneck has to be working all the time in order to be able to keep up with the
other workplaces within a plan and to keep the total lead time at a low. Contrary
to all other workplaces the capacity of the bottleneck has to be exploited 100 %
while it is running, because it has such a great influence on the total lead time. But
as you have just seen (in section 9.4 Capacities on page 196), the capacity utilisa-
tion is determined by planning.
The product mix over the process routes and the sequence, in which the batches
are pushed down the process routes, help determine the capacity of a workplace
and that actually means that the location of the bottleneck is determined by plan-
ning.
After all, we know it. In the laundry the planners are, to a certain extent, able to
decide which workplace is going to be bottleneck for the upcoming production. That
is clearly shown in the transition from the washing section to the drying section.
With one product mix and sequence the planners can jam the tumble dryers, with
another mix and sequence they can jam the ironer line. The bottleneck is deter-
mined by the planning.
Real and False Bottlenecks

It can seem as if the location of the bottleneck is almost random, which it actually
also is – if the planning is random.
Only the optimised planning points out the actual, real or the genuine bottleneck.
When dealing with bottlenecks that have emerged because of random planning or
maybe because of a lack of planning entirely, they are called virtual or false bottle-
necks, because you with inexpedient planning are able to make practically every
workplace into a bottleneck.
The actual or real bottlenecks are the bottlenecks, which appear in an optimised
planning, in other words in a production planned to achieve a specific goal for the
company. In this context, you cannot get around the real bottlenecks without dis-
regarding the consideration of the company.
The Utilisation of the Bottleneck

If you lose production time on a real bottleneck you lose time on the entire produc-
tion because the bottleneck has the largest impact on the lead time and therefore
actually decides when the clothes will be ready for delivery. When it comes to the
bottleneck the utilisation of capacity is consequently very important, but actually
not for all of the other machines.
As the non-bottlenecks per definition can work faster than the bottleneck, they are
capable of catching up with lost production time, so the planners do not have to be
quite as careful with these in the same way as they do with bottleneck.
On the other hand it is important that the bottleneck has excess capacity, if nothing
else then in the shape of free work time during the night or the weekend, because
otherwise you have made it impossible for the bottlenecks to handle variations in
the volumes arriving in the laundry.
And that leads us to the main question:
Should the Laundry Strive for 100% Capacity Utilisation at all?

Before answering you must consider three things:
• do you wish to fulfil the market’s needs?

• is 100% utilisation of capacity even possible?
• if it is, what effect does it have on the production?
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Does the Laundry Wish to Fulfil the Market’s Needs?

Fundamentally you have to make up your mind about whether or not you are going
to fulfil the need, which the market at any given time might have for the laundry's
products and services. The nearer to yes your answer to this question is, the more
variations there will be in the product mix and volumes, which arrive at the laundry.
Of course monopoly-like situations exist where a laundry can take the liberty of
having the arrogant approach to the customers, that they have to adjust to the
laundry and not the other way around, but everyone else have to adjust to the
market to be able to survive, so the premise must be: yes, in the long term the
laundry can only survive by fulfilling the market's needs at any given time.
Is 100 % Capacity Utilisation even Possible?

The laundry's capacity utilisation depends on what categories and volumes are go-
ing down the production lines and the capacity of the production equipment, which
is processing the clothes. As you have already seen, the total capacity for one thing
depends on the category mix and the sequence in which the batches are pushed
down the production lines. Within one or a few hours the laundry's planners might
be in control of what is sent down the process routes and in which sequence, but if
the timeframe is increased to more than a single day, the input depends on what
is delivered from the laundry’s customers. They decide on both the volume and the
mix. If the planners are supposed to utilise the machines 100% it therefore either
requires that the:
• machinery is always matched with the volumes and categories, which

the laundry’s customers choose to deliver to the laundry and that the
planners always send the clothes down the laundry’s production lines
toward the machines with available capacity, or
• laundry compose their customers portfolio on the basis of which
machines have available capacity and that the planners always send
the clothes down the production lines towards these machines.
Both situations are close to impossible to achieve because the circumstances are
way too difficult to meet. You can adapt a 100% machine utilisation by assembling
the next clothing pick-up with the customers in proportions to the laundry's imme-
diate capacity profile, but first of all it is almost impossible to manage to react on
or predict the immediate capacity profile, and secondly it reduces the laundry’s
ability to comply with special demands which the customers might have, for exam-
ple to deliver within a certain timeframe.
By temporarily storing large amounts of dirty clothes in the sorting-in section and
subtracting from this "raw material storage", you have a better chance of control-
ling the capacity utilisation, but still you end up in undesirable situations – for ex-
ample when the completion time for a mix of categories is spread over too long
(the in-profile of the product mix is different from its out-profile), which either
means stress in the production or extraordinarily large end product warehouses.
And over time the end product warehouses are emptied and then you are back to
square one again.
In both cases you strive to meet one criterion – namely the high capacity utilisa-
tion; at the expense of all other considerations, for example flexibility, consump-
tion, ability to deliver, batch sizes and stock sizes.
And you are even only capable of doing it over a shorter span of time, so the answer
to the other question (is it even possible to run with 100% capacity load) is: only
for a short time span and only at the expense of the optimality in the production,
the stocks and the distribution.
203
If It Is, What Does It Mean For The Production?

Of course the machinery and the staff of employees has to be adjusted to the vol-
umes and category mixes meeting the laundry, but all flows of products vary, so
the laundry has to decide where, on the graph these variations describe, it wants
to adjust the production capacity to. The staff of employees can, to a certain extent,
be adjusted dynamically – employees can be hired or fired, but you cannot get rid
of the machine write offs. The plant has to be designed so that the laundry is able
to handle the maximum volumes (during the day, the week and the season), either
within the weekly working hours or by expanding the working hours. But besides
the volumes, the laundry also has to design the plant in consideration to the product
mix.
When the bags are emptied of dirty clothes from a customer, it can be sorted into
a number of categories, each in its own amount and each with its own process route
through the laundry. But when the clothes are pushed through the production they
occupy different percentages of the capacity, which, depending on the sequence,
can be converted into production time at each workplace. One of the workplaces
will use more production time than the others when processing the clothes; and
this workplace will determine when the laundry is able to deliver to the customer
or the stock. This is the bottleneck.
To adjust amounts and product mixes so that all of the workplaces are exploited
100% means, that all of the workplaces become bottlenecks. It has the conse-
quence, that if any random workplace stops it means that all of the downstream
workplaces stop too, and from each of these downstream workplaces the stops will
spread throughout the entire laundry where each second is valuable, because all of
the resources are already exploited 100%. We already know that the fluctuations
within such a system vary around the maximum deviation. The rubbish bursts into
self-oscillation and the level of stress in the production rises towards the unbear-
able. Breakdowns do happen in laundry productions, stops do occur and every stop
will in the end delay deliveries or result in overtime – in a production, where all
workplaces are bottlenecks. You can cushion the effects of stops by building buffers
between the workplaces; but in a production where all of the workplaces are already
exploited 100%, in other words they all run equally fast and with high intensity, it
is only possible to build buffers by shifting the starting time for each workplace
down through the production, starting in the sorting-in. Every day. The stops will
slowly (or quickly) empty the buffers, but in that case, they have to be filled up
again.
So to answer the third question (what does it mean for the production): temporary
running with 100% utilisation of all the workplaces means a high level of stress,
completely inflexible production and shifting opening hours in the production.
In the long term the consequence is that you have to dimension yourself out of
this not very desirable 100% utilisation: when the production capacities are dimen-
sioned, the downstream workplaces have to be given a larger capacity than the
upstream workplaces (to be able to catch up and eliminate variations in the product
flow).
No
Therefore the conclusion is that 100% capacity utilisation in a competitive market
is only possible in a short period of time and that it has both work environmental,
organisational and economical costs – so no, you should not strive for 100% ca-
pacity utilisation for all of the machines in the laundry – only for the real bottle-
necks. And only in those coincidences, where a time reserve, outside of the regular
working hours, is available.
It is actually an important and a little paradoxical conclusion, and it means that:
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9.6 Manning
the product flow should not be adjusted to the capacity in the laundry.
The product flow should be adjusted to meet the market needs.
Important because it is crucial for the bottom line; paradoxical, because if the board
has given you the money to buy a new, expensive machine it also wants the ma-
chine to run all the time, which is not necessarily right.
It also means, that:
the product flow should not be adjusted to the resource allocation, but
– on the opposite – the resource allocation should be adjusted to the
product flow.
- Two points, which are very important to understand.
If you have purchased an expensive machine, then do not have it produce nonstop
just because it has been expensive. Also expensive machines can, by all means, be
left unexploited. If the market doesn’t draw on products from the expensive ma-
chine, then turn it off. We don’t turn on the light unless there are people in the
room. The machines do not stand alone in a production. They are all part of pro-
duction lines. If we start them, they empty upstream buffers and fill downstream
buffers, initiating the production of categories not necessariliy needed in the market
right now. One of these workplaces might be a bottleneck, which is then burden
with products nobody needs at the moment. Only if the expensive machine is the
real bottleneck in a specific plan, should it be fully utilised.
That you should strive for 100% utilisation of the staff of employees is different,
at any rate in those countries where you can, with relatively short notice and with
relatively low costs, hire and fire staff.
9.6 MANNING
The variations and cost distribution taken into consideration, one of the most im-
portant planning areas in the laundry is the manning of the production - especially
in and out of seasons.
Two methods for workforce planning single out. Both are rough in the sense that
they do not include the production planning's influence on productivity. Even though
we now know that batch sequences and process route choices exert great influence
on the emergence of bottlenecks and on general productivity, it is only possible to
swear in the production planning when you carry out the many calculations if you
have an optimisation system and the necessary raw computing power.
The results, you achieve manually with both methods, therefore have to be cor-
rected with a factor, which allows for micro-pauses, “nervous” planning, short series
etc., and in this way is dependent on the planners of the laundry.
The Elaborate
For the laundry with fluctuating demands (categories and volumes), the category-
based method is preferred because it involves every category and every work-
station.
In short you work out the volumes expected from each customer in the coming
season - category-by-category, and week-by-week. Use last year’s figures, taking
into account the influence from this year’s holidays, World Championships, Olympic
205
9.6 Manning
Games, foreign exchange quotations, weather forecasts, and what else you expect
to affect the work, preferences, habits and family life of your customer's customers.
Sum up all volumes, still category-by-category, and week-by-week. This is the
model's input – the laundry's weekly product mix.
Inside the laundry the workstations have to be manned according to this forecast.
Since the method works with volumes per category on the input side, we have to
do the same on the processing side. Productivities have to be worked out category-
by-category, and workstation-by-workstation. Use weight as common denomina-
tor, e.g. clock process speeds per kilogram. Calculate the necessary time (in clock
hours) to produce the week's volumes of each category, workstation by work-
station. Then multiply by the number of operators and sum up the weekly working
hours on each workstation. Do not round off numbers yet.
Sum up the necessary working hours from all the workstations, divide by standard
weekly hours and you get the size of that week's workforce - provided you are able
to level out volumes over the entire week, and have access to flexible workers.
Put into a spreadsheet, with customers and their volumes on the input side, work-
stations and productivities on the process side, and the number of employees per
workstation on the output side, you are now able to calculate your way through the
entire season, week-by-week.
The Quick and Dirty

The laundry, which experiences an almost unchanged product mix over seasons,
has no reason to distinguish between categories, and would probably prefer to use
the quantity-based method. If for instance the total, annual quantity in the laundry
rises from 1,000 to 1,300 tonnes, and the rise is evenly distributed on all catego-
ries, there is no need to distinguish between different categories. It is probably not
the case for the laundry's entire product mix, but if variations are relatively small,
it is okay to pretend.
In short, you work out the total quantity of linen and textiles you expect to receive
in the laundry in the coming season, week-by-week. Use last year's figures as start-
ing point, and adjust according to your expectations for this year's season.
This is the input.
Since the method works with total quantities, you also need to work out produc-
tivities in totals, for each workstation. But even though the total product mix does
not change from last year to this year, it changes gradually in and out of seasons,
which most often is reflected in productivities. The same way as last year. When
clocking process speeds, you are likely to experience an increase in productivity
with increasing volumes. So when e.g. the check-in handles 5 tonnes a day with 3
operators, but 8 tonnes a day with 4, we have to bear this in mind when we work
out the manning requirements, and assess productivities week-by-week in the tran-
sition from low to high season.
Calculate the clock hours necessary to produce each week's total quantities on each
workstation, and convert this figure to the necessary working hours. Sum up work-
ing hours from all workstations, divide by the standard weekly hours, and you have
the size of that week’s workforce – provided, of course, you are able to level out
volumes over the entire week, and have access to flexible workers.
Put into a spreadsheet, with total volumes per week on the input side, workstations
and productivities on the process side, and the number of employees per work-
station on the output side, you are now able to calculate your way through the
entire season, week-by-week.
206
9.7 Consumption and Flows of Products
There are other ways to produce rosters. The most important thing is to take into
consideration when people are coming in and to a greater extent, when they are
leaving in advance of the day. As leaders and planners we will learn about whether
staff is needed, but the production will rarely let you know, if there are too many
people.
Vacations and Lieu Days

The most desirable placing of vacations and lieu days is the same for both methods.
On the way into the season every week’s number of necessary employees is in-
creasing, on the way out it is in decline. Make use of this. Place the regular staff's
vacations and lieu days in direct association with the hiring or firing of holiday re-
liefs. This lengthens the employment of the holiday reliefs, which gives more sta-
bility and less “noise”, notice Figure 122 below.
Num ber of em ployees
Calender week
Figure 122 - A roster, with vacations
The figure's vertical Y-axis shows the number of staff members and its horizontal
X-axis shows the weeks during a season. The lighter horizontal blocks show the
regular staff's vacations and lieu days. Every vacation period is placed in direct
association with the employment of new holiday reliefs. Whereas the last to arrive
originally (in the top of the graph) only should have been employed for 3 weeks,
the placement of the regulars' vacation lengthens the reliefs' employment with 1
plus 3 weeks in front, and 1 week after. Added up that comes to 11 weeks of
employment, which is usually easier to hire for than 3 weeks.
Eventually also make use of the vacations to reduce the number of new appoint-
ments in one single week. It always causes “noise” to take in new employees. The
more people starting at the same date, the more “noise” So, it is easier for the
production to absorb them one at a time. Use vacations to shift the job starts.
9.7 CONSUMPTION AND FLOWS OF PRODUCTS

In the previous section we mentioned the term expense bottlenecks and showed
that you can identify them by their consumption, but you have also seen that the
lead time (the time consumption) is influenced by planning.
Does that apply to all consumptions? What actually is consumption?
Consumption
In a planning context consumption is defined as:
207
9.8 Buffers
a combination of:
• a batch's independent and dependent consumptions at each work
station
• the work station's degree of filling
• the way in which the workplaces are connected into process routes,
• the sequence in which adjoining batches are pushed down along the
process routes.
Long, but precise and very much alike the definition of capacity, because the con-
sumption is also both independent and dependent.
Dependencies
The (planning-) independent consumption is for example the utilisation of fresh
water in a washer extractor, when it washes one portion at 110 kg of any given
category.
The best example of the (planning-) dependent consumption is the continuous
batch washer, which washes batches after each other, where the previous batches
affect the baths, which may be reused by the following batches. When changing
categories you can be forced to insert empty compartments and this affects the
capacity (dependent capacity load), as you have just seen, but with certain washers
you can choose to only exchange baths (e.g. at vague changes in colour) to avoid
a possible negative impact on the following baths (e.g. discolouring). Bath ex-
changes cost money in the form of lost water, chemicals and energy – the depend-
ent consumption. Another good example of the dependent consumption is the re-
sidual moisture’s impact on the downstream workplace’s energy consumption and
process speeds (dependent capacity load).
When the planners know what the machine’s consumption and capacity load is de-
termined by, they are capable of considering this and planning in accordance to it.
But also the purchasers and the suppliers should be aware of the dependent con-
sumptions and capacity loads, because they cost but also because they restrict the
planning options – they steal degrees of planning freedom from our planners.
9.8 BUFFERS
Large stocks of clothes in the laundry in front of each working place give the de-
grees of freedom back, as specialising, interdependencies, precedence constraints,
variations in volumes, asynchronous in- and output product mix profiles, disagree-
ments on the purpose of the production, and all the other bad things, which you
can experience in a laundry, will steal from the planners.
And yes, the buffers and clothes stocks in the laundry production is a fine way of
giving back degrees of freedom, but only to such an extent, that is not possible to
achieve in other, cheaper ways. No matter what, this is the lazy manager's or plan-
ner's solution. The planners of the laundry have to use the buffers in a constructive
and purposeful way in the productions and not just lull themselves into false secu-
rity by letting it be a way of covering flaws. Many and filled buffers are warning
indicators, which tell of flaws of one type or another, and every single batch in
every single buffer demands a very good explanation.
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9.8 Buffers
The Only Reasons for Having Buffers are:

In reality there are only four economically motivated usages of buffers:
• as planning points
• to ensure the continuous processing on bottlenecks
• to minimise the number of micro-pauses, and
• to compensate for high set-up, changeover, idle or stop costs.
The latter is an exception; where very large costs or physical limitations arise from
the start, change-over, idling or stopping of an upstream machine, e.g. the empty-
ing of a continuous batch washer.
Unless the filling degrees of the buffers are included in the laundry’s strategies of
operation and most categories have alternative process routes, then the buffers
should not even be filled. In all other situations filled buffers are an indication of
the fact, that those responsible for the operation are not capable of having the
proper overview of the production and purposeful plan.
It is that simple.
Forming, Dimensioning and Placing the Buffers

When the buffers are placed and dimensioned, it is first and foremost with the
purpose of admitting points in the production, where the planners can make and
possibly remake their decisions about batch sequences and the batches' process
routes through the production, as well as storing batches in front of bottlenecks.
Secondly (and with lesser influence on the dimensioning) it is for the sake of avoid-
ing the short, frequent pauses that are consequences of synchronisation difficulties
along the process routes – the micro-pauses.
Finally buffers can be caused by large change over times on some machines and
this type of consideration can require very large downstream buffers.
The buffers are dimensioned according to the combined effect of these three con-
siderations.
The application of buffers as planning points make demands on the dimensioning

of the buffers according to the frequency of the planning. Not the other way around.
A decision about the continual supply of batches should not be made, when the
buffers are running out of batches. The buffers should be dimensioned so that they
can hold the number of batches produced between two decisions on starting the
downstream work station. This means, that buffer and lot sizes are inextricably tied
to each other – the choice of the lot size should determine the buffer size, not the
other way around, because the lot size is determining the optimality of the planning
and, consequently, the costs.
By far, most operation strategies aim at low buffer contents, so there is no demand
of large buffer capacities coming from there. On the other hand, a general objective
of the operation strategies to minimise the micro-pauses would call for steady
buffer contents in front of most working places.
Large change over costs, e.g. idling and emptying of a continuous batch washer,
may call for a machine to run most or all the time, once it is started. If its production
capacity is a lot bigger than downstream working places, it can in a short amount
of time build up a considerably large downstream buffer. With this way, imbalances
in laundry's capacity will surface in the shape of large buffers contents.
The knowledge of the effect of the buffers and their dependency on the capacity
up- and downstream is important, because through these dependencies, the buffers
get direct influence on the formulation of the optimal product mix.
An example:
209
9.8 Buffers
A wash room with a large capacity supplies two process routes downstream with
lesser capacity. In between the wash room and each process route, there is a
buffer, a large B1 and a small B2. Downstream from the B2 there is an ironer line
which is a bottleneck in the following 4 hours of planned production.
Figure 123 - Different sizes of buffers
What is the effect of this constellation?

The ironer line has to run all the time, because right now it is the bottleneck. As a
consequence buffer B2 can never run out. The wash room is placed upstream from
B2 and has a much larger capacity than the ironer line. The continuous batch
washer is able to supply far more batches than the ironer line can absorb. But buffer
B2 is small. The CBW has to produce a few batches to B2, and then produce to B1,
which is much larger, until the ironer line has emptied a number of batches from
B2. But since B2 is small it also runs out fast, which cannot happen, because the
ironer line is the bottleneck. The wash room is accordingly forced, with short inter-
vals, to change between producing to B2 and B1. Luckily B1 is large. So while the
wash room waits on being able to supply B2 again, it supplies B1.
This is only one part of the laundry, but you see a pattern forming already. The
two most important conclusions of the example are:
• large upstream capacity makes downstream buffer sizes (B1 and B2)
dependent on each other. If B2 is small, then B1 has to be big, or else we
will get a stop in the wash room;
• interdependent buffer sizes of very different capacities means frequent
changes of categories on the upstream work station. In our example B2’s
small capacity has a direct and tangible influence on the product mix over
the CBW.
210
9.8 Buffers
Planning a Production without Buffers

Of course, a production without buffers may give most young and inexperienced
planners a cold sweat because every little planning mistake causes immediate and
obvious consequences in the production, and later on in the accounts. In such a
production all the consequences of planning errors, capacity imbalances and con-
straints will surface. All mistakes become visible.
There is no doubt that extensive use of buffers relieves the planning responsibility,
but in return we get more than we bargained for. It is obviously more comfortable,
but certainly not better.
Not only do buffers drain the company's working capital, they also hide hard facts
– and spoil our chances to improve the flow of goods and of capital. We, the laundry
managers, had better acknowledge that errors occur and have causes – and that it
is our responsibility to try to eliminate them. Not drown them. It is better to know
of the problems and try to solve them, than to hide and forget them and tell our-
selves (and everyone else) that everything is just perfect. As that is not always
true.
The best planning result is achieved with a limited and motivated use of buffers,
based on a buffer free production plan.
One of the purposes of buffers is to give back to the planners the degrees of free-
dom stolen by machine design and plant layout.
When you see a laundry filled to the top everywhere in the production, it is either
a sign of the production not in control of product flows or a great imbalance in the
capacities. When we decide on the laundry plant layout, process routes, internal
transportation systems and buffers, it is an important effort to try to keep down
inventories and operating costs by preserving these degrees of freedom. We must
avoid imposing restrictions on the flow of goods - like precedence constraints in
conveyor systems – only then we can keep costs of stocks and operations down.
How About Lot Sizes?

But if you already have a large imbalance in your capacities, as for example a very
large CBW, when should you start the washer and when should you stop it again?
How long should the series of batches through the CBW be, now that it is so ex-
pensive to start, but cheap once it is running?
Those, who have the opportunity, i.e. the time, the raw computer force and the
software for it, can take the batches from any given day (that is all the batches)
and the capacities and the employees from that same day, and calculate every
single batch sequence alternative, with all the limitations, constraints and interde-
pendencies, which the laundry production is exposed to. It is from these sequences
and process route choices the lot sizes emerge.
And among the many millions of alternative sets of key figures (pay, water, chem-
icals, electricity, oil, gas, chemical wear, lead time, productivity, micro-pauses,
starts, change-overs, idling, stops, reallocation of the employees, etc.) we could
point out the most cost efficient. In this optimised solution we could then focus on
the machine with the most expensive change-overs (probably the CBW or an ironer
line), and see the pattern of categories over this work station. When the pattern
repeats itself, you have the lot size.
This is what it takes to calculate the right lot size. There are no easy solutions or
formulas. The ones which exist are simplified and give, in the best of cases, a
suboptimal solution to a limited part of the task. The problem is that we, in practice,
neither have the time nor the computing-power. For that purpose, the task is much
too large.
If instead we isolated the problem so that it only dealt with the batches, which
potentially could be washed in the CBW, we would have to calculate the sum of
211
9.9 Supplies
start, change-over, stop and production costs on the process routes including the
expensive CBW on the one hand, and on process routes including the alternative
washer extractors on the other. For one batch we would see that it was too expen-
sive to start the CBW. Then, for two batches where it would probably still be too
expensive to start the CBW.
At some point – maybe at 30 or 50 batches – the total sum of the costs would be
smaller when running the CBW, even though we are including the large start and
stop costs. At this point the CBW should to be started. So, in our example it is when
there are at least some 30 batches sorted and ready to be dropped into the CBW.
But when do we stop it again?
When we have finished washing for the day, when upstream line-up areas are
empty, when downstream buffers are full, when the check-in has to supply washer
extractors. Well, probably only when the working day is over. Seen in isolation, the
more batches we can load onto CBW, once it's up and running, the more we save
on the operation – as in our example.
Also, in our example we will gain by having sorted as much to the CBW as possible,
and by having empty buffers downstream from the CBW and full buffers upstream
from the washer extractors, when we start the CBW.
The Damned Bindings

But couldn't we just construct a production structure, where every workstation has
been made independent of all the others – where every category did not have any
bindings and wasn’t interdependent to other categories and thus could not run on
any other workstations – so that every workstation would be a kind of a shop in the
shop and could be planned independently from the others?
Yes, you can make yourself free of bindings on the in-put side by the means of
specialised production equipment, specialised process routes and pool production,
but the bindings are also found on the resource side.
An employee is able to operate one, two or more workstations, but not at the same
time, and then we are subjects to limitations just as well and have to prioritise and
estimate how the resources are best used and when they should be loaded. And
this is even in a situation, where we have imposed ourselves the very inflexible
precondition, that a category can only be processed one place.
There are no smart and economically rational ways to avoid the need of planning.
Let us just accept it.
9.9 SUPPLIES
The laundry can take some of the pressure from the production away by the means
of buffers, but even more pressure can be taken off by the means of large supplies
at the customers or high delivery frequencies.
Actually a lot of laundry customers get nervous, if more than one day passes be-
tween laundry deliveries. A lot of clothes in the customers’ stockpile of linen calms
their nerves and this gives the laundry peace. In many cases the laundry – by itself
– makes sure to make the customers' supplies very big. And if they don't, the
customers do.
Controlling the Supplies

The supply sizes are determined by 1) the initial clothes deposit, which is laid out
at a new customer, and 2) by the continuous flow of supplies, which is often con-
trolled by the customer himself by the means of requisitions.
212
9.9 Supplies
But only the laundries and their textile suppliers have clothes as a top priority. To
everyone else, textiles are not important in the running of the company, or re-
garded as downright a necessary evil. At the hotels the satisfaction of the customers
is the most important; at a hospital it is the recovery; in the slaughterhouse the
cuts; in the metal industry welding, threads, lathes and the milling; in the prisons
it is the rehabilitation programmes. None of these places pay special noticeable
focus to the running of the cleaning and linen rooms, and they do not have any
special respect either.
The clothes simply have to be in order, and few of the laundry’s customers put any
special pride in, or want to take the trouble of, the running of the linen depot.
The controlling of the clothes supply is characterised by this fact. Most are based
on some form of requisition system and examples of misuse of the systems and
mismanagement of the supplies are many, surprising and frequent.
A passenger ship in service filled in its requisitions with the same numbers week
in and week out without the smallest glance at how much clothes they actually had
piled up in the depot. At some point there were so many dishcloths in the depot,
that they had to use a cabin to store them, but it was only when they could not fit
more dishcloths into the cabin, that the purser became aware of the problem. The
central laundry was not even aware that about a ton of dishcloths slowly had piled
up on one of the ships.
A smaller pension, with 40 beds, did not want to spend time on counting the bed
sheets, but requested 500 beddings at a time, every time they were in low supply.
On the other hand, some (long) time passed between deliveries, so they did have
some wit. In the meantime they did not have to worry about having enough bed
linen in stock.
But try to draw the consumption in a co-ordinate system:
Figure 124 - Two different customer stock profiles
The Y-axis is the number of beddings and the X-axis is the time.
In one case 500 beddings are delivered to the customer, who consumes them over
a longer period of time (the large red triangle). In the other case 60 beddings are
delivered, which are consumed over a shorter period of time (the 9 small orange
triangles). The large red triangle represents the beddings lying unused in the cus-
tomer’s depot… clothes, which could have been delivered to another customer who
needed them and could have generated a profit in the laundry. The dark area is, in
other words, unused potential.
If the pension itself were to invest in the bedding, they would probably have chosen
the 60 sets instead of the 500.
213
9.9 Supplies
To Be In Control
Requisition systems must be something the devil, textile producers or perhaps
some lazy laundry manager invented. No other single factor has had greater influ-
ence on the exorbitant losses in the laundries' linen stocks.
But the production is actually able to remedy this problem, by counting what is
collected each day, from each customer. Of course a requisition system is harmless
in itself, provided the laundry keeps track of each item in circulation, i.e. when the
laundry takes on the responsibility for stock utilisation – what in other industries is
called the stock turnover ratio.
But this requires:
• sizing and distributing stocks according to each customer's maximum

need (in the long term)
• continuous control of the actual stock turnover ratio with each customer
(in the medium term), and
• continuous transaction control (in the short term).
Think of it as if the customer once and for all is provided with a supply of linen
equivalent to her maximum need in the season. This stock is hers. What she sends
to the laundry is returned to her, as if it was her own linen. Most likely not the exact
same pieces, but in the same qualities and quantities. Her stock circulates. And the
requisitions are, all things considered, not necessary in this laundry.
Her supply consists of the beddings in use (if it is a hotel), the beddings in her
depots, and the beddings in transit or at the laundry. Her number of beds is con-
stant, a security stock in the depot is constant too, whereas the maximal amount
of dirty laundry depends on 1) her occupancy and 2) the time between the laundry’s
pick-ups (we call it the Largest Use Between 2 Collections = LUB2C or just LUBTC).
To avoid bringing her a situation of lack of bedding, the laundry has to monitor her
stock turnover on a frequent basis.
To return to her, what she has delivered to the laundry, every collection needs to
be counted – what did she actually send to the laundry? Continuous transaction
control calls for the counting of each and every collection. Only then does the laun-
dry experience lower losses on textiles and high textile stock turnovers, i.e. aproper
revenue on the textile investment.
Stock Sizing
Only now, is the laundry is able to size stocks according – not to some theoretical
factor to multiply by the number of beds – but to the customer's actual require-
ments.
The use of requisition systems is based on the assumption that the stocks need to
be adjusted daily or weekly. But is that really necessary?
No, it is not. If base stocks need to be adjusted, it is only in and out of seasons.
During and between seasons, stocks might as well be regarded as being constant,
unless, of course, the laundry customers have alternating seasons. But only very
few do.
The requisition systems are, in this form of clothing accountancy, unnecessary as

the laundry itself counts what comes in to the laundry (transaction control) and
returns the same amounts – even though it might be pool items. Maybe the requi-
sition systems are convenient to the laundries because they excuse them from
managing the stocks, but... what other industries leave it to the customers to ad-
minister their assets?
214
9.9 Supplies
When the laundry is doing transaction control in the sorting-in, in addition to high
stock turn over, over time it gets an incomparably good frame of reference to ad-
minister the distribution of customer stocks from.
The Calculations
…are simple. The customer's necessary stock of a given article type is the sum of
these four measures:
• collected quantity,
• delivered quantity,
• the quantity currently in use by the customer (e.g. sheets on beds),
• a safety margin (of e.g. 20%),
- on the day when the sum of the first three measures are at maximum (= max.
consumption).
LUB2C and Transaction Control

This teaches us two important lessons:
• collected quantities depend on the customers' consumption profile (of

course), but also on the interval between collections. The longest interval
between two collections becomes an important parameter to stock sizing.
• the interval between two collections is determined by the geography
(mileage costs), the customer's fear of shortcomings or hygienic
considerations, but in any case it ties distribution and stocks closely
together.
Transaction Registration
To size stocks correctly we need to keep track of daily deliveries and collections. It
is in the track records we find the maximum consumption by means of the formula:
[maximum consumption + number of beds] x safety margin
- which could read:
[collected 17 + delivered 78 + 162 beds] x a safety margin of 20% =

308 duvet covers.
An Example
Organised in a table the calculations could look like this (for duvet covers with a
single customer):
215
9.9 Supplies
Figure 125 - An example of the collection control from one customer
For the same article, duvet covers, the calculations for a number of the laundry's
customers might look like this, see below:
Taken literally the calculations imply that the laundry would be able to recall 364
duvet covers from a single customer. Applied to all customers the calculations get
really interesting.
Without changing distribution patterns, production set up, responsiveness, cus-
tomer service or anything else of importance, this laundry would be able to reduce
the risk of shortcomings by redistributing 40 duvet covers, and reduce the need for
reinvestments by recalling 652 duvet covers to the laundry's central stock.
Figure 126 - An example of collection control for numerous of customers
216
9.10 The Good Laundry Production
Notice that deficits only appear (besides the safety margin), if the customer is ca-
pable of finding the necessary bedding from other places or has extras herself.
Otherwise deficits will only appear as extra deliveries on days, which are not
planned in the distribution plan.
The customer is not burdened by cost demanding requisition systems, invoicing can
be moved from the administration into the check-in, be carried out automatically
by means of chip systems, according to incoming volumes.
Each article is accounted for, and in the long run the laundry accumulates an un-
equalled statistical data base from which it is able to manage customer stocks and
the laundry's total textile volumes.
The laundry does not need to produce in batches to maintain this kind of transaction
control. It works just as well in pool laundries. But it does require piece control and
counting in the check-in.
And here is the problem: very few laundries are willing to shoulder this cost, in
spite of the advantages of controlling assets in both the short and the long run. So
we need to make the laundry suppliers attack this problem when designing check-
in and registration systems, in order to make multiple counting, reading and regis-
tration as simple, fast and cheap as possible. Trimming of collections are just as
important, as trimming of machines and employee skills.
It is an established fact that laundries, by means of these simple calculations, have

been able to reduce textile procurement by up to 90% in 2 consecutive years and
generate hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling in working capital.
By means of transaction tracking the laundry regains control of flow and stocks,
and is able to utilise their full potential.
9.10 THE GOOD LAUNDRY PRODUCTION

We are almost there.
Now, you know what is going on in the industrial laundry, which machines, pro-
cesses and methods the laundry uses, you know about the clothes, the various
forms of production and the planning methods, and you have a good understanding
of the laundry production’s motives and its behaviour. You also know the language
of the laundry.
But remember:
A good laundry is not necessarily mechanised or automated, even though our sup-
pliers would like to convince us that this is the case. You can easily make a mistake
and allow yourself to be impressed by a heavily industrialised laundry production,
but the mechanisation in itself is not a guarantee for earning abilities or a good
working environment. It is only an attempt to adapt to a certain market situation
and can very well be out of place. We do not necessarily have to increase the laun-
dry’s level of mechanisation. Instead we have to adjust the laundry to its market
and create the best conditions for survival by using the conditions of its market as
its base.
Recognise the Good Laundry

Now, on the other hand, you also know what the characteristics of the good laundry
are, which is summarised briefly in Figure 127 below.
A laundry with these characteristics will, in most cases, end up with a good econ-
omy, based on a stable core of customers, but often, we as planners do not have
access to the profit and loss accounts of either the laundry or the production sites.
217
9.11 Purchase Strategy
We must be able to recognise the characteristics of the good production inside the
laundry and create our solutions with a special view to recreate these characteristics
in our own productions.
Figure 127 - The good laundry production's characteristics
And on this we will leave the laundry production, and briefly draw up a proposal to
a purchase strategy for our Learners Industrial Laundry, which corresponds with
the conditions and considerations of the laundry production.
9.11 PURCHASE STRATEGY

When the laundry purchases items for the production, it is with the intention of
fulfilling both the function and the purpose of the laundry, the way these are for-
mulated in the operation strategy of the production. In other words, the purchase
strategy is completely subject to the operation strategy of the production.
218
You know the conditions for the operation strategies and you know that:
it is only when the products flow through the laundry at the right speed,
quality and price, that the laundry can meet a market’s demands and it
is only when the laundry meets a market’s demand, that it is able to
survive in the long run.
And you know that:
the supplier must be able to place his solutions in the production in a

way that will ensure that his contributions to the realization of the
operation strategy are neutral or positive.
The supplier’s solutions should, because of the competitive situation and the indus-
trialisation, first and foremost be evaluated in the light of their contribution to ca-
pacity, operating costs and possibilities of process control (such as mica window,
control and data gathering), and only secondary on the quality of finish, work en-
vironment etc. It sounds rough, but that is the way it has to be in a competitive
market.
The capacity of a production is defined as the combination of:
• the capacity of each working place

• their load levels
• the way they combine in process routes
• the sequence in which the batches are pushed down the process routes,
where the consequence of product mix, batch sequence and process routes result
in the location of the bottlenecks. And, in the end, it is these bottlenecks that will
decide the capacity. So, when the laundry invests, trims and maintains, the focus
should be on the bottlenecks.
There will always be bottlenecks in a production, both flow bottlenecks, which are
defined as:
those work places, whose relative, marginal change in process speed

has the biggest absolute influence on the overall lead time,
and expense bottlenecks, which are defined as:
those workplaces, whose relative marginal change in consumption

have the biggest absolute influence on the total variable costs.
When the laundry evaluates the operation costs, whether it is on the basis of bot-
tlenecks or not, both the dependent and the independent consumptions, but also
the depreciations and the maintenance should be considered. It is the offered so-
lution's total contribution to the overall operation of the laundry, which have to be
evaluated and should be either neutral or positive.
219
The consumptions are defined as:
a combination of:
• a batch's independent and dependent consumptions at each work
station
• the work station's degree of filling
• the way in which the workplaces are connected into process routes,
• the sequence in which adjoining batches are pushed down along the
process routes.
But since the dependent consumptions are included in the calculations and since
the capacity depends on the planning, the planning of the production has to be
taken into consideration when the laundry calculates the contributions of the sup-
plier’s solutions.
This will make the supplier an important player in the operation of the laundry, but
it will also give the supplier the opportunity to offer solutions of high quality, be-
cause the solutions are not only evaluated from the acquisition costs alone, but also
from the overall costs of operation in the laundry. Therefore, the suppliers and the
laundry may consider the “good” machines, meaning those which last long and are
easy to maintain. The laundry can even allow itself to consider service contracts. It
is after all more reasonable to ensure an authorized, preventive maintenance and
uptime on an ironer line to the price of 200 thousand euro, than a copying machine
to 1 thousand euro.
The only thing left now, is to take a look at the production techniques in a slightly
broader perspective, by identifying their legitimacy in the economic conditions of
the laundry.
In fact, we have to take a closer look at…
220
10.1 Real Economic Increase
10. THE SURVIVAL OF THE LAUNDRY

The accounts:
That is where we started and that is where we are going to finish – in the economy,
that “undercurrent” that shapes and controls all demands, decisions, development
and the laundry’s future.
“But, the accounts mean nothing”, you want to shout once in a while. How do the
accounts contribute in a production? What does account plans, preliminary state-
ments of account, budgets, monthly statements, and daybooks create, other than
big piles of paper?
In short, nothing, they are history. In the worst cases we only make them to please
the tax authorities. In the best cases they are reflecting the results in the produc-
tion, with a built-in delay.
In spite of this, they are constantly examining us. Every single day we have to be
able to explain and justify, each action. As a principle, they are everywhere, and
they run through any project in the short and in the long run. They force us never
to act out of emotion, that we can never let the consideration of the individual
overshadow the consideration of others, that we can never involve our personal
preferences and that we must never forget who owns the company. They force us,
with care and diligence, to analyse, conclude, develop and realise – they force us
to do what is necessary.And, if nothing else, they force us to look at the laundry as
if we were owners, investors or buyers.
So let us finish with that. To put the productions technique into an overall economic
context, and at the same time look at why production technique, more than any
other technique, can improve the real values and economic goals of the company.
10.1 REAL ECONOMIC INCREASE

Whether the owners of the laundry wish to evaluate us (the leaders) on our ability
to run the laundry, to create incentive bonus systems or find the total sales price
on the company, to carry out an economic due diligence, substantiate a business
plan, quantify a business idea, apply for financing, identify partners or acquisition
goals, or to understand the company’s own cost drivers – the method is the same.
Real Economic Increase is a further development of Economic Value Added (EVA),
a finance-theoretic well renowned term, that can be traced all the way back to
1896, but only within the last decade has it become used in a general sense for
business plans or performance evaluations within Corporate Finance.
221
Today, increased measurements are used in many of the biggest and best-driven
companies, like Coca Cola Company, Siemens, AT&T and Quaker Oats. And few
other methods are capable of identifying the true capabilities and values of a laun-
dry to the same extent.
Basically real economic increase shows how effectively the invested capital is spent
in the company and whether the owners should keep the capital in the company.
How to Estimate Real Economic Increase:

In practice the real economic increase is calculated as:
• the company’s result before interest, tax, depreciation and

amortisation (the so-called EBITDA)
• minus real depreciations of the real reacquisition value of the plant
• minus the real interest on the real plant value.
So, the real economic increase is what is left over, when the company has paid
interests and written off the total reinvestment in the laundry plant, over the time
of use to a proper interest rate.
Maybe you are wondering why the interest rates and depreciations in the account
are substituted by others, which are calculated. We do it for several reasons. The
most important is to be able to estimate:
• the laundry's ability to survive

• the alternative placement of the capital, and
• the laundry’s value as going concern.
An example:
In the middle of the 70’s a rather big laundry invested in brandnew production
equipment. Water, chemicals and work force consumptions decreased heavily be-
cause of the new equipment plus they experienced higher level of automation and
recirculation of energy, and the laundry’s earnings soured. Perfect, the owners said
to each other and withdrew the bottom line result for personal use, year after year.
In the following years, the fierce competition erased the profits. In the middle of
the 90’s, at the same time as the plant equipment was written off, the profits were
gone. Every year after this, the company made deficits and had to borrow money
in order to be able to continue their operations. Their debts increased year after
year.
Today, the laundry has 40-year-old production machinery, which is almost falling
apart, and a debt, which has paid deficits and production manager wages. The
prices are low and there is no cash flow, no working capital and no room in the
accounts to enable depreciations on new investments. They have cornered them-
selves, without making it an active, premeditated decision. Today the laundry asks
themselves: What the…? Why and when did things start to go wrong?
The answer is: When they neglected the demands for survival. When they thought
they made profit, because the bottom line said so in the accounts and when they
took the profits out to party.
If they had calculated the laundry’s real economic increase every year and only
taken this out to themselves, the laundry would have had the necessary working
capital to reinvest today. They would have noticed that the laundry was losing its
ability to survive. They could have reviewed the calculations and identified the prob-
lematic products and customers and by doing this they would have been able to
get the company back on track, in time.
222
Everything Totally In Order

As production managers and owners we had better acknowledge that the laundry
has to make yields in order to survive, rather than imagine that everything is good
just because the annual accounts show a bottom line profit. Because that is not
necessarily true long term.
The annual accounts follow the law, created by authorities in order to fulfil the
goals of the law, which are often taxes. We cannot use the annual accounts to
evaluate the survival capacity of the company and its real values.
It is only through a calculation of the real increase that the owners, investors and
lenders can see if the laundry is achieving a result, which allows survival, if the
capital placement corresponds with alternative investments and if the laundry can
pay back their loans.
Do We Ruin Values?
The method is raw:
Unless a company is able to generate a profit bigger than the capital

costs, it will make deficits. It does not create values. It destroys them.
- but fair:
One year of profit is not a real profit. Profit without depreciations is not profit. The
fact that the company pays taxes has no influence on their survival or competitive
capacity. Only when the company’s results are evaluated in a long-term perspective
and honours market-based demands, are we able to make sure that it is run the
right way.
But if the products are so similar, the competition so fierce and the technological
development so slow that the prices have decreased the earnings in all laundries –
then what? It does actually happen in old businesses that there are not sufficient
consumption reductions in new technologies to pay the depreciations and so, you
in your fight for survival have to give up on both profit and working capital. Tourism
is an example of this scenario.
A destination gets popular and people are pouring in. First the few and the rich,
who can afford to come even though the ticket to get there is expensive and the
rate of exchange is not the best. Later, many others will come, those on economy
class. The destination becomes mainstream and ends up bowled over by a clientele
who wears the place down, shouts, causes havoc; and the destination becomes
hyper sensitive to exchange rates, slumps in the state of the market, the weather,
Champion's League and all kinds of things, which the individual hotel cannot influ-
ence. What do you do then as a hotel owner? You change your market focus (to-
wards niches, virgin markets etc.) if possible, or retire whilst still making profit.
When it is clear that the company can no longer achieve a positive real economic
increase in its market, even though the operation is trimmed, rationalised and op-
timised and there is control on every single calculation, there is typically nothing to
do, but to retire. In the end: sell the company (to somebody who does not know a
thing about real economic increase) and invest your money in something else.
Get back into the industry when new technologies, techniques, methods, demands,
markets, prices, synergy effects, changes in structures or in some other premise
where that real economic increase is possible again. It sounds rough, but in a tough
economic reality, those are the conditions.
The alternative is a slow, painful death. The laundry business is, in some places,
actually an example of how you can compete yourself to death, without new tech-
nologies or techniques that can enable a continuous development. Just like some
parts of farming.
223
Real economic increase is one of the most important methods with regards to the
pricing of a company as a going concern. But it cannot stand alone. Due diligence
should happen in all of the company’s technical, environmental, organisational,
market-based and economic areas. There can be potentials and risks hidden in the
company, which influence its value, for example, rationalisation earnings in the
operations, the organisation of the work, the purchase, sale, administration, ground
in itself, buildings, machines, distribution, employees, managers, products, li-
censes, contracts, costumers, market segmentation, synergy effects, consolidation
etc., which have to be evaluated individually to see possibilities and risks.
There are simple practical methods to evaluate the influence of each area on the
laundry’s value (ex: Grass Root Surveys), but they are not relevant in the context
of this textbook, so we are going to leave them behind.
The Principles of the Method In Everyday Life

When the laundry invests, the account's value estimation forces us to look at the
investment’s influence on the overall operation. Not only the acquisition price or
account depreciations, but also the investment’s influence on the operations in to-
tal.
And this goes for all the laundry’s decisions on the use of costs, whether they are
written off in a short or longer period, or whether they are short-term or long-term
based. Each and every one has to be determined by their economic consequences.
Also decisions about machinery trimming, education and training, purchase of com-
puters, development of new products, building new markets, the start of new pro-
ductions series, process route choices, etc. Real economic increase only takes this
principle one step further.
Planning and Economy

And now we come to it.
The method promotes and favours decisions and actions, which increase the net
result of the accounts without demanding capital investments. It prompts us to
concentrate on everything we can do to reduce costs without making further in-
vestments.
But what is it?
Planning: it’s the controlling and managing production, distribution and stocks;
limitation of the administration; maximisation of sales; informed decisions regard-
ing purchases; tight calculations on all products and services; and debtor manage-
ment.
Only when we have gained control over every single act in the company (after a
kind of “damage-control”-principle), and only when every single one of them point
in the same direction – in the direction of real economic increase – can we start to
look for technical solutions to our problems.
Then the method favours investments, which maximise the profit on the flow of
products (e.g. by means of increased flow, higher processing or better pricing) or
reduce its costs (e.g. by means of lower consumptions, better cost prices, lower
wastes or higher process speeds).
Concrete
The order of the calculation is:
224
10.2 Success in Reorganisation Processes
• calculate the net result of the company before interest, tax, depreciations
and amortisations (EBITDA)
• calculate the capital tied up in buildings, productions equipment, cars,
work capital, research & development and education. And note:
equipment investments have to be taken up to the present replacement
values (PRV)
• calculate proper write offs (PWO) of the replacements values for the time
in which every asset is expected to be used
• determine a competitive interest rate (CIR) for the placement of the
capital
• calculate the real economic increase (REI) as:
REI = EBITDA – PWO – (PRV x CIR).
You can only allow yourself to be satisfied, if the REI is positive. As owner, you can
only take out yields for yourself, if the REI is positive, and in case you are doing it,
you can only take out the real increase – not the so-called profits.
If the result is not positive, you must work on calculations and methods, which do
not require further investment. Plan, rationalize, optimise, maybe with some of the
techniques, we have described in this book. Check up on all the calculations of your
products. Check the contribution margins, customer by customer. If necessary, thin
out. Get back on track, before it is too late. Even though it may be in the last
moment, you may also consider…
10.2 SUCCESS IN REORGANISATION PROCESSES

Most of us never experience the need for doing a full re-organisation of a company
in our career. The few, who have tried it so many times that they have systematised
management of re-organisation and change, point toward some central conditions
for success in turnarounds. Restructuring is an extreme example, but we can learn
from these extremes, and think about change on a daily basis, so the change will
become an easy development process and not an emergency measure. Let the
restructuring happen every day, that is: rise with the occasion not to the occasion,
and involve every single element, which somehow has or may have an impact on
results:
• people
• culture
• structure
• resources
• processes
• products, and
• systems.
Even though it sounds basic, most of us have an inconvenient tendency to forget it

in our hurry, so here are the most important steps:
Identification of Needs
There are no “easy sales” in a small industry, where everybody knows each other.
Sale for the sake of selling in the end of a month, a quarter or a complete account
year, only to correspond with the budgets or to improve share rates is not going to
benefit the company in the long run if you, at the same time, overlook the real
needs of the customer. Realise the needs of your customer and preconditions and
act on the basis of this, even though it may be difficult.
225
Needs change. With the internet, a major part of the trading has gone away from
physical companies. Net banking was the solution the banks came up with and as
a reaction many people place their engagements and assets in banks, which we did
not know existed until recently, which has given small, local suppliers a competitive
edge on a national and international level. For example, the border line between
charter and regular air service is blurring. For some time, the big airlines succeeded
to continue in selling their tickets (by means of bonus systems and big advertising
budgets), until companies such as Virgin and RyanAir gained a high percentage of
the market via cheap tickets. Some laundries do only still have smocks, tablecloths
and bedding for rent in the colours white, white and white.
Market Adaption
Almost every single market today is dynamic and turbulent heading in a variety of
directions. Those companies which are capable of identifying and following the
changes in the conditions of the market faster and better also have a bigger chance
of adapting their solutions to these conditions in time. (Although, this may include
the cannibalisation of one's own company.) In a turbulent market, only the fast
ones are going to make it. Most of the national post companies did not adapt to the
internet and e-mailing in time; the traditional convenience stores have not realised
that they cannot win against the low-cost-chains (as a principle), but only adapt to
them, e.g. Barnes & Noble who only just made it when they had to deal with Ama-
zon; Kodak didn’t manage to master the digitalisation. Many laundries still fight a
cruel battle of realisation in order to understand how they are supposed to deal
with paper towels, disposable diapers and hand-air-dryers.
Product Development
Get in front. Anticipate the development and create products, which fulfil needs
that the broad market has not yet been able to formulate – create your own “blue”
or maybe even "green oceans", as some call them. Create alliances with your cus-
tomers, understand their situation, their everyday life and problems, and under-
stand that your own problems are prone to go away if you start looking at the
problems your customers have. Product development is an on-going process. It
never stops. Only companies and careers stop. Bring in the desire and the ability
to be creative and discover and investigate the ideas, no matter how radically dif-
ferent they might be, and how ill placed they might seem in the company you are
leading. Ice-cube bags, post-its and mountain bikes are all examples of products,
which took development in totally unexpected directions.
Involvement of Employees
Buildings, companies and products are, as said before, only potentials. It is the
management and the employees, who realise these potentials. Openness about the
situation of the company, openness towards the abilities of the employees and en-
thusiasm to contribute, a shared picture of the world, the same goal and a realisa-
tion of the alternatives, all these factors play an important role in almost every
restructuring. A burning platform may create anxiety and panic, but in return it also
releases forces you wouldn’t see every day. Use these forces knowing that – in
shorter periods of time – you will be able to achieve the most amazing things.
Collect them, use them, and point them towards a constructive goal.
Efficiency
In many restructurings hard decisions are in the way, decisions that are hard to
make for leaders who have been in the company for a long time, because systems
and habits have become “holy”. But very little is actually holy, especially when it
comes to long-term survival. Sometimes you know what is required, but you hesi-
tate to make defining decisions because they “cost” – in volume, earnings, costs
226
and maybe even something as intangible as reputation and pride. Efficiency is often
a matter of change in habits, dismissal of employees – sometimes persons who
have contributed to the company for many years – and big investments in equip-
ment. Stand up for your decisions, and realise that the worst problems often grow
if you hesitate to do something about them. In between the jumps, which develop-
ment in a market can create, it is efficiency and large-scale operations, which equal
survival. In a mature, calm market the big ones will make sure that they are satis-
fied, before leaving anything to the small ones.
Speed
And finally, it is also a matter of speed. We are only performing to the best of our
abilities in shorter periods of time.
And then we reached the end of the road.

With the knowledge you now possess, you will be well fitted for the meeting
with the laundry, the production and the task at hand, and you might even,
in some cases be able to help your laundry to have a larger overview over
the correlations of the laundry production, a better understanding of the
contributions, which we, as planners and managers, can give to the laundry,
and to realise the laundry's full potential. Thus allowing the business to run
a little better.
So, be carefull and good luck out there.

Write or call us, if you have methods, tips or experiences, you would like
to share, or if you have issues, which you are grappling with.
227
11. NOMENCLATURE
DEFINITIONS
Alkali: (expression derived from Arabic, al-qali, meaning calcined ashes or potash)
an Arrhenius base (a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or alkaline earth
metal element), which forms hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water.
Alkalinity: (expression derived from Arabic, al-qali, meaning calcined ashes or

potash) measure for a solution’s content of basic ions, which can be neu-
tralised by hydrogen ions. It is an expression for the solution’s buffer ca-
pacity towards acid, its acid neutralising capacity. It expresses the solution's
buffer capacity better than the pure pH-measure. Is determined by titration
to pH 4,5 and measured in milli-equivalences per litre (corresponding to
milli-mol/litre).
Allocation: to put one or more units of one type in connection to a unit of another
type. Is used in several different situations, in the meaning of the following,
among others:
• placing a certain employee at a certain work station in the laundry at a
certain time
• making a certain employee or resource available for planning.
Ampholyte tenside: tensides are all the substances, which have the ability to
remove dirt, when dissolved in water. When dissolved in water the
hydrophilic part of the ampholyte tensides react differently, depending on
the solutions pH-value. Is mostly used in shampoos and cosmetics.
Amylase: An enzyme, which is used as an organic catalyst in the washing processes

of the laundry. Effective against starch in e.g. rice, pasta and porridge.
Anionic tenside: tensides are all the substances, which have the ability to remove
dirt, when dissolved in water. Anionic tensides are the most important and
228
Definitions
the most utilised and, from these, the Linear Alkylbenzen Sulfonate - LAS
for short – is the most common. Dissolved in water the hydrophilic part is
negatively charged. The anionic tensides are especially effective against oil-
based dirt, but usually cannot stand alone.
Apportioned clothes: a class of clothes, where each piece from each customer is
returned to the same customer. In other industries as e.g. the metal in-
dustry, this form of production corresponds to ‘order production’.
Apportioned clothes are picked up at named customers and sorted, washed
and finished separately from other customers’ clothes of the same category.
Each piece of clothes a customer has delivered is returned to the exact same
customer after processing in the laundry.
Apportioned clothes are usually held together throughout the production to
avoid clothes from too many different customers being processed at the
same time (minimises the total WIP).
Some laundries have chosen to sort and produce in batches, even though
the laundry owns the clothes themselves and in principle could have chosen
to produce in pool. In these cases the damaged and worn-out clothes will be
exchanged in the sorting-out, even though apportioned clothes usually is
returned uncritically, independent of state, as the customer has the
ownership and the responsibility for the state of the clothes.
The opposite case, where a laundry chooses to produce in pool even though
all the clothes are owned by the customers, can be practised if every piece
of clothes is customer labelled or can be easily recognised as belonging to a
certain customer, e.g. by means of colours, embroidery or prints.
Apportioned production puts the production planning under heavy con-
straints, but on the other hand it also gives the possibility of keeping close
order of each customer’s treatment of the clothes.
As opposed to apportioned clothes (and apportioned production) you have
pool clothes (and pool production).
Balance: expresses the ratio between strength (or weight) in a products warp and
weft direction.
Batch: a discrete part, as a portion of clothes – independent of the portion's size,

category, and the like. The term “batch production” is used about all types
of production, which consist in the processing of demarcated (discrete)
units, portions, pieces and the likes, as opposed to the type of (process)
production, which consists of a continual flow, which only during the pro-
duction is being portioned (e.g. fluids, crèmes, toothpaste and the likes).
Batch Allocation Efficiency (BAE): expresses the ratio (percentage) between the
time, during which a batch (or a number of batches) actually has been
processed and the total time, in which it has (they have) been available for
processing in the laundry’s production. If you subtract the BAE-percentage
from 100, you will, in principle, get a "waste percentage" for the allocation
of batches for treatment.
The higher the BAE-number is, the more effectively it has been possible to
get the batches through the laundry without wasting time. A BAE-number of
100 describes that there have been no kinds of unplanned pauses or
transport between the batches’ treatment in the measuring period – which
is not realistically reachable.
Bill Of Materials (BOM)-correlations: (route- or customer correlations) the con-

straints between batches, which customer requisitions or route pick lists are
229
Definitions
forcing on the production in its effort to finish the clothes for sending to
specific customers or specific routes. The constraints are found in batch as
well as pool productions, but in the pool laundry they are often hidden
behind disproportionately large clothes stocks.
Bobbin: spools, which in the manufacturing of textiles are used after the spinning
for up-rolling yarns.
Bottleneck, expense-: the workstation, whose relative, marginal change has the
largest absolute influence on the costs of the lot size. Expense bottlenecks
are to be found in every production. Bottlenecks can, in reality, only be
identified by sensitivity analysis. In general though, it will apply to the re-
source which generates the largest costs in the completing of the lot, and
also has the greatest influence on the total costs of the lot.
Bottleneck, flow-: the working station, whose relative, marginal change has the
largest absolute influence on the lot size's lead time. Flow bottlenecks are
to be found in every production. Bottlenecks can, in reality, only be identified
by sensitivity analysis. In general though, it applies when the resource which
is most utilised in the completion of the lot, usually also has the largest
influence on the total lead time of the lot.
Breaking strength: the product's resistance against breaking, e.g. pull. The
breaking strength is measured in N (Newton) and the measurement is made
on special laboratory devices.
Buffer: cf. Work In Progress (WIP).
Burling: removing burls, loose threads, knots and excess thicknesses on newly
woven products.
Cationic tensides: tensides are all substances, which have the ability to remove
dirt, when they are dissolved in water. Dissolved in water the cationic ten-
sides are positively charged. They have important moistening, foaming and
emulating abilities, but they are not very good tensides. They are usually
employed in softeners.
Cellulase: an enzyme, which is used as an organic catalyst in the laundry’s washing

processes. Works by “cutting” cotton fibrils and making the main fibres
smoother, softer, clearer in colours and more resistant to dirt.
Central laundry: a laundry, which is geographically placed away from the customer.
As opposed to the On-Premise-Laundry, OPL.
Circulating textile volumes: clothes, which circulate continuously between the

laundry and the customer, e.g. rental bed sheets and a hotel's own bed
sheets. As opposed to the stonewash of a textile factory’s ready-made denim
trousers.
Classified bag system: storing of sorted, portioned and categorised clothes, pre-
ferentially in bags, hung up in one or more conveyor systems hanging from
the ceiling.
Clean side: the side of the laundry production which is not exposed to dirty laundry
– that is downstream from the washing machines.
230
Definitions
CMC: Carboxyl-Methyl-Cellulose. An adjuvant in the washing process, which is

partly used to give the wash liquor its carrying capacity (suspension ability)
and partly used to give cotton products a certain proofing effect.
Combing: an intermediate step in the manufacturing of yarns (in between carding

and drawing), where the cotton fibres are paralleled.
Continuous Batch Washer: (CBW), a sectioned washing machine, where the baths
remain in every section and the clothes are moved from section to section.
As opposed to a washer extractor, where the clothes remain in the com-
partment and the baths change.
Cord yarn: yarns, where two or more twined yarn threads are twisted around each
other to create a strong and sturdy yarn. The direction of the twisting in
relation to the direction of the twine has an influence on the strength,
elasticity and other qualities of the yarn.
Damask: (derived from the name of Damascus, Syria – refers to the beautiful
patterned silk textiles which are made here during the European Middle
Ages). Dense, lustrous satin patterns against a common twill background,
in linen, cotton, silk or rayon. Made on jacquard looms.
Degree of bleaching: graduation of the whiteness degree in a product, e.g. 1/1, ½

and ¾ bleached. The term is used for bleached flax products and flax yarns.
Drawing: an intermediate step in the manufacturing of yarn (between combing and

wick division) where the cotton is given a candy floss kind of structure called
pile.
Drilling: strong 2/1 or 3/1 twilled cotton products, which are used for working
clothes.
Dobby: a weaving method, which makes simple interwoven, often repeatedly

geometric patterns. Faster and cheaper than the Jacquard-looming.
Doubling, folding: twisting of two or more threads around each other (twining),
creating an evener and stronger yarn, than the single yarn itself.
EAE: Employee-Allocation-Efficiency, cf. this.
Employee Allocation Efficiency (EAE): which expresses to what extent the em-
ployees have been operative during the time they have been available for
production (e.g. in a given plan), measured in percentage. If you subtract
the EAE-value from 100, you will in principle have a waste percentage for
the allocation of tasks to an employee or a number of employees.
The higher the EAE-value, the more efficient the employees' time has been
spent. An EAE-value of 100 therefore tells, that there has been absolutely
no form of unplanned pauses in between an employee’s allocated tasks in
the period of measuring – which in most cases is not realistically achievable
for more than a few employees and only for a short time span in each plan.
False bottleneck: cf. Virtual bottleneck.
231
Definitions
Fastness to light: a coloured product’s resistance to the fading effect, which natural
light can have. Is indicated on a scale from 1 to 8, where 1 is the worst and
8 is the best value. Fast to light is measured by letting the sunlight or a
similar light from a lamp shine on the product while you with the same light
shine on a collection of standard samples with known fastnesses to light
corresponding to the values of the scale (i.e. 8 tests in all, one for each
value). All the tests are shielded in such a way that only half of the test is
shined on. After a certain amount of hours, the results are considered and
the sample is compared to the standard set.
Filament fibre: (Latin filare: to spin) a fibre is any pliable material, which length is
at least 100 times its diameter or breadth. Filament fibres are extremely
long fibres as opposed to the shorter staple fibres. Filament fibres are usually
thin, smooth and glossy, whereas the staple fibres are short, thick and dim.
Finish: indicates stiffening (see this) as well as other mechanical or chemical pro-
cesses, a finished woven product goes through before it is sent out on the
market, e.g. proofing, calendaring, ironing, napping, pre-shrinking and
decating.
Flannelette: cotton product, which is roughened on the plain side or both sides.
Folding (doubled yarns): the folding or twisting of two threads during the production
of yarn.
Fluidity increase: a measure for chemical wear of cotton products. Important key
figure for evaluation of the laundry’s washing processes. If cotton is exposed
to oxidising agents (or regular atmospheric air), the cellulose will
disintegrate. The sugar molecules break and become shorter and shorter. If
you dissolve the cellulose, a simple process can measure its fluidity and as
short molecules cause a higher fluidity than long molecules, the change in
fluidity (fluidity increase) can be used as a goal for the chemical wear. Good
washing and bleaching methods give low fluidity increases.
Handle: the feeling you get of the product's characteristics, e.g. softness, elasticity,
firmness, smoothness, roughness etc., by grabbing it with your hands.
Heavy Duty Laundry: (HDL) an industrial laundry, which washes more than approx.
15 tons of clothes per week. As opposed to a Professional Laundry, which
could be a launderette, college laundry and the likes, or private household
laundering.
In-Process Inventory: (IPI) the physical storage space in which the Work-In-Pro-
gress (WIP) is kept and to which characteristics can be attached, e.g. the
storage space's capacity in number of batches, and whether the WIP is
placed on the floor or in a conveyor system with precedence constraints.
Interlacing: the crossing point between warp and weft.
Interlock: an interknitting of two rib knits so that there are only plain stitches on
both sides of the product, which makes the product smoother than rib
products and at the same time keeps the elasticity.
Interfacing (vlieseline): a non-woven product of mixed fibres held together by a

special binding remedy (glue).
232
Definitions
Jacquard: (weaving system developed by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in France 1804-

05). The term is used about the Jacquard mechanism that controls the wefts
in the special looms, which creates the complicated (Jacquard) patterns in
e.g. gobelins, brocades and damask.
Knitwear: garments made of knitted fabrics. The two most important knit fabrics
are warp (e.g. tricot) and weft knit (e.g. sweaters).
LIB2C: Longest Interval Between Two Collections. In the sequential line of actual
collections at each customer (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Monday),
LIB2C is the largest number of days between two collections (in the exam-
ple: 3 days, from Friday to Monday).
Lime soap: a substance, which is made and precipitated in textiles, when soap
combines with the hardness constituting salts of the water. If the lime soap
accumulates, it will make the clothes stiff, grey and smelly.
Linen supplier: a laundry, which both washes and rents out clothes as opposed to
a laundry, which only wash the customer's own clothes. Linen suppliers have
emerged after the WWII and are now gaining larger and larger currency
among other things because the laundry has the advantage in running the
production with industrial quality textiles of its own choice.
Lipase: An enzyme used as an organic catalyst in the washing processes in the

laundry. Effective against fats; both vegetable and animal in butter, olive
oil, chicken fat, and lipstick for example.
LUB2C: (LUBTUC) Largest Usage Between 2 Collections, the largest volume of

clothes, which a customer is consuming between two of the laundry’s col-
lections in a given period, e.g. a week or a season. Equal to the largest
volume, which the laundry picks up in a row of collections, e.g. within a
week. Used to determine the necessary stock at the customers, e.g. a hotel
customer’s stock of bed sheets.
Mercerising: after-treatment of the product during the process of manufacturing,

where it is subjected to cooled soda lye during a simultaneous stretch. Here
the strength of the product increases, while it becomes shinier, though less
absorbent. We differ between yarn mercerising and piece mercerising.
Micro-Pause: small unplanned pauses, of one or a few minutes duration between

the activities on a working place, as a consequence of one or more of these
causes:
• Larger capacity downstream than upstream on the process routes (along
the routes),
• Larger capacity on some categories’ process routes than on others (across
the routes),
• A product mix, which deviates from the ideal product mix norm,
• Starting up activities on earliest possible starting time (as opposed to
gathering the activities in “bundles”),
• Postponement of the starting time of a subsequent plan in regards to the
previous plans finishing time,
• Empty buffers (micro-pauses can be balanced by means of expedient
placement and use of buffers – if the buffers are emptied, e.g. in regards
233
Definitions
to the finishing of the day, a larger amount of the micro-pauses will

consequently surface),
• Inflexible machines and employees (an employee, which can only serve
one working place demands more from the flow of batches, than if they
were able to serve more or all work stations. The same applies to a ma-
chine that can only serve one category).
The micro-pauses are usually not seen in reality, because they hide them-
selves behind the Work-In-Progress and behind employee determined
variations in the process speeds on the work stations. The absence of micro-
pauses in the real laundry keeps the planners from identifying the real
bottlenecks. Micro-pauses are expressions of the “waste of time”, which is
a consequence of bad planning or incongruence between the market needs
and the laundry production capacities.
We distinguish between micro-pauses deriving from the allocation of work
to employees (the EAE-value), batches to working places (REA-value) and
batches to processing (BAE-value). In this way the EAE-, RAE- and BAE-
values express how the ratio of micro-pauses is in relation to available time.
Non-ionic tenside: Tensides are all substances, which possess the ability to remove
dirt when dissolved in water. Dissolved in water the non-ionic tensides are
electrically neutral. They mainly consist of alcohol thoxylates, which are
especially adapted for emulsifying oil-based dirt and are often mixed with
anionic tensides.
Non-woven: a method of making layers of fabric without the use of knitting or

weaving, but instead binding the fibres together by means of felting or
binding agents of different types (e.g. the material, which forms the inner
side of a disposable diaper, or some dishcloths). Not particular suited for the
processes of the laundry.
Open end (open pocket): machines, which are filled and emptied on the same side,
as opposed to pass-through machines. E.g. many types of washing machines
and dryers.
On Premise Laundry: (OPL), laundries, which are placed on the same place as the
customer, typically hotel laundries, cruise ship laundries, prison laundries
and laundries on textile factories. As opposed to Central Laundries.
Optimisation (optimal): the best or most beneficial. To find the one choice among
a lot of possibilities that fulfils a certain purpose better than all alternatives.
In regards of planning: The task to find the sequence of batches, among all
possible sequences, which best fulfils the criterion of optimisation – i.e. the
plan, which best fulfils the purpose of the company with the production,
whether it is the lowest possible costs, shortest possible lead time, lowest
possible water consumption and similar optimisation criteria (cf. this).
Optimisation criterion: the purpose, which you want fulfilled with the planning of a
given production, e.g. to complete the production with lowest possible
variable costs or with shortest possible lead time for a chosen number of
batches.
Panama weave: 2 warps go alternating under and over 2 wefts, and the panama
weave is, in principle, only a special type (double, 2/2) of the plain weave.
234
Definitions
Pass through machines: Machines, which are filled on one side and emptied on the
other side, as opposed to machines which are filled and emptied on the same
side (open end). The term is used to describe e.g. washer extractors and
tumble dryers.
pH-value: (pondus Hydrogenii) expresses the chemical activity of the hydrogen ions
in a liquid solution – the solution's acidity. Measured on a scale from 0 to
14, where values from 0 to 6 are acidic, the value 7 is neutral and values
from 8 to 14 are basic.
Pile: (from the Latin word pilus: hair) a velvet-kind of surface made by means of
an extra set of weft yarns, which create projecting nooses, which are then
cut up and trimmed, e.g. the looped (tightly packed) or cut threads that
make up the towel's absorbent surface. The denser the loops are packed,
the more absorbent the towel is.
Pilling: protruding fibre ends, which gathers in little knots on the surface of the
fabric.
Planning complexity: the number of elements to be considered in the planning and

their interrelations. Generally the increasing complexity of planning will
reduce the planners’ possibility to manually overview all relations and
constraints, and to take all due regards, which includes that you, at a certain
time, indulge in sub-optimisation. Industrial laundries, have tried to meet
the increasing planning complexity by specialising, e.g. by reducing the
number of categories in the laundry or by dedicating entire production lines
to one or only a few categories.
Planning point: a collective term, which includes the place and the time in the
production process, where decisions are made about the flow of products.
The planning point is not (necessarily) the physical place, where the deci-
sions are made, but those places in the laundry processes, where the flow
of products, the allocation of the employees or the order of the batches can
be planned or re-planned. E.g. all buffers without precedence constraints
give the possibility of re-planning the flow of products, even though the
planning takes place in an office in the administration.
Pocket split: subdivision of the washing drum into compartments. Washer extractor
drums are usually subdivided into 2 or 3 counter balanced compartments,
but you may see subdivisions of up to 16 compartments. The subdivision of
compartments serves the purpose of reducing the batch size (e.g. from 105
kg to 35 kg in a 3-compartment machine), easing the manual filling and
emptying.
Poplin: is a cotton product made from fine (possibly twisted) yarns, e.g. yarn
number 30. Weaved in plain, often with fewer wefts than warp threads.
Often mercerised (see this) and used for shirts, pyjamas and the likes.
Pool clothes: a class of clothes, where pieces of same kind of clothes can be sorted
together, no matter which customer they come from. The customer will get
the same type, but most likely not the exact same piece of clothes back. In
other industries such as the metal industry, this production form is called
stock production.
Pool clothes are picked up at customers and sorted, washed and after-
treated in a pool of items, no matter which customer the items were picked
235
Definitions
up and irrelevant to the differences in soiling. After the items are finished,
they will be put on stock in the sorting-out. From here distinct categories
but random pieces of clothes are picked when orders have to be completed
and clean clothes delivered to the customers again. In this way it would be
a freak of chance if the exact same items the customer delivered to the
laundry were returned to the same customer.
Some laundries have chosen to sort and produce apportioned, even though
the laundry owns the clothes and in principle could have chosen to produce
in pool. The pool production gives great degrees of freedom when it comes
to planning, but also removes a natural time pressure on the work stations,
reduces the possibility for individual controlling of the customers’ quality of
the clothes and to keep track of individual customers’ treatment of the
clothes.
As opposed to the pool clothes (and pool production), you have apportioned
clothes (and apportioned production).
Precedence constraint: antecedence. Limitations in the choice of batch sequence,

forced by the construction of the machine or the equipment, e.g. the order
of the batches in a continuous batch washer or, in a conveyor system.
Primary effects: washing effects. The most important effects which a dissolved
washing detergent has during and after the processes of washing. Includes
the ability to:
• Remove dirt,
• Remove stains, and
• Disperse dirt (suspension effect).
Besides the primary effects, the washing detergents have a row of secondary
effects cf. these.
Primary system: storing of dirty, unsorted clothes (either in carts, bags or hung up
in conveyor systems).
Process route: the "road", which a batch of clothes will follow through the produc-
tion and which is made up by a number of working places and WIPs (process
route steps). E.g. a process route could look like this for a batch of clothes
with the category “White terry 70x140":
• Sorting-in,
• Classified conveyor storage (14 lanes x 23 positions, with precedence),
• CBW no. 3 (35 kg., 10 compartment, incl. press),
• Tumble dryer group 1 (7 pcs. 35 kg Senking-tumble dryers),
• Conveyor WIP 4 (3 lanes x 8 positions, with precedence),
• Folder group 2 (3 terry folders with joint receiver),
• Floor WIP 8 (ironing lane stock, 6 lanes, 20 positions),
• Sorting-out.
A category can have a number of alternative process routes, distinguished
by the choice of washing machine for example. A route-alternative to the
route above could be that the category also could be washed on CBW no. 2,
which is connected to the same group of tumble dryers. A third alternative
could be that the category could be washed on a 115 kg washer extractor,
which feeds another group of tumble dryers. The more route alternatives,
the better possibilities you have to get your batches through the production.
Process route steps: one of the working places or WIP-buffers, which a batch passes
on its way down through the production, cf. Process route.
236
Definitions
Product mix ratio (-norm): the ratio, which batches from different categories have
to be chosen in, to create the best possible accordance between the capacity
at disposal and the capacity load, which the choice of batches will cause in
the production. Results in a call off-sequence, which determines the batch
line up on the floor or in the conveyor system in the sorting-in.
Calculated for each typical load situation in the laundry, e.g. whenever the
product mix or available capacities are changed (e.g. during a new season,
when a larger, new contract is landed or when a new continuous batch
washer is put into the production).
The product mix has to be formulated according to the batch categories'
process route alternatives down through the laundry, which requires that all
bathes in a lot (e.g. a day’s production) be grouped according to their
process routes. In this way the product mix norm is expressed in groupings
of categories on route level. All the categories, which run over the terry
folders could e.g. be one group, all categories, which run over the large piece
ironer be another group, etc. Usually you will find between 3 and 35 of these
kinds of categories in the laundry.
In practise the calculation is done by counting all the batches of one, typical
day’s production (one of the good days, when there was a good, continuous
flow of the right stuff at the right time in the production) and sum up the
number of batches per category for each of the category groups mentioned
above. It could look like this: For every:
• 1 batch of terry towels to the manual folding tables, there should be
• 2 batches for the tunnel finisher, plus
• 2 batches for the small clothes mangle, plus
• 3 batches for the large piece ironer, plus
• 5 batches for the terry folders.
The ideal product mix norm is the precise ratio of batches of different ca-
tegories, which precisely utilises the laundry’s capacities evenly, measured
in process time.
Products in progress: storing of clothes, which are on their way in the production
either between workstations or being processed on a work station. Also
called Work In Progress, often referred to as WIP.
WIP is stored in the buffers in front or behind the workstations in the laundry
production.
Professional Laundry: non-industrial laundry, which washes less than about 15

tonnes of clothes per week, typically laundrettes, college laundries and the
likes. As opposed to Heavy Duty Laundries.
Proofing: after-treatment of a product by adding to it a preparation or compound

to change its natural qualities, e.g. make it more or less water or flame
resistant.
Protease: an enzyme, which is used as an organic catalyst in the laundry's washing

processes. Effective against proteins, e.g. in grass, blood, dairy products
and eggs.
RAE: Resource Allocation Efficiency, cf. this.
Real bottleneck: the flow bottleneck(s), which are to be found in optimised pro-
ductions. In productions, which are not optimised, you cannot know if the
bottleneck is actually caused by a decrease in capacity along a process route
or if it is a consequence of bad planning. E.g. you could easily, by the means
237
Definitions
of bad planning, make the tumble dryer section a bottleneck by sending a

large number of fully-dried batches to the tumbler dryers. The flow
bottlenecks created by planning are called virtual or false bottlenecks, and
those bottlenecks, which are consequences of skewed capacities along the
process routes in optimised production, are called real or genuine bot-
tlenecks.
Resource Allocation Efficiency (RAE): a measure of the unexploited part of the time,
which a resource (a working place) is available in any given plan, measured
in percentage. If you subtract the RAE-number from 100, you will in principle
get the waste percentage for the allocation of tasks to the resource (or a
number of resources). The higher the RAE-number, the more efficient the
laundry has been in utilising the available time of the resources. An RAE-
number of 100 means, that there has been no kind of unplanned pauses
between the allocated tasks of a resource in a plan – which in most cases is
neither wanted nor realistic for more than a few resources in each plan: the
flow bottlenecks. Simplified, the bottleneck is the resource, which for the
longest duration in a plan has the highest RAE-value.
Ribbed: knitting, where every other stitch is knit stitches (and every other is purl
stitches), which results in products, which look the same on both sides, and
are very elastic.
Roving: process step in the manufacturing of yarns (between wick division and
spinning), where the wicks are stretched and made parallel into pre-yarns.
Sanfor: pre-shrinking of a textile product, which is made by pushing the product

together when wet, immediately after which it is dried, leaving the product
in the size it will get later after normal laundering (and shrinking).
Sateen (satin): one of the main weaves, which leaves the product with a very shiny
and smooth surface. Characteristic of the satin weave is the scattered warp
interlacing of the product. You distinguish between warp sateen and weft
sateen, but in both cases at least 5 shafts are needed for a sateen weave.
Scouring: textile production step in the after-treatment (finishing) of the weaved

products, which includes deleting production dirt, oil and fluff.
Secondary washing effects: the side effects of washing detergents. The unintended
and unwanted effects, which a dissolved washing detergent has during and
after the washing processes. Includes:
• Chemical wear,
• Greying,
• Inorganic incrustation (lime precipitation), and
• Organic incrustation (soap residual)
Besides the secondary effects, the washing detergents have primary
washing effects, cf. these.
Sequencing: to arrange in order. Sequencing is the function of assigning a number

of tasks to a number of resources in consideration of these resources'
limitations and interrelations – in context with an industrial laundry, se-
quencing is lining up and sending batches into the laundry in such a way
that the tasks on every involved working station in the laundry are possible
to solve for both employees and machines.
238
Definitions
Singeing: textile production step in the after treatment (finishing) of yarns and
woven products, which means to burn protuberant fibres and yarn ends on
heated copper surfaces in order to give it a smooth surface.
Single yarn: single thread of S- or Z-twisted fibres, grouped filaments, or single

thick untwisted monofilaments.
Skill level: the level of skills or proficiency with which an employee operates a
workstation in the laundry (i.e. answer to the question: how fast or how well
can they operate the resource).
Skills: the skills, which an employee has in operating each working station in the
laundry (i.e. answer to the question: which resources can they operate?).
When a planner allocates employees to workstations to complete a plan,
they can only choose between employees with skills of the actual work-
station.
Sliver: An intermediate step in the manufacturing of yarn (after the combing, before
the wick division), where the cotton has a candy floss-like structure.
Soap curd: lime soap, see this.
Soil side: the “dirty” side of the laundry production – that is before the washing;
upstream from the washing sections.
Spinning: fundamental, intermediate step in the manufacturing of yarns (after

stretching the slivers to pre-yarn before possible doubling), where the fibres
are twisted around each other to keep the fibres together. The level of
twisting has a crucial significance for the strength of the yarn (even though
too much twisting can weaken or even break the fibres).
Staple fibre: A fibre is any compliant material, which length is at least 100 times
its diameter or breadth. Staple fibres are short compared to the extremely
long filament fibres. Staple fibres are usually short, thick and matt, whereas
filament fibres are thin, shiny smooth.
Stiffening: processing of a product with starch, fat or wax, either alone or in dif-
ferent mix proportions to give the product volume, stiffness or other abili-
ties, which are not natural for the product.
Surfactant: (American) tenside, see this. Synthetic tensides are in the US called
synthetic surfactants.
Suspension effect: the washing water's (wash liquor's) ability to keep the dirt
floating, so it will not re-precipitate on the clothes. If the suspension effect
of the wash liquor does not stand in proportion to the level of dirt in the
clothes, the dirt will re-precipitate and grey the clothes.
Synthetic detergent: artificial tenside, see this. Powders and liquid remedies. In
comparison to the real soaps the synthetic detergents are just as good,
maybe even better, at removing dirt. A crucial advantage of the synthetics
is that they do not interact with the hardening constituents in the water and
you therefore avoid lime soap. Moreover, they wash in weak alkalis or weak
acidic solutions, which have an influence on the washing of wool and silk
239
Definitions
(they only endures weak alkali reactions). Finally the synthetics are not as
easily broken down by oil and fats.
Synthetic fibres: common term for fibres, which are made artificially, either by
regeneration of natural materials or synthetic materials such as rayon,
nylon, polyester etc.
Synthetic surfactant: (American) synthetic tensides, see this.
Tabby: a plain weave (see this) where each warp goes alternating under and over
the weft, cf. Figure 36 - Plain, twill and satin weaves on page 53.
Tenside: each substance dissolved in water (natural or artificial), which is capable

of removing dirt, which includes the ability to:
• reduce the surface tension,
• moisten the surface of the textile,
• penetrate the fibre structure,
• break down the dirt,
• attach to the water on one side to the dirt on the other,
• disperse the dirt in the water and
• make sure that the dirt is not re-precipitated.
Tenside is the European term for all washing active substances. It derives
from the word tension, which comes from the tensides' most important
ability, the ability to reduce the surface tension in water. Synthetic tensides
are called synthetic detergents.
The first tenside was soap. From a chemical point of view, all the combina-
tions which are made from a reaction between the water dissolving fatty
acids and an organic base (or alkali metal) are called soap. In practice
though, it is only the fatty acids-alkali-compounds, which are used in the
soap industries.
Tensides are classified in regards to their electric charge. Anionic tensides
are the most important and commonly used, cf. this. Dissolved in water the
non-ionic tensides are electrically neutral, cf. this. Cationic tensides are
positively charged, when they are dissolved in water, cf. this. Finally the
amfolytic tensides react differently depending on the pH-value of the dis-
solution, cf. this.
Terry towel, turkish towel: a special technique of weaving, where 2 sets of warp
over 1 set of weft is used. One warp is tight, as in the linen weave, whereas
the other – the pole warp – is held loosely, so that it creates the
characteristic terry piles, which either only exist on one side of the product,
or on both sides. The terry product is first and foremost very water
absorbent and is therefore mostly used for towels.
Test pieces: standardised pieces of clothes, artificially soiled in a controlled manner

with representative types of dirt, which are used to examine and show the
ability of the washing processes to remove dirt and stains. The wash is tested
by comparing the samples before and after washing. The laundry industry
makes use of samples and fluidity measurements for testing the washing
programmes function.
Towelling, drill: a product woven in double twill or broad herringbone stripes, used
for towels or dishcloths.
240
Definitions
Twill: weave (see this) which creates a diagonal, hounds tooth, chevron, corkscrew
or other design. Example: With single twill (2/1) each warp thread goes
alternating under 1 and over 2 wefts, whereas with double twill (2/2) each
warp thread goes alternating under 2 and over 2 wefts.
Twined yarns: cf. twining.
Variable costs: the costs, which vary with production and/or the sales. A more
modern definition (based on Theory Of Constraints), variable costs are
those, which the system spends on making products saleable.
Virtual bottleneck: a bottleneck created by the planning (of the flow of products).
In productions, which are not optimised, you would not know if the bottle-
necks are caused by decreasing capacity along the process routes or by bad
planning. You would easily, by the means of planning, be able to make the
tumble dryers a bottleneck, simply by sending a number of fully-dried
batches through the tumbler section. Bottlenecks caused by (poor) planning
are called virtual or false bottlenecks. Bottlenecks caused by uneven
capacities along the process routes in the optimised production, are called
real or authentic bottlenecks.
Washability: a products compliance with industrial washing processes, which con-

sist of a long line of fastnesses: heat fast, colour fast, bleach fast, smudge
fast, scrub fast, water fast, ironing fast, etc. All these fastnesses are indi-
cated on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 is the poorest and 5 is the best. There
are standardised methods of proving every fastness, but they all are based
on comparing with the standard samples.
Warp: the threads that are lengthwise oriented in a woven product, i.e. the threads
stretched in the looms during the manufacturing of the products (as opposed
to weft, cf. this).
Warp satin weave (e.g. 7/1): each warp thread goes under 1, but over 7 wefts,
which gives it a much shinier surface than the other weaves, because of the
fewer weave nodes. At least 5 shafts are needed in a satin product. Satin
products are categorised as either warp satin or weft satin.
Weave: a fabric's web, i.e. the way the threads in the fabric pass each other in
different (right angle) directions (weft and warp). The most important and
common weaves in laundry textiles are plain (also called tabby or linen, e.g.
basket, crepe, organdy, taffeta, and muslin), twill (e.g. drill, chino, denim,
gabardine, and tweed), and sateen (satin).
Weaving: manufacturing of clothes by intertwining the lengthwise warp yarns with

the crosswise weft yarns. The pattern, in which the yarns are intertwined, is
called the weave, cf. this. As opposed to woven products, you have non-
woven-products (e.g. disposable diapers and kitchen cloths), cf. this, and
non-woven-methods, such as felting, gluing and lamination.
Weaving, the most common method of textile manufacturing includes the
basic weaves:
• Tabby or plain
• Twill, and
• Sateen.
241
Definitions
Weft, pick: a term for the crosswise threads in a woven product – i.e. the threads
which are picked between the warp threads separated by the shafts during
the manufacturing of the product (as opposed to warp threads, see this)
WIP: an abbreviation of Work In Progress, see also products in progress.
Yarn: common term for spun fibres for the use of textile manufacturing.
Yarn number: In the metrical system an expression of how many kilometres of

thread, 1 kg. of a product contains. Yarn number 1 contains 1 kilometre of
thread for 1 kg yarn. Yarn number 5 contains 5 kilometres of thread and
yarn number 30 contains 30 kilometres of thread. The higher the yarn
number, the thinner the thread.
This means, that a heavy sheet may be woven from yarn number 10,
whereas a poplin shirt may be woven from yarn number 30.
242
Physics
12. CHARTS AND LOOK-UPS

PHYSICS
Prefixes for the specification of multiple:
Tera, T = 1012
Giga, G = 109
Mega, M = 106
Kilo, k = 103
Prefixes for the specification of parts of units:
Milli, m = 10-3
Mikro, µ = 10-6
Nano, n = 10-9
Pico, p = 10-12
SI-units:
Size Symbol SI-unit SI-symbol Translation

Gravity G=m·g newton N 1 N = 1 kg · m/s2
Pressure p pascal (bar) Pa (bar) 1 Pa = 1 N/m2 = 0.01 mbar
Heat Q joule (Ws) J 1 J = 1 Ws = 0.239 cal
Energy E kilo watt hour kWh 1 MJ = 0.278 kWh
Power P watt W 1 W = 1 J/s = 0.860 kcal/h
243
Physics
Pressure table – saturated steam

Pressure Boiling Volume, liquid Volume, vapour Heat content, Heat content,
(bar, abs.) point (˚C) (m3/1000 kg.) (m3/kg) liquid (kJ/kg) vapour (kJ/kg)
1 99.62 1.043 1.694 417.4 2675
2 120.2 1.061 0.886 504.7 2707
3 133.6 1.073 0.606 561.5 2725
4 143.6 1.084 0.463 604.8 2739
5 151.9 1.093 0.375 640.2 2749
6 158.9 1.101 0.316 670.6 2757
7 165.0 1.108 0.273 697.2 2764
8 170.4 1.115 0.240 721.1 2769
9 175.4 1.121 0.215 742.8 2774
10 179.9 1.127 0.194 762.8 2778
11 184.1 1.130 0.177 781.2 2781
12 188.0 1.140 0.163 798.5 2784
13 191.6 1.140 0.151 814.8 2786
14 195.0 1.150 0.141 830.1 2789
15 198.3 1.150 0.132 844.7 2791
16 201.4 1.160 0.127 858.6 2793
17 204.3 1.160 0.117 871.8 2795
18 207.1 1.170 0.110 884.6 2796
19 209.8 1.170 0.105 896.8 2797
20 212.4 1.177 0.100 908.8 2800
30 233.9 1.217 0.067 1008 2804
40 250.4 1.252 0.050 1087 2801
50 264.0 1.286 0.039 1154 2794
60 275.6 1.319 0.032 1213 2784
70 285.9 1.352 0.027 1267 2772
80 295.1 1.384 0.024 1317 2758
90 303.4 1.418 0.021 1363 2742
100 311.1 1.453 0.018 1408 2725
244
Physics
List of figures
Figure 1 - Donkey engine & tree fellers, CA, USA, © Central Sierra Historical Society ............ 8
Figure 2 - An early 20th century laundry .................................................................................... 9
Figure 3 - Boundary Laundry, Staff & Workers, 1906 © London Metropolitan Archives (collage
254097) ............................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 4 - Dust control mats..................................................................................................... 11
Figure 5 - The distribution of production units in the western world ........................................ 13
Figure 6 - The distribution of production units in the eastern world ......................................... 14
Figure 7 - Populations in major markets .................................................................................. 14
Figure 8 - Textiles in all shades and sizes ............................................................................... 22
Figure 9 - An On Premise Laundry (OPL), onboard the luxury cruise ship "The Eagle" ......... 23
Figure 10 - A central laundry.................................................................................................... 24
Figure 11 - A linen supplier ...................................................................................................... 24
Figure 12 - A Heavy Duty Laundry (HDL) ................................................................................ 25
Figure 13 - A professional laundry ........................................................................................... 25
Figure 14 - Cleaning lady in a hotel (by courtesy of JP Bureau) ............................................. 28
Figure 15 - Cleaning ladies in a hospital's operating room ...................................................... 29
Figure 16 - Cleaning lady in a public school ............................................................................ 29
Figure 17 - The laundry's wash room, flat work and garment sections ................................... 39
Figure 18 - Emptying of bags in the sorting-in ......................................................................... 39
Figure 19 - The work at a light table ........................................................................................ 40
Figure 20 - Sorting in chutes .................................................................................................... 40
Figure 21 - Washing machine, Continuous Batch Washer (CBW) .......................................... 41
Figure 22 - Washing machine, Washer Extractors (WE) ......................................................... 41
Figure 23 - Water extraction: single-stage-extraction press (left); cycle centrifuge (right) ...... 42
Figure 24 - Drying principle in tumble dryers; principle and in real life .................................... 43
Figure 25 - Tumble dryers, a dryer line .................................................................................... 43
Figure 26 - Manual separation ................................................................................................. 44
Figure 27 - An ironer line with feeder, ironer and folder .......................................................... 44
Figure 28 - A tunnel finisher ..................................................................................................... 45
Figure 29 - A table cloth press ................................................................................................. 45
Figure 30 - An ironing table ...................................................................................................... 46
Figure 31 - A terry towel folder................................................................................................. 46
Figure 32 - Sorting out and stacking finished goods................................................................ 47
Figure 33 - Foiling of a textile stack, and covering an entire cart ............................................ 47
Figure 34 - Packing laundry carts and trucks .......................................................................... 48
Figure 35 - Types of yarn twist................................................................................................. 52
Figure 36 - Plain, twill and satin weaves .................................................................................. 53
Figure 37 - Natural fibres ......................................................................................................... 56
Figure 38 - The 10 largest cotton producing countries in the world......................................... 56
Figure 39 - The relative distribution of textile production in the world ..................................... 57
Figure 40 - Man-made fibres.................................................................................................... 59
Figure 41 - The four determinants of the washing process ..................................................... 64
Figure 42 - Parameter substitution........................................................................................... 64
Figure 43 - Steps in the production process ............................................................................ 68
Figure 44 - Storage of soiled, unsorted clothes in carts on the floor ....................................... 69
Figure 45 - Storage of soiled, unsorted clothes in bags in the ceiling ..................................... 69
Figure 46 - Sorting chute ......................................................................................................... 70
Figure 47 - Conveyor belt under sorting chutes ....................................................................... 71
Figure 48 - Data registration in the sorting-in .......................................................................... 72
Figure 49 - A bag in the conveyor system, on its way out of the sorting-in area ..................... 73
Figure 50 - A laundry assistant pushing a cart into the laundry production ............................. 73
Figure 51 - Bags in a soil-side conveyor-system ..................................................................... 74
Figure 52 - A trolley and wash bag .......................................................................................... 74
Figure 53 - A conveyor-system with few, long lines................................................................. 75
Figure 54 - The same number of positions distributed on more, shorter lines ........................ 75
Figure 55 - A step conveyor loading a continuous batch washer ............................................ 76
245
Physics
Figure 56 - Automatic loading of an open-end washing machine............................................ 76

Figure 57 - Industrialisation of the washing process................................................................ 77
Figure 58 - An open-end, single pocket, washer extractor ...................................................... 79
Figure 59 - An open-end, double pocket, washer extractor ..................................................... 80
Figure 60 - An open-end, triple pocket, washer extractor ........................................................ 80
Figure 61 - A washer extractor tilts and empties automatically ............................................... 81
Figure 62 - Steel storage tank for wastewater ......................................................................... 82
Figure 63 - Concrete tank for white waste water ..................................................................... 83
Figure 64 - A 13-compartments universal continuous batch washer – schematically ............. 86
Figure 65 - The same 13-compartments universal continuous batch washer – real life ......... 86
Figure 66 - The Archimedes helix in a continuous batch washer ............................................ 88
Figure 67 - Perforated shovels in a continuous batch washer ................................................. 88
Figure 68 - The ”counter-flow” principle in a continuous batch washer ................................... 89
Figure 69 - The universal continuous batch washer – principal drawing ................................. 91
Figure 70 - A cycle centrifuge .................................................................................................. 92
Figure 71 - A membrane, basket and bottom of a single-stage press ..................................... 93
Figure 72 - The Press Cake ..................................................................................................... 94
Figure 73 - A two-stage press .................................................................................................. 94
Figure 74 - Shuttle between the washer extractors and the tumble driers .............................. 96
Figure 75 - A tumbler-line with pass-through tumble dryers .................................................... 96
Figure 76 - Carts with clothes in front of the ironer-line ........................................................... 99
Figure 77 - Conveyor bag on rails.......................................................................................... 100
Figure 78 - A separator at work ............................................................................................. 102
Figure 79 - Clothes in the clamps of a rail system in front of the ironer line .......................... 102
Figure 80 - Piece-stored clothes in front of the ironer line ..................................................... 103
Figure 81 - The ironer cylinders, the chest, and the bridge in cross section ......................... 104
Figure 82 - An ironer with large pieces of clothes fed............................................................ 106
Figure 83 - An ironer with small pieces fed in 4 lanes ........................................................... 106
Figure 84 - The ironer line with feeder, scanner, ironer and folder........................................ 107
Figure 85 - Principle drawing of a double half fold................................................................. 107
Figure 86 - Principle drawings of folds ................................................................................... 108
Figure 87 - The optical scanner in operation ......................................................................... 109
Figure 88 - The Stacker ......................................................................................................... 110
Figure 89 - The Tunnel finisher .............................................................................................. 110
Figure 90 - Principle drawing of the inner of the tunnel-finisher ............................................ 111
Figure 91 - A bar code ........................................................................................................... 113
Figure 92 - 3 pcs. of 22 millimetres RFID-chips, 13.56 MHz ................................................. 114
Figure 93 - Sorting-out lanes after tunnel-finishing, (by courtesy of JP Bureau) ................... 114
Figure 94 - The garment folder .............................................................................................. 116
Figure 95 - Facts about water ................................................................................................ 118
Figure 96 - Values of water hardness in the UK .................................................................... 120
Figure 97 - Values of water hardness in the USA.................................................................. 121
Figure 98 - The zeolite A-structure with oxygen and silicon (sodium-ions not shown).......... 123
Figure 99 - The plastic beads from a water softener ............................................................. 123
Figure 100 - Ion exchanger columns, parallel, small and large system................................. 124
Figure 101 - The boiler room of the laundry .......................................................................... 125
Figure 102 - Micelle. The yellow spheres symbolise the polar ends of the micelle. .............. 129
Figure 103 - The making of washing powder......................................................................... 131
Figure 104 - Large and small drops of water (by Andreas Sogaard)..................................... 132
Figure 105 - The cost distribution in the typical industrial laundry ......................................... 138
Figure 106 - Gantt-chart, plan of production with buffers ...................................................... 142
Figure 107 - Gantt-chart, plan of same production without buffers ....................................... 143
Figure 108 - Pressure on profit .............................................................................................. 150
Figure 109 - Factors that influence the laundry operation. .................................................... 151
Figure 110 - The consequences of the batch sequences. ..................................................... 154
Figure 111 - Planning tasks in the laundry. ........................................................................... 159
Figure 112 - The production sections in the laundry.............................................................. 163
Figure 113 - The preconditions of the production and the effects ......................................... 172
246
Physics
Figure 114 - The preconditions of the distribution and effects............................................... 173

Figure 115 - The stocks' preconditions and effects ............................................................... 174
Figure 116 - The interrelations of the optimisation sections .................................................. 174
Figure 117 - An example of a concrete operation strategy .................................................... 176
Figure 118 - A Gantt-chart showing an optimal production, without buffers .......................... 178
Figure 119 - The characteristics of the good solution ............................................................ 179
Figure 120 - The correlation between cost types and operation decisions ........................... 183
Figure 121 - Stock types ........................................................................................................ 196
Figure 122 - A roster, with vacations ..................................................................................... 207
Figure 123 - Different sizes of buffers .................................................................................... 210
Figure 124 - Two different customer stock profiles ................................................................ 213
Figure 125 - An example of the collection control from one customer .................................. 216
Figure 126 - An example of collection control for numerous of customers............................ 216
Figure 127 - The good laundry production's characteristics .................................................. 218
247
Steen Søgaard
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

STEEN SØGAARD
Steen Søgaard was born in 1963 in Denmark and is educated B.Sc. with a
specialisation of production planning, management and organisation.
This book is based on years of experience in the running and planning of companies
on several levels, both in production, service and development companies (among
others, 8 years as a laundry manager) and close cooperation with some of the best
operators in the industry.
Internationally he is one of the most experienced people of the laundry industry in
the matter of developing and implementing planning theory in practice, with a deep
insight to the conditions, which are important for a rational operation and purchase
of batch productions.
He has developed the effective allocation efficiencies and the SK-Index, which
make it possible to benchmark productions across company, geographic,
organisational and industrial boarders, and which are presented in this book.
Finally he is professional author of profession articles, textbooks and fictional
books, and he works as a counsellor for boards, teaches leaders and middle
management leaders.
You can reach some of us in Laundry Logics here:
Steen Søgaard, senior partner: sts@logics.dk

Poul Mose Johansen, ceo: pmj@logics.dk
Daniel Karnøe Svendsen, partner: dks@logics.dk
248

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Steen Søgaard, Laundry Logics, on

Year of publication: 1st Danish edition: Apr. 2004

English edition: 2nd (Feb. 2015)

Author: Steen Søgaard

Illustrations: Steen Søgaard et al.

Front-page layout: Laundry Logics aps

English translation: Nathalie Ina Kühl &

Proof-reading: Gillian Farrar, TSA, &

Published by: Laundry Logics aps,

in association with: Textile Services Association,

Copy right: Steen Søgaard 2014 ©

This book is written as an introduction for laundry industry employees to under-

Generally there is very little literature on industrial laundry subjects in terms of

Bo Rasmussen, Jensen Deutschland

And I also want to thank:

Steen Søgaard, Allinge, Denmark, August 2014

6.1 The Characteristics of the Good Solution ..........................................152

The laundry and its

1. THE ORIGIN OF INDUSTRIAL

1.1 THE EARLIEST INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRIES

The first washing machine

Washing machines in the laundry industry

Figure 2 - An early 20th century laundry

1.2 THE WAYS OF INDUSTRIALISATION

The paths of technologies part

The logic of manufacturing

• identifying portion sizes on continuous batch washers (batch sizes)

1.3 SPILL OVER EFFECT

Specialisation removes variables

Figure 4 - Dust control mats

1.4 THE LAUNDRY INDUSTRY TODAY

Depreciation cannot be ignored

1.4.2 The industry in a global perspective

Figure 5 - The distribution of production units in the western world

Figure 6 - The distribution of production units in the eastern world

Figure 7 - Populations in major markets

The laundry groups

Typical industry numbers

1.4.3 Stakeholders in the industry

Objectives are multiple and different groups are formed:

• improve negotiating position, employer associations and unions

Moreover, the industry has a range of stakeholders, such as:

• national public authorities

• TSA - Textile Services Association, Great Britain

One step closer

2. THE LAUNDRY OF TODAY

2.1 THE LAUNDRY'S FUNCTION AND OBJECTIVE

Prepare the work for processing

Function and objective

... to meet an economic goal.

whether it is to earn money in a private laundry company or to minimise costs in a

2.2 THE LAUNDRY CONDITIONS

Automation and bottom line

The impact of repetition

The processes in the laundry production

• sorting in and categorisation (pre- or post-sorting, registration)

Connected processes outside the laundry production

• transportation to the customer

Since the laundry's combined influence on the customer's economy is crucial to

Tear down the walls

Looking at the effects

• the laundry gets access to the possibility to reduce the number of

Important activities in a modern laundry's operation therefore include:

• coordination of the production with the market's demands