Synchronising data and workflow

Perhaps the outstanding theme of last year’s Texcare International was “Industry 4.0 for textile services” where suppliers showcased solutions and visions for “smart” textile service provision and how this will impact on individual services. According to Friedrich Eberhard, president of the German Textile Cleaning Association (DTV), digitalisation is set to be the driver of the future in the textile-care industry.

The precondition for this transformation is a comprehensively networked data communication system. The technology will allow companies to respond to the wishes of their customers in the most personalised ways possible. At the same time, the processes involved in the factories will be smarter, more transparent and safer.

“We are just at the beginning of what we can do with the technology that is available to us at the moment,” says Eberhard. “If we manage to link all the machines and systems completely and organise the data properly, then, in future, we shall be pretty well able to meet the needs and requirements of our customers in real time, as we are processing their laundry.

The high density of information can, in his opinion, contribute massively to helping people meet the requirements of the job.

As LCN editor Kathy Bowry reported from Texcare 2016, integrated laundries are the way forward according the major laundry equipment manufacturers and the technology to drive this on has taken great leaps in the past few years.

For Kannegiesser in Germany, the demand for complete system solutions, together with the synchronization of data and material flow, is a growing requirement for textile service providers. In an interview with LCN editor Kathy Bowry, Martin Kannegiesser said: “Our company has a complete range of laundry equipment and systems but much more importantly, we can integrate, communicate, transfer data and synchronise functions within the line.” Kannegiesser recognises that the demands of the worldwide industrial laundry markets have developed into new levels. According to Kannegiesser’s Matthias Schäfer, a responsible manufacturer needs now

¦  to integrate,

¦  to communicate,

¦  to transfer and

¦  to synchronise

the three main basics of industrial laundry: workflow, data and process cost.

He explained that Kannegiesser aimed to integrate individual machines into the workflow and provide a steady stream of information, data and also the supporting logistics.

Laundries worldwide provide servicing to a range of industries. Kannegiesser’s portfolio of machines, transport systems and software controls has a dedicated solution to this, providing specialised logistic systems capable of successfully processing millions of items daily.

The laundry production control is part of a Kannegiesser monitoring system, which can then show to the manager the efficiency of their processes. “Laundries worldwide are faced with the same problem – only a part of the available operation time is productive.”

The integration of the machine process, the dataflow and the conditions of the operational laundry delivery cannot be seen in independent steps – it must be an integrated operating sequence. “It is how to design a laundry because the best machine can only deliver its productivity if the logistic process including the workflow is also designed as part of a seamless structure,” explains Schäfer.

Kannegiesser’s Smart Laundry concept takes in a combination of machine technology, logistics and process technology. The core factor is the recognition that laundries can only achieve their maximum productivity if they are designed not only to produce a smooth flow of work but also to accompany that workflow with an equally smooth flow of the relevant data at each stage of production. This requires automated or semi- automated systems, with interfaces between the individual machines.

The Smart Laundry is based on the one-stop shop principle. If all the machines come from one supplier you can make sure that each section interfaces with others. Kannegiesser designs and implements the software that allows this.

At the start of the laundry process, the soiled side, Kannegiesser now provides the improved X-Sort garment sorting system.

Traditionally in Europe garments are sorted after they have been washed but X-Sort allows garments to be pre-sorted and presented to the wash section in batches and on hangers.

Kannegiesser’s Garment Processing line handles a complete range of garments – from simple items such as basic scrub shirts and healthcare gowns to more difficult to process items like coveralls and protective workwear with reflective coatings. Each garment type has a specifically defined finishing process after washing, which include tunnel finishing, pressing, sorting, automatic folding or distribution on wire hangers.

On the clean side after the washing process the dryers need to be fed in an efficient way, the linen needs to be buffered, and transported to the different finishing equipment.

This process is automatically controlled by the Supertrack system together with a wide range of other transport units like belt conveyor combinations or Kannegiesser’s Aero vacuum transport systems.

Barcodes or chips can be used, although the machines are designed with compatible software interfaces built-in so that the information flow will continue from washroom to Supertrack monorail system and to the finishing section where the Vectura stack management software tracks the folded items through to despatch. Where work is transported between sections by trolley, batches will have been barcoded, and scanners and printers are installed at the relevant areas. An operator will then scan the batch and print a ticket that then goes with the batch to the ironer line. Here the information is again scanned and the line will call up the correct program for that batch.

Easier integration

The strong message from Jensen Group was that buying from a one-stop-shop allows for easier integration across all disciplines which in turn leads to a better managed, more efficient and cost conscious laundry.

Jensen says that new perspectives in laundry automation using smart technologies and new materials handling solutions are opening up great new perspectives for heavy-duty laundries.

Jensen built a complete super laundry at Texcare 2016 by visualising the entire flow - including new materials handling solutions, including the Jensen Cockpit system for central production monitoring offering real-time information to laundry productivity, and with several advantages in streamlining operation and data in each section of the laundry.

Jensen’s Cockpit overview for each machine or product can be seen in real time, supplying managers with Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The program allows the customer to go back in time to see exactly what the interaction was that caused micro pauses in production, thus allowing fine-tuning of the production and man-machine interfacing.

“This is also critical for utilities consumption which can be monitored - even when a machine stands still for a short time, it uses energy,” says Jensen.

“As the focus on automation and efficiency increases in particularly industrialised nations so too will the need for technology like this.”

Since Texcare, the Jensen-Group has joined forces with ABS Laundry Business Solutions by forming a new company, Gotli Labs AG, with the aim of consolidating the data management in heavy-duty laundries. Gotli Labs will operate independently from ABS Laundry Business Solutions and the Jensen-Group.

Both companies have been offering similar applications for productivity management. Jensen Cockpit provides real-time information to overview and track-and-trace the entire laundry process together with a wide range of production statistics.

Meanwhile, the ABS Production Information Management System (PIMS) helps to increase the efficiency of available resources by planning and measuring staff and equipment. PIMS is also built to record time and attendance data and export that to a payroll system.

Now Gotli Labs will integrate these two products into one solution for production management.