A rose by any other name is still a rose and what we call cages and/ or trollies in the UK are trucks in the USA. Whatever the monicker, they all serve the same purpose in laundry work – transporting textiles around the premises and to and from customers.
In the fast-paced world of laundry operations, efficiency is key to reducing costs and improving service quality.
Robert Tye of ABS Laundry Business Solutions shares how ABSSolute’s innovative Container Recording and Billing features, paired with the Truck Load and Route Assistant, are revolutionising how laundries track, manage, and bill for containers.
“The container recording feature is a game-changer,” says Tye. “It allows containers to be linked to deliveries or delivery notes with ease, whether by scanning a barcode, UHF RFID tag, or manually entering the container number. Once linked, we can track critical details like the customer, delivery date, route, and employees who have a handled the container ensuring full accountability.”
Tracking starts with ensuring containers are loaded onto the correct vehicle. Misloads or unintentional omissions are costly to correct, making accurate tracking essential. The Truck Load Assistant monitors of containers and delivery notes during the loading process. Used by the dispatch team, it ensures merchandise is correctly loaded on the right truck. “The tool operates via a mobile device with a Blue-tooth-linked scanner,” explains Tye. “It verifies the load order, checks containers for accuracy and provides early warnings about reaching truck capacity or weight limits.”
Once the truck is loaded and when paper-based delivery notes are replaced with the Route Assistant app, the process becomes even more stream-lined. “The app logs timestamps for both delivery and pickup, creating an accurate record of each container’s journey,” Tye adds.
When containers are returned to the laundry, ABSSolute updates their status automatically. The system also supports managing customer-owned containers by linking them directly to the customer.
With ABSSolute’s advanced container tracking, billing capabilities, and truck loading optimisation, laundries can look forward to a more efficient and costeffective future, says Tye.
On the move
Bryant Plastics, manufacturing off the shelf and bespoke plastic cages in the UK, actually tracked the comings and goings of its own Cage Number 19 from leaving the factory and going to work at The Linen Group. As pressure is on to limit the use of throwaway plastics, Bryant Plastics took the opportunity to flag up the important role that enduring plastic products play in textile care. In 2020 and again in April UK edition 2024, LCNi ‘interviewed’ Cage Number 19 about its career. Cage Number 19 has been working for The Linen Group since 27 January 2028 (along with another 49 of its relatives).
LCNi asked Cage Number 19 when it expected to retire. The answer was: “Our average working life expectancy is around seven and a half years, I am 6 now, and would love to be still working when I am 20 and maybe even beyond.
“I also hope to be useful after I retire as our bodies are made from virgin Medium Density Polyethylene (MDP) which means we are 100% recyclable.”
Bryant Plastics stressed the safety bene‑ts of plastic over metal cages, saying staff appreciate that there are no areas where their fingers can get trapped. Another huge advantage of having Bryant Plastics cages on board is that no one ‘borrows’ plastic cages.
In lorries and vans the cages don’t scrape and mark the paintwork and interiors the way the metal cages do and the hotels are happy because they don’t scuff and chip the doors, walls and paintwork.
Meanwhile, Royal Basket Trucks in the USA has a wide range of products for laundry businesses of all sizes. It offers standard products as well as heavy-duty solutions for ‘drops’, bulk transport solutions and covers, laundry-specific carts such as flatworks and extractors, and can custommake any size cart to fit specific demands.
JFC Material Handling, headquartered in Ireland with production sites and offices in the UK and mainland Europe, hosted a busy stand at Texcare 2024, where it showed trolleys with a mechanism which keeps them safely ‘locked and loaded’ in transit.
JFC says that its trolleys are developed to have superior strength and durability. JFC’s trolleys are available bespoke to customers’ design requirements, including options for moulding in company logos, screen-printed curtains, a range of colours, handle options, closures, castors and more. Plus, JFC curtain trolleys are available in full zip and half zip options.
