Expansion through quality

1 December 1998



Three years experience in a US laundry processing 22 000 shirts a week led Mr Aron, of Empire Laundry, to believe that specialist shirt processing was a market waiting to happen in the UK.


From small beginnings—trading began in 1994 from a premises of just 4000 square feet, processing 1200 shirts a week—Mr Aron, production manager of Empire Laundry, Tottenham, London , has seen his business grow rapidly.

In 1996, he expanded his premises by an additional 800 square feet and installed a second-hand BMM Weston 3-section shirt unit. As new business came in, Empire was soon operating at full capacity again, processing between 3500 and 4000 shirts per week.

To achieve this the laundry was operational for 13 hours a day with two working shifts. Concerned that this may reduce the quality of the laundry’s operations, Mr Aron decided to invest in a new premises with still greater capacity and in a new BMM Weston 3-section shirt unit. Currently celebrating its first anniversary in its new premises, Empire Laundry has since doubled its business and is now processing over 7000 shirts per week. Mr Aron says: “In one year since moving to the new premises our business has increased from £5000 a week to more than £11 000 a week. Our target is to reach £20 000 of business per week.” Mr Aron is currently negotiating a new contract, which he says will increase work volumes to 10 000 shirts per week. To meet these targets he intends to add a third production line with the installation of a third BMM Weston shirt unit. Mr Aron is keen to stress that with the expansion of the business has come about an expansion of the quality he can offer the customer. “Quality is the foundation of the expansion we have enjoyed. From the moment the shirts come into the laundry they are counted, tagged, inspected for stains and the pockets are checked. If there are any tears in the shirts the customer is notified and processing only takes place once authorisation is given.

“Also, we always return items which are found in the pockets. This is important because the shirts are given to us in trust. If the customer trusts that we will return items of value then they will trust us to wash the shirts properly.” Inspection, argues Mr Aron, is the key to quality and is carried out at every stage of the process, from when the laundry comes in, at the spotting stage and three times during pressing and finishing. A final hand finish and button inspection is done before a final inspection is carried out by the packer, after which the garment is returned “as new” to the customer.

The proper inspection of garments, believes Mr Aron, is only achievable by experienced staff practising an intimate knowledge of garment types. He says: “Our staff know that if an Armani shirt comes in then the buttons will crack in the wash process. They know then that the buttons must be covered up or replaced. Our staff are meticulous in the attention they pay to detail.” Empire Laundry also provides a deluxe service for customers. Mr Aron says: “With our deluxe service, we put all the bones back into the collar and the presentation and packaging is designed to give the perception that the garment has been newly bought. More attention is also given to the hand finishing and touching up of the shirts.” The provision of a quality service is the reason why Mr Aron has always chosen BMM Weston shirt units. “The costs of capital expansion are high and we do have the option of purchasing second-hand equipment. I believe, however, that for quality it is important to buy first hand and BMM Weston provide an excellent service and a high quality of finish.” Installed when Empire moved to its new premises, the BMM Weston 3-section shirt unit incorporates: a cabinet air bag sleever featuring contoured chests, non-porous air bags, automatic measuring and automatic cuff clamps; a triple head collar and cuff press featuring a highly polished plated head, single cylinder operation, microprocessor controls with self diagnostics, perimeter head guards, high squeeze pressure and two hand safety controls; and a double buck shirt body press with vacuum, which features a formed vacuum buck, slotted buck cap, non-porous air bags and contoured chests.

The 3-section BMM Weston unit is designed to be used by two operators—one operator on the sleever and the collar and cuff press and one operator on the body press—with a capacity to process 90 shirts per hour.

Shirts processing represents about 60% of Empire Laundry’s business with 40% of its business devoted to the processing of domestic laundry and household linen—an area Mr Aron is also keen to develop.



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