Power of the chip

Microchips have moved into most aspects of daily life. The drycleaning industry is no exception.

Drycleaning machines are microprocessor controlled. The ubiquitous chip has taken over performing the function once laboriously carried out using a slotted card that allowed pins to activate the program sequences. The card would need wiping with perc to stop it sticking.

The incorporation of microprocessors into drycleaning and washing has enabled levels of control that could once only be dreamed about. Microchips, control and monitor the energising and deactivating of the required motor, compressor, fan, heater or valve at the specified time and for the required duration, accurate to the millisecond.

Many programs

Modern drycleaning machines have up to 30 in-built programs. These fall into two main categories: processing and maintenance. Processing subdivides once more into process and additive programs.

Process programs vary with the manufacturer but, while taking account of their particular design parameters, they all incorporate some fundamental principles. These include two bath washes, filtered rinse, reversing action and first wash to the still. Additive programs may include proofing/stain repellent finishes.

Typically maintenance programs are designed to support/aid major functions such as carbon absorption, filter cleaning and still pump-out.

It is good practice to review the programs you have and consider whether you could achieve a worthwhile performance or functional improvement by modifying existing programs or adding new ones.

The existing programs should be set out in detail in your machine operation manual. The information you are seeking is a list of the separate steps that make up the individual programs. For instance: “step one – low speed, pump, drain to tank one equals two minutes and 15 seconds.”

This will enable you to identify the elements that can be reprogrammed. Once armed with this information and the reprogramming methodology you will be ready to make improvements such as the addition of a “distilled solvent-only wash” cycle. Clearly, you should not attempt reprogramming without the proper preparation and complete confidence in your ability to do so safely. Excellent free advice is available from the detergent/additive suppliers. Their work regularly entails adding or modifying programs to achieve optimum dosing of their products.

Planned maintenance

While not incorporated into the machine itself, a planned preventative maintenance (PPM) program is a highly beneficial method of scheduling maintenance tasks monitoring equipment, engineer performance and costs.

Such programs can be custom made. They can be located on the server of a computer network to cater for several plants/engineers or they can be entered onto a personal computer (PC) for a single unit operation.

Most work on the basis of allocating a unique plant number, such as CAL001, SQP001, TUM001 and so on, and it is useful if these numbers are linked to the finance departments asset ledger.

Database capabilities

The database needs to be able to sort plant both by type and location. This will then enable a printout of all the equipment. The detail stored on each record should include location, installation date, cost, life expectancy, insurance examination record, maintenance record and PPM checklist.

A useful feature, often overlooked, is the capability to record a condition code. The latter can be as simple as a single number or letter, 1 to 5 or A to E, where:

1 = new

2 = good

3 = fair

4 = poor

5 = replace in next 12 months.

The engineer responsible for maintaining the item updates the code, at each yearly or half-yearly service. Where a large number of items of plant are involved, such a system is invaluable when preparing capital budgets or forecasting future capital requirements.

Key benefits

Other key benefits of a PPM system are fault logging and spare part analysis. Each type of fault on a particular group of machines is subdivided into categories and types (pump, drive motor, separator, gasket, valve, blockage and so on). As the faults occur they are logged accordingly. This enables the identification of the most common breakdowns and most frequently changed parts. Armed with this knowledge a decision can be made as to whether it would be beneficial to organise early replacement of the vulnerable part or design a modification.

The ability to predict faults is also particularly useful in terms of establishing spare part inventories for plants and itinerant engineers. The final, and perhaps key output, of a PPM system is to minimise the machine downtime that reduces productivity.

Downtime is expensive although the costs are not always apparent; they include overtime to catch up, increased energy costs, and dissatisfied or even lost customers.

  Microprocessors in machinery enable remote diagnosis of faults, monitoring of energy use and servicing based on “loads processed” rather than simply “time elapsed”. By calling up a particular machine from a central office it can be interrogated and modified. This already happens in computerised till systems where, as a matter of routine, they are remotely corrected, polled for data and receive messages and software updates.

One aspect of drycleaning management that can be enhanced by using a PC is the monitoring of solvent mileage. Indeed, Solvent Management Plans (SMP) are a requirement of the Solvent Emissions Directive (formally known as the VOC Directive) that was published in the EC’s official journal in March 1999. Although it was due for implementation last April, early next year now looks more likely.

The Directive imposes a limit on total emissions of perc for new or altered installations of approximately 80kg of cleaning for each litre of solvent emitted.

The figure for hydrocarbon solvent is one litre for 50kg of cleaning.

A simple program for the weekly recording of dry-weight cleaned, solvent additions, drums sent for recovery and tank levels will produce usage data. Tracking usage will enable the monitoring of performance and the setting of improvement targets. The records will form an SMP that can be used to demonstrate your compliance to the enforcing authority.

Error codes

Most modern machines are able to alert the operator to faults with the use of error codes. A sequence of letters and numbers, such as E075 or ERROR – 029, will appear or flash on the display. When this happens, write the code down (in case it disappears) and check the code in the list contained in your machine handbook.

Faults fall into four categories: errors that prevent the machine from starting; errors that stop the machine; errors that do not stop the machine; and errors while changing programs. Typical advice could be “Button trap is open – close button trap”.

One innovative use of the PC to help increase efficiency in machinery maintenance is that adopted by Parrisianne, the UK supplier of Union drycleaning machines. For several years they have used a digital camera to photograph details of each installation, including layout, valve positions and internal/external views of control panels.

When a client subsequently phones for advice, the engineer at Parrisianne can instantly call up an image of the pipe-work or electrics of the machine in question, on his PC screen. Such detailed information of the actual faulty item dramatically increases the likelihood of a successful self-help procedure.