INTERNATIONAL
Attracting attention at EXPODetergo in Milan, the Kannegiesser drywork line automatically feeds, folds and sorts 600 items per hour of a typical hotel mix with four different articles in one batch. Kannegiesser is showcasing the processing of a batch with a hotel mix of bath mats, bidet towels, hand towels, and shower towels on its stand. The drywork line measures the length and width of every article and sorts the towels accordingly on the 4 speed stackers of the folding machine.
The drywork line consists of the newly developed and field-approved feeding robot Robofeed and the folding machine Speedline XFM. The Robofeed is equipped with state-of-the-art camera technology that enables a servo-driven gripper to recognize, separate and feed every single item into the folding machine at maximum speed.
When designing the robotised drywork line, Kannegiesser put emphasis on seamless integration into laundry logistics. But what does that mean? Essentially, it allows textile services to automate the entire laundry process between soiled linen sorting and dispatch: After sorting, the towels are automatically washed and dried using optimal processing programs recorded in the data base.
A post wash sorting and storage system then delivers the towels to the Robofeed line to feed, sort and stack every single piece autonomously. Finally, the Vectura stack management system transports every laundry stack on a belt conveyor system to a central pick-up station where displays indicate the customer that the specific stack belongs to customer. That makes it easy for employees to move every stack to the correct containers and guarantees complete and reliable delivery.
In order to take the full advantage of the automatic drywork line, the laundry operation requires database driven logistics and a monorail sorting and storage system. However, it is also possible to load the drywork line manually instead if logistics automation is still in development.