Innovation is creating a new generation of wash systems

15 August 2016



Developments in networking, data management, and cloud-based systems will be the technological foundation of the new generation of washroom machines, reports Tony Vince


Modern large industrial washer-extractors are designed to deliver excellent results with high energy and cost efficiency. That is true across all sectors, from the smallest commercial on-premise laundry to the largest industrial installations.

In each, resource saving remains an important factor in the purchasing decision. Customers that regularly process large volumes of linen now require washer-extractors that are designed to reduce water, energy and detergent consumption.

With the major manufacturers represented at last month’s Texcare International in Frankfurt, many were confident that heavy-duty laundries are now primarily upgrading their lines with more energy-efficient equipment. Marc Caralt, brand manager at Girbau in Spain, is in no doubt that laundries are ready to invest in the next generation of machines. Controlling the running cost in industrial laundries is and will be a priority, he says. “Any business must have their costs controlled to be more competitive. The industrial laundry market is increasingly competitive and the price issue is essential.

“Therefore, being more energy efficient has a directly proportional impact to being more competitive with clients, and at the same time, being more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”

He said that 2015 has been a very positive year in all the company’s markets, adding that “We have been over 55 years in the market doing things right and clients appreciate it.” He highlights the American continent as one with perhaps the biggest rise in demand, while the hotel market as one of the most resurgent sectors.

Demand to reduce water and energy consumption continues to be the company’s key focus of research and development. To this end, Girbau strives to make monitoring and machine information easier in order to control water, energy and chemicals consumption. It is not enough that the machine consumes less, Caralt adds. The owner or manager of a laundry must be able to have all the necessary information at any moment, so that he or she can control and adjust it. They also need to be sure that it can work 24 hours without problems.

Two new washers unveiled at Texcare – the HS6024 (24kg soft-mount) and RMS628 (28kg hard-mount) – are a good examples of this, he says. “They are highly efficient washers, designed to work intensively without problems and virtually maintenance-free.”

The Jensen-Group has expanded its current product portfolio with stand-alone washer-extractors, and tumbler-dryers, for the washroom section of heavy-duty laundries. Until now, Jensen had offered these machines as "third party offering", as the group purchased them from various suppliers.

Last year Jensen-Group agreed to acquire up to 49% of Tolon, the Turkish laundry equipment manufacturer that distributes Jensen machines and systems in Turkey as well as marketing its own machines. The two companies have been working together for five years and last year reached agreement for Tolon to produce washer-extractors and dryers under the Jensen label as well as selling its own products.

A range of highly competitive stand-alone washers and dryers carrying the Jensen brand now complements the Jensen “one-stop shop” approach for its heavy-duty laundry range. The JWE washers and JTD dyers will be offered in 20, 40, 60 and 110kg capacities (45, 90, 130, and 250lb) and available to Jensen sales companies worldwide.

Jensen explains that its customers process large volumes of linen predominantly in a highly automated washroom section. However, end-customers often have linen that, for various reasons, cannot be washed nor dried in tunnel washers and transfer dryers. Delicate linen as well as contaminated pieces that can be infectious needs to be processed separately. Nursing homes may want to process their guests' private garments in a process that is separate from the rental linen. The same is valid for premium hospitality linen. Laundries therefore often operate a section with washer-extractors and dryers for small to medium volumes. Jensen is able to meet this demand with its range of stand-alone washer extractors for small to medium volumes.

Jensen agrees that reducing energy and water is now a key focus in all markets. This used to be a focus for the European market for several years, but the importance of water and energy has spread throughout all industries all over the world. While the focus was mainly on consumption at the start, laundries have come to realise that there is a certain amount of energy and water needed to perform a proper cleaning process. Therefore cleaning results has become equally important – it is all about the right balance, says Jensen.

State-of the art control that can provide almost limitless flexibility and an easy-to-use display is important in the laundry process as well. Data management, troubleshooting and networking capabilities have become indispensable on the newest controls.

Jensen washer-extractors allow customers full flexibility to create customised programs. The state-of-the-art control systems on the Jensen washer-extractors enable easy set-up and copying of washing and chemical programs through the USB ports on the front of the machines.

The advanced diagnostic functions and the remote awareness function – allowing an instant overview of the machine status with the smart indicator light – make it a very user-friendly design.

Tolon is a market leader in the Turkish commercial and heavy-duty laundry markets and has now developed a range specifically for the EU market. It established an office in Ghent in 2015 and is in the process of setting up a network of independent Tolon distributors for the commercial laundry market.

According to Carine Derez, Tolon VP sales Europe, demand for industrial washer-extractors is increasing in the smaller OPL hospitality markets.  This was one of the reasons the company decided to expand its current range (20-110kg) with two new models of 10kg and 15kg.  Although there are already several commercial offerings, Tolon approached this from an industrial standpoint, looking at machines built for an average of 30,000 cycles with very durable materials.

“We have been focusing since 2014 on the European export markets and most customers are getting to know our products as very reliable, durable and modern with a lot of flexibility, but at the same time simple to use for the end-user.”

Water and energy reduction is continues to be a key requirement. Tolon has developed a control feature, which tells operators exactly how much energy has been used per cycle and load. “This gives real figures instead of a marketing story of a certain percentage less than before or others.  The new industry norms for industrial equipment will help us as well to make comparisons to other machines, whereas today everybody applies their own rules.”

On control, she said that different programs are needed to treat different kinds of linen and soil levels. A user-friendly interface with multiple languages or universal symbols and a simple operation are equally important to the users and owner.

In order meet these requirements, it is important to offer a very versatile and flexible control, which at the same time remains simple to use and offers as much information as possible about consumption and service of the machine. “These are exactly the features we have been focusing on during the development of our washers and control unit.”

Kannegiesser in Germany says it can offer washer-extractors for every application from nursing home linen to mat processing with minimal water and energy consumptions.

Kannegiesser’s washer-extractors use the latest water management software together with the JET rinsing process, already proven in the PowerTrans JET batch washer, to achieve very good water and energy consumption figures.

Extraction of absorbed main wash liquor before rinsing means that less liquor has to be diluted in the rinse process. In many cases only one-two rinsing steps are needed instead of three rinse steps before. This drastically reduces water consumption and the overall process times. The JET-Rinsing feature is integrated in all Kannegiesser washer extractors. The manufacturer offers three washer-extractors ranges: the FavoritPlus barrier machines, the Futura open-pocket washers and the PowerSwing series, which provides automatic loading and unloading options.

The FavoritPlus is available in sizes from 30kg to 270kg and can be equipped with different drum divisions, depending on the size of the FavoritPlus. The most common is the so-called Pullman-division, which give the possibility of separating customer related batches.

This washer-extractor can be designed as a barrier wall machine and as a non-barrier wall machine.

Kannegiesser’s PowerSwing is a high performance machine for automatic processes and available in different sizes: The Power Swing can handle up to 400kg mats or up to 300kg workwear.

The Futura 1400 and Futura 1900 are available in barrier wall versions; this means they can be installed in a hygiene wall that separates the soiled and the clean areas of the laundry.

It is possible to install the washer extractor with a full automatic top loading on the soiled side and an automatic tilt discharge onto a lift conveyer which loads the batch directly into a batch dryer. With such an installation the Futura is fully integrated into the automatic work flow of the laundry.

The growing demand of customisation and individualisation is also increasing in the laundry sector, says Kannegiesser. In Germany especially, this is leading to a growing demand for washer-extractors because for the laundry it is important to be competitive even when processing special applications like special fabrics, mats and workwear.

The PowerSwing, for example, provides a large number of loading options. This means that the PowerSwing can be integrated in the best possible way into all sorts of different laundry layouts. While loading, the drum opening of the PowerSwing is vertical and already rotating at item distribution speed. As a result, loading can take place very quickly and with larger loading quantities.

The PowerSwing can be integrated into the production process in many different ways: Automatic loading with monorail system or combined loading; loading with a conveyor likewise as a buffer storage for one batch including less personnel; and a space-saving solution with one or two PowerSwing Washer extractors combined with one PowerDry which will be automatically loaded with the clean batch.

Water and energy saving are surely one of the most important factors in further research and development but also the integration of washer extractors in the logistic process is very important and the ability to process special applications like mats, work wear or special fabrics.

ScaletronPlus is an innovative solution for cost savings and high-quality laundry processing. The integrated electronic system measures water and chemicals continuously. The residual moisture is programmable for all following processes such as ironer and tunnel finisher.

With Scaletron Plus feature the washer extractor knows at every time how much laundry and water (bound and unbound liquor) is in the drum. Measuring the total batch weight during the process also allows considering the water entry caused by steam, chemicals and rinsing of the dosing line.

Together with the Optimised Process Spinning (OPS) it is possible to measure the moisture during the spinning process for defined constant values of the residual moisture. The extraction process is controlled by this nominal value.

Miele Professional in Germany says that the market for OPL laundries is still strong. Jürgen Schäfer, Miele’s director of product management laundry technology, says that while budgets are always under review, in general the company is seeing that there is definitely a willingness to invest in top equipment.

He notes that there were certain markets where demand is good – “the nursing home market stayed very strong and also the hospitality market also had a good year in 2015.”

One really specific channel is the coin laundry segment. “Here is some real momentum and all the competitors are very much turning their attention to this market,” says Schäfer. “As always, also in such a specific channel it is important to offer real value to the customer – in this case to the owner of the coin laundry and the user of the coin laundry.

“If the end-user is satisfied with the cleaning result, the ambiance of the store and also the service provided – maybe with special wash cycles – then we see that the usage frequency increases, which will provide a healthy business situation for the operator.”
The reduction of energy and water consumption is the primary goal in terms of new product concepts. Looking at the themes covered at this year’s Texcare, he said that customisation of controls is one of the keys to success. Special programmes for different applications will play a significant role, especially with the rapid development of fabrics and fibres. “It will also be a key topic for future developments, alongside other new technologies which arise, especially when we look at the move towards digitalisation we are experiencing,” says Schäfer.

At Domus in Spain, marketing manager Gemma Colomer Mallol says that sales in its key markets remain good, in the tourism and hospitality sector as well as the coin-op sectors. "Emergent markets like the Middle East have been really good," she says.
Colomer Mallol agrees that greater efficiency and a reduction in water and energy consumption remains important. “Customers tell us they are really pleased with the Touch Control microprocessor, which has many other features and advantages from the previous one, making the use of our machines easy and efficient.”
At Texcare 2016, Domus showcased its latest technology to program both front-loading and hygienic barrier washer-extractors. Using the new Touch Control, an operator can choose from four economic programs, reducing both water and energy consumption but increasing the mechanical action to ensure optimal wash results.

The high spin washer-extractors feature G-Factor 450, which drastically reduces the residual moisture (by around 45-50%) after the washing process and allowing important savings in the process that follows such as drying and ironing.

The washers have Auto Weight, an automatic weighing system that can provide up to 30% savings. The Optimal Loading feature indicates the load introduced to the machine and the washer automatically adapts the quantity of water and chemicals to be used for that load. The Domus washers are also equipped with an automatic water mixer (mixing different water temperatures), which reduces washing times, a new soap dosing system and water ducts. The machines comply with WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) certification.

HIGHLY EFFICIENT


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