Visits to two textile services facilities opened in 2014 and filled with laundry and material handling systems that maximize efficiency and throughput highlight the agenda for TRSA’s Production Summit and Plant Tours, 8-9 February 2017 in Houston.

These Alsco, Inc. operations process reusable textiles for specialty medical and food & beverage customers, respectively. Plant management representatives and suppliers will guide attendees through the 101,000- and 85,000-square-foot facilities. They’ll provide further insight into their techniques in a discussion after the tours.
 
HealthAssure by Alsco uses two 8-module (260-pound) tunnel washers as well as washer-extractors and small washers. Featured systems include a load-build conveyor with packing tickets, a linen scanning camera for quality assurance and automated shrink wrapping. Admiral Linen and Uniform Service by Alsco, the F&B plant, uses a similar wash aisle equipment combination, with a single 12-module tunnel as the centrepiece. Vacuum soil sorting and a highly automated rail system are among this facility’s productivity gems.
 
Summit tours and presentations give textile services executives and managers ideas for new plant operations strategies, provide updates on emerging industry-wide best practices and facilitate new and ongoing contact with peers and technology experts. Attendees evaluate how processes and management techniques apply to their own businesses, interacting with speakers, panelists and other attendees who are TRSA members, recognised as the industry’s most productive and profitable organisations.
 
Sessions at the Summit host hotel, the Hilton Houston Post Oak, will include:
 
Mat Safety and Legal Repercussions. Tips will be provided on how proper mat washing, drying, rolling and delivery minimize slip-and-fall risk. Experiences will be recounted of laundry operators’ personal involvement in related lawsuits. Contractual do’s/don’ts for safeguarding launderers’ interests when their mats are involved in such incidents will be presented.
 
Diversity in Production Leadership. Attendees will learn about a process to improve diversity without reducing or ignoring merit in hiring and promotion. Advice will guide creation of an engaged business culture that forms trusting relationships and improves performance. TRSA’s Women in Textile Services Committee will present.
 
Talent Recruiting and Development. New ways to locate and attract individuals for management and line positions will be explored with emphasis on securing employment prospects who can recognize and seize opportunities to improve results. Tactics presented will lead to better identification of current employees worthy of promotion and strengthening of procedures long used to train and motivate.
 
Best Fleet Practices across Industries. Techniques recognized for exceeding the norm in increasing efficiencies will be presented from businesses other than textile services that truck goods repeatedly to the same business customers. Disciplines expected to be covered include vehicle acquisition, maintenance and fuel management, driver productivity and accident management.

Manufacturers as Laundry Role Models. A representative of the U.S. manufacturing sector will discuss business improvement techniques applicable to textile services. The presentation will portray manufacturers’ legendary diligence for analysing their processes to control costs from raw material procurement to distribution and their expertise in functions including change order processing, inventory tracking and IT systems architecture.
http://www.trsa.org/productionsummit