The USA’s Clean Show claims to be the largest show for the textile care industry. Clean 05 in Orlando attracted mixed views from its exhibitors, although it still had plenty to interest visitors.
On the pro side of the debate some stands seemed to be enjoying a busy time, and there were claims of a high degree of real interest from visitors, despite slightly lower attendance.
Those less happy pointed to a downsizing of stands compared with the previous event and questioned the suitability of a family resort venue with daytime distractions. “Las Vegas has distractions too but they’re all in the evening” was one comment.”
Nevertheless, the Orlando event had much to offer. There was, as might be expected, a strong bias towards exhibits for the USA market with energy saving developments much in evidence on the laundry side.,
Twin booths and a display taking in all sectors from small laundry–to coin-op– to heavy duty plants, marked the 10th anniversary of Girbau’s American subsidiary Continental Girbau, and here the view was very positive.
The show is a meeting point for our distributors network It is a good moment for business declared group chairman Pere Girbau. “The show is surprisingly active, given that Orlando is primarily a resort” agreed Continental Girbau president Mike Floyd.
Several interactive displays featured. The Aurora washer is designed for very small plants, and using the Aurora income accelerator, visitors could analyse performance against that of competitors’ machines.
But Girbau’s move to be seen as a supplier for the heavy-duty sector was also progressing. Its ability to provide for the full laundry line is being recognised world-wide. The solid base achieved in the under 250lb market and its reputation for quality had led to openings in other markets, said the company. On the industrial side, the SPR60 extraction press, marked a further development.
Girbau’s backing of Ozone technology and its partnership with Ozone Water Technologies proved newsworthy, attracting much attention (see box p xx).
Jensen’s stand underlined its ability to be a one-stop shop for the heavy-duty laundry through its ability to develop and provide solutions for the whole plant including plant monitoring through Jenview management information system.
Visitors could further evidence in the Jensen Cockpit which showed Jenview in action through live broadcasts from the webcam at Comtex, one of the many reference plants. In real-time the displays showed the Futurail sorting systems, the Senking-equipped washroom, and the flatwork finishing area. A separate screen showed the Jenview system.
Myles Noel, Chief Operating officer, at Comtex Central Ohio Medial textiles testified to the success of the one-stop shop concept , saying that Comtex had never expected to place the whole contract with one company, but Jensen’s bid was was complete and competitive and results had exceeded expectations.
A compact garment sorting system from the Metricon division was on show for the first time. It offers several options including sorting by size, colour, garment type, wearer and so on,.
On Milnor’s main stand, the central place went to the 92048, the latest addition to the CBW family and claimed to be the largest capacity tunnel washer available – batch size 250lb (115kg). But its relatively compact design makes it suitable for laundries with limited floor space. A centrifugal extractor, said to work especially well with polycotton goods, was also being introduced.
A line of small rigid washers with capacities of 55 60lb was also on display. The 3022TPX features a very simple to use control with three wash speeds and 33 program formulae.
Milnor introduced developments for the USA’s important coin-op market including the Visionex 40lb machine in the cabinet style favoured by the sector. A line of machines in a typical setting appeared on a separate stand.
Ipso was introducing the USA market to the Stainless Laundry Solutions concept, seen at Texcare Frankfurt, last year. The Cygnus modular control will be featured throughout the range. Three options are on offer. Standard and commercial options both have time and temperature indication, program overview and infra-red connection.
Cygnus standard has six programs, Cygnus commercial allows up nine programs in coin mode, with five additional functions – soak, ecolevel, cancel eco-prewash, spin for free.
Cygnus professional has a detailed display using a mixture of signs and symbols. Users can create their own labels for particular programs, and the display shows title, program components, wash components, indications of remaining time, temperature and water level.
The company previewed the WF hard-mount washers due to replace the WE machines next year. Frequency inverters will be standard and also higher G forces (145-165G) in the OPL version.
The HC soft-mount line is also coming to this market, again based on a design launched in Europe.
Sister company Cissell has a dryers from 35 – 250lb and washer-extractors from 30 – 125lb and favoured demonstrating machines working in pairs.
Talking about USA market trends, Jason Spratling noted a move towards a wetcleaning, particularly on the West Coast. The machines, he said, have had a program for some time, although it wasn’t actively promoted, but now some customers refuse to buy a machine unless its labelled wetclean.
Randy Karn, Maytag director for OPL and national accounts, commercial Laundry, was enthusiastic about the show and found it successful not only from the point of view of the USA and Canadian markets, but also for meeting visitors from Europe and from Asia.
The company targets three markets, multi-housing, coin laundry and small to medium OPLs. This is probably far the best show for those sectors, said Karn.
Maytag has been paying particular attention to the needs of smaller companies to cut costs. Washers have higher spin speeds, so clothes need less drying and in the dryers, gas-use has been reduced by 23%. Axial airflow improves efficiency.
To answer OPL concerns about dryer safety, Maytag has put made fire-suppression systems standard.
Kannegiesser managing director, Engelbert Heinz said the company recognised the pressure that oil pricing put on the American market and therefore the importance it would place not only on Kannegiesser’s quality but also the environmental benefits its products offered. Innovations in both washing and finishing were designed to improve productivity.
Demonstrated on video, the PowerSwing washer-extractor makes loading from inclined conveyor or overhead bag faster and more efficient. For loading, the drum unit, swings from its normal vertical position to horizontal. As loading starts, the inner drum rotates so the loading is both fast and efficient – up to 430kg (950lb) dustmats can be loaded in 30 seconds, and 200- 330kg workwear can be loaded at the same rate.
The rotating drum also increases the capacity as a fixed drum of the same size would not take a load of this size.
As well as boosting productivity in this way the PowerSwing has a powerful drive and brake system, shortening wash times and reducing moisture retention.
Kannegiesser claims that in terms of output and staff needed, a single PowerSwing unit can operate with the efficiency of a small to medium tunnel washer.
On the finishing side, demonstrations of the B2 spreader showed how it automated the feeding process and a 4m ironer with flexible heat band combined quality with productivity.
American Dryer Corporation (ADC) had enjoyed a fairly busy show, reported Jillian Tempest. Its new line of Solaris dryers provided the centre-piece. This includes two different 30lb stack dryers, and a 20 lb stack dryer, plus single-pocket 20 and 30lb dryers.
Solaris is distinguished by its construction with stainless-steel interior and drum. Stainless-steel exteriors were an option. Lapauw, like many companies was looking to the show’s home market. “I see it as 90% American, said Wim Demayer export manager.
He had chosen just one machine to illustrate the company’s ability to meet that market’s demands, a gas-heated 900mm diameter, 2.7m ironer, with Lapauw’s patented flexible chest.
The American market always looks for a self-contained, highly efficient machine, with low maintenance costs, he explained
Demeyer, and his American distributor, Altec, had seen many visitors, people who had heard about the machine and respected its reputation.
We’ve seen key people said Chris Leeper, of Broadbent Laundry Systems, Lavatec’s UK distributor.
The show is really for the American market, he explained, and that market wants strength and reliability, the reason for Lavatec’s appeal here.
Controlability was a central feature now. The tumblers all have lint clean, and i-r sensing to automate dryer time. Super efficient gas burners were an option.
In the wash line, a new membrane press, upgraded to 60bar, featured.It has said Leeper been proven to reduce the drying cycle by 2 – 3 minutes. There was also an extraction press designed to maximise water extraction with minimum pressure and therefore minimum risk of damage to linen.
Charles Giancola president of D J Giancola was a firm supporter of the show. A variety of visitors had been to the stand, including representatives from the Pacific Rim, Middle East.
One of the reasons for being at the show was to look for distributors, but the company also had a full range of equipment to show, including drycleaning machines (mostly perc) and washer-extractors from 7 – 120kg.
While most many companies were targeting the american market specifically, Primus was attending with the international customer in mind including those from South America and Asia as well as Europe. As in Frankfurt l last year the company ‘s theme was Think Big. The stand featured dryers, from 11 – 35kg ,with an airflow that combined radial and axial flows for greater energy efficiency and lower energy costs.There was also a new coin machine for that will compete in the 6-8kg market.
A re-designed tunnel washer line featured on the GA Braun Stand.
The tunnel now features four heat zones, one of the biggest improvements, and greater heating capacity in the wash exchange.
Single-shell construction, means there are no moving parts, and stainless steel has been used in the shell itself.
Complementing the tunnel, the 130BE press and the 265PDS dryer, Both press and dryer are now made by Braun.
The USA is this the largest market for the Coin-op sector. Wascomat the exclusive distributor for all Electrolux professional products America) was targeting this sector on its stand demonstrating on how the technology in its machines could save energy.
It was showing its first line of Super Emerald washer-extractors. With 140G extraction force, the machines remove more water from the clothes, thus saving energy in the drying. The high rate also speeds turnround in the machines – so more customers can use the machines.
Utility costs are one of the largest expenses for coin-op launderette businesses. In the Huebsch display on the Alliance Laundry Systems stand, the Huebsch H2E washer-extractors had been designed to contain these costs the range covers 20- 80lb capacities, and all machines have 140G extraction to reduce drying time and lower gas use in the dryers.
A variable frequency drive ensures washers cut electricity use by half compared with regular Huebsch machines Preset wash cycles are designed to minimise water use.
All the MDC top-load washers meet California’s stringent energy efficiency standard laid down this year.
Speed Queen had added a 125lb washer extractor to its coin-laundry range. The machine is card ready and is available with automatic dispenser to make handling large loads easier.
Speed Queen has also added two soft-mount coin machines with heavy-duty suspension for businesses where the flooring may not be suitable for hard-mount, bolt-down machines.
User friendliness was the the theme in the Unimac section. The A control replaces the UC P and UW V controls previously used on UniMac washers. The A control has 30 preset cycles, easy to operate control pad, the control and is easy for new and untrained staff to understand.
UniMac has also introduced a flatwork finisher designed for smaller OPLs and available in gas or electric versions.
Bernard Jomard of Danube International was there to meet distributors from beyond the USA. and had seen quite a few from South America and the Far East, though few Europeans. Exhibits included the medical pass-through washer and the Ecomina flatwork claimed to be the”cheapest” on the market.
Davis Packaging has a well established ranges of wrapping machines. It was introducing a semi-automatic wrapper, TD3614, intended for linen service and commercial laundries, rather than small family businesses. A speed of 8-10 packages per hour takes semi-auto machines a stage further, till now the company’s machines only achieved 3 – 5 packages/hour.
The Fanafel stand seemed to be continually busy. Denis Begasse was there to meet American distributors. However he also believed that European ironers were there in higher numbers than at previous show. His company now supplies padding to more that 70 companies and the show provided the opportunity to meet service companies all over the world.
Springpress introduced its Autolube automatic waxing system for ironers, but also had its spring padding at show.
San-Ai was demonstrating its highlighting its Tape Matic, an ultrasonic tape welder with built-in cutter that can be operated either left or right handed. Working without heat, it is ready to work immediately and makes guide tape replacement both simple and relatively quick.
| Jensen cockpit |
| WEBCAM VIEW: Jensen’s visitors could see one-stop shop solutions in action at the Comtex laundry via webcam broadcasts |
| A matter of identification |
| WINNING THE RACE: Eva Baraner proves the speed of RFID in a first to scan 10 items race against Nick Mandrycky on barcode |
| RFID specialist Datamars came up with some novel marketing ideas. Nick Mandrycky, vice president and general manager at Datamars USA, had recently joined and his ID background had previously been in barcodes. Taking this as his cue perhaps, he matched himself on barcode scanner, in a first-to-scan-ten items race against Datamars communications manager Eva Baraner on RFID. Naturally, RFID, always won. |
| Kannegiesser PowerSwing |
| TURNING UP THE VOLUME: Kannegiesser’s PowerSwing washer swings into horizontal position for easier loading while the rotating inner drum maximises volume |
| ipso control |
| CUSTOMISED CONTROL:Ipso’s Cygnus control offers three options to suit different applications. Its modular design allows upgrades if the customer’s needs change |
| Ozone power |
| MANY BENEFITS: Disinfection is the prime function but the LaundrOzone system also cuts energy costs |
| The Girbau group has been in partnership with USA based Ozone Water technologies an independent company run by Jim and Michael Goss for 10 years. |
| Girbau stand |
| HEAVYDUTY; Girbau ‘s twin booths covered all sectors of the market. Its line up for the heavy duty market centres on its tunnel washer |
| Hygiene in the washroom |
| CLEAN HANDS:Jacques Mingard demonstrates the instant no-touch skin sanitiser from Steiner System |
| Steiner systems supplies a variety of products for washrooms including garment lockers, towel cabinets, automatic cut paper dispensers and hygiene systems. |
| HUEBSCH |
| CUTTING COSTS: The Huebsch H2E washer is designed to hel[pthe USA’s coin-op businesses make utility savings |
| Milliken’s makes Signature fabric easier to clean |
| Malcom Tymn of Milliken UK be suitable for a range of applications such as tablecloths, chef’s whites, aprons, runners. |
| Sanai |
| ULTRASONIC: Shuho and Futosha Motoda present San-ai’s Tape Matic ultrasonic welder |
