Automation gives greater control

Garment finishing is becoming an increasingly important part of the finishing process. As customers demand a higher standard of garment care, so cleaners must meet the challenge of more complex fabric requirements and poorly labelled garments.

Roland Fleischmann at Ghidini Benvenuto in Italy says that one of the main problems is the introduction of garment fabrics that are more difficult to wash, clean and iron. He explains that garment manufacturers will need to give more precise care information and that drycleaners will have to learn more about the new fabrics.

Silc of Italy produces a wide range of finishing equipment. Giovanni Ristè, commercial director says that machines provided with a PLC (programmable logic control) computer now allow cleaners to set and store several different finishing programs that can handle a greater variety of fabric requirements.

The number of drycleaning businesses is declining but those that remain are becoming larger and Corinna Mapelli at Trevil notes a move to increased automation as a result. She says that drycleaning shops are evolving towards larger industrial-scale installations. Demand is shifting from simple hand ironing tools to automatic finishing machines that allow unskilled operators to process high volumes.

Mapelli says this trend is being accelerated by high labour costs and the ready availability of unskilled labour so the number of skilled operators is falling. She adds that customers for automatic machines have two priorities. They require a good finish but they also want even greater productivity.

Jürgen Wünsch of Veit in Germany says that changes in fabric construction and weight are challenging finishing equipment manufacturers. Modern professional textile care specialists want machines that offer a range of programs, save on energy costs and are easy to use so that staff can be trained quickly.

Veit has developed its innovative “Smart Engineering” system. This consists of four main elements – the Body Fit 3D tensioning system, a patented Belt Drive, O-Stretch anti-stretch control and the

D-Airflow system for more

efficient drying.

These features are found on the 8319 universal finisher and the 8326 shirt finisher.

The Body Fit 3D tensioning system allows garments to be tensioned across their width in two directions as well as vertically. The belt drive allows delicate fabrics to be tensioned while the O-stretch is designed to provide a controlled tension that prevents stretch fabrics over-stretching and wrinkling.

Shirt systems

Demand for shirt finishing systems is also increasing according to James Holt, managing director of Sankosha’s UK distributor Parrisianne Dry Cleaning Solutions. He says that drycleaners right across the market want to cut labour costs and his company is installing systems that cater both for drycleaners with a specialist shirt service and large businesses handling 15,000 shirts per week.

Sankosha’s most popular system partners the LP570E shirt and sleeve unit and the LP690E collar and cuff press. The system provides high tensioning and can handle up to 2,500 shirts per week.

For high volumes, Holt’s company provides the Sankosha LP185E double-buck body and sleeve unit, which can be combined with the Sankosha LP370E quadruple collar and cuff press. This system allows two shirts to be finished at the same time as the next two are being loaded.

Mapelli at Trevil says the company’s latest shirt finishers now produce “hand-finished” quality in less than 50 seconds. The combination of the Trevistar shirt finisher and the Trevilpress cuff and collar press with built-in boiler is proving a success with drycleaners that have a dedicated shirt service section. The boiler feeds both machines, providing a self-contained station that can be run by a single operator in a limited space.

The 2010 version of the Trevistar can process 35 – 50 shirts an hour and is available with sleeve clamps for long and short sleeves and also with an insert for long-sleeved shirts that preserves the curve of the cuff and prevents the tensioner leaving a fold mark in the cuff.

The Trevilpress cuff and collar press has an innovative design with a tray that can be pulled out to allow the shirt to be positioned on the three padded heads then moved back into position for the finishing process. The heated head remains in the machine cabinet, avoiding the risk of contact with operator’s hands.

Another recent development from Trevil is the Pantastar, described as the world's first machine that can finish both the hip and crease of trousers in a single unit. Mapelli says that it provides the same quality finish as a topper and a press, without needing a specialist operator.

The Rotondi Group of Italy produces cabinets, formers and toppers, ironing presses, ironing tables, finishing tunnels and spotting tables. Gianluigi Miracca says the company has developed computer systems that allow a consistent high standard on high quality fabrics. For shirt-finishing the company provides the SR3000, which can process around 40 shirts per hour and can be combined with the BLCLP collar-cuffer. The system provides nine programs.

The joy-stick control ensures that shirts are positioned so as to avoid creases in the under-arm area. Shirts are held by vacuum until the front and rear padded clamps are positioned by photo-electric sensors and activated by a pedal.

The SR3000 has a full-height front clamp and double clamps to handle both long and short-sleeved shirts. The Rotondi system can also process, in sequence, mixed shirt sizes from the batch in process.

Rotondi’s SR1000 shirt finisher is designed for small businesses and will process 20 – 25 wet or dry shirts per hour to a very high standard.

Miracca points out that the company has developed complex form finishers and trouser toppers with specialised models for specific garments, offering high productivity and quality finishing.

Rotondi ironing presses now benefit from the company’s Leonardo Evolution or Leonardo touchscreen systems. The touchscreen provides a wide choice of programs at a relatively low cost. The system is easy to learn and use and offers up to 99 program options. Programs can also be transferred to other machines.

The Leonardo Evolution takes the touchscreen technology a stage further. It can memorise more than 100,000 programs and set up to 15 pressing functions in a tandem configuration.

Veit’s Jürgen Wünsch says there is growing interest in its shirt finishing solutions. He says that the high-tech equipment now on the market can turn what was once a labour-intensive, low-return job into a service that the cleaner wants to market actively. He points out that a Veit shirt finishing system can justify its cost on less than 100 shirts a day, which can be finished in a little over two hours.

Veit has introduced the 8326 shirt finisher which features the D-Airflow, which directs air through the front clamp for faster, more efficient drying. Long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts can be finished without marks by using the drop-shaped sleeve tensioner.

Massimo Sanvito, export manager at Pony, says that shirt services have a great potential. He believes that more drycleaners are looking to add a laundry service to those they already provide.

The Angel shirt press came onto the market in December 2010 and has been specifically designed for high-volume shirt finishing. This single-buck finisher has simple, intuitive controls that unskilled operators can use easily and is equipped with a touchscreen PLC. Sleeve finishing is enhanced by two cuff placket presses as well as the Angel’s pneumatic adjustable-height, sleeve tensioning system.

Sanvito also points to increased interest in hot-head presses as the number of garments that can be wet-cleaned or washed increases.

The Pony Formplus tensioning form finisher has been designed for use with a specialist wetcleaning system. The machine has a PLC that allows customised programs to be set and saved and will store up to 10 programs.

It can also be supplied with a dummy that rotates through 270degrees and is positioned by a photocell. Up to 10 programs can be customised and saved.

A second version, the Formplus/S has side and rear clamps for finishing garments with vents. Other options include a steam iron for final touching-up.

Ivan Colombo, export manager at Sidi Mondial of Italy, says that the company’s M501 universal form finisher is suitable for all kinds of outerwear and is particularly recommended for wetcleaned garments as it has both lateral and vertical tension.

He says that the company has introduced several energy-saving features to its equipment. For example, the Sidi Major Plus shirt finisher has yoke and tuck press devices built in as standard so the machine is easy to use. This has also reduced both cycle time and energy consumption by over 25%. The drying time for each shirt is cut to around 42seconds, giving a significant increase in hourly production.

The Teflon covering on the air-operated clamps prevents pressing marks, even on dark fabrics. The machine can save up to 10 programs.

Mapelli at Trevil has also noticed an increase in drycleaners installing wetcleaning systems and says that cleaners that are more entrepreneurial in outlook are flourishing as their competitors leave the market.

These entrepreneurs have planned for investment and buy more expensive machines to automate production.

She also notes that the availability of quality clothing using new fibres or combinations of materials is creating more opportunities for professional cleaning. Trevil now offers a range of tensioning units to restore the shape of garments after wetcleaning.

The Treviform tensioning automatic finisher for jackets and coats is one of Trevil’s most successful models. The customer can store nine preferred programs in the control board’s memory and each program retains details of the finishing cycle and of the tensioning devices used and the tensioning strengths applied.

Ghidini Benvenuto offers two shirt-finishing options that provide flexibility for cleaners, according to Roland Fleischmann. The Majestic Combi is a combined blowing and steaming form finisher capable of handling approximately 20 pieces per hour. Electronic programming allows the Combi to process coats, jackets and blousons and it also has a longer dummy to accommodate overalls.

The MC99 finisher is designed by Ghidini for the finishing both washed and drycleaned shirts, blousons and jackets. It is capable of finishing up to 35 shirts per hour. The powerful built-in fan makes it particularly suitable for finishing damp clothes quickly.

Barbanti Carlo’s export sales co-ordinator Katia Losi says that energy-saving features are important. The company’s model 483 steam-heated shirt finisher features an integrated energy-saving device that provides 25% savings in steam consumption. The heated shoulder plate and cuff vent plates increase productivity by 20%. The dummies are available in different sizes and are equipped with adjustable shoulders. Optional extras include an unloading device for shirts on wire hangers, sleeve-arm height adjustment and a shirt folding table. The finisher is also available as an electrically-heated version, the model 488.

The company’s P650 trouser press can be combined with TP67 trouser topper and adjustable trouser stand to finish traditional style trousers with a crease. The 650 is designed for easy use and has a PLC for storing up to nine programs.

Barbanti Carlo has introduced a redesigned version of its universal finisher and the 453 has energy saving features as well as those that increase production and improve quality.

Giovanni Ristè at Silc says the company exports more than 90% of its production worldwide. He says there is great interest in the special form finishers for jackets and shirts. The S/MSG and S/MPC are completely automatic and are equipped with a microprocessor with 10 programs. The company’s range also includes a vertical finisher for trousers that will allow inexperienced staff to finish50 pairs of trousers in an hour after just a few hours training.

The S/MTA R-Evolution is a combination unit with former and trouser topper that can handle large volumes of jackets and trousers. Cleaners can add an ironing table to the package.

Battistella of Italy is a leading manufacturer of semi-professional and industrial ironing boards, steam generators, spotting tables, dummies, toppers and ironing presses.

The company’s most recent development is its Pegaso/A steam dummy with 10litre boiler. Export manager Maurizio Giomo said that the Pegaso body former is designed for shirts, overalls, jackets and coats. It is equipped with a heated front paddle and automatic stretching mechanism and has pneumatic arms and sleeve clamps controlled by a photocell.

The machine is supplied with an electronic card with 20 programs. It is also supplied without a boiler as the Pegaso/V.

Imesa has put together a shirt processing and finishing package, the Easy Shirt, which allows traditional laundries to take on increased capacity and drycleaners with limited space to a start offering a shirt service to increase revenue.

The Easy Shirt system combines machines for washing, drying and ironing in a small footprint and will allow businesses to finish 30 shirts an hour in a space of 10m2.

Imesa’s Tandem system handles the washing and drying while Silc finishing equipment can complete the package.

This includes a vacuum-blowing ironing table and a collar and cuff manual press with top buck. Marketing and communication manager Chiara Ronchiato says that Imesa’s Tandem system, which stacks a 14kg washer with an 18kg dryer and fits into a 1m2 footprint, is attracting a great deal of interest from the drycleaning sector.