技術的記事

Workwear laundries: maximum clean with a low footprint

Workers want to have comfy clothes that fit them well. Depending on the industry, some textiles need to meet safety requirements, others have to be stylish. But most of all, professional workwear needs to be clean. From removing visible stains to safely deal with hazardous contamination, the requirements for professional laundries are complex. Relying on a high degree of automation, JENSEN laundry solutions combine modularity with ergonomics to sustainably process workwear – and lower water consumption.

Let robots do the dirty work

Any laundry process starts with soil sorting. Using an automated process minimizes the need for human interaction when it comes to quality control and surveillance: You can literally let the robots do the dirty work – and thus keep your human workers safe from any related hazards. THOR, Inwatec’s robotic separator, picks up the garments from the conveyor belt. Then, he hands them over to ODIN whose ruthless X-ray scanners detect any unwanted object hidden in a pocket and makes sure the system rejects the associated garment.

If a garment is equipped with an RFID tag, it will be automatically detected and sent to the right processing stage. Even without RFID tags, automatic sorting is easy: By marrying AI and visual sorting, the system can process huge amount of data and recognizes most garments using visual criteria. 

Automatic soil sorting not only keeps your humans safe. It reduces damage to machinery and other garments caused by unwanted items making their way into the laundry process. Finding skilled employees has become a cumbersome task, which even further highlights the importance of automation. Laundry managers will also be relieved to know that a soil sort system from Inwatec is fast to install and easy to maintain – no special know-how required.

The right washroom solution for every requirement

From different colors to a variety of textiles, the right tunnel washer can handle it all – and keep water consumption low even if there are frequent color changes. When it comes to heavily soiled linen like uniforms or industrial workwear, the JENSEN UniQ with its large drum volume is your perfect partner. With the laundry industry’s shortest transfer time of four seconds, the tunnel washer is suited to high mechanical action thanks to the unique drum design. The Archimedian helix offers a highly stable construction and removes soil using a washboard shape. Extra wash beaters provide even more cleaning action. JENSEN QuickSoak offers a very efficient and precise soaking effect: A very straightforward extra shower for the linen in the first compartment for maximum soaking and drenching. This is particularly important for textiles that tend to float, like polyester or similar materials. 

High-pressure cleaning nozzles remove residues of colored and oily workwear before white articles are driven through the machine. This process prevents grey wash, prolongs the garment's lifetime, and increases the comfort for the wearer. EcoTanks with large volumes enable you to separate water recovery by the color – and save the precious resource in the process: Warm water will be reused for the main wash, and colder water makes its way to the pre-wash- and rinse process. 

For best cleaning results, the batches are completely separated in the pre-wash and main wash areas. Together with the FlexRinse technology developed by JENSEN and an EcoTank system, a JENSEN UniQ tunnel washer combines high productivity with maximum flexibility and recovery of water and energy. EcoTanks with large volume buffers positioned next to the tunnel washer are fully integrated into the washing system. They are easy to clean – and their cleaning process can also be automated. 

The finishing touches

The Metricon transportation and sorting system ensures a perfect flow of washed garments between the individual workstations on the one hand, and more space on the other: It makes use of formerly unused space under the ceiling. The system regulates all movements of the garments and controls their sorting according to delivery tour, account, customer, and wearer. The new JOS, JENSEN Operating System, equips Metricon with new, intuitive features, a fresh look and even more flexibility: Extensions and upgrades to existing systems are quick and easy. This makes Metricon the ideal solution for small and large garment laundries – with one software platform, one hardware system and one code. 

MetriQ is the most ergonomic and productive loading station. Its unique buttons-to-the-front feature enables the efficient loading of garments with openings on the backside. All garments are loaded from the same side of the stations, no matter the type. This facilitates a mixed production of uniforms, scrubs and patient gowns, without time loss when moving to the opposite side. The built-in hanger collapse and hanger turner are efficiency boosters; the ideal ergonomic loading height can be set for each operator which will reduce work-related health issues. 

On top of all this, the new design of MetriQ loading stations makes it thrifty on space: Five MetriQ stations occupy the same space as four conventional loading stations. This reduces the footprint by 20 per cent.

A pro-fashional finish

In the last stage of the laundry process, the energy-saving tunnel finisher Omega Pro considerably improves processing times thanks to the unique S-shape at the inlet and outlet zones. This results in a slow and gentle temperature raise in the inlet zone. After drying, the garments are slowly cooled down to ambient temperature in the outlet zone, ensuring a “pro-fashional” finish at low energy costs. 

The Fox folder meets all requirements to perfectly fold heavy garments, microfiber textiles, overalls and bib overalls: It folds, sorts, and stacks the complete garment range at a high speed. Then, it expedites the folded garment into the packaging area, where the last (but not least!) mile in laundry operation shows all its glory: Jenway conveyors maintain the quality of the finished goods all the way to the dispatch area, where the automated track-and-trace functionality secures accurate stock control. So, workers can enjoy spotless comfort every day.

Laundry automation has a quick return on investment: Instead of dealing with repetitive manual tasks, human operators can focus on their real strengths. By combining robotics, data processing and high-tech machines, professional laundries create maximum hygiene, safety and productivity – and keep their environmental footprint low.