MATERIAL SOLUTIONS
PROGRAMME READY: To programme an AI-driven controller, the laundry engineer will need to simulate precisely each of the key requirements of the washing and finishing processes
The laundry manager of the future
Richard Neale of LTC Worldwide predicts a world of AI and practical advantages for the laundry manager
he last 35 years has seen massive changes in our working lives, with the PC, laptop, internet, Cloud, mobiles, AI and robotics, each producing paradigm shifts in how we work, play and interact with each other. The next 10 years are expected to offer answers to the current challenges (which could be beyond our immediate comprehension), but the laundry and textile rental sector should be exploring the adoption of new thinking and techniques (especially robotics and artificial intelligence). We have to be the leaders because we are more dependent than others on energy, water and labour. Affordable energy will be much scarcer (with massive reductions in carbon emissions worldwide), with good quality water expected to follow suit. The most immediate problem in the developed world is the cost and quality of labour, which is why robotics (coupled with energy and water economy) is setting the agenda for
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machine and process development. This month we look at where we are now and what skills our leaders of the future – our laundry managers and laundry engineers – are going to need.
Present situation
Even those managers in our sector with the rosiest coloured spectacles would freely admit that most of our rental laundries could be more efficient. Very few are consistently achieving over 200 pieces per operator hour (ppoh), consuming less than 4 litre/ kg and with an energy requirement of below 1.0kWh/kg dry textiles sold. Yet we know that this level of efficiency is achievable, even though only a few demonstrate it. The reason is that the day-to-day stresses of running a successful laundry always seem to dictate today’s priorities, with no chance to step back and take a longer-term view. Leading suppliers are now addressing this, with plans to make machines that
communicate with the laundry manager and the laundry engineer, so that it becomes much easier to optimise in real time the operating costs of each individual piece of kit. Only then can the final piece of the jigsaw be designed – the link between all of the individual machines to produce a fully integrated laundry operating at minimum cost, achieving maximum productivity and delivering consistent quality. We don’t want washer extractor controllers which can just offer any dip required, we want machines which can automatically optimise every dip, depending on the alkalinity of the local water for example. Let’s see what is needed (much of which is already on the CAD screens of every leading machine manufacturer).
Collection and delivery The electric vans of the future will probably carry just two types of container
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