News for JeNseN Customers - Jensen Group

N O. 9
september 2009
efficient and precise laundry management for satisfied customers
refereNCes A&M Blanchisserie Basse Meuse S.A., Liège, Belgium
Joseph broers and his son marc broers, General manager of A&m blanchisserie basse meuse . Absolute control with the futurail counting and sorting system for restaurant linen.
The Broers family business was started as
early as the 50s and was known at the time
as La Meuse laundry. In the 60s, Joseph
Broers took over the company from his
father and concentrated on dry cleaning.
Today, the company Ardennes & Meuse
(under the management of Marc Broers,
the 3rd generation) specializes purely in
textile rental services for the hotel and
restaurant business. The Broers family has
operated one of the most modern industrial
laundries in Europe since February
2009 in an entirely new building 4200 m2 (45,200 sq. ft.) in size in the industrial area
of Vottem near Liège.
The new laundry has been designed to handle
a capacity of 125 tons (275,600 lbs) of hotel
and restaurant linen, and 4 months after commissioning
processes up to 20 tons (44,100 lbs)
per 8-hour working day. Linen transportation
between the processing stations on the soiled
and clean sides is handled by the Futurail bag
storage and conveyer system, which provides
all stations with linen on a consistent basis and
according to centrally controlled requirements,
so that employees can remain at their working
stations. Communication between the laundry
expedition and production areas is carried out
by means of PCs. Automation of the operating
process and central production monitoring and
control has enabled employee and machine
productivity to be increased considerably.
A&M supplies 400 different customers in an
area of up to 120 km with 80% of their
personalized and 20% of their standardized
hotel rental textiles (hotels in all categories)
and restaurant linen, of which 90% are
standardized items. Before washing, the
soiled hotel laundry is sorted into 50 kg
(110 lbs) lots according to customer and
category using the Futurail Tri-Sort system
and forwarded in bags to the storage system.
The 50 different articles of table linen are
classified using a special Futurail sorting and
counting system, then stored in bags and
forwarded. This unique sorting system for table
linen is able to determine the exact number
of soiled items delivered, such as napkins
and tablecloths. The count of soiled items is
automatically captured and is compared with
the delivery contracts for end customers. The
laundry operating system communicates the
delivery priority to the central JENSEN production
monitoring system, which steers the
selection of lots that must be washed first.
The production monitoring system already
knows the type and number of laundry items
that must be delivered on the same day, even
before washing. In this manner it is possible
to punctually deliver clean napkins in the
afternoon to customer "y" that come from a
load of soiled napkins sent by customer "x"
the same morning, without having to hold
large stock levels. The central JENSEN production
monitoring system supplies the
local laundry operating system with exact
data for creating delivery notes and invoices
for end customers. Marc Broers is proud of
this unique counting and sorting system for
table linen: "This system makes our job considerably
easier and helps us to react quickly
to customer requirements."
To be able to continue using the existing steam
heated Senking Universal P50-14 continuous
batch washers and their washer extractors, the
Broers family decided on the construction of
an energy-efficient laundry that is equipped
with no more than an extremely small steam
boiler. The two new Senking Universal P50-
13 batch washers and the ten Senking DT 60
dryers, together with six new ironers, are gas
heated. The bed linen and towels are washed
using the low-temperature process from
Christeyns at 60°C (140 °F) in the gas-heated
continuous batch washers, and table linen at
higher temperatures in a steam-heated washing
tunnel. Gas usage for the entire laundry
was reduced to 0.085 m3 /kg (1.4 cu.ft./lbs)
of dry linen, which corresponds to an energy
usage of 0.9 kWh/kg (1400 BTU/lbs). The
internal water recycling system in the
Senking batch washers and the Christeyns
microfiltration system reduce the overall water
consumption in the laundry to 3.5 litres per kg
(0.42 gal per lbs) of dry linen.
The Futurail bag conveyer system
supplies clean laundry to the finishing area
as required. Six Tematic Pro folding machines
handle the towel items. The Maximat 900
folds and stacks thick bathrobes. Two ironer
lines, each equipped with a Quickfeeder
and an Extreme with two stations, are used
purely for processing sheets, which are fed
without handling the corners. The duvet
covers are processed via one or two lanes
in the Logic Plus, while large items of table
linen are fed via one or two lanes in the
Variant 2000. Two ironer lines handle the
smaller items.
Marc Broers attributes the success of his business
to the harmonious working environment
and reliable personal contacts in the laundry
industry: "Our success is based on three strong
pillars: customers, business partners and our
staff. Many years of personal and expert advice
from our business partners, particularly JENSEN,
have enabled our company to develop from
a laundry to one of the most modern textile
rental operations in Europe. I see automation
not only as a way of increasing productivity and
logistically optimizing work processes, but also
as a means of significantly improving working
conditions for our staff."
A&M Blanchisserie Basse Meuse S.A.
officially invites all companies in the
laundry sector to an open day to present
their new operation. All Jenfo readers are
also cordially invited! See MEETING POINT
on page 4 for more details.
Cornerless feeding with the Quickfeeder.
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