Xiamen Lekin: The Future-Proof Laundry

With its beautiful coastal scenery, the city of Xiamen is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. The strong tourism industry with its many hotels therefore make Xiamen a perfect location for textile service providers. It is no surprise that the textile service provider Lekin decided to build a new laundry in the booming tourist region of Xiamen. With the goal of supplying the many upscale hotels in the region with high-quality linen, Xiamen Lekin CEO Chen Qiangren made a deliberate decision in favor of Kannegiesser machine technology. Processing a wide variety of articles while satisfying high demands on quality and productivity can only be achieved with appropriate machine technology. Kannegiesser serves all of this. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the slow recovery of the service industry, CEO Chen Qiangren relied on his basic principle for the investment decision: "Invest in the future!" His long-term goal is to be prepared for the post-pandemic era by building the most advanced laundry in southern China. Therefore Qiangren’s choice fell on the future-proof machine technology from Kannegiesser.

A new laundry in Xiamen

The new laundry in Xiamen received, among other equipment, a new PowerTrans Vario batch washer from Kannegiesser with 16 compartments for a batch weight of 60 kg and the high-performance extraction press PowerPress. In order to form a perfectly coordinated washing system a LSC lift shuttle conveyor and 5 PowerDry transfer dryers were also added.

The clean side received a new ironer line with the versatile feeding machine EMQ Synchro, the high-performance ironer HPM, and the high-speed length and cross folder CFM for continuously high quality demands.

Investing in the future

A new batch washer, for example, is usually in operation for more than 15 years. For this reason, it is essential to keep an eye on the future development of the business model and the customer structure when making investment decisions. Textile service providers face the challenge of investing in systems that have to adapt continuously to market developments. One of these developments: customers are increasingly demanding customized linen, which poses an ever-increasing challenge for laundries. How can textile service providers preserve their high level of quality and maintain productivity despite increasingly complex production and logistics, which derive from the growing article variety? The solution: versatile machine technology and SmartLaundry.

Versatile machine technology: PowerTrans Vario

The batch washer PowerTrans Vario is the perfect solution to the increasing variety of articles on the market. When changing colors, the PowerTrans Vario does not need any empty compartments thanks to the consistent bath separation and the consequent lack of counterflow. This leads to the highest possible output in the available space.

SmartLaundry: Process Control

Process Control as a part of the SmartLaundry is the automatic control of the production process. Regardless of the extent of the article variety, it enables a continuous flow of goods, consistent machine utilization, and on-time and complete deliveries. Each laundry batch is weighed and assigned to a customer and an article category from the database. Based on this information the batches are transported to the correct machines and processed with the optimum program – fully automatically.

However, SmartLaundry is by no means just something for newly built laundries. A step-by-step development from a semi-automatic program control, for example with a ticket system, to a fully automated laundry offers a perfect solution for any operation.

With his guiding principle "Invest in the future!" the CEO of Xiamen Lekin, Chen Qiangren, hits the nail on the head. Flexible machine technology and SmartLaundry by Kannegiesser offer optimum solutions for future-proof laundry operations.