Achieving premium quality, energy-efficiently: The Success Story of Textilpflege Leitgeb

Lowest energy consumption? – Anyone can just claim that! However, Tina Märzendorfer, owner and CEO of Textilpflege Leitgeb, has the numbers to back it up: Since the opening of the new facility in Eberschwang, Austria, consumption of heating energy has remained consistently below one kilowatt-hour per kilogram of laundry. At the same time, the textile service provider delivers premium quality linen for demanding customers.

 

Immediately after taking over her father's business in 2014, Tina Märzendorfer had to face a major challenge: setting up a new location in Eberschwang. “We looked at a great number of laundries featuring different equipment suppliers. In the end, we chose Kannegiesser,” says Tina Märzendorfer. “Kannegiesser is consistent, delivers top quality and provides very good service. We have always had good business relations with Kannegiesser and the overall concept was best for Leitgeb.”

Loyal customers through premium quality

The textile service provider from Upper Austria is specialized in customers of the hospitality and restaurant industry; not an easy task, as this customer group can be very demanding. Hotel and restaurant guests always expect immaculate as well as perfectly smooth bed sheets and tablecloths. However, Tina Märzendorfer sees her company up to the challenge: "Our customers are very happy. We achieve an extraordinary high degree of whiteness. The feedback has been very good, as we have very high customer loyalty.”

In addition to machine technology, configuration is an important factor for product quality. According to customer requirements, Kannegiesser’s service technicians configure the equipment optimally. “Ironing quality is a matter of configuration. As a result, technicians may come all the way from Switzerland because they are the most experienced ironer technicians.” For Tina Märzendorfer, consistent maintenance and equipment care are the keys to a smooth and efficient operation in the long term: "The support provided by the Kannegiesser service and the communication with our technicians work very well. They understand each other and it's always a good fit."

Fully documented energy efficiency

Leitgeb has been tracking the new plant's energy consumption for each month since it went into operation in 2016. As a result, Tina Märzendorfer has it in writing: With consistently less than one kilowatt-hour per kilogram of laundry, the company manages to keep to the low consumption levels promised by Kannegiesser. “We can meet our goal, and the equipment helps us to do so”, says the Leitgeb CEO.
Kannegiessers’ modern dryer technology is a key contributor to the laundry's energy efficiency. It is particularly important due to the ever-increasing volume of terry items, which are particularly time and energy consuming to dry. Leitgeb's customer order history confirms the increasing importance of processing terry items: "The terry share increased by 20% from 2016 to 2018 and by additional 10% from 2018 to 2019," summarizes Tina Märzendorfer. Thanks the Eco2Power technology, the PowerDry batch dryer handles terry particularly efficiently and gently. For Leitgeb, Kannegiesser's innovative drying technology is therefore a key factor in achieving energy efficiency and a small carbon footprint.

Eco2Power: drying quickly and sustainably

The intelligent Eco2Power process control enables lowest energy consumption of up to 1.1 kWh/l evaporated water and significantly shortens the process time. This makes the PowerDry the most efficient batch dryer on the market.

With the continuous measurement of the item temperature via InfraTouch, together with supply air and exhaust air temperature, the PowerDry achieves an ideal drying process. The dryer saves energy by only exhausting the heated circulating air when it can no longer absorb any more moisture. This means that the heating element only has to heat as much new fresh air as necessary. The drying process is also much faster and gentler to the textile: Eco2Power controls the drum's rotational speed to ensure an optimal laundry fall curve, allowing the textiles to dry faster and more evenly. InfraTouch detects the exact drying point, protecting high-quality items from overheating and possible damage.