„The biggest challenge is actually not mixing up customers“, says Kai-Uwe Kober, Managing Partner of Alpenland Laundry. In the past, laundry batches were still routed through the company using handwritten batch cards. „Then it became problematic because there could be mix-ups. “.
Alpenland Laundry needed a solution to process mixed batches with a wide variety of small and large items accurately and efficiently.
To meet the high quality demands of its many customers, Alpenland Laundry requires customized processing programs. “The customer structure is very diverse - from small hotels, small guesthouses, vacation homes to large wellness hotels,“ says Kai-Uwe Kober. „We process up to 800 kg of bed linen, towels and table linen per hour.“
After washing and extraction, Alpenland separates mixed batches by article. For example: Sheets, pillowcases and towels can be washed together but require different ironing and folding programs. How do you keep track of it all?
The solution: BatchPrinting and Pack and Label from Kannegiesser’s SmartLaundry product family.
These solutions for digitization and automation guarantee a smooth, precise and fast laundry flow – from sorting to shipping. And it can even be done with laundry carts!
BatchPrinting
With BatchPrinting, laundry is not only clearly and correctly assigned, but the work process is significantly accelerated by scanning the barcodes (on the machines). “Since we mainly process our customers’ own laundry, the challenge from the beginning was: How can we minimize the error rate?“ says Kai-Uwe Kober. „It was clear to me that the only way to do this was through digitization“.
The decision to use Kannegiesser’s SmartLaundry products was not a difficult one for Alpenland’s managing director: „I have been working with Kannegiesser for decades and have an incredibly good relationship with the engineers and project managers. “
In BatchPrinting, a ticket with a barcode is printed for each category. This is done when sorting the individual laundry items of the batch after drying. The operator selects the current batch on the touch display. Only articles are then displayed that the batch contains. A ticket can be printed for each sorted article type. These tickets are then added to the laundry carts with the containing the matching articles.
The next step is to scan the barcode on the ticket with a handheld scanner before feeding it into the finishing machine. "By scanning the barcode, we've already eliminated a great number of errors," emphasizes Kai-Uwe Kober. After scanning, the machine immediately starts the correct feeding, ironing and/or folding program for the related article type. Alpenland Laundry is thus able to respond to all customer requests without any difficulty. “Because everything is stored in SLX, no errors can occur. “
Pack and Label
It takes a lot of time and often includes mistakes: counting and documenting the number of items in for dispatch. Pack and Label automatically captures the correct quantity of articles. „Behind every machine we have a Pack and Label monitor“, says Kai-Uwe Kober. For each customer, a packing slip is continuously generated, which can be printed out and attached to laundry containers. In addition, quantities per customer and article can be forwarded to Office Reporting for a better overview.
BatchPrinting and Pack and Label are now a big part of Alpenland’s smooth operation. Mixed items from dozens of customers are now processed accurately and efficiently. For Kai-Uwe Kober one thing is clear: „Through the digitization we have the optimal advantage that the laundry is not mixed up because the employee no longer has to enter anything manually.“