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Laundry Lightens Its Load with RFID
Grantex used RFID and a new laundry system to automatically route and sort the industrial uniforms it cleans. The result: A dramatic increase in productivity and improved customer service.
By Jonathan Collins
Sept. 13, 2004—In 2000, when Grantex was expanding its operations, the industrial laundry service company was determined to deploy the most advanced and efficient system possible, and that meant including RFID. The new system, up and running since July 2001, automatically routes garments that arrive at the plant through the entire laundering process—from washing, drying and pressing to repairing and packaging. The system uses RFID to recognize and sort each item, and provide details of work to be used in billing clients.
Laundry service companies in Europe have been ahead of those elsewhere in the world in deploying RFID-based systems. Companies from North America used to go to France and Germany to see the most advanced operations. Now they go to Grand Rapids, Michigan. “We have the most technologically advanced system in the world,” says Douglas Singer, president of Grantex and the third generation of his family to head up the firm.
Grantex specializes in cleaning and maintaining work uniforms for customers in the automotive, sales, retailing and manufacturing industries. The combination of RFID with a new laundry system has eliminated much of the manual labor involved in its business. “What used to be three days work for one person can now be done in half a day,” says Singer.
The new 40,000-square-foot plant can handle the cleaning, pressing, repair and shipment of up to 6,000 garments per hour. Grantex operates one shift per day, from 6 am to 2:30 pm, instead of the one and a half shifts it used to operate. And fewer employees are needed to work the shift. The company can also process the garments in less than two days, a significant reduction from a previous three- to four-day turn-around time.
There have been some questions about privacy raised. An article about Grantex in the local Grand Rapids Press had the clever headline "Is Big Brother Washing You?". The company has developed a mascot named Chip to help inform customers about Grantex's use of RFID and to promote the benefits of the technology.
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Sept. 13, 2004—In 2000, when Grantex was expanding its operations, the industrial laundry service company was determined to deploy the most advanced and efficient system possible, and that meant including RFID. The new system, up and running since July 2001, automatically routes garments that arrive at the plant through the entire laundering process—from washing, drying and pressing to repairing and packaging. The system uses RFID to recognize and sort each item, and provide details of work to be used in billing clients.
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| Douglas Singer, president of Grantex |
Laundry service companies in Europe have been ahead of those elsewhere in the world in deploying RFID-based systems. Companies from North America used to go to France and Germany to see the most advanced operations. Now they go to Grand Rapids, Michigan. “We have the most technologically advanced system in the world,” says Douglas Singer, president of Grantex and the third generation of his family to head up the firm.
Grantex specializes in cleaning and maintaining work uniforms for customers in the automotive, sales, retailing and manufacturing industries. The combination of RFID with a new laundry system has eliminated much of the manual labor involved in its business. “What used to be three days work for one person can now be done in half a day,” says Singer.
The new 40,000-square-foot plant can handle the cleaning, pressing, repair and shipment of up to 6,000 garments per hour. Grantex operates one shift per day, from 6 am to 2:30 pm, instead of the one and a half shifts it used to operate. And fewer employees are needed to work the shift. The company can also process the garments in less than two days, a significant reduction from a previous three- to four-day turn-around time.
There have been some questions about privacy raised. An article about Grantex in the local Grand Rapids Press had the clever headline "Is Big Brother Washing You?". The company has developed a mascot named Chip to help inform customers about Grantex's use of RFID and to promote the benefits of the technology.
