Creating the future in laundry automation

Soiled side: sorting and storage in the receiving area 

Futurail is a customized material handling system designed to; improve sorting through sorting bins, provide transit and storage of soiled and clean laundry bags through its monorail rail system, and automate laundry processes for increased efficiencies and profits.  Linen can enter Futurail systems in a variety of ways; through primary bags, through plastic bags, through carts, or by hand. Once soiled linen is in the soiled system, it can be sorted and weighed into batches. 

Futurail directly caters to customer’s needs by offering the largest number of sorting solutions on the market. Sorting can be made operator friendly by utilizing one of Futurail’s many laundry sorting systems. The available sorting systems for both pre-sorting and post-sorting allow Futurail to adapt to specific laundry needs for streamlined material handling. Each sorting system may be accompanied with value-added options including:

•    Large displays for easy customer and sorting category viewing as well as production monitoring with weigh scales and article counters. 
•    Ergonomically designed bins which incorporate large chute openings to eliminate miss-sorts, while reducing stress and strain of the standing operators. 
•    Continuous sorting double doors for increased production levels and reduced operator downtime. 
•    Automatic calibration of sorting bins for optimized production throughput and for ease of maintenance.
•    Counting frames to allow for each individual article of laundry to be counted as it is sorted into each bin. 

After the laundry is sorted into specified load sizes, the batches are then lifted and stored into the Futurail rail system by category, route, or customer, prior to being transported to the next destination. 

The bag storage areas, for both the soiled and clean systems, are completely automated and customizable to meet the laundry’s production requirements. Depending on the required production volume or hourly capacity requested, the storage area can be as large or as small as needed to make an efficient laundry system. Storage areas can also feature pairing loops or recirculation loops to best match the required or requested flow of the laundry.

Laundry bags are automatically routed from the Futurail soiled storage area to tunnel washers, washer extractors, or to manual drop positions. Bags are called to a specific discharge point based on the specific production need. If a certain category or customer needs to be washed and processed at a certain time or day, the Futurail system can be automated to accommodate these requirements with pre-defined storage locations and programmed bag to discharger call-off sequences. 

After washing, the batches with preset finishing requirements can re-enter a separate Futurail rail system on the clean side. As the clean linen load enters a bag, the Futurail software recognizes the loads associated customer and category batch information Based on this information, Futurail will automatically direct the bag to its next, or final, destination. If the load requires drying – it will be routed to the dryers. From the dryers, the batch can re-enter the clean system for its final route to the finishing machine of choice. Alternatively, if the load does not require drying – it will be directed immediately to the assigned finishing equipment.

By elevating and storing linen in the unused overhead space of a laundry, Futurail rail systems increase the overall laundry capacity, freeing up valuable floor space for more production machinery. By eliminating double handling, Futurail increases overall laundry efficiency, optimizing the flow of linen through your entire laundry. Futurail is a modular laundry rail system; suited to current or future laundry needs and capable of being expanded to grow with the business.

Soil side: Automated sorting of garments

For our partner Inwatec, the laundry of the future is a clean and safe workplace with very few manual processes and many intelligent robot systems that work together to create a perfectly finished product. Soil side sorting in particular still holds great potential for optimization, which can be achieved by using modern technologies and automation.
The automatic handling of soiled items with Inwatec's solutions significantly increases the safety and hygiene of employees by minimizing contact with potentially contaminated laundry while at the same time achieving greater efficiency. It also enables a faster response to high fluctuation of available staff and the amount of laundry to be processed, while ensuring correct cleaning of all items at all times.
In a modular Inwatec sorting system for workwear, unsorted garments are fed directly in batches without presorting or untangling, keeping manual interactions as low as possible. At the first station of the flow, a THOR robot automatically separates the incoming laundry and steadily transfers 1,500 individual articles to the system. THOR's intelligent software in combination with its specially designed delta robot arm, picks garments gently with high precision and productivity.
The ODIN X-ray scanner specializes in the automatic detection of hidden foreign objects. Leaving unwanted traces on garments and the potential destruction of full wash loads, pens, lipsticks and scissors left in the pockets of uniforms are enemies of any laundry. Using X-rays and artificial intelligence, ODIN automatically scans for potentially harmful objects and sorts out the garments that contain them. Even small but still dangerous objects, such as needles, are detected and sorted out by ODIN. This prevents injuries and reduces textile damage caused by hidden foreign objects. As approximately about 5 percent of all processed workwear items contain foreign objects, valuable manpower can be saved when directly removing automatically detected objects from garments, as opposed to manually checking each pocket. 

Just like removing harmful objects before the washing process, ensuring correct sorting and cleaning is crucial. Therefore, each garment and its required washing program is identified by the HEIMDAL module from Inwatec. Depending on the setup of the individual laundry, HEIMDAL can either read individual RFID tags attached to the articles or use smart cameras with machine learning to identify items of clothing by their visual characteristics such as color, pattern or material. With integration into the laundry IT system, all information associated with an RFID tag can be retrieved to enable special sorting procedures and at the same time store information such as corresponding X-ray images. 
Finally, each identified garment is automatically sorted into the desired category. Thanks to the modularity of the Inwatec system, any number sorting categories can be realized. Sorting can be carried out either to trolleys or silo units. With implementing BIFRÖST.Bin silo sorting, entire wash loads can be transferred directly to bag systems and tunnel washers to create even smoother workflows.
Inwatec is eliminating all heavy and dirty tasks of soiled material handling; simplifying them with robotics and artificial intelligence, replacing extremely labor-intensive tasks, and creating a healthier and safer working environment. 

Clean side: Sorting of garments

A Metricon system facilitates and streamlines the clean side handling of garments in a laundry, i.e. after being washed. A Metricon system helps you to ensure that the right garment comes back to the right wearer in the right shape in an efficient and safe way.

Metricon sorting systems are reliable solutions with high performance and long service life. For many decades JENSEN has been pioneers and innovators of sorting systems tailored to our customers' wishes and conditions. Today, Metricon systems are represented in nearly fifty countries all over the world, and we are currently in an expansive phase where we are preparing for the future with product developments and expansion of our factory area.

We offer a vast array of solutions for all customers: from small compact systems where garments are transported from one point to another, to the most advanced, fastest and largest sorting systems available on the market. Systems can accommodate garments delivered folded as well as on hangers. With enthusiasm, we take on the whole process from the juggling of a first idea, to planning and implementation, and finally to the installation and commissioning of a system.

The focus is on our customers, large and small. Each customer receives all the necessary thought and greatest commitent required to deliver the best and most effective solution. A wide network of sales and service teams around the world help establish a close link between our customers and our product specialists.

Together with our customers, we use our extensive experience to work out professional system solutions that meet the customers' requirements and conditions. Sometimes the objective is to develop the best and most effective solution for a new garment system, but it can also be to replace an existing system with the least possible disruption to existing production.

All our products are developed and built with the accuracy of our experienced staff in our factory in Sweden. We use the latest technology and design our products and systems in 3D. In order to meet our customers' increased demand, we have just built and doubled our factory area.

Our certified installation teams have an impressive competence and experience. They assemble and start up our systems with the greatest accuracy and precision. 

We are focusing on security, both for our own staff's sake and of course also for our customers' sake. All our products have undergone a thorough risk analysis, at component level and at system level and they are provided with protections if necessary. These protections can be simple mechanical protections such as safety nets or foam covers, or it can be the integration of restricted areas with safety rails or lockable ladders. To ensure the system’s safe operation, JENSEN offers the customers extensive training and instruction on how to safely operate the systems. 

Metricon is a high-quality system guaranteed to run smoothly. We work with customers to meet their needs and we have a history of delivering what we promise. As a result, we have satisfied repeat customers all over the world.

Clean side: Sorting and storage system for stacked linen 

The "last mile" in the complete automatization of a laundry is the handling of the finished and folded stacks of linen. Jenway is a group of conveyors used for the transportation and, if needed, the sorting of finished stacks of linen.

At the back of an ironing line, there is usually an operator placing finished stacks manually onto trolleys and moving them across the laundry. 

By collecting the stacks from the finishing equipment and leading them to a central point close to the shipping area, the manual action behind every machine and the manual transport of the finished linen is reduced to a minimum. Not surprisingly, Jenway has a very fast return on investment.

Thanks to Jenway’s track-and-trace function, the stacks are very precisely tracked through the system even without using any tags. This function gives allows for sorting, if required, and makes it possible to inform the operators about each stack’s data at the end of the Jenway were the trolleys are loaded. It also prevents the individual stacks from colliding during transport and ensures that a distance between the stacks is maintained so that they reach their destination intact.
 
Jenway - more than just the transportation of finished stacks 
Sorting of stacks of linen is relevant especially in case of hospitality laundries were the linen is assigned to specific customers. At the end of the Jenway, the linen will be sorted per costumer. Displays will show the customer’s name so the operators can easily distinguish which arriving linen belongs to which hotel or restaurant. In healthcare laundries, bulk linen can be sorted per category and stored on an assigned storage conveyor. This action avoids the intermediate manual storage of stacks per category. Stacks can be directly picked from the Jenway and put into the trolley. In this way, Jenway automatically takes complete care of intermediate storage.

What Gets Measured Gets Managed: Data is the new Gold!

Data is the number one resource for every laundry and that requires intelligent software solutions to meet the needs of global laundries and their operators. 

The teams at ABS Laundry Business Solutions and at the JENSEN-GROUP have been keeping that promise for decades. Now we continue our success story with our joint venture Gotli Labs, which was founded in 2017.

Connecting men and machine in the laundry to the Globe system, enabling a real time insight in the “Shop floor” processes, which gives optimal insights to the “Top floor”. 

Collecting data is seen as the most important goal because it enables managers to optimize their processes based on real time performance. Instead of just asking the question of “what”, asking the question of “why” makes the real difference. This means understanding why things are as they are, revealing where and how to make immediate improvements., Gotli Labs leverages the opportunities of the Internet of Things and offer a unique Industry 4.0 solution for heavy-duty laundries on staff management, data management & smart BI dashboards—creating intelligent software solutions today with the technology of tomorrow. 

Globe 4.0, Industry 4.0 & LEAN
Our fully web-based Industry 4.0 software solution Globe by Gotli Labs collects detailed data on equipment, production, employee production, time-clock, utility and HR/Payroll. This data is combined with the LEAN manufacturing principles like value, value streams, flow, pull, and perfection, and production statistics are made visual and presented on the shop floor in real-time. Globe is fully interactive using Globe Alert, Shop Floor Blogging and Interactive Personal Screens which help to assist management in making the right decisions at the right time.

Globe Business Intelligence (BI) 
We have managed to create powerful Business Intelligence Reports & Dashboards. Based on Oracle and Microsoft Azure/PowerBI, our Globe BI module is our analytical system that can give you the necessary insight to develop a successful, strategic day-to-day operation. Globe BI identifies trends and patterns and makes connections for both man and machine. 

Production Forecasting
We see a strong increase in smart, modular laundries. More machines are directly linked to our Globe Azure Platform. Data is read in real-time details, and decentralized autonomous decisions are made based on Smart BI Dashboards so that Production Forecasting is optimized for both man and machine. 

Preventive & Scheduled Maintenance 
Embedded in Globe 4.0 is our Maintenance Module which documents and reports (time, parts used, detailed documentation of work) all maintenance related tasks within the laundry. This can be done by automatically generated work orders after machine alerts, work orders for preventive maintenance based on metering (time, run-hours, pieces processed) and manual work orders with predefined tasks, schedules, requirements, and parts. 

Business Consultancy
Besides implementing Globe 4.0 software modules at laundries around the world, we are now also increasingly being asked by industrial laundries for guidance, control and training for the development of a digital data strategy.

Consultancy

Experienced JENSEN consultants advise customers on the application of new technologies, and they help our customers to exploit the full innovation potential of JENSEN machines to secure their competitive advantages. When looking at increasing automation within a landry, it becomes clear that the level of automation depends on the complexity of the laundry, the laundry types to be processed, the range of the laundry’s customers and their individual requirements. The combination of highly productive single machines with the right level of automation to ensure optimal material flow is always a unique solution, configured and planned together with our customer. It comes as no surprise to say that each large or complex project is a one-of-a-kind solution tailor-made for success.