Optimized working hours thanks to new tunnel washer

The family business Vendrig is already being run by the third generation. When the company was founded in 1960, it started out by washing cleaning rags, and the company’s strength has grown with each generation. For example, for over 60 years, Vendrig has enjoyed a successful customer relationship with the Terberg Group, which manufactures special vehicles and has been one of Vendrig’s customers from the very outset. 

Today, Vendrig’s 120-strong team provides exceptional laundry services for a wide range of customers everywhere in the Netherlands, including motor vehicle workshops, meat packing plants, and numerous small and medium-sized businesses. 

Vendrig is the only company in the Netherlands to offer both conventional laundry and dry cleaning services.  Heavily soiled clothing from various sectors, e.g., coal-processing plants and oil companies, are mainly cleaned using the dry cleaning method. This dirty laundry is sorted into a separate batch, then washed or dry-cleaned, and then rejoins the other washed clothing in the finishing department.  

The laundry processes five to six metric tons (11,000 to 13’000 lbs.) of dirty laundry every day, sometimes even on Saturdays. The laundry processed by Vendrig mainly comprises rented and purchased work clothing, and a small number of mats. The laundry is picked up from the customers in a truck, and following an end-to-end service, dropped off again fully cleaned. 

Until not too long ago, Vendrig worked with a number of free-standing washing machines in two shifts: from 6:00 to 14:00 and from 14:00 to 22:00. The second shift was particularly costly because of the additional pay allowance for evening working hours.

As a family-run business, Vendrig decided to search for a robust, more cost-efficient solution that would not involve a reduction in staff. Apart from a few employees going into retirement and some switching jobs, the solution was to purchase a tunnel washer, which meant there would no longer be any need for the second shift. 

In fact, the installation of the new tunnel washer not only increased capacity, but also resulted in a significant ergonomic advantage. Before, the heavy laundry had to be placed manually into the washing machines. But now, Vendrig has a modern automatic overhead conveying system that ensures the different compartments in the tunnel washer are constantly being filled. This means that every washing compartment can always be utilized to maximum capacity. According to Production Manager Edwin van Rooij, the key advantage is that it is possible to avoid having empty – and thus inefficient – washing compartments. 

Increased capacity, reduced consumption 

The new tunnel washer – a Senking Universal M-15 from JENSEN – has 15 compartments, and it churns out a linen batch every four minutes. The Senking Universal functions on the basis of a bath exchange system with standing baths in the pre-wash and main wash zones, and also in the rinse zone. 

Every linen batch remains in its own compartment in its own bath with a separate dose of detergent, water temperature, and fill level, determined by the program. 

This makes it possible to process different types of laundry one after the other, without having empty compartments and without mixing the batches.

The basic configuration of the Senking Universal has a counterflow rinsing function. Furthermore, the patented rinsing process consumes around 10% less fresh water, as some of the used water is reused in the rinse zone. This application in particular is what makes the Senking Universal renowned for its economical water consumption. 

Vendrig uses four storage tanks: two for whites and two for colors . This ensures that all of the process water can be separated by category, saved, and then fed back into the process. According to initial estimates, the company made an 18% saving on energy consumption after commissioning the new tunnel washer. The new centrifuge and the three dryers – also from JENSEN – have also contributed to this saving. Edwin van Rooij confirms that the installation of the tunnel washer has made the greatest difference. In each case, thanks to the intelligent automation of the working processes, Vendrig has not only been able to achieve significant savings, but the work has become less strenuous and much more pleasant for employees, as well.  

Clean, cleaner, the cleanest

Vendrig uses a Metricon system from JENSEN, one of the first automatic conveying systems for garment handling and sorting to be installed in the Netherlands. 
This system was put into operation in 2007 and recently fine-tuned in order to optimize the conveying of clothing items along the rails and to increase capacity in the sorting and packing of garments. This was an obvious adjustment that had to be made, given that capacity in the washing department had just increased following the installation of the new tunnel washer. As a result, it was necessary to increase capacity in the conveying system as well in order to avoid bottlenecks in that area. 

Of course, work has also become much more ergonomic for the employees in charge of hanging up the garments thanks to the automation process: now it is possible to convey linen batches of 50 kg of textiles each in push containers. 

Vendrig processes more than 1,200 items at the six hanging-up stations every hour, which amounts to around 60,000 garments per week. 

In the last section there are two folders – a Fox and a Maximat from JENSEN – that perfectly fold and stack all of the items of clothing. There is no doubt that Vendrig is a modern laundry that uses sustainable, ergonomic systems. 

Safety first 

Vendrig laundry is thrilled with its investments so far and is already looking forward to future innovations. At the moment, there is a lot of interest in making adjustments that help to further improve safety in the work process. 

Edwin van Rooij states that the laundry comes across several kilograms worth of forgotten objects in work clothing pockets every day. A large number of these are keys, wrenches, screwdrivers, and other small tools that can easily injure the employees in charge of sorting. These kinds of items can also severely damage the machines. 

“Although we have someone in our company who is responsible for all of the technical aspects, it is good that we are able to seek advice from the knowledgeable team of consultants and engineers at JENSEN Benelux – which actually has its headquarters very close to our site – and collaborate on finding solutions,” says Edwin van Rooij.

“One thing is for sure, the next step will be robotization.”

A “fresh” approach grounded in safety

To summarize, there is a fascinating dynamic at Vendrig IJsselstein: the company is both growing through its customer relationships and modernizing in close collaboration with its suppliers. A good example of this is the collaboration between Vendrig and the JENSEN-GROUP, its supplier for laundry systems. 

Vendrig is continuing to push forward with its “fresh” approach grounded in safety (Dutch: “verfrissig”). “Verfrissig” is an adjective coined by the company itself and is a combination of the Dutch words “veilig” (safe) and “fris” (fresh). 

JENSEN is looking forward to making a contribution to Vendrig’s “verfrissig” approach through innovation, modern technology, and customer-centric collaboration.