Interview with Martin Rauch, COO of the JENSEN-GROUP

Link to the original interview that was published in the German trade magazine for textile care, WRP.

When it comes to laundry automation, the JENSEN-GROUP has been intensively involved with robotics for a few years now. Among other things, this technology was a focal point at the JENSEN Performance Days 2018 in Palma de Mallorca. What is the significance of robotics for the JENSEN-GROUP today?  

I think that the industry has to deal intensively with the topic of robotics. Therefore, it is of great importance to us today and will become even more important in the future - just like the topics of digitalization, artificial intelligence, etc. At present, we are focusing on three key issues in robotics: increasing productivity, hygiene, and occupational safety.

When it comes to developing robotics solutions, we work very closely with the company Inwatec. We made this first public appearance with our partner at our Performance Days in Palma de Mallorca. At that time, we had taken initial shares in this robotics company. Since then, the cooperation and partnership with Inwatec has intensified considerably. Today, the JENSEN-GROUP owns the majority of shares in Inwatec.

For which projects, tasks or customer requirements does JENSEN, a laundry technology manufacturer, work together with its robotics partner Inwatec? 

The JENSEN-GROUP works very closely with Inwatec when it comes to developing system solutions for laundries. Our task as a laundry technology supplier is, of course, also to constantly look at the various processes in laundry plants and look for solutions as to how these can be constantly optimized using our new technology developments  which are increasingly in combination with robotics, artificial intelligence and digitalization. System solutions are in demand. Take the sorting of soiled laundry for example. Systems with robotic solutions that increase the automation of this task are destined to be designed.. We all know that sorting dirty linen by hand can be not only a very unpleasant activity, but also a very hygiene-critical one. And it is becoming increasingly difficult for plants to even find employees to do this work. I know of companies in the USA, for example, that can only attract staff for the soil sort area with additional bonuses.   

Together with Inwatec, we have therefore developed the Thor.Garment system. It is a solution for sorting workwear on the soil side of the laundry. Thor.Garment is typically configured with , for example, the Thor separating robot, the Odin X-ray scanner, and ideally supplemented with the Futurail overhead conveyor system, the Metricon transport and handling system for garments, and the GeniusFlow optimization solution. This system ensures that garments are automatically separated and read on the soil side, foreign objects are automatically detected and then sorted out, and the garments are automatically presorted according to washing programs and efficiency of finishing on the clean side. All these process steps take place with minimal personnel costs and without risky manual work on the soil side.

The Odin scanner identifies dangerous foreign objects such as ballpoint pens or even syringes and needles in workwear, these can then be sorted out. For example, Odin - which can process up to 2,200 parts per hour - is in use in a laundry of the Swiss army. Here, the most amazing things - including cartridges - come to light. If these foreign parts are sorted out in time, this of course considerably minimizes the risk to the employees.  By using a scanner, the foreign objects no longer have to be searched by hand, resulting in a significant increase in occupational safety and also hygiene. At the same time, one-sided, repetitive work is avoided for the personnel. In this way, the system helps to improve competitiveness as well as the working environment and health in the laundry. Furthermore, the Odin scanner naturally sorts out any foreign objects that could later damage the press padding or the ironer. 

How does the Thor.Garment system work?

In the reception area, the soiled garments are separated by the Thor separating robot, then read, and finally it passes through the Odin X-ray scanner. The garments can then be sorted according to various criteria. This is done by means of a chip in the workwear. However, it is also possible to identify the pieces by the camera system or the X-ray device. 

After sorting the workwear, our Futurail overhead conveyor system transports the garments to the washing line. After washing and finishing, our Metricon transport and handling system takes over the workwear. 

Why is the workwear already read in on the soil side? In many laundries today, this only happens at the loading station or at the inspection station after finishing.

That is correct. The reason is that the labor costs are quite high for manually recording the identification of the individual garment during sorting on the soil sort. That's why the garments are not read until later, for example at the loading station. Here, the recording is much easier and therefore cheaper.

In contrast, the Thor.Garment solution already reads individual soil-side garments automatically, quickly and reliably . This offers a significant advantage as the data can be made available to the clean-side Metricon system at an early stage. In this way, Metricon, in conjunction with the GeniusFlow optimization software, knows how much space needs to be reserved for a particular customer in the A-sort long before the actual sorting process. The system can be thought of as a parking guidance system that makes better use of valuable storage space. As a result, up to 20 percent more garments can be accommodated in the storage facility. This solution therefore significantly increases efficiency. Also because there is less re-sorting and the system always knows exactly when the customer is finished. A high rate of returns is also avoided. This is very intelligent production planning. 

Are there corresponding automated sorting solutions for flat linen as well? 

The system for sorting soiled linen is called Thor.Linen. In principle, this system is very similar to Thor.Garment. The flat linen is delivered, then automatically separated. Because flat linen is usually not chipped, the pieces are recognized by camera technology. This technology is a machine learning system. That means the laundry runs through the system in a learning mode, and the artificial intelligence continues to learn with each detected piece. 

So we have fully automated sorting systems for the soiled side of the laundry. Further, our range also includes automated solutions for the clean side.  For example, there is an automatic feeding system for the lay-up machine with terry parts. It is called Thor.Towel and can for example consist of the separating robot Thor and our folding and laying machine Tematic Pro. Thor.Towel separates towels and then hands them to the operator at the folding machine. The employee is presented with a corner of the towel and can then feed it quickly and conveniently - the ergonomic aspect is as crucial as the performance. With this solution we already have a huge success in Japan, and now we want to implement the system in Europe as well. It is a solution that can be used successfully in many laundries. For example, Thor Towel is also a good support in factories run by workshops for people with significant disabilities.

What is the response of laundries to these system solutions?

We have now installed quite a few systems in the market and they are being used very successfully by laundries. I already mentioned the Japanese market, but interest is also growing steadily in Germany. For example, the Frey laundry in Burgau uses a Thor.Linen system, which is supplemented on the clean side with the Greit system. Greit is a commissioning and stacking system with which the handling of finished flat linen can be fully automated. In the Frey laundry, a conveyor system transports the clean linen from the ironer line and folding machines to a buffer system. Here, the items are temporarily stored on belts that serve as shelves - until the order picker needs them. He requests the items for his customer from the stock, and then Greit delivers them directly, safely and quickly to his workplace. Greit is a bit like a buffer store. The idea behind it is to minimize the logistical effort. I think solutions like Greit will become more and more important in the future.       

How important will robotics be in laundries in 10 years' time?

Robotics will continue to find its way into laundries. This has something to do with rising personnel costs, but also with increased performance, occupational safety, hygiene and ergonomics. In addition, there is another development that will force the issue of robotics in laundries. Many companies are basically having more and more problems recruiting employees in the first place. This is another reason why more and more unskilled personnel are being employed. For this reason, simple, standardized processes are becoming more important in laundries - in addition to more automated systems. This goes right through the workflow: The operation of the technology, the optimization of the workflow, etc. The goal is always to ensure high productivity even with a low level of qualification. Let's take the area of the soil sort again. Because this is currently the area with the greatest difficulties in terms of personnel recruitment, we are absolutely certain that this process in particular will be fully automated in the laundry in the foreseeable future. That's why we started focusing on this area years ago when developing automated solutions. 

Why did the JENSEN-GROUP decide to rely on external expertise when it came to robotics? 

As a traditional machine builder, we recognized early on that we needed to think outside the box when it came to robotics. This is what we have done, and since 2018 we have continued to push forward our cooperation with the company Inwatec. Robotics simply means different know-how and thinking compared to traditional laundry technology manufacturer possesses. One of the ways Inwatec describes itself is this is where Laundry Nerds develop new and innovative solutions for laundries. They rely on the latest technologies and introduce them to our industry. Even today, Inwatec is characterized by its start-up culture and occupies a special position in the industry as a robotics company. Odense, where the company is based, is a center for robotics, partly because the university in the city that specializes in this field. This environment naturally offers companies with this focus excellent opportunities when it comes to research projects or even employee recruitment. 

I also think that topics such as robotics, artificial intelligence and digitalization can help to polish up the less attractive image of our industry a little. This of course also increases the opportunities for textile care companies to recruit new employees.

What issues are important in laundries today? What importance do productivity and energy efficiency have? 

Increasing productivity and energy efficiency continue to play a central role as issues in laundries. In order to further increase efficiency and performance in the plants, automation or the takeover of manual tasks by intelligent automatic solutions is becoming increasingly important.  
 
The topic of energy efficiency is still just as important. When we develop new machines at JENSEN, consuming less energy than the current generation of technology is always at the top of the list of requirements for a new solution. This applies not only to energy-intensive equipment such as dryers and ironers, but to all our solutions. That is our philosophy.

At the same time, savings and performance potentials are sometimes only obvious at second glance. For example, the tunnel washers of various manufacturers have different processes and times for transferring linen from one compartment to the next. Our system takes around 4 seconds for the transfer, while other brands' tunnelwashers take around 8 seconds. This means that not only does the shorter transfer time save energy, but more laundry can be run through our tunnel washer overall. We have made a few calculations on this. Extrapolated over the year, this can mean an additional turnover of 300,000 Euros for a laundry. 

How does JENSEN currently perceive the mood in the local industry? How has JENSEN fared during the pandemic?

Internationally, we are already observing a better situation with many of our customers. But it is not yet a steady positive trend, it is still up and down. For example, Australia was very good at first, then the continent closed its borders again. Europe is going along like this — During the vacation season, tourism did quite well here again, but the hospitality segment is still very fragile. The laundries that focus on this market were, and in many cases still are, severely affected. In contrast, many businesses focusing on healthcare often did not know how to manage all the work.

These different situations in the various markets have, of course, also been reflected on us as machine suppliers. Nevertheless, the JENSEN-GROUP has come through the pandemic quite well so far. We have been able to adapt quickly to the situation and react accordingly. Many of our employees were able to work from their home offices. We have developed and offered virtual factory tours for our customers. That means we held meetings on site at our factories, recorded them with cameras, and customers could then stream the meeting. We visited laundries with the camera and were able to present solutions in that factory to interested customers around the world online. For example, our customer in the U.S. is sitting in a video conference with our sales colleagues in that country. Our employees in Switzerland are connected to this, and they walk through a laundry with the camera and explain various solutions. Then we switch to Denmark, where one of these machines just presented is being manufactured. This is simply a very attractive and practical format for us and also for our customers. Also because it helps to save a lot of time and costs - especially travel time.     

Messe Frankfurt officially cancelled Texcare International in the Main metropolis last month. What does the cancellation mean for JENSEN, what for the industry? 

We regret that Texcare International in Frankfurt had to be cancelled. It is the leading trade fair for our industry, we have been presenting our innovations here for decades, and we have always had good feedback from our customers and visitors to our stand. Therefore, the cancellation is certainly a disappointment for us and the whole industry as well as for the associations. But such an exhibition must also make sense, it must take place in the right setting.     

As a globally active laundry technology manufacturer, we also depend on the audience at Texcare in Frankfurt being international. After all, that is how the trade fair is positioned. But no one can travel safely today. But if the internationality of the visitors is not there, then this investment - and the costs for a trade show appearance are considerable - makes no sense. Effort and return must be reasonably proportional. We are not alone in this, and many exhibitors have this perspective. That's why the cancellation of Texcare International is a shame, yet also only logical.
 
 

Martin Rauch - personal details

Martin Rauch is Chief Operating Officer of the JENSEN-GROUP. A graduate engineer, he has worked for the company in various areas for 32 years. As former Managing Director of JENSEN GmbH in Harsum/Germany, Martin Rauch knows the German market at close quarters. Martin Rauch lives near Burgdorf/Switzerland, plays a lot of sports and enjoys discovering new countries with his partner.