TRSA EUROPEAN TOUR PROMPTS CALIF. LAUNDRY TO UPGRADE FACILITIES

Company decides to replace 8-year-old tunnel washers

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Magic Laundry Services has launched a $4 million upgrade of its Montebello, Calif., facilities to increase capacity and efficiency, the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) reports.

Magic sought ideas for business improvement during a June tour of laundries in the London area organized by TRSA. There, outsourcing of hotel work is the norm.

Upon returning home, Magic decided to replace 8-year-old tunnel washers with two new jumbo models with automatic loading and discharge systems. The transformation will allow Magic to serve more California high-end hotels as they seek water savings by outsourcing linen supply instead of laundering on their premises.

“It’s easier to bring automation to rental: it’s one basic and systematic system,” says Harry Kertenian, Magic’s owner. “We seek heavy automation as a COG operator, which is the key. We feel so far we have done well, and we are continuing to revolutionize into new technologies and newer ideas, not only to be more effective internally but also to have the smallest carbon footprint as possible.”

Kertenian projects that the new washing equipment will require 0.4 gallons of fresh water per pound of laundry.

MLS PLANT UPGRADES

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Los Angeles-area hotel industry specialist Magic Laundry Services is faithfully moving ahead with a $4-million plant upgrade. The company anticipates a quick return on the investment, thanks to some new business in its pipeline, as well as confidence in several key factors that it believes will boost interest in outsourcing, and increased throughput and efficiency in its operations.

These factors include:

  • Significant appeal of laundry outsourcing to prospects in the lodging industry in water-starved California
  • Substantial laundry efficiency gains likely to result from upgrading equipment

Owner Harry Kertenian senses growing appreciation among California hoteliers in the value of saving water. He points to a San Diego news report indicating those who recently closed their on-premises laundries (OPLs) have saved seven percent on their water bills, justifying their decision to outsource.

He was also jazzed by the washroom equipment he saw on visits to plants in England on TRSA’s 2015 European Laundry Tour in June. So he’s replacing two 10-module tunnel washers barely 10 years old (used since Magic opened in 2004) with larger-capacity Kannegiesser models. This switch will occur in one of the two adjacent Magic plants in Montebello, CA. This same facility will retain its seven ironer lines.

The other plant, just four years old, will retain its two Milnor tunnels with four ironer lines, while three more such lines will be added.

Complementing the tunnel substitution and ironer addition are other processing improvements that promise to conserve resources and control costs, such as energy-efficient dryers and greater use of conveyors and rails.

Magic recently converted all 16 of its open-pocket washer/extractors to the Smartex brand from Turkey. Their built-in water recycling units work with storage tanks that capture otherwise lost rinses for reintroduction into initial wash phases. The Smartex machines have averaged one gallon per laundry pound.

The intrigue of this investment prompted Magic’s engineering team to visit the Turkish factory late last year. “This is a revolutionizing technology because these open-pocket washers act more like tunnel washers,” Kertenian explains, with the benefit of high G-force for extraction. The resulting decrease in drying from this super-spin led to an incentive from Magic’s natural gas provider.

Washer-extractors are essential to Magic as a customer-owned goods (COG) provider; they handle smaller, custom-formula loads so individual accounts’ items are washed together and easily tracked.

Radio frequency (RF) ID tracking is also part of the equation, identifying bags associated with each customer as they enter the wash. This system from Softrol also prints out a confirmation that the load has been washed. Softrol and Kannegiesser are working with Magic staff to find new ways to take greater advantage of RF to further automate COG processing and service.

Kertenian sees the concurrence of the TRSA European Laundry Tour and the California water crisis as a major driver of the decision to move forward with Magic’s upgrade. “What we saw touring in London made us realize that investing in the future now was the right way to go, especially at such a crucial time with water,” he explained. “Since we started the business, we’ve known we’ve needed to steadily find ways to be more efficient.”

Now, with the company established as a preferred supplier to the majority of high-end hospitality brands, including casinos, Magic wants to live up to its continuous improvement reputation. “We knew we would grow and continue to grow because we would be recognized for excellent service and wash quality. We are jumping eagerly into this expansion.”

TRSA HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE CONVENES IN LA

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Following its Production Summit and Plant Tours in Los Angeles, TRSA hosted a CEO Roundtable for Hospitality on March 20 at the J.W. Marriott LA Live in downtown Los Angeles. The Roundtable included 14 TRSA operator member executives and featured a tour of Magic Laundry Services in Montebello, CA.

In the morning, attendees gathered in the atrium of the J.W. Marriott, located in a popular downtown area of the city, near the Staples Center and several trendy restaurants and nightclubs. The group boarded a bus to make the 20-minute trip to nearby Montebello to visit Magic’s plant. After arriving at the plant, owner Harry Kertenian and several staff members greeted the group and provided an overview of the company’s operations. They also displayed a promotional video about the company’s laundry services.

Following the meeting, the group toured the plant floor, with stops in the soil sorting area, wash floor, finishing area and packout. Magic recently expanded its operations and now runs out of two plants, with the buildings located next to each other. Attendees were able to walk through both plants and notice the differences in layout and technology in each building.

After the plant tour, the group boarded the bus for the trip back to the J.W. Marriott, where they reconvened in a meeting room to discuss issues specific to the hospitality sector of the textile services industry. Several action items were developed from the lively discussion that took place among members of the group, including:

  • Continuing to gather data for an on-premise laundry (OPL) cost calculator to compare the costs of a hotel processing its laundry in-house versus outsourcing the work to a commercial laundry service
  • Updating TRSA’s recent Hospitality Linen Loss article/white paper
  • Partnering with the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) to develop hospitality textile services standards for handling and processing linens, including recommended par levels

The group wrapped up the meeting by tentatively agreeing to hold its next meeting in late September or early October, with a plant tour tied in with the meeting. In addition to the meeting and tour this fall, another opportunity to tour facilities will present itself at TRSA’s European Laundry Tour, scheduled for June 15-17 in London, with three hospitality plants on the agenda.