14th Annual Children’s Miracle Network

 

The 14th annual Children’s Miracle Network golf tournament was held on Monday, 26 October at the Westdrift Marriott Manhattan Beach. Magic Laundry Services was honored to be once again the Primary Title Sponsor of the event for the fifth consecutive year. We look forward to seeing you at more CMN events this year.

The event was a huge success and was able to raise $120,183 for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Magic laundry services would like to thank the organizers and all the volunteers who were able to make this event a huge success. Our commitment to this cause will remain strong and will be renewed for years to come.

MLS HOSTS WESTERN TEXTILE SERVICES ASSOC. (WTSA) PLANT TOUR

On Friday, January 24, 2020, Magic Laundry Services hosted the Western Textile Services Association (WTSA) for a Plant Tour of our facilities in Montebello, CA. The plant tour was hosted for 70 WTSA Members, as they held their 2020 Annual Production Clinic in Los Angeles. Magic Laundry Services was excited to host the tour, as we are always open to hosting events that help to build a stronger industry community.

The tour group arrived at 10:00 AM and were greeted in front of Plant 1, by the Magic Laundry Services Team for brief overview of the facilities. The group was then split into groups of 10 and designated to a specific MLS tour guide. The whole tour came together thanks to the special partnerships we have with our vendors. MLS had 10 stations set up throughout the plant and many of the vendors that work with Magic Laundry Services on a daily basis were able to participate and give an overview of their equipment/services and how they complement our operation on a daily basis.

Our partner vendors for this event included: Chicago Dryer, Gurtler Industries, Kannegiesser ETECH, Milnor Pellerin Corporation, Softrol, and Tingue Brown. In addition to our vendors, the entire MLS Team is credited with the success of the tour, and special thanks to our Engineering and Transportation departments, who also hosted their own station to present their operations to participants at the tour.
Magic Laundry Services operates with an open-door policy, and if you wish to set up a tour, please feel free to reach out to your dedicated customer service representative, or through our website.

TRSA ANNUAL HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE – 2019

This October, Magic Laundry Services sent representatives to participate in both the PMI and MMI hosted by TRSA (Textile Rental Services Association). Owner, Harry Kertenian, and Vice President of Operations, Cory Acton, participated in the events, which also included plant tours of a hospitality laundry facility and a linen supply provider for the Las Vegas Area.

In addition to Harry and Cory attending the event, Ricardo Bribiesca and Chino Leon Wong, Plant Managers for Plant 1 & Plant 3 were able to participate in the PMI portion of the event and exchange ideas with other operators to bring back to our Los Angeles operations.  Joe Gayton, Director of Engineering, participated in the MMI, where there was a strong emphasis on safety, and we hope to bring that focus back to Magic Laundry Services.

We look forward to the next TRSA event, and continued industry knowledge.

MLS PARTICIPATES IN TRSA ANNUAL HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE

Last week, Magic Laundry Services owner, Harry Kertenian, and Vice President of Operations, Cory Acton, attended the Annual TRSA Hospitality Conference in Orlando, Florida. This year saw a record turn-out of attendees to the annual conference. Anthony Melchiorri from Hotel Impossible kicked off the conference as the Key Note Speaker, setting the tone for a week of learning and idea sharing across the industry.

On the first full day of the conference, both representatives from Magic Laundry Services, Cory Acton and Harry Kertenian, were asked to participate in panels that were designed to facilitate an open conversation with the fellow attendees regarding the state of the industry. Cory took part in the panel, “Making the Case for Outsourcing Laundries”. The panel discussed the operational and cost benefits of closing down on-premise laundries at hotels, that could outsource their laundry needs to specialized, dedicated laundries, such as MLS. Harry participated on the CEO panel, “Hospitality Market Trends”. This panel included 2 other CEO’s from the industry to discuss the future of the hospitality laundry market segment, where we can grow, and where we can become better as an industry.

 

The second day of the conference allowed the attendees to escape the meeting rooms and take part in two separate laundry tours. Both plants were designed specifically for hospitality processing and were built in the last 5 years. Due to the age of these plants, attendees were able to see modern equipment in a real application. These plants showed significant automation, showing the direction of our industry from the equipment perspective, and highlighted the benefits of outsourcing laundry from the hotel.

TRSA HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE

In February, 2019, the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) will be hosting their annual hospitality conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. This three day conference allows operators and suppliers from across the hospitality industry to come together to share problems, ideas, and solutions for the challenges in our industry. TRSA has invited Anthony Melchiorri, host of Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible, to speak to the attendees to share his experiences in the hospitality world. In addition to the strong keynote speaker, TRSA has scheduled a variety of industry speakers and panelists to discuss different aspects of hospitality laundering. Magic Laundry Services is proud to have Owner/CFO, Harry Kertenian, take part in the CEO Panel for discussing market trends. In addition to Harry taking part in the CEO Panel, MLS Vice President of Operations, Cory Acton, has been asked to sit on a panel to discuss the closing of “in-house”/”OPL” laundries, and the benefits of hotels outsourcing these services to independent laundries. We look forward to their participation in this event, and their individual panels.

IT’S MAGIC: SUMMITEERS DAZZLED BY THREE-IN-ONE PLANT TOUR

(ABOVE) CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER VATCHE KOUYOUMDJIAN LEADS A GROUP OF PRODUCTION SUMMIT ATTENDEES ON A TOUR OF THE MAGIC LAUNDRY SERVICES’ THREE-PLANT COMPLEX; BELOW, GERY KWIATKOWSKI, MORGAN SERVICES INC., PRESENTS A CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION FROM TRSA TO MAGIC OWNER/CFO HARRY KERTENIAN. GENERAL MANAGER GARO JEKMEIAN STANDS AT RIGHT.

Two busloads of roughly 100 TRSA Production Summit attendees marveled at the sight of what Owner/Operator Harry Kertenian and his team at Magic Laundry Services Inc. have accomplished in barely 15 years – the successful launch of three distinct hospitality plants on a single site nestled in a residential neighborhood in Montebello, CA, east of downtown Los Angeles.

“We bought it and gutted it,” said Magic Customer Service Manager Vatche Kouyoumdjian, speaking of the origins of the plant complex now located in a former industrial facility. “We did it all from scratch,” added Kouyoumdjian, who led one of the Feb. 22 TRSA tours of the three plants. The laundry complex that now occupies the site totals nearly 100,000 square feet and is capable of processing well over 100 million lbs. per year.

This correspondent joined a group of about a dozen attendees on the tour that began – naturally – with plant No. 1.

This 35,000-square-foot plant includes several 900 lb. and 125 lb. Ellis machines, plus two Smartex washer/extractors from Tolkar, a Turkish manufacturer; six B&C pony washers and 10 B&C pony dryers used mainly for dry-cleaning operations.

Plant No.1 also has two Kannegiesser ETECH tunnel washers installed in late 2015. Each is equipped with 13, 130 lb. modules. These machines are currently processing 100,000 lbs. a day and are capable of more when demand increases during the peak summer season, Kouyoumdjian said. Goods move from soil sort via a Ryco rail system with an automatic tracking system provided by Softrol Systems Inc. A key takeaway from this tour is the way that Magic has thrived on deploying a diverse range of equipment and software to service its array of hotel customers based in a region stretching from metro Los Angeles to San Diego and Palm Springs, CA.

Kouyoumdjian notes that the business began with a single Hypro ironer rebuilt by Talley Machinery. Today there are seven ironers in plant No.1; each has the ironer waxing specifications posted in both Spanish and English, according to a Tingue representative who was stationed along the tour route.

The 38,000-square-foot, plant No. 2 opened in 2011. It too was upgraded and expanded in 2015. It’s equipped with a Softrol tracking equipment with a full soil sort rail system, said Matt Lewis of Softrol. He noted that as the company has grown, the vendor has expanded its services to accommodate the expansion. “They’re rocking and rolling,” Kouyoumdjian says, noting that the sorting system and staff are processing 8,000 lbs. an hour.

Plant No. 2 also has two CBW tunnels from Pellerin Milnor Corp. Both are equipped with eight, 150 lb. modules. We also see a bank of 10, 300 lb. Milnor dryers. There are eight washer/extractors here, including Smartex, and B&C machines, with a bank of eight Milnor pony dryers for specialty items.

On the finishing side, we see five Chicago  ironer lines, with Chicago Dryer Corp. feeders on the front and folder  stackers on the back end. One ironer is also a Tolkar model. We see five Chicago small-piece folders as well. As we pass through this area, Kouyoumdjian notes that on occasion, Kertenian likes to work for brief periods on the feeders. This way, he can see for himself how they’re operating. “He’ll tell you how he can feed 800 towels an hour,” Kouyoumdjian says. “He likes to talk about that.”

Moving to the newest facility, plant No. 3, which opened in fourth quarter of 2017, we see carts of clean linens with a small piece of colored mesh material on top. This cloth is part of a color-coding system for individual hotel customers. It’s designed to help staff keep track of customer-owned goods (COG). Magic processes primarily COG hotel linens, although they also process food-and-beverage (F&B) goods for restaurants that are linked to their hotel customers.

Plant No. 3 has a Kannegiesser ETECH tunnel with 13, 130 lb. modules, A second CBW from Kannegiesser ETECH is en route with installation and operations slated for mid-April. We also see four Kannegiesser ETECH ironer lines with four Kannegiesser ETECH small piece folders . Cory Acton, a Kannegiesser ETECH representative, says the tunnel is processing at roughly 4,000 lbs. an hour, using an average of 0.5 gallons per lb. Goods transfer between modules every 110 seconds. There’s also a bank of five, 132 lb. Kannegiesser ETECH dryers. One smaller dryer is used for items that only require a break up of the “cake” of clean wet linens, rather than drying, to facilitate feeding into the ironer. This dryer rotates but it doesn’t provide heat, so it saves energy, Acton said.

Larry Erickson and Tony Schult of Kannegiesser ETECH, described the sorting system in Plant No. 3, which uses new eVue software. Staff at eight sorting stations are now processing 8,500 lbs. of soil goods an hour. The system can store up to 75, 132 lb. slings in a ceiling area prior to processing.

After the tour, attendees from each of the small groups gathered in a conference room for a brief question-and-answer session with Kertenian and Vice President Garo Jekmeian. One question centered on how Magic acquired its land. The property was purchased in separate lots as the company needed more production space, Jekmeian said. “A fourth is coming,” he quipped.

Another questioner asked about Magic’s efforts to get rebates for energy-efficient equipment upgrades, such as lights, ironers, tunnel washers, etc. “There’s a lot of rebate money that the government has, or maybe the state has,” Jekmeian said. “All you have to do it ask; I’m sure you can get it.” Magic has had to provide significant background materials to demonstrate savings, but Jekmeian said the requirements to qualify for rebate programs are reasonable.

Watch for follow-up coverage of other Production Summit highlights.

TRSA – Production Summit & Plant Tours

Production Summit & Plant Tours

Educational Sessions with Subject Matter Experts

TRSA’s Production Summit & Plant Tours bring attendees up to speed on the latest process improvements for better throughput and increased profitability in plant operations.  General sessions and market-specific breakouts provide powerful and immediate take-home value, updating participants on industry developments and refining their management and production skills. Market areas to be covered:

  • Healthcare
  • Industrial
  • Linen
Network with Industry’s Most Successful Operators

Attendees evaluate processes and management techniques, guided by plant technology and operations experts. Meeting and reuniting at subsequent Summits maximizes access to these experienced professionals from TRSA member companies, the industry’s most productive and profitable organizations.

Cancellation Policy

Written cancellations received by February 6, 2018 will receive a full refund minus a 25% processing fee. Cancellations received after February 6, 2018 will not be refunded and cannot be credited to another TRSA program or event. Refunds will not be granted for no-shows. Cancellations will not be processed until after the event.

Dress Code

Business casual attire for all sessions & Plant tours.

ALOHA: HOSPITALITY COMM. TOURS OAHU LAUNDRIES

blue_water_media_logo

ALOHA: HOSPITALITY COMM. TOURS OAHU LAUNDRIES

030317-honolulu-meeting

TRSA’s Hospitality Committee recently convened in Honolulu for two days of meetings and tours of local laundry facilities. The first day of the agenda featured a pair of tours at TRSA operator member facilities, a group outing to visit Pearl Harbor and a Hawaiian luau on March 2.

Day 1 began with a trip to Alsco Inc.’s plant, which runs seven days a week, 365 days per year processing a mix of food and beverage (F&B), healthcare, hospitality and industrial goods for its customers. After meeting with Honolulu General Manager Brian Arkle, Operations Manager Terry Seagraves and Production Manager Barrett Gamble in a second-story conference room, the TRSA group walked the plant’s production floor. The facility processes roughly 100,000 lbs. of linen daily. Alsco uses several machines to wash its mix of goods. These include two tunnel washers, a Milnor PulseFlow® and a Kannegiesser tunnel; six 900 lb. Ellis washers; and four 450 lb. JENSEN machines.

Following the tour at Alsco’s Honolulu location, the group made the short trip to the United Laundry Services plant on Oahu. The location in Honolulu services a mixture of healthcare and hospitality customers. United Laundry processes linens for 13 hospitals on Oahu, which is all of the hospitals on the island except for one military hospital, as well as 40 healthcare clinics and a total of 54 hotels. The Oahu operation is split into two buildings – the original building purchased in 1988 processes the company’s hospitality work, while a newer building purchased in 2014 is solely dedicated to healthcare laundering. The TRSA group got a chance to tour both buildings and see the contrast in the operations. Between the two buildings, the company has six tunnel washers and the TRSA group got to see many of these Kannegiesser PowerTrans machines in action during the visit.

After the plant tour, the TRSA group had lunch with United Laundry Services’ President & CEO Vicky Cayetano and her staff before departing on a bus to Pearl Harbor for a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial. The night ended with a Hawaiian luau at Paradise Cove.

 

Click link for blog article from TRSA: Aloha: Hospitality Comm. Tours Oahu Laundries

MAGIC HOSTS OPEN HOUSE, PLANT TOURS

 

Magic Laundry Services Inc., Montebello, CA, recently opened its plant to unveil the latest technology and equipment upgrades from the company’s $4 million renovation and expansion project. Several of Magic’s hotel customers, prospective customers, utility partners and commercial laundry supplier companies, including TRSA associate members Ecolab Inc., Kannegiesser and Tingue, attended the event.

Attendees got a chance to meet with key members of Magic’s staff and see the facility in action. After gathering in the conference room at the company’s headquarters, Magic COO/CFO Harry Kertenian and his executive team took several groups on tours to show off the latest equipment in the facility, which consists of a pair of buildings that operate adjacent to each other in an industrial area of the city. In the company’s original building, Kertenian replaced two 10-module tunnel washers that the company had used since Magic opened in 2004 with a pair of 13-module Kannegiesser PowerTrans Plus models that were installed in the fourth quarter of 2015. In addition to the tunnel washers, Kannegiesser also installed a PowerPress and 10 PowerDry II dryers to complete the wash aisle upgrade. Kannegiesser President Phil Hart and several staff members were on hand to showcase the equipment.

The upgrades have led to greater processing efficiencies, as well as savings on electricity, natural gas and water use. Kertenian and his staff toured several plants during TRSA’s 2015 European Laundry Tour in London. That event, coupled with the California water crisis, served as the spark for Magic’s plant upgrade. “What we saw touring laundries 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,” Kertenian said. “Since we started the business, we’ve known that we’ve needed to steadily find ways to be more efficient.”

With this latest round of upgrades, it appears Magic is on the right path to decreasing the company’s carbon footprint, while at the same time increasing its throughput and attracting new customers in an eco-friendly area such as Southern California.

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.