By Bianca Budde
Grenzland laundry in Ahaus, Germany, is a very special of laundry. It targets the employment of persons suffering from severe disabilities-particularly those affected by combinations of conditions- and provides them working opportunities. Obviously this requires increased levels of attention within the context of equipment safety and employee safety while operating equipment. So Grenzland laundry teamed up with JENSEN for laundry equipment, knowing that JENSEN also takes user safety seriously.
With 90 employees encompassing ten different nationalities – the Grenzland’s workforce, including those displaced from Iraq and Afghanistan, processes almost nine metric tonnes of laundry for hospitals, retirement facilities, hotels, commercial customers and social enterprises.
“Around 40 percent of our employees are affected by severe disabilities,” Facility Manager, Martin Kock says. “A part of our workforce has been categorized as requiring particularly high levels of support. For this reason, we provide qualified contacts for social support.”
New Perspectives for Grenzland Laundry
Grenzland laundry is not only committed to integration: modernization measures have also triggered investment in technical systems.
“Our tasks continue to grow and our customer base is becoming significantly stronger so we aim for a balanced mix of our workforce, both with and without disabilities, to secure productivity long-term employment and market performance, but to also create improved support and integration options,” Technical Manager Ditmar Junk says. “This is another way to intensify mutual support at the workplace.”
That philosophy is a perfect match for JENSEN’s approach. JENSEN, thinking globally and acting locally, Matthias Schrader, sales manager at JENSEN, provided his support from the outset to demonstrate how JENSEN technology could prepare the company for a successful future.
Beyond the Horizon
From the washroom section, garments are transported into a tunnel finisher via JENSEN Metricon, the automated conveyor system. The Metricon is customized to individual customer requirements and built to offer optimal solutions. It also features a unique system for buffer accumulation of garments ensuring synchronization between various workstations with a computer control system that can be designed to control all movements and handle the sorting of garments by delivery route, account, customer, size, locker bank, and wearer.
The Jenform Omega Pro tunnel finisher guarantees top quality finishing of garments while decreasing processing time. The drying zone and air circulation system are noise-insulated and thermal insulation minimizes heat loss. Exhaust air is reduced to a minimum with the air from the drying zones and outlet zone recirculated into the inlet zone where incoming garments are heated using recirculated hot air. The garments are then folded and stacked in a Jenfold Butterfly Fox, automatic folding machine which is capable of processing up to 1000 garments per hour.
Upon inspection of the Jenfold Butterfly Fox MF folding machine, textile laundry specialist Martraud Lenners, and Junk, see its added value. “It’s flexible. We can now fold even more laundry items that would previously not have been processed by the finisher,” says Lenners. “This is enormously helpful for our employees and we can also boost our production to around 10 metric tonnes per day.”
Overcoming Boundaries while Ensuring Maximum Safety
Work-related injuries have significant impacts on the balance sheet. In addition to direct, monetary consequences, such as compensation, medical treatment costs, and increasing insurance premiums, there are also some indirect costs that are not always correctly calculated and considered.
Costs for reappointments, loss of productivity and decreased moral have the potential of triggering a very costly downward spiral. For this reason, an increasing number of laundries have started adding a new category to their balance sheets. It encompasses ecological and social costs and benefits within the context of providing clean laundry in a timely fashion while taking into consideration the well-being of those in the laundry and the safety of employees handling it.
Integrating People and Processes
JENSEN was proud to be chosen by the Grenzland laundry as a reliable equipment manufacturer that offers productive, safe solutions. While laundries aim to produce the highest quality of goods for their customers, they also must balance finances – all while providing a pleasant, safe place workplace – regardless of the physical attributes of its employees.
Images
Image: Top right | Left to right: Matthias Schrader, Sales Manager from JENSEN, Martraud Leeners, Martin Kock and Ditmar Junk from Grenzland laundryImage 1 Caption:
Image: Mid Left | Ditmar Junk enjoying ergonomic and user-friendly feeding.
Image: Lower Left | Laundry management: Martraud Leeners, textiles laundry specialist and Ditmar Junk, Technical Management
For more information about the company, visit their web site: JENSEN
