Whether it is about cleaning mattresses perfectly well thanks to dryers that work like giant microwave ovens or it is the removal of lateral stacking devices in order to make the flow of folded linen smoother, this industrial laundry based near Turin and owned by the Scarafiotti family always finds efficient solutions for social and health care business sectors. Figures speak for themselves: 700 clients among the public and private ones, 11 million turnover, a hundred employees who work shifts six days per week and cover fourteen hours and a half of work a day
Washing? A constant challenge. A march always directed towards “the new” where the word “routine” does not exist.
At Lim, an industrial laundry in Mappano based in the area of Turin, the company philosophy can be captured through an infinite number of elements. Here, for instance, a dirty mattress cannot resist the thorough and strict cleaning treatment that ends up with radio frequencies inside the Scirocco dryer. It will get back to the user perfectly clean and completely dry.
“It works like a giant microwave oven. It uses radio frequencies and eliminates any trace or signs of humidity that have always been a problematic issue when we talk about cleaning these bulky pieces coming from nursery homes and hospitals”. Alberto Scarafiotti proudly speaks about the Scirocco dryer. He, his brother Alessandro and their cousin Miliano own the laundry. They also founded A3S, a company that invents and sells machines of this type, that have been designed to eliminate the word “impossible” for laundries of XXI century. The successful patents have been exported to Europe, the United States, Russia and Australia.
“Challenges and limits to be overcome have made part of our family’s DNA ever since our grandfather Defendente and our great grandfather founded a laundry in San Mauro, one of the wealthy districts in Turin. It soon became a habit for many to take their garments there to be cleaned” says Alberto Scarafiotti who took over the family business in 1989. He continued developing it just like the previous three generations did before him. Together with his brother Alessandro and their cousin Miliano, they acquired Lim, an industrial laundry. It opened in 1972 to service restaurants and hospitality sector. The business activity was immediately transformed into servicing health care institutions by following the market intuition that turned out to be right. Whereas, as far as the hospitality and restaurant sector go, they are serviced by the historical family business Scarafiotti Fratelli Srl founded in 1970.
Looking back at the 29 years, they take a shape of a great river that became bigger and bigger thanks to the many smaller rivers flowing in. Today they translate to real figures. Lim is a cleaning plant where, excluding the holidays, a hundred workers operate covering shifts that amount to 14,5 hours per day: from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. This is the time needed to wash 480 quintals of linen per day which amounts to more than a thousand tones per month destined to about 700 health care structures such as hospitals and nursery homes scattered between Piedmont and Lombardy regions. Such a catchment area explains eleven million turnover per year reached by Lim, a business founded by Scarafiotti back in 1989 with a billion lire.
“Our true, dynamic and open mindset has been awarded over time. We have always been open to investments aimed at the growth of the business – says Alberto Scarafiotti while he goes through all the stages of this road. – It is nice to see that we have never stopped our march over the last thirty years. First, we got equipped with what was necessary to participate in public tenders, then we focused on the differentiation of the offer to guarantee the total coverage of the service by washing not only hospital or nursery home linen but also the workwear and patients’ garments”.
It is a perfect identikit of an industrial laundry able to go ahead at a full speed in the market thanks to the constant growth without forgetting about the technological development. Lim has got an exemplary role in the latter one by becoming a partner of the machines suppliers asking them to often solve issues related to daily textile maintenance. “An example here is – Scarafiotti explains – a linen folder machine. We asked to remove the lateral stacking device in order to have the folded pieces placed directly onto packaging belt which speeded up the process according to our standards”.
From what has been said so far, the above explanation can be easily understood seeing Lim develop and reach very important goals, e.g. since 2006 they have been using an integrated management system constantly in “progress” supplied by a software-house called Emil Software from Modena.
It is typical of those who, just like the Scarafiotti family, are supported by the tradition that teaches them to always look ahead.
by Stefano Ferrio
DETERGO
MAY 2018
