Digital technology in laundry represents the state of the art in technological innovation. Needless to say, research and development are one of the most important fields for any IT business, constituting an important part in the balance sheet of a company, too. Research is often carried out in collaboration with various universities in order to develop the most suitable and reliable automation solutions for objects picking and garments tracking, applying technology that simplifies work organization and determines a competitive advantage for those who use it. Automated distribution developed for industrial laundries, determined by the combined action of hardware and software, allows for an efficient control, the reduction in the management costs, more efficiency, less waste of energy and resources.
Thanks to technology, the probability of a human error is reduced to zero while efficient operations are guaranteed together with steady labor costs and an increase in productivity
Present in the market for more than 30 years, ICT-group based in Reggio Emilia is a consolidated Information Technology business both in Italy and abroad”, says Matteo Bertacchi, the Sales Manager at ICT-group. “ICTgroup’s heartbeat is innovation and product quality. The company has adopted systems that aim the definition of operative modes and monitor the results obtained in compliance with UNI EN ISO 9001 standards. Among the numerous fields the company operates in, ICT has chosen to conceive and produce vertical ERPs following the requests and needs expressed by laundries. EGGS Laundry is our business card for hotels and restaurants. The platform manages all the processes, from rental contracts to linen pick-up and delivery and to warehouse management including general accountancy, analytics and business intelligence.”
“The system is modular” adds Bertacchi, “and it can be customized.
We have also developed a more sophisticated version, the SIXLM Laundry Management System, a software suite for the complete traceability of the products both in establishment and at destination enterprises in order to reduce the number of lost items. All this is possible thanks to the RFID tracking system for flatwork linen and workwear. Our core business is industrial laundry, although we have also developed ad hoc solutions for external labs”.
Moving on to sterilization, the technology becomes more and more accurate and the systems more fascinating. “The company has developed a control and traceability system called SIXSTER for the surgical instruments sterilization process management.
ICT-group uses Datamatrix and RFID technology to trace materials.
What is more, the company has engineered a support system to the surgical instruments management called STARS (Surgical Tools Augmented Reality System).
STARS uses an algorithm created by ICT-group that is based on artificial intelligence in the recognition of surgical instruments.
The company has also developed an artificial vision system (augmented reality) to support operators in the sterilization center.
Monitoring sterilization processes allows to guarantee the efficiency of health care operators and patients’ safety as far as infections are concerned. While the health care structures are working on facing the global health crisis due to COVID-19, ICT-group identified a highly advanced and specialized technology as one of our flagship products”, concludes Bertacchi.
G.L. s.r.l based in Bologna is a producer of management systems and software for dry-cleaning laundries, labs and industrial laundries. Dario Leggieri, the Sales Director at G.L. illustrates the electronic invoicing software, electronic funds transfer software and finally, the receipts lottery. “As far as the e-invoicing system goes, we have realized a very simple and intuitive product that can be used just through a simple click. A ready-to-sent file is created that is then sent to the accounting office. The electronic funds transfer software works in a similar way. Our systems can interface with cash registers that will automatically send the fee amount while differentiating it by the type of payment. Starting from this year, also laundries need to differentiate services from sales. Our software has been designed according to this new regulation. As far as the receipt lottery goes, we have updated our software: if a customer wants to participate, the receipt will generate the lottery number on it.
Looking at the laundry program architecture in detail, we can identify operative advantages in logistics, organization and efficiency.
Starting from the garment pick up at the counter, we have the possibility of managing the customer’s data which will allow to contact them in case a necessity arises, for example, if we need to communicate anything in regard to the treatment of their garments.
Information relative to garment pick-up and delivery can be included, too. All this will enable us to create a customer’s standard profile on the basis of the garments they bring in.
When customers leave their garments for cleaning, any type of information can be taken down, e.g. any possible anomalies that will help avoid complaints at the pick-up. The same information is then signaled on the tag that helps operators to treat it according to the complete information the garment presents. What is more, the program can automatically manage all the data relative to garments delivery according to the productive capacity set up beforehand. In case of more advanced systems, it is possible to automatically manage and re-compose customers’ garments by an automated conveyor belt, which reduces the operator’s work to the minimum as well as the risk of an error in delivery.
Also, it is possible to manage garments by differentiating them, for example, if a customer has brought in ten pieces to clean but only six of them are ready for pick-up, the customer will be informed automatically about it, and once picked, there will be fewer garments in the laundry storage room. We have also developed an APP per device that customers can download and that will allow them to obtain any necessary information in real time such as pick-up and delivery hours.
Moving on to products sale and income management: it is possible to file every product thanks to the software that reads the barcode of a product during the sale. It then creates a receipt and manages the product procurement as well. Another important stage concerns the management of third-party labs (e.g. those managing leather cleaning, carpets washing, duvet and covers cleaning, etc.). Our software assigns an order and prints a delivery note. In this way, when an item returns, it is possible to obtain a complete information through the reading of the barcode on what items leave the store and which ones are returning. The software also manages all the payment modes as well as the administrative activities linked to the delivery van drivers who are usually paid on commission (calculated on the paid or delivered amount).
As far as after-sale goes, we have dedicated a lot of attention to training and to a quick and reliable after sale assistance and maintenance service.
Our software is modular. We start from an RC system that manages the customers’ data, receipt generating and garments delivery, but we also offer a more advanced system called GL that includes logistics and the automated re-composition of garments.
All our modules are customized according to clients’ needs.
Zucchetti Centro Sistemi based in Terranova Bracciolini (AR) presents a vast variety of productive activities, but we are going to focus on Dry&Clean and Industrial Laundry part.
The keyword at Zucchetti Centro Sistemi is automation. “Our core business” says Alessio Benevieri, the Software Engineer, “is mainly linked to industrial laundries but we also provide products for the dry-cleaning sector. Let us start from a description of our software called Truck. We developed it a couple of years ago. It not only does it allow to track garments thanks to the digital technology applied, but it also enables to digitize workflows. Thanks to the new technologies by Zucchetti, we know how many times a garment has been washed and, given the average lifecycle duration of a garment, we can actually make it be dismissed at some point. Also, when new garments are purchased, they will have an automatically inserted chip that will allow to manage ad hoc washing cycles so that time, workflows and work organization are organized more efficiently. We are also working on the development of a more efficient warehouse management: according to daily basic clients’ necessities, we manage a wash circuit that allows laundries to treat the number of garments according to the organizational workforce of the laundry, with a consequent, better costs/benefits ratio. Our management software is also automatically linked to all our solutions relative to the distribution processes for health care and HoReCa sectors. We offer innovative solutions that enable us to see in advance, already the day before, the workload a laundry will need to manage the day after, which translates to less waste, better organization of processes and optimization of work stages.
The software by Zucchetti allows for a high scalability and interface with many external systems and machines.” Benevieri adds, “I would like to underline that that our Truck does not impose any standard work mode but it rather adapts to the ways, flows and needs of our clients. Also, these processes can actually be improved thanks to the daily reports on workflows”.
Let us now move on to two other companies that have been working on a common project, Montanari Engineering Construction, a leading producer of linen handling systems and logistics solutions for industrial laundry based in Modena, and Cogito, an IT company with its headquarters in Udine, that thanks to their software called Coral JIT40, has become a leading business in providing IT monitoring solutions for laundries. Montanari Engineering and Cogito have founded Cartesia Srl: a partner of reference for industrial laundries 4.0 and for all the processes relative to industrial laundry.
Cartesia is going to focus on two project lines: the extension of the functionalities of Coral JIT40 and the integration between plants and control software. The first project is represented by Coral JIT40 (an acronym of Just In Time 4.0), a modular software suite covering all the functionalities of an industrial laundry, regardless its dimension, from the adopted production method (batch, rental or mixed) to the type of treatment (traditional, just in time hybrid or pure). The suite also allows for an advanced control of a company’s van fleet thanks to the geo-location systems and the use of a variety of mobile applications among which there is an app dedicated to the registration of linen pick-up and delivery activities. A particularly important role has been assigned to the industrial accountancy modules and to the management control. Due to the their integration, the software becomes a monitoring system at 360 degrees. It unites the production and the accountancy data in a single platform. The data is immediately available for the analysis and the creation of customized reports. Coral JIT40 offers the best performance when interfaced with Montanari plants; the role of Cartesia will translate to guaranteeing the software versatility so that it can adapt to the specific needs of laundries without invalidating the reliability of technical and operational levels of the tool nor the quality of offered services. The second project aims at accelerating the process of the software and plants integration.
Integration meaning: a real time production control, the control of work stations and the performance of operators; linen tracking and its actual lifecycle duration, from the warehouse to clients’ headquarters, from the daily count of rejected linen pieces in laundry; the management of the ordinary and extra-ordinary machines maintenance.
Thanks to the long-lasting experience of Montanari Engineering Construction and Cogito, Cartesia wants to develop what really stands for 4.0 Industry: a perfectly carried out combination of production plants and central software control. The aim is to design highly advanced turnkey machine installations and management, that will generate benefits for clients over a short period of time.
“Montanari Engineering Construction’s experience and the well tested software by Cogito integrate perfectly well while generating an added value at the same time. Cartesia constitutes a very ambitious project”, says Claudio Montanari, the President of Cartesia. According to Paolo Cazzitti, the General Manager: “Coral JIT40 is a control tool that combines simplicity and power.
Thanks to Cartesia, we are taking a step forward to a better integration of advanced production plants and logistics”. •
by Marzio Nava
Detergo Magazine February 2021
