“Neproma Service Srl, an important reference and development model”
Neproma Service Srl, an industrial laundry owned by the Bonardi family, has an experience of over 60 years and hence, is a consolidated industrial player of the sector. For several years now, the company has taken a pathway of innovation and sector diversification within the target market: hospitality (hotels and restaurants), healthcare, extended care units and nursing homes, each of which located in its own establishment.
It is precisely this last field of application of the extended care units and nursing homes that requires collection, washing, finishing and lastly, the return not only of flat linen (sheets, bed covers, bedspreads, etc.) but also of the private clothing of the residents and the workwear of the healthcare personnel (tunics, pants, shirts, etc.) that implies different types of processes and various washing and ironing programs.
The management of the resident garments business is carried out by Neproma Sociale Soc. Arl, a cooperative of the group that combines the social purpose productivity with the integration of disabled or disadvantaged people of the territory. Having to process about 15,000 items per day, the administrator, together with his crew of collaborators and the Kannegiesser team, strongly wanted to develop and study the management of a production process that would allow to eliminate human error and the dispersion of garments.
This is how the Kannegiesser Transline project started in 2018. Subsequently installed in 2019, the system is able to manage an innovative process that meets the traceability requirements of INDUSTRY 4.0. New technological systems, new machinery and above all the new Kannegiesser Transline plant have been installed in the new site (the third plant of the company) that is especially dedicated to the clothing of residents of extended care units and nursing homes, all that for maximum energy efficiency.
In detail, once washed, the garments are put on hangers and then loaded by means of 6 loading stations, where reading antennas allow to trace the microchip attached to every single garment during the whole process.
The procedure continues with the tunnel finisher for drying and a dynamic system of garment rotation (Sorting) that allows to reassign automatically the various items to the corresponding wearer. The processed articles are automatically transferred to one of the 6 folding stations where the operator has the opportunity to verify their conformity or non-conformity by means of touch panels and are then transported to the final stage of bagging and/or wrapping, according to the customer. It is important to specify that the garments are sorted on the basis of the customer’s requirements, e.g. by size, color, healthcare structure, ward, bed or wearer (i.e. the patient, resident and/or employee).
The versatility of the plant ensures the optimal management tailored to the needs of the customer with the ultimate goal of eliminating human error and the dispersion of garments.
Given the heterogeneity of the fabrics, sizes and types of garments, automatic folding is not recommended, hence the garments are folded manually.
The stacks of garments are prepared by qualified personnel and subject to a final reading before being automatically bagged and labeled. The system data is continuously updated and exchanged with the customer’s database for the final issuing of delivery notes and invoices. •
KANNEGIESSER ITALIA
Via del Lavoro, 14 – 20073 Opera Mi (Italy)
Tel.: +39 02 57606000 Fax: +39 02 57604933
info@kannegiesser.it
www.kannegiesser.com
edited by Marzio Nava – Detergo Magazine October 2020
