By Kevin Marois

Some people are afraid of automation. “We have always done it this way”. Are you still using a Foot Stomper or a Belly Washer?

The fact is, you are already using automation. You have an automatic washing machine. It goes through all the steps of a wash cycle and then extracts the load without your interference or attention. Your boiler has an automated system to control steam pressure and to maintain the safety systems. Your legger press uses an automatic control to press, steam and vacuum dry the garments.

All we are talking about now, is the degree of automation. The fewer times you touch a garment, the less it costs to produce. And the fewer opportunities there are for it to be damaged. You need to understand though, automation will never eliminate your work force but it will help them to work faster and do a better job.

Examples

If you haven’t been to the Clean Show lately, you have missed a lot of education. Here are some examples of machines that use automation to augment your workforce.

Form Finishers put a little tension on the fabric as it is being steamed. A less skilled operator can do jackets/dresses/blouses and most of them will only require some minor touch up.

Tensioning Toppers will finish pants with some tension on the legs and depending on the fabric, they may even put the crease back in.

Tensioning shirt units will handle everything from large to small shirts or blouses. They use a bag to inflate and stretch the fabric to smooth out the wrinkles.

Automatic Baggers are popular right now. They help by doing one of those mundane jobs that no one likes but has to be done. They will even feed the garments in automatically and drop them on another rail when they are finished.

Sankosha’s Press Free Finisher will process many garments without ever sending them to a press. Unipress has a Steam Cabinet that also finishes garments without pressing.

There are folders designed specifically for clothing. Kannegiesser has a folder that will do 900 coveralls in an hour—too bad you can’t work that fast. It uses a robotic feeder and special collapsible hangers to achieve that speed. Or you can feed it manually.

You need to educate yourself on what is available. Take a look at the manufacturer’s web sites. You will be amazed at what is available.

Call Office

Automation is available for the front counter too. Regular Garment Conveyors will rotate and stop at the correct order. There are storage conveyors that will unload the orders for a route during the night. It puts them on a rail in the correct delivery order.

POS will now text a customer when there order is racked and ready to be picked up. They will also text 30 days later to remind the customer to pick up their order.

Automated kiosks allow you to be open 24-7 and customers love them. Automated lockers are available for bulkier items.

Implementation

Automated equipment will require more forethought when it is installed. A regular dry cleaning press is just parked somewhere and someone begins pressing.

An automatic bagger has to be installed in the right place for your work flow. There is also a lot more work involved in turning it on. Which way are the garments fed into it? Which way does the hanger hook face? How will you attach the invoice to the bag? How will you keep the correct invoices and orders together? The installation of the bagger might be simple but fitting it into your workflow and coordinating all the details will take some extra time.

Benefits of Automation

The goal is not to replace workers but to augment their abilities. To eliminate or reduce the repetitive monotonous jobs that result in worker boredom and injuries. If you have ever bagged clothes for three or four hours, you understand. It is difficult to stay focused and continue to work as quickly as possible.

We have plants that are still ironing shirts by hand. Wages with benefits are probably at least $20.00 per hour. At that rate you get three minutes for a dollar. Your production labor cost is almost more than your selling price. Please figure out your numbers. Are you making any money?

One big benefit that I can’t measure is the attitude of staff and customers when they watch your machines work automatically. The staff appreciate that you are making their work easier. Customers are impressed with how you care for their garments. We have one customer who puts the automatic bagger right next to the counter. Oftentimes customers will stand there a few minutes longer watching the machine work.

Return on Investment

That’s a nice shiny machine and I’m sure you’d like to have one but who is going to pay for it? You don’t have that kind of money. Where does the money come from?

Look at the processes in your plant. Where are you the least efficient? We have a customer who saved three hours per day in touching up shirts. That covered most of her lease payment. Maybe you can get a new machine and not be out of pocket very much.

Talk to your equipment supplier or the manufacturer. They will help you work out the numbers. What is your average wage? What will your return on investment be? How many years till you have recouped your investment? You don’t know what you don’t know.

Ask questions and see what the numbers look like. Maybe this isn’t the right time but you won’t know till you give it serious consideration. Wages are high and they are not going to come down. Automation can help get your numbers back in line.

Get it or Get Out

If you are going to stay in this business and be successful, you will be using automation. Figure out what areas are the most critical and start with them. You are going to do it eventually, so why not do it now and save money and improve your business. You need to choose how long you want to be in this business and whether you want to make money or not.

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