ETSA Conferees Mull ‘Innovation and Disruption’

Posted June 30, 2017 at 4:40 pm

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More than 100 top European textile service executives, plus key suppliers and association chiefs assembled recently in Paris for a robust discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing linen, uniform and facility services companies across the continent and beyond.

Outgoing ETSA President Juha Laurio set the tone in his welcome address, noting that “The technological development is changing the way of communication and production; it is changing our society. Innovation and disruption are accelerating also in our business. Innovation offers new chances, and disruption bears new risks. ETSA and its members will guide and facilitate the way of our industry to the next level.”

Speaking of advancing in leadership, the conference showcased a transition in the ETSA leadership as Laurio’s term expired. He was succeeded by Thomas Krautschneider, CEO and owner of Salesianer Miettex, Vienna. In brief remarks, Robert Long, secretary general of ETSA, thanked Laurio for his productive collaboration with ETSA, which will continue as he will stay on as a member of the association’s board of directors. Officials from several others associations, including TRSA’s President and CEO Joseph Ricci, attended the June 14-16 program in Paris.

Key issues discussed during the conference included:

Home Laundering of Healthcare Employee Garments:

The ETSA Laundry Technology and Environment Network has guided several studies to explore home laundering. Katie Laird from the Monfort University in Leicester, England, presented results of the study “Hygiene of domestic laundering.” Her team examined a healthcare environment for the survival of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, organic burden, which typically is found in hospitals and senior homes. When uniforms are laundered at home, persistence is high, if the washing temperature is 40º C (104º F), and it is higher with cotton uniforms than polyester uniforms. Home laundering at 60º C (140º F) would be safe, and removes all bacteria examined. Looking at the actual washing behavior of 265 hospital nurses in four English counties showed that more than 40% of respondents are washing uniforms used in infectious clinical areas with less than 60º C. If uniforms are from noninfectious areas, more than 50% of uniforms are laundered below 60º C. Thus in-home laundering poses a substantial risk of contamination and cross-contamination that often is not removed through washing.

Industrial Customer Expectations:

Another important study commissioned by ETSA was the “Customer Expectations Analysis” carried out by the consulting firm Ducker Worldwide in 2016. The analysis yielded, among other results, that overall, 19% of customers would like to change their workwear supplier when a current contract expires (see chart below).

Innovations and the ‘Internet of Things’

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino gave a presentation titled “Better the devil you know” on the expanding influence of Internet technology. As this technology develops, machines will be intelligent; materials will communicate. For example, Deschamps-Sonsino described how little computers can be put everywhere, even under the skin, to enable things and bodies to communicate, by sending signals as calls for action. With technologies like Arduino (a small open-source platform for building electronics projects) or Raspberry Pi (a credit-card size computer that can be used in such projects), it’s not expensive to connect things to a network and integrate them into complex communicating environments as part of the Internet of things.

Advanced Environmentalism, aka, the ‘Circular Economy’

Karl Falkenberg, past director-general of DG Environment of the EU Commission, said in his address that linen, uniform and facility services companies need to adopt a circular business model, where waste is material for new production, or can be integrated safely into the natural cycle of raw materials. “The EU commission is aware that production and economic models need to change,” he said. “European competitiveness has already incorporated more and more “green” elements, which was a very positive factor also in a commercial perspective. Digging into waste gives more value than digging in a gold mine,” Falkenberg said. However, the transition to a circular economy needs to be accelerated, he said, noting that price structures need to reflect where the economy should protect resources, fossil resources and fuel should no longer be subsidized.

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