TRSA London Laundry Tour Day II: Healthcare

Posted June 25, 2015 at 6:37 pm

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On the second day of TRSA’s London Laundry Tour, a group of 20-plus operators rode in a coach bus to nearby Dunstable for the first of two stops. The initial visit featured a tour of a modern high-tech plant operated by Synergy Health.

Synergy Health is currently pursuing a merger with U.S.-based Steris Corp., but the pairing is facing a challenge from the Federal Trade Commission due to antitrust concerns, according to Managing Director Mike Langhorn.

Synergy Health dedicates about one-third of its resources to healthcare laundry services. The other business lines are focused on cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments and related equipment for use in hospitals and outpatient centers, Langhorn said.

Built in 2005, the 65,000-square-foot Synergy Health plant in Dunstable processes roughly 1.1 million pieces per week. Most of this throughput is rental textiles for an area that includes some 45 acute-care hospitals in metropolitan London and points extending some 150 miles east to Norwich. The company operates two smaller plants in Derby and Sheffield.

About 90% of all healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK) is provided by the government through its National Health Service (NHS). There are a small number of private hospitals in the UK and Synergy Health gets a fair amount of this business, Langhorn said. Private hospitals tend to be smaller (say 40 beds), whereas public hospitals average about 500 beds.

While healthcare is mainly government funded, most laundry services are outsourced to private providers, and – as in the United States – competition for this business is fierce. Synergy Health’s main competitor is Berendsen, a large pan-European laundry chain that also operates in the hospitality sector. Synergy Health has recently gained ground on its rival, said Langhorn. “I’m entirely respectful of their abilities,” he said. “But Synergy has grown organically at their expense. The market is characterized by a tussle between Synergy Health and Berendsen in healthcare. We know one another all too well.”

Again, like the healthcare laundry business in the United States, staying ahead in this market requires investment in equipment and people to keep costs down and productivity high. One step Synergy Health has taken to keep its equipment in prime condition is to outsource its engineering and maintenance services to its principal equipment provider, Kannegiesser UK Ltd. Service Manager Ian Smithson of Kannegiesser said the company keeps several maintenance staff members on-site and oversees training of Synergy Health staff on operational and safety issues, such as confined-space restrictions.

Larry Walsh, southern regional operations manager for Synergy Health, led one of two group tours of the plant. The facility was spotlessly clean, and bright and airy with high ceilings that accommodate a large SuperTrack overhead rail system from Kannegiesser. This equipment feeds three PowerTrans tunnels, each equipped with 16, 75 kg. (165 lb.) compartments. The plant also has 14, 75 kg. (165 lb.) dryers.

While flatwork (mostly cotton sheets and towels) comprise the bulk of the production here, about 20% of the workflow is garments, such as scrubs and gowns. The plant has three garment folders and six ironer lines, including an extensive automated feeding system that stores sheets in the ceiling prior to moving them through the ironers at a rate exceeding 1,200 sheets per hour. The plant runs three shifts, six days a week with roughly 65-75 staff on the floor for each shift, Walsh said.

Langhorn says the company doesn’t track its textiles via barcodes or chips due to the costs of implementing these programs. However, he concedes that linen losses are a problem in the UK as they are in the U.S. One measure that’s helped Synergy Health is to deploy its staff to about one-third of its hospital clients to oversee linen management on-site. “That model isn’t dominant, but it’s one that we would tend to prefer,” he said. “It gives greater control over the assets (i.e., linens). The hospitals are pretty darn good at losing textiles.” Langhorn says the company could one day move to tracking its goods electronically. “The economics of the tracking and tracing of the assets isn’t justified,” he said. “That may change.” 

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