On a recent tour of Textile Care in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Textile Services Weekly saw a massive, multilevel, high-tech hospitality laundry in the heart of Europe.

For years, laundry operators have mounted cameras both in and out of laundry operations in order to enhance security and help ensure compliance with workplace policies. Now, as artificial intelligence (AI) comes to the fore, a Swedish company is taking this idea in a new direction with a camera-based AI system that analyzes safety conditions.

TRSA members got a clear look at robotics-driven innovations for linen and uniform service processing during a Nov. 2 webinar that portrayed automated soil-sorting and material handling, plus advanced employee personal protective equipment (PPE).

The cover article in this month’s Textile Services focuses on a series of plant innovations. Common themes among the operators cited in this piece, titled “Innovation – ‘Every Problem Is an Opportunity,'” include breakthroughs in automation, resource conservation and ergonomics. Highlights from the article appear below.