Like beauty, quality lies in the eye of the beholder. That reality has significant implications for laundry operators seeking to optimize their throughput of textile goods, while at the same time ensuring that the quality of those garments and flatwork items satisfy customers.

“You can put a 1,000 pieces through a small-piece folder very easily,” says Tom Baron, a laundry industry veteran turned consultant. “But you know, you also have to have to consider: ‘How do they come out on the other end?’” For Baron, two issues go to the heart of balancing throughput and quality: 1) Training your team ...