Standing in Brad Dudley’s mixed uniform/linen plant in Rapid City, SD, is a custom-built material-handling system that epitomizes this company’s approach to moving textile goods through this facility. It’s an automated distribution system for mats created through a synergistic approach that’s empowering employees to do more with better equipment.
 
Auto mat delivery
 
In the mat-processing area of this 25,000 square-foot plant, employees place mats on rolling machines. Then they deposit them onto a machine that looks a little like a steamboat paddlewheel. The rotating wheel drops the mats onto a 60-foot long conveyor divided ...