Keeping a commercial laundry running and its people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic that took hold in early March has required K-Bro’s Toronto facility to move quickly and strategically in a number of areas. For starters, General Manager Sean Jackson realized that this 60–40 mixed plant processing healthcare and hospitality goods would have to shift gears and de-emphasize its customer-owned goods hotel business.

With the metro area in a government-ordered lockdown, demand for hospitality linens collapsed earlier this year. Healthcare also took hits as voluntary surgeries and routine procedures were canceled amid the pandemic. This trend has further reduced throughput ...