As some 300 TRSA members gather at this month’s Tech/Plant Summit in Phoenix, it’s worth noting how far the industry’s come technologically in a relatively short time.
 
Take wash aisle technology, for example. Today, tunnel washers are nearly omnipresent in modern healthcare laundries. They’re increasingly common in hospitality plants as well. The reason, of course, is efficiency and throughput. Tunnels are particularly adept at processing light-soil items, such as hotel or hospital bed or bath linens. They save time, energy and labor over old-style manual systems.
 
However, as recently as the early 1970s, tunnels ...