Lavatec Champions Customers, VEGA & ‘AI Bot’ at Clean ’25

From customer outreach to technology and strategic partnering, Lavatec Laundry Technology Inc. set a brisk pace for innovation at the recent Clean Show in Orlando, FL.

For starters, the company staged a coup at the Aug 23-26 show by rolling out a “Hall of Fame” initiative. The new program included a formal induction ceremony at the Lavatec booth for six client companies and one individual customer of the laundry machinery manufacturer based in Beacon Falls CT, with manufacturing facilities in Heilbronn, Germany. This correspondent has attended Clean Shows since 2003. We’ve seldom seen a customer-outreach program generate the buzz that this one did.

The event drew 70-plus people. They took time out from the show floor to hear six of the seven honorees speak about their business experiences, including their work with Lavatec machinery. President Mark Thrasher and other Lavatec executives praised the work of each inductee. “These seven have delivered outstanding results, some for a very long time over many years, and some for a shorter yet very successful period of time,” said Thrasher. “Each one has placed an extremely high value on doing their very best to exceed their customers’ expectations, much like our emphasis on doing the same. They have been steadfast in their commitment to investing in cutting-edge, high-performance equipment to provide the very best product to their customers.” The Hall of Fame winners include:

• Bay State Linen, Brockton, MA
• Cintas Corp., Mason, OH
• Division Laundry, San Antonio, TX
• Metro Detroit Area Hospital Services, Detroit
• Portland Hospital Service Corp.
• Francis Hospital, Tulsa, OK
• Vinny Samuel, president and co-owner of JVK Operations, Amityville, NY (honored as an individual)

Thrasher promised to name a second class of Hall of Fame inductees at the next Clean Show in 2027 in Las Vegas.

In a second show announcement, Thrasher confirmed in an interview with Textile Services Weekly that Lavatec is now partnering in the U.S. market with two companies based in the Netherlands: WSP Systems, a manufacturer of material-handling equipment, systems and software; and VEGA Systems B.V., a laundry equipment manufacturer that will partner with Lavatec in providing finishing equipment to U.S. clients. When asked about a similar agreement that VEGA had with a U.S.-based manufacturer that fell short of expectations, Thrasher said Lavatec’s 15 years of experience working on projects with VEGA in Europe should help them to replicate that success in the U.S. “I think the way we’re going to make this work is that the headquarters are close together in Europe.” The two companies are roughly 300 miles apart in the Netherlands and Germany. “So mentality-wise, we’re just closer,” Thrasher says, adding that Lavatec will stock key parts for VEGA machinery in Beacon Falls, CT. “If you buy a piece of equipment from us, no matter what brand it is, it will get service,” he said.”

A third innovation rolled out at the Clean Show is Lavatec’s “Tumble” software system, which the company describes as an “intelligent AI assistant software program.” The program helps operators improve their efficiency and reduce downtime by providing instant answers to questions about machine operation, maintenance and troubleshooting, according to a news release. Thrasher says the system will keep operators informed of what’s going on plantwide or on individual machines by using the software accessed via computer, and soon, by smartphone. “You can ask Tumble anything,” Thrasher says. For example, you can say, “‘Tumble, what’s the temperature in dryer #1? Tumble, how many pounds did I do today?’ It will tell you whatever happened. So it’s an AI tool that’s involved in the software.” What’s more, the system educates itself on the data that it collects,” he says, adding that Tumble can analyze production trends and any issues that may emerge.

The development of Tumble wasn’t outsourced to a software or AI company, Thrasher says. “It’s not outsourced,” he says. It’s developed in-house by Lavatec.”