Plant Design for Employee Health, Comfort Wins TRSA Award
NOVO Health Services’ Miami facility is the 2024 honoree in TRSA’s Best Plants judging, recognizing the location for its efficiency and infection-prevention features, as well as its safety and ergonomics emphasis, a key to creating work conditions that promote employee retention.
Opened in 2022 following a $25-million investment, the 80,000-square-foot plant has 186 employees and runs two shifts each day, six days per week. Overhead and spot cooling reflects management’s focus on employees’ comfort. Sound ergonomics planning reduces their strain. “Every workstation in the plant delivers product to the operator in an ergonomic fashion where the employee does not need to twist, turn, or bend over on a regular basis to perform their job,” said General Manager Dragan Grabovac.
Reducing such exertion “has resulted in an order of magnitude increase in efficiency with an equal and opposite reduction in worker-related repetitive-motion injuries,” he added.
NOVO will be among the TRSA member companies honored April 10 in Washington. The Industry Awards Dinner, part of the 14th Annual Legislative Conference, will feature presentations of nine other accolades to linen, uniform and facility services and supplier partner members.
The Miami plant was also hailed for advanced automation and a unique layout aimed at avoiding production bottlenecks and ensuring operational efficiency. The latter reduces overall intensive labor as well as decreasing risk.
The plant achieves efficiencies in garment production thanks to RFID tracking, tunnel finishing and folding robots. Automated batch separators, delivery systems and feeders improve efficiency by 30%. Material-handling efficiency is maximized with the latest sorting system and overhead monorail technology.
To provide excellent separation of soil and clean, metal antimicrobial walls and antimicrobial paints are used throughout facility. Barrier wall “pass-through” washers improve separation, loading and unloading automatically. Cart washers are automated for greater efficiency and safety in ensuring disinfection.
Hosted this year by Washington’s Madison Hotel, the TRSA Legislative Conference is the industry’s premier event for demonstrating how it benefits the public. Attendees will visit congressional offices April 11 to testify to the industry’s cleanliness, sustainability and safety records and how they impact jobs and local economies.
Attendees will prepare for these Capitol Hill visits on the afternoon of April 10, which will feature a keynote address by Bob Cusack, editor in chief, The Hill newspaper. TRSA will conduct committee meetings that day as well. A Supplier Partner Workshop will take place the day before the conference (April 9). Click here to register.