LCT March 2011 - Chester Textile Services
1
4 LCT March 2011 Out & About T he first laundry in Chester was opened in 1885 by a group of local businessmen in the centre of what was then a much smaller city. After a destructive fire in 1914 the laundry relocated to a suburban site in open fields well away from any housing. Until the late 1950s Chester Laundry was a purely ‘domestic’ service provider but began rapid changes after the arrival on the management team of Philip Hunt, father of Nigel Hunt the present owner and chief executive. The business expanded into industrial workwear and then in the 1970s into linen hire about the time that Nigel Hunt was invited to join the business. An MBO of the laundry was carried out by the Hunt family in 1979 and the Chester Textile Services business then emerged and continued to expand the linen hire business through the period to the end of the century. In 2002 after significant expansion, and by now being surrounded by houses, an approach was accepted from a local building company and new premises acquired on the Sealand Industrial Estate and the laundry removed itself to a larger building equipped with more modern plant. At almost the same time Nigel Hunt was able to persuade Alan Bell, a very experienced veteran from Sunlight, to join the resurgent Chester Textile business as director of operations, working closely with a fast expanding customer base from an increasing number of hotels across the north and midlands. The compounding effects of a new building, a new management team, and a new focus on the linen hire opportunity was that by 2009 the volume being processed each week had risen to 400 thousand pieces in low season and 600 thousand pieces in the high tourist season – in total many millions of pieces per year, of which 97 per cent is flatwork rental and the rest is ancillary laundry work in non- core laundry processing. The staff complement is currently 44 people in two shifts working 6 to 2 and 2 till 10 with Saturday for maintenance and clear-up. Chester Textile Services employs four fully trained and accredited plant engineers and for delivery to customers 14 eighteen tonne trucks supported locally by three vans. In terms of production performance Alan Bell measures the actual delivered output from the four ironer lines and the two towel folders into despatch. On the day of our visit 7,700 pieces were processed at the rate of 175 pieces per person per hour. Of the 44 staff in production, seven are from the UK and the rest from the Baltic States supported by four administrative persons dealing with customers and logistics. The stress on Chester Textile Services’ business was in coping with a five-fold increase in volume of work processed which occurred in the years since moving to the new Sealand Estate location. Pressure on the existing space and the attendant abilities of the equipment installed meant that higher volumes were being extracted with difficulty from a constricted space and low productivity machinery. Sales were still increasing and this meant some radical plans were required to absorb the pressure on staff, managers and the directors. In 2009 the directors at Chester Textile Services began active investigation of the best route to follow. This was not to be a simple task based on kick- out-the-old-bring-in-the-new, space was and to an extent still is, a dominant feature of the problem at the Chester plant. The first move was to replace two existing moisture extraction presses with two new presses from Kannegiesser; a 40 bar turbo for the Senking CTW- processed flatwork and a 56 bar turbo for the towels coming from the Voss 50kg 15-stage CTW. Significant drying time savings accrued but these were still in excess of 28 minutes per cycle using the existing, Passat steam-heated dryers. After several weeks of detailed investigations the decision was taken to replace the whole of the existing steam dryer capacity of the six, Passat 50kg dryers and two 100kg dryers with six 100kg gas- heated Kannegiesser models - PowerDry D120 GWU. These were estimated to deliver 30-32 batches of fully dried work per hour – in addition to any other work which had been pre- conditioned. The PowerDry® systems incorporated the latest Kannegiesser-designed energy air control system, atmospheric burners, which further reduced the gas consumption by seven per cent. Over-drying was precluded by the installation of Kannegiesser InfraTouch controls to ensure that the drying cycle would end at exactly the correct point. That was the easy part, then the really difficult work began. Space restrictions and the existing plant layout created extremely difficult installation problems for the design teams at Chester Textile Services, for Kannegiesser in Banbury and Clay & Abbott in Tamworth. These installation difficulties exercised the combined talents of the in-house management together with staff from Kannegiesser, machinery installation specialists Clay & Abbott, plus software teams from Kannegiesser and WSP for nearly nine months. The installation commenced on September 22 2010 and was completed on time on October 13. As it was part of the delivery agreement that there would be no planned shutdown of production on site, apart from one 36-hour period over one weekend, and as the directors at Chester wished to continue to process all the normal work in the plant as normal, without any delays in delivery to customers, the installation efforts were concentrated on the skills of the 23 individuals from all parties involved. The details of the installation plan involved the installation of temporary dryers, conveyors and the taking down and extending, in stages, the dryer platforms, as well as the commissioning of the six new 100kg dryers and decommissioning and removal of relevant steam lines no longer required. Additional site situations also had to be accommodated while the installation proceeded. These included negotiating gangways through some of the dozens of trolleys, which had to use the same access routes to the CTWs past the original dryers, and those of the engineers stripping out and re-installing the equipment as the project timescale demanded. As can be seen, in broad detail from the drawings, (see panels below) there were four distinct stages in the implementation of the new systems. (all new installations are shown in blue): Stage one called for the installation of the first 100kg dryer and a temporary conveyor to feed it, as well as building the first part of the platform for the rest of the dryers and modifying the lift and transfer conveyors on the Voss CTW for two discharge points. Stage two called for the removal of the existing six 50kg dryers and modification of existing shuttle platform, removing existing dryer platform and extending the new platform then installing new dryers numbers 4, 5, and 6. During this phase production was achieved through using one D120 PowerDry and the two remaining 100kg dryers as well as the temporary dryers Stage three called for removal of existing 100kg dryers and their platform, further extending the new dryer platform and installing shuttle and track. Production was maintained using the one D120 and the temporary dryers only. Stage four called for installation of dryers 2 and 3, reconfiguration of control systems, removal and relocation of temporary load conveyor and complete commissioning of the system. Production was maintained using temporary dryers, whilst shuttle and track are installed and commissioned. That this installation was successfully concluded on time and with no major unplanned disruptions is a potent tribute to the many people from numerous supplier companies coupled with the skill and expertise of Chester Textile Services’ in- house team. Alan Bell is particularly complimentary of the efforts and professionalism applied by the eight engineers assigned to the project by Clay & Abbott, as well as to the competence and skill shown by the Kannegiesser engineers from Banbury, together with the assorted support systems and Fitting quarts into pint pots is an essential skill for laundry engineers Irving Scott reports from Chester Textile Services “We did not miss a delivery and we maintained all production in our own plant,” says director of operations Alan Bell commissioning staff ‘on hand – just in case’. He comments: “We did not miss a delivery and we maintained all production in our own plant. We learnt that most kit can have its stated performance ‘extended’ and all the new systems are performing as we would expect from the Kannegiesser contract.” In terms of energy performance we recorded a 16 per cent saving on energy from the new dryers after the first week and this is approaching 20 per cent saving per 1000 pieces processed. We continue to get a three l per one kg water consumption performance from the Voss CTW on towels and a four l per kg from the Senking CTW flatwork production, giving an overall plant average of 3.5l per kg. We have significantly reduced drying cycle times – as promised in the Kannegiesser proposal and everything is as planned. There is no doubt that the time which we invested in the planning stages – first with Kannegiesser on the possibilities and then with Clay & Abbott and Kannegiesser on the staging and phasing of the implementation of the new equipment, paid off handsomely for Chester Textile Services. This was a complex installation with very tight space constraints and the operation could not have been better managed and implemented than it turned out to be in its execution.
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“We did not miss a delivery and we maintained all production in our own plant,” says director of operations Alan Bell 4LCT March 2011
Transcript of LCT March 2011 - Chester Textile Services
4 LCT March 2011
Out & About
The first laundry inChester was opened in1885 by a group of local
businessmen in the centreof what was then a muchsmaller city. After adestructive fire in 1914 thelaundry relocated to asuburban site in open fieldswell away from any housing.Until the late 1950s ChesterLaundry was a purely‘domestic’ service providerbut began rapid changesafter the arrival on themanagement team of PhilipHunt, father of Nigel Huntthe present owner and chiefexecutive.
The business expanded intoindustrial workwear and then inthe 1970s into linen hire aboutthe time that Nigel Hunt wasinvited to join the business. AnMBO of the laundry was carriedout by the Hunt family in 1979and the Chester Textile Servicesbusiness then emerged andcontinued to expand the linenhire business through the periodto the end of the century.
In 2002 after significantexpansion, and by now beingsurrounded by houses, anapproach was accepted from alocal building company andnew premises acquired on theSealand Industrial Estate andthe laundry removed itself to alarger building equipped withmore modern plant. At almostthe same time Nigel Hunt wasable to persuade Alan Bell, avery experienced veteran fromSunlight, to join the resurgentChester Textile business asdirector of operations, workingclosely with a fast expandingcustomer base from anincreasing number of hotelsacross the north and midlands.
The compounding effects ofa new building, a newmanagement team, and a newfocus on the linen hireopportunity was that by 2009the volume being processedeach week had risen to 400thousand pieces in low seasonand 600 thousand pieces in thehigh tourist season – in totalmany millions of pieces peryear, of which 97 per cent isflatwork rental and the rest isancillary laundry work in non-core laundry processing.
The staff complement iscurrently 44 people in twoshifts working 6 to 2 and 2 till10 with Saturday formaintenance and clear-up.Chester Textile Servicesemploys four fully trained andaccredited plant engineers andfor delivery to customers 14eighteen tonne trucks supportedlocally by three vans. In termsof production performance AlanBell measures the actualdelivered output from the fourironer lines and the two towelfolders into despatch. On theday of our visit 7,700 pieceswere processed at the rate of175 pieces per person per hour.Of the 44 staff in production,
seven are from the UK and therest from the Baltic Statessupported by fouradministrative persons dealingwith customers and logistics.
The stress on Chester TextileServices’ business was incoping with a five-fold increasein volume of work processedwhich occurred in the yearssince moving to the newSealand Estate location.Pressure on the existing spaceand the attendant abilities of theequipment installed meant thathigher volumes were beingextracted with difficulty from aconstricted space and lowproductivity machinery. Saleswere still increasing and thismeant some radical plans wererequired to absorb the pressureon staff, managers and thedirectors.
In 2009 the directors atChester Textile Services beganactive investigation of the bestroute to follow. This was not tobe a simple task based on kick-out-the-old-bring-in-the-new,space was and to an extent stillis, a dominant feature of theproblem at the Chester plant.The first move was to replacetwo existing moisture extractionpresses with two new pressesfrom Kannegiesser; a 40 barturbo for the Senking CTW-processed flatwork and a 56 barturbo for the towels comingfrom the Voss 50kg 15-stageCTW. Significant drying timesavings accrued but these werestill in excess of 28 minutes percycle using the existing, Passatsteam-heated dryers.
After several weeks ofdetailed investigations thedecision was taken to replacethe whole of the existing steamdryer capacity of the six, Passat50kg dryers and two 100kgdryers with six 100kg gas-heated Kannegiesser models -PowerDry D120 GWU. Thesewere estimated to deliver 30-32batches of fully dried work perhour – in addition to any otherwork which had been pre-conditioned. The PowerDry®
systems incorporated the latestKannegiesser-designed energyair control system, atmosphericburners, which further reducedthe gas consumption by sevenper cent. Over-drying wasprecluded by the installation ofKannegiesser InfraTouchcontrols to ensure that thedrying cycle would end atexactly the correct point.
That was the easy part, thenthe really difficult work began.Space restrictions and theexisting plant layout createdextremely difficult installationproblems for the design teamsat Chester Textile Services, forKannegiesser in Banbury andClay & Abbott in Tamworth.These installation difficultiesexercised the combined talentsof the in-house managementtogether with staff fromKannegiesser, machineryinstallation specialists Clay &Abbott, plus software teamsfrom Kannegiesser and WSP fornearly nine months. Theinstallation commenced onSeptember 22 2010 and wascompleted on time on October13. As it was part of thedelivery agreement that therewould be no planned shutdownof production on site, apartfrom one 36-hour period overone weekend, and as thedirectors at Chester wished tocontinue to process all thenormal work in the plant asnormal, without any delays indelivery to customers, theinstallation efforts wereconcentrated on the skills of the
23 individuals from all partiesinvolved.
The details of the installationplan involved the installation oftemporary dryers, conveyors andthe taking down and extending,in stages, the dryer platforms, aswell as the commissioning of thesix new 100kg dryers anddecommissioning and removalof relevant steam lines no longerrequired. Additional sitesituations also had to beaccommodated while theinstallation proceeded. Theseincluded negotiating gangwaysthrough some of the dozens oftrolleys, which had to use thesame access routes to the CTWspast the original dryers, andthose of the engineers strippingout and re-installing theequipment as the projecttimescale demanded.
As can be seen, in broaddetail from the drawings, (seepanels below) there were fourdistinct stages in theimplementation of the newsystems. (all new installationsare shown in blue):
Stage one called for theinstallation of the first 100kgdryer and a temporary conveyorto feed it, as well as buildingthe first part of the platform forthe rest of the dryers andmodifying the lift and transferconveyors on the Voss CTW fortwo discharge points.
Stage two called for theremoval of the existing six 50kgdryers and modification ofexisting shuttle platform,removing existing dryer
platform and extending the newplatform then installing newdryers numbers 4, 5, and 6.
During this phaseproduction was achievedthrough using one D120PowerDry and the tworemaining 100kg dryers as wellas the temporary dryers
Stage three called forremoval of existing 100kgdryers and their platform,further extending the new dryerplatform and installing shuttleand track. Production wasmaintained using the one D120and the temporary dryers only.
Stage four called forinstallation of dryers 2 and 3,reconfiguration of controlsystems, removal and relocationof temporary load conveyor andcomplete commissioning of thesystem. Production wasmaintained using temporarydryers, whilst shuttle and trackare installed and commissioned.
That this installation wassuccessfully concluded on timeand with no major unplanneddisruptions is a potent tribute tothe many people from numeroussupplier companies coupledwith the skill and expertise ofChester Textile Services’ in-house team. Alan Bell isparticularly complimentary ofthe efforts and professionalismapplied by the eight engineersassigned to the project by Clay& Abbott, as well as to thecompetence and skill shown bythe Kannegiesser engineersfrom Banbury, together with theassorted support systems and
Fitting quarts into pintpots is an essential skillfor laundry engineers
Irving ScottreportsfromChesterTextileServices
“We did not miss adelivery and wemaintained allproduction in ourown plant,” saysdirector ofoperations Alan Bell
commissioning staff ‘on hand –just in case’.
He comments: “We did notmiss a delivery and wemaintained all production in ourown plant. We learnt that mostkit can have its statedperformance ‘extended’ and allthe new systems are performingas we would expect from theKannegiesser contract.”
In terms of energyperformance we recorded a 16per cent saving on energy fromthe new dryers after the firstweek and this is approaching 20per cent saving per 1000 piecesprocessed. We continue to get athree l per one kg waterconsumption performance fromthe Voss CTW on towels and afour l per kg from the SenkingCTW flatwork production,giving an overall plant averageof 3.5l per kg. We havesignificantly reduced dryingcycle times – as promised in theKannegiesser proposal andeverything is as planned. Thereis no doubt that the time whichwe invested in the planningstages – first with Kannegiesseron the possibilities and thenwith Clay & Abbott andKannegiesser on the staging andphasing of the implementationof the new equipment, paid offhandsomely for Chester TextileServices. This was a complexinstallation with very tightspace constraints and theoperation could not have beenbetter managed andimplemented than it turned outto be in its execution.
