Textile dry-cleaner blows labels onto wrapped items

Professional dry-cleaning of business, casual and evening wear, curtains, carpets, blankets or upholstery takes various operational steps. First, each item is checked and sorted. Stains are removed manually. Then the item is having a bath in a washer resp. cleaning machine. Freshly cleaned, it gets dried and pressed. Wrapped in protective foil, it is finally labeled for unique identification. Klaus Putzerei offers dry-cleaning in Wolkersdorf near Vienna. The entire process chain is managed on the basis of an all-in-one system provided by clean›it. Labels are printed on a Hermes+ manufactured by cab. By means of an air jet box developed by cab for this type of printer, printed labels are applied to wrapped items automatically and without the applicator touching their surface.

Brothers talking

The plant system had been developed in-house and has matured since then. Matthias and Markus Koller are sons of a textile dry-cleaner family in third generation, growing up in the Klaus Putzerei. Today, Markus is running the business himself, whereas Matthias took his more than 30 years of practical experience to develop an industry software. cab met the brothers for talking.

What is the function of labeling in your processes?

Markus Koller: Labeling is essential for textile dry-cleaning. We uniquely identify each item via QR codes resistant to washing and cleaning, as well as via RFID tags. After processing, single items are again matched to customer orders automatically with the help of sorting conveyors. Confusion and item seeking are avoided. All work stations are equipped with tablets. By this, items can be tracked throughout the entire processing chain and current status and places can be called up at any time. In case all the items referring to an order have been dry-cleaned and are ready for pickup, SMS or emails are send to the customers automatically.

What makes clean›it so special for your industry?

Matthias Koller: clean›it has been adopted to the needs of dry cleaning. It can be configured module by module. Intelligent features enable time-saving when searching for articles, orders, invoices or delivery notes and reduce the efforts required for trainings. Statistics provide information on key figures and progressions in real time.

What is meant with “configuration module by module”?

Matthias Koller: The scope of the software can be set flexibly. It is defined by the needs of a customer. If, for example, quick order entry and assisted input are needed, Kassa is the proper module. Further modules support, amongst others, accounting, time recording, marketing, order resp. part tracking or special input modes in the matter of fire and water damage remediation. Third-party solutions can be integrated, such as sorting and warehouse belts of different manufacturers, as well as fully automated packing and labeling stations. All in all, clean›it enables digitizing a dry-cleaning plant one by one or entirely.

By assembling cab Hermes+ in horizontal orientation in the packing machine, less space is required.

How did you find out about cab?

Matthias Koller: Formerly, after packing, labels had been applied to the wrapped items manually by employees. We closely observed and analyzed this. We aimed at printing and applying labels automatically, replacing the manual method. Searching the Internet for a state-of-the-art solution, we came across cab. Hermes systems open up all possibilities.

Tell us about your requirements on Hermes+.

Matthias Koller: First, we thought of adding a swing arm or a stroke arm to a Hermes printer to transfer the labels on items. As the printer has to be integrated to a Sankosha packing machine provided by our partner Ziermann, we faced difficulties in the matter of space. In addition, we had to bear in mind the distance between the item and the peel-off plate of the labeler. Blown off, a label has to overcome 20 to 25 centimeters.

How satisfied are you with the labeling solution?

Matthias Koller: The design of Hermes+ allows to integrate the device horizontally to plants. This is great, considering the limited space we have available. As regards selecting a suitable applicator, we have been well advised by cab. The labels printed by Hermes are sucked by the air jet box 6114L with the help of a fan. A powerful blast of air applies the labels through aligned nozzles on the items, respectively their transparent protective covers. The point of time appropriate to blow off a label is controlled by clean›it.

Markus Koller: We are very satisfied with the labeling. Before we implemented the automated solution, we had to identify each item by order number and by subsidiary and each order had to be labeled by hand. Now the packing process has turned extremely simple and dynamic. Errors during picking, because of false reading or mixing up, have been reduced significantly, which is a positive side effect.

---

---

Products in use

  Print and apply systems Hermes+

  Air jet box 6114

---

 

October 2019