Industrial laundries are undergoing a significant transformation, with automation playing a crucial role in improving efficiency, sustainability, and operational reliability. As laundries scale up to handle growing volumes of textiles, integrating automation has become essential to reducing costs, optimizing workflow, and enhancing workplace conditions. But where is this automation being applied today, and what does the future hold for industrial laundry facilities?
Why automate industrial laundries?
Automation in industrial laundries is not just about increasing throughput, it’s also about achieving greater efficiency with fewer resources. As laundries transition from smaller operations to large-scale facilities, the need to process textiles more effectively becomes critical. Traditional washing machines are being replaced with high-capacity tunnel washers, which dramatically reduce water consumption. For instance, while a conventional washer may use 12 liters of water per kilogram of laundry, a tunnel washer can reduce this to as little as 4 liters per kilogram, delivering both environmental and economic benefits.
Additionally, automation is addressing a major industry challenge: labor shortages. The laundry sector struggles to attract and retain workers, particularly for physically demanding and repetitive tasks such as sorting and loading laundry. Automated systems not only improve productivity but also allow employees to shift to higher-value roles, such as quality control and customer service.
Key areas of automation in industrial laundries
One of the most labor-intensive (and, sometimes, the least desirable) jobs in an industrial laundry is sorting soiled linens. This is particularly challenging in hospital laundries, where incoming textiles can be contaminated with blood, needles, and other hazardous materials.
Girbau’s Sortech system is a breakthrough in this area, leveraging RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology to automatically identify and classify linens. This eliminates the need for manual handling of contaminated textiles, enhancing worker safety while ensuring precision in sorting.
RFID technology is also transforming textile tracking and rental services. More laundries are shifting to a rental model, where they own the textiles and provide them to clients like hotels and hospitals. With RFID-tagged linens, laundries can track each item’s usage, reducing losses and optimizing inventory management.
Replacing traditional washing machines with continuous batch washing systems significantly enhances efficiency. These systems automate the washing process by feeding textiles into a tunnel washer, followed by automatic pressing and drying. The entire workflow is streamlined, reducing manual labor while optimizing resource use.
This level of automation lowers water and energy consumption, and increases consistency in cleaning results, a key factor for businesses that require strict hygiene standards.
After washing and drying, industrial laundries rely on automated folding and finishing equipment to handle towels, linens, and garments. The most advanced systems use robotic arms to pick up, fold, and stack textiles, reducing the need for manual intervention.
For flatwork ironing and folding, laundries are moving from basic wall-mounted ironers to high-tech finishing lines. These machines allow operators to simply clip linens onto automated conveyors, which then feed them through the ironing, folding, and stacking process—saving time and improving efficiency.
The latest robotic towel feeding systems represent a new frontier in automation. Instead of relying on staff to manually place towels into folding machines, robotic systems now handle this task. Although not yet widespread, these technologies are emerging as a promising solution for laundries looking to further reduce labor dependency.
Future trends in laundry automation
The future of industrial laundries is automated. As the industry adapts to sustainability goals and increasing demand for high-efficiency operations, automation will continue to drive transformation. Laundries are evolving into high-tech hubs that prioritize efficiency, safety, and sustainability.