Meet the experts
Nassiera Guedichi, fabric care portfolio lead, Sealed Air Diversey Care
Nassiera Guedichi joined Diversey in July 2014. Nassiera is the fabric care portfolio lead for the Middle East and North Africa region for Sealed Air Diversey Care. She has a masters degree in marketing and communication and has been a resident of the United Arab Emirates for the last decade.
John Bannister, international sales director, Alliance
John is the international sales director of Alliance Laundry Systems in the Middle East. Alliance Laundry Systems, manufacturer of renowned brands in the laundry industry including UniMac, Speed Queen, IPSO and Primus, has been providing innovative laundry solutions since 1908. John has more than 25 years of sales experience in the Middle East markets in commercial and residential laundry products, home appliances and air conditioning units.
Jorge Damasceno, general manager, Bubble Laundry
Jorge is the general manager of Bubble Laundry and has 20 years’ experience in laundry and facilities management for the hotel industry. Jorge is a Portuguese national and has an MBA and an engineering degree. Jorge has worked in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Jean-Michel Thiebaut, business development manager, Reza Hygiene — Middle East
Jean-Michel has been heading Reza Hygiene’s business development in the region for more than two years. He has been involved in the chemical and laundry industry for two decades, beginning his career as a quality control chemist in Belgium in 1996.
Q. What are some of the latest new technologies in the laundry and cleaning industry?
Nassiera Guedichi: All industries at the moment are striving to reduce total operating costs (TOC) and especially the cleaning industry has been trying to implement saving in TOCs for the last few years. We all know that overhead costs have increased greatly due to increasing costs of labour, utilities and so on. Companies such as ours have ideas and technologies to reduce total operating costs for our clients. We have invented chemicals that work with less water, we have invented machines that are robots and can work alone, we have made chemicals that are from plant extracts and now we are using the internet of clean as our next step into the future, so we are evolving constantly. Last year we introduced into the Middle East market our Clax Advanced programme, a superior wash solution. It allows to wash at a lower temperature, but not only that, it also allows for less rinse cycles. So all in all there are savings in water consumption, energy consumption, steam saving, and savings in time spent. This currently is being rolled out to the hotels in the Middle East and we have had four successful installations so far where customers are extremely satisfied with the results, and we might add proudly, that we are in-line with our projections of savings of up to 10% in utility costs and in terms of figures up to US $25,000 annually for one of our partner hotels.
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John Bannister: Together with our new STAR (Science, Technology and Research) Centre in Pribor (Czech Republic), our R&D team will employ over 200 engineers and staff worldwide. This team is constantly inventing and improving laundry solutions to make the laundry process more efficient, more productive and more user-friendly. Our worldwide brands UniMac, Speed Queen, IPSO and Primus have a lot of new technologies that will be revolutionary on that part. These new technologies will be officially presented at Texcare, in Frankfurt, Germany. Our innovations will offer in-house laundry managers more control of their laundry unit and endless possibilities in managing laundry. The work for in-house laundry operators will be made easier and lighter, as they will be able to work more efficiently and intuitively.
Jorge Damasceno: The latest trend in the laundry industry, especially in this region, is leasing linen to hotels as is done in Europe, with 90% of laundries operating with rental linen. New technology can benefit every aspect of business operations, especially when considering ways to reduce labour costs, overall energy costs, and improve environmental status. Green certifications can increase the potential for new business and maintain current customer relations as the demand for ecologically sound business practices steadily increase.
Jean-Michel Thiebaut: Reza Hygiene has the Compact One: an innovative concept for washer extractors. With existing equipment our clients save up to 60% water and energy, and increase productivity up to 40%.
Q. A few trends you have observed in housekeeping lately?
Nassiera: Our Sure range and eco-friendly chemicals have definitely come about as being an industry-driven demand. Another such invention to give the hospitality industry added value was creating our soft care sensation line. This product in personal guest care is placed in hotel bathrooms and vanity areas. The add-on value is that it contains a flat surface on top of the dispenser, which can be used for marketing of the hotel, or if the hotel wants to give the guests a specific message.
John: We see a strong trend towards more energy- and water-saving machines that allows better performance with less energy and water use. Those sustainable machines are extremely popular for both economic as well as environmental reasons in the hospitality industry. We can recommend machines as well from all our worldwide brands, and our regional brands Lavamac and Huebsch contain technologies that reduce energy and water use. Another trend we have observed is the tendency to reconsider the outsourcing of laundry needs. Many hotels are realising now that this is not the best solution if they want to provide their guests the best linen quality. Exterior laundry services treat hotel linen as a commodity and don’t use special washing programmes adjusted to the specific materials and use of the linen. By bringing the laundry back into the hotel and investing in durable machines, hotels are not only able to provide better service to their customers, but they can also reduce the costs.
Jorge: The aim of all hotels is to provide their customers with clean, attractive, comfortable and welcoming surroundings that offer value for money. Nothing sends a stronger message than cleanliness in the hospitality industry. Both management and guests consider keeping the place clean and in good order a necessity for a hotel to command a fair price and to get repeat business.
Jean-Michel: The UAE hospitality market is facing profit problems due to high oil and water consumption/cost, high currency rates and lower tourism numbers. Each client understands the urgency to reduce their operational cost, increase profit and still maintain quality.
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Jun 23, 2016 , Turkey
The laundry systems has to be evolved and use more Ozone instead of chemicals. With this any laundry have the benefit non-heated washers and detergent cost plus saving storage area. Depending on the type of operation, in house laundry has two benefits of control. One is cost other is the quality...