Roundtable: cleaning and laundry

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.

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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Q. What are some of the complaints and suggestions you have received from executive housekeepers?

Nassiera: Amongst some isolated complaints that are constantly asked, the one that comes to mind immediately is the oil smell on spa towels. Another common complaint is misuse of linen within the laundry itself where employees will either step on the linen which creates stains which are not removable at all — such as shoe polish, damaging the linen while dragging it on the floor and so on. Our task then involves educating the staff and performing training at the laundry premises on what are good practices.

John: One of the main concerns of housekeepers is the efficiency of their machines. They want maximum performance, and the best ease of use. It’s also important for housekeepers to know that they can count on reliable support when needed. We don’t have quality issues; there’s a reason why Alliance Laundry Systems is the number one laundry manufacturer in the world.

Jorge: Common complaints from executive housekeepers across the laundry industry are missing items, stains and wear-and-tear. Available technologies such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) minimises the impact of human error when counting. Having the right stock par of linen makes life easier for both sides as well by reducing the wear-and-tear by resting linen at least 36 hours between washes.

Jean-Michel: Our laundry technology addresses key issues the UAE market is currently facing. We have come across sites where we have reduced our clients’ re-wash percentage – stain issues. Due to the nature of the laundry department, it’s vital to provide urgent service/breakdown calls during operation. With innovative smart phone reports we are able to send completion reports to clients as soon as we leave the site.

Q. How important an agenda is sustainability with regards to chemicals and other cleaning and laundry products?

Nassiera: In Sealed Air Diversey Care, we understand the cleaning and hygiene challenges our customers face every day. We take great care to make safe and hygienic facilities that deal in food and health care apart from our other sectors such as laundry, building care, product care, odour control and personal care. We also care for safer solutions that are kinder to people and the environment. We make greater use of natural ingredients while delivering efficient and effective results. That’s why we launched the Sure range, a comprehensive line-up of plant-based daily cleaning products for kitchens, buildings and personal care, with significant investment and years of research & development into combining more natural cleaning formulas with trusted, excellent performance. These formulations have been especially developed to meet the market’s strictest demands for performance efficiency, respect for the environment and safety to human health.

John: Sustainability is a big concern for Alliance Laundry Systems. When developing new machines and new programmes, we always take that into account to reduce the water and chemicals use as much as possible. Reducing water usage and energy savings are a big concern worldwide, but even more in the Middle East. But also the machines themselves are sustainable: in our Science Technology And Research Centre in the Czech Republic we test up to 150 machines simultaneously on mechanical functioning, software and controls to long-term durability and reliability.

Jorge: Chemicals in the laundry industry, alongside the water quality plays the most important role in safeguarding our environment and the wash quality. The UAE government aims to reduce its energy requirements by 30% and generate at least 25% of power from renewable sources, Laundries will play an important role in this. Bubbles is built around sustainability and awareness of environmental concerns — by recycling water to the extent of 80% and using the most environmentally-friendly chemicals possible.

Jean-Michel: Our products are free of hazardous compounds. They are concentrated and operate at low temperature. It’s important to save water and energy to increase sustainability.

Q. How do you maintain balance between price and quality?

Nassiera: Diversey Care is the only total cleaning solutions provider with a complete line-up of professional, cost-effective cleaning products, tools, machines, services and consulting for facilities of any size. We are launching innovations every year to provide our customers the latest innovative solutions available in the market. We intend to offer the best value for money to our customers and confirm reductions in total operating costs providing a win-win situation.

John: Quality is the number one priority for all product ranges of all the Alliance brands. Our machines are rock solid, which makes them sustainable and guarantees a long-term use. We have been in the Middle-East market for 40 years and have built a strong reputation. Alliance Laundry Services and UniMac machines are strong brands with strong products. That is a reputation we don’t mess around with. Therefore there’s a strong focus on innovation and research to further improve our equipment to the highest standards.

Jorge: Advanced technology and high quality procedures help create a balance in competitive markets, such as the one we are faced with in this region.

Jean-Michel: We achieve that by optimising the synergy of each formulations. We are proposing additional operational savings – for example, on some sites water and energy costs are higher than chemical costs.

Q. Do you look at providing any training towards your hotel client’s housekeeping staff?

Nassiera: Our biggest strength is our commitment to service and train the housekeeping and the end-user teams. Our applications are simple and easy to use, and we make sure that all users of our products and systems are well trained from a usage perspective as well as safety, which is of paramount importance to us.

John: The after-sales service of our brands is provided by a team of service managers and technicians of our distributors, who get full training at our brand new customer service centre in Dubai. If necessary, distributors can bring their own customers for training on the features and operating procedures on our products. In addition, distributors and consultants can visit the customer service centre for product and marketing presentations.

Jean-Michel: Laundry and housekeeping staff play key roles in an efficient and safe work environment. In addition to chemical usage and safety training, we design training modules to increase productivity and improve synergy between laundry attendants and room attendants.