Ironer technology

31LCNi | www.laundryandcleaningnews.comMay 2013

During 2013, Laco Machinery’splans will focus on developingboth the company and its

ironers.First it will develop strategically with

distinct ranges for the semi-industrial/commercial sector and for the industrialmarket. Second, it is introducingadvanced technology.

In addition it is taking a morespecialised approach to marketing andeffectively re-branding itself.

Export manager Wim Opsomer saysthat the company’s long-plans are wellon schedule. Following the sale of itsformer owner in 2010, the now fullyindependent Laco expanded productionwith its own forming and welding

department and doubled its storage ofpre-production parts.

This expansion was put in placeduring 2011 to meet shorter lead timesand ensure the quality of critical partssuch as chests and rolls.

By the end of 2012 these changes hadbeen fully integrated and Laco hasachieved its target production of oneironer per day.

Opsomer says the company is nowfocussing on its product strategy. It isintroducing a range of semi-industrialchest ironers under the brand nameSecom Machinery. This is specificallyintended to compete against 350 and500mm diameter cylinder ironers and willbe marketed separately from the

Laco Machinery branded products. Thisyear the company is further developingthe portfolio for its traditional market. Ithas introduced advanced technology toits Laco Machinery brand that will“again revolutionise the ironer industry,as it did in 1994 when it brought out itsfirst mono-shell flexible chest for gas andelectrically-heated ironers.”

Laco’s owner, Dominique Lapauw, hasbeen working on a chest design thatincreases machine capacities by25 to 30%. He has also developed a heat-exchanger that heats up the machine50% faster while at the same timereducing the temperature of the gasexhaust from 260 – 180C.

The company’s effective re-brandingtakes in marketing tools such as thewebsite, leaflets and logo and ranges willhave a fresh modern look.

The Laco Machinery HD range itselfwill now be more focussed on industrialor heavy-duty applications, which couldeventually lead to the introduction ofbigger products.

The high-tech Air-Stream concept,which features in this range is perhapsthe most important development for thecompany. This includes a new design offlexible chest, a pre-heated air chamberand an improved airflow circuit insidethe roll.

Opsomer explains that a traditionalchest, whether flexible or rigid, firstheats both the flatwork and its watercontent and moisture is only removedwhen the linen emerges from the chest.There is no airflow between the roll andthe chest, so moisture cannot be

Developing a two-brandstrategyTWO RANGES: Laco has two distinct ranges to allow it to serve

a wider market. Laco Machinery heavy-duty ironers (right) will

target larger projects. They feature technical advancements

including a new design of chest and heat-exchanger. Its Secom

Machinery branded products (below) will appeal to

semi-industrial/commercial laundries by providing a chest style

ironer that meets both their technical and budget requirements

Having firmly established itself as a fully independent companyand expanded its premises and production capacity, Laco isnow focussing on product development. It is also planningcommunication strategies to maximise its impact in the globalmarketplace

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Ironer technology

LCNi | www.laundryandcleaningnews.com May 2013

removed while roll and chest are incontact.

The Air-Stream chest allowsventilation and as a result moistureremoval at an earlier stage. The chest ispermeable from a point around a third ofthe way along the ironing path. The air ispre-heated as it passes through the chestwhile on the open part of the roll theairflow is restricted and focussed on theventilated section of the chest.

Tests show that Air-Stream raisescapacities by up to 20 – 25%. So an800mm diameter roll can now handlehospital linen at a rate of14 – 16m/minute, which is comparable tothe capacity of a single-roll 1,200mmironer or a deep-chest model with two600mm diameter rolls.

Opsomer explains that LacoMachinery HD ironers will also feature agas heat-exchanger that avoids the needto use coils to collect/absorb heat fromthe burner. The new system reducesheat-up times by up to 50%.

Raising the temperature of an 800mmroll ironer from 20C to 175C used to take15 –17 minutes but this is now achievedin 8 – 9 minutes and uses just 1.056m³ ofnatural gas.

A secondary benefit is that the heatexhaust is now only 180C on the exhaustpipe, rather than 260C.

This means that much more of theheat generated by burning gas is

transferred to the wet linen. As a bonus,the new system requires only40litres of oil to be replaced as opposedto the 80litres required in the standardcoil system.

Traditionally Laco’s ironers have beendesigned around industrial technologywhich places it beyond the budgets ofsmaller commercial projects.

To broaden its appeal it is nowintroducing the Secom Machinerysemi-industrial range that will appeal tocustomers with production capacitiesfrom 30kg/hour up to 80 – 100kg/hour,both in terms of their budgets and ofquality, and reliability. Secom Machineryironers will also satisfy demand for lowmaintenance and low energyconsumption.

The critical parts of these ironers,such as chest and roll, are always madeand designed by Laco.

As with the established Laco range,Secom ironers have an energyconsumption of 0.35kW/kg linen at 50%residual moisture and the company saysthese figures compare favourably withthose for the average cylinder ironer(0.90 to 1.10kW/kg depending on makeand age.)

The company also plans to promoteSecom Machinery ironers at a pricelevel which is typical of that in thecylinder market so in terms of energysaving, customers will see a payback on

Secom products from day one.The smallest Secom Machinery ironer

M30-18 has a drying capacity of30kg/hour and will even be available inan electrically-heated 10kW single-phaseversion.

Opsomer says that the third part ofthe company’s strategy is the way ithandles the marketing.

All the developments in productranges and in technology need to beexplained and promoted.

The company feels that it now needsa specialist in marketing and mediacommunication and has appointed aconsultancy to review the way this isdone.

The redesigned logo is the first resultof this partnership and represents boththe best of the company’s traditions anda step forward to the “new” Laco, lean,efficient, technically advanced andambitious. Websites, leaflets, videos andother marketing tools that reflect thisimage will be introduced shortly.

To sum up Opsomer says that Laco isnow ready to become a global player.The two product ranges, SecomMachinery and Laco HD will address abroader market. The Air-Stream conceptand the redesigned heat-exchanger showthat it can develop innovative technologyand its specialised approach tomarketing will help to get its messageacross.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES: The Air-Stream® flexible chest

featured in Laco HD ironers increases capacity by up to 20 – 25%