Neutripuro

Laundry NEUTRIPURO from Caldas da Rainha Opts for UHF RFID

A Laundry in Portugal Deploys RFID

Laundry Management with RFID

The Portuguese company Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais has been offering laundry services and customized linen rental solutions since 2008. From its headquarters in Caldas da Rainha, the company's area of operation covers the greater Lisbon area. Its customers are primarily restaurants and hotels. Four to five tons of linen are processed daily on an area of 700 square meters.

In 2016, Neutripuro received the "Gazelle Company" award. This award is given to innovative companies with high growth rates.

Success Story powered by: the Think WIOT Group, Neutripuro and AXEM Technology.

99.95 Percent Shipment Accuracy & Control

NEUTRIPURO from Caldas da Rainha

Four to five tons of laundry are processed daily in the industrial laundry.

Increasing Laundry Volumes

Today, Filipe and Joao Gameiro manage the laundry. In 2019 they joined the company founded by their father. From the beginning, the goal was to transform the traditional laundry with manual processes into an automated industrial laundry with services for the tourist region of Lisbon. The industrial park of Caldas da Rainha, a town with just over 30,000 inhabitants, was and is the ideal location for this.

Since 2017, the daily laundry volume has continuously increased, prompting the head of the Gameiro family to invest in better industrial washing machines. In 2020, it was determined that it was necessary to improve the entire ERP software, along with the RFID integration. As a result, Neutripuro partnered with system integrator Axem Technology in May 2021.

The RFID integration was developed Lagoagest and is integrated on an ERP from another partner.

An Expansion of Rental Services

A significant step towards becoming an industrial laundry was taken with the expansion of the laundry services into the business area of 'rental laundry'. This decision also made Neutripuro an interesting option even for large hotel companies. The demand for linen quantities and linen availability is enormous in large hotels, which often means that rental linen is the only option.

Today, hotels in Portugal are increasingly outsourcing their linen and using only rental linen instead of their own. The steady growth in tourism in Portugal has also contributed to the growth in orders. Inventory management and linen inventory accuracy must be efficient, especially for large customers. Filipe and Joao Gameiro recognized this trend.

Today, Neutripuro processes up to five tons of linen per day. About 25 to 30 percent of the total linen is used as rental linen. That equates to approximately 30,000 items of laundry. Most of the laundry items in the laundry is still owned by customers. The Neutripuro team is working to increase the share of rental laundry to 75 percent in the future.

A Continuous Wash Cycle

Laundry is picked up, sorted, washed, dried, folded, packed and delivered to customers daily. Each piece of laundry goes through a quality control before it is delivered to the customers. All processes take place in the laundry on an area of 700 m². Customers often require fresh linen within 20 hours, and laundries are under great pressure to meet all customer requirements and to deliver linen on a daily basis.

The laundry is open seven days a week, year-round. Summer is the peak season. In the very beginning, the laundry bought its own linen. Supplying linen to customers proved to be difficult due to the newly introduced processes such as counting, stock-taking and the management of all linen items.

The Gameiro brothers quickly realized that the laundry's manual processes were inefficient, inaccurate and prone to errors, and that an investment in inventory management technology was necessary.

Increasing Laundry Volumes

RFID Integration

The Implementation of RFID Technology

In 2020, Felipe and Joao Gameiro tested various warehouse management technologies and quickly determined that RFID was the best solution. The next step was for the brothers to look for chip and hardware suppliers. Initially, chips and hardware from different suppliers were tried and tested. There were problems regarding the accuracy and consistency of the chips. It was not until early 2022 that the right partner was found. The laundry chose chips and hardware from Axem Technology.

The management software is currently being developed by Joao Gameiro himself. This software is connected to Axem Technology's hardware and is currently only used for internal processes. In the future, an expansion is planned so that customers and other laundries can also access the software and retrieve information about their laundry items.

All Garments Equipped with RFID

All 30,000 items of laundry in use as rental linen have been fitted with Axem Technology's AX'Lin UHF laundry label. The tags were either sewn or heat-sealed onto each piece of laundry and are designed to withstand the harsh conditions found in industrial laundries.

The tags' reading performance is maintained throughout the lifespan of the laundry item. The RFID tag contains information about the type of laundry, the time it was received, the number of times a laundry item has been used, the number of wash cycles it has undergone, the customer to whom it was lent, and the durability of the laundry item.

Internal Reading Points and RFID Handheld Terminals

Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais is currently implementing central RFID reading points on the premises of the laundry. All on-site employees are also equipped with a mobile UHF RFID handheld terminal. This allows employees to check and monitor the status of each laundry item throughout the laundry process, from sorting to packing.

It is possible to see the history of each piece of laundry, including the number of times it has been used and the last customer who used it. This is particularly useful for damage management. The complete traceability of each piece of laundry allows Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais to take the appropriate measures and contact customers in case of damage.

Axem Technology's AX'Lin UHF laundry labels can withstand more than 200 wash cycles and up to 60 bars of pressure.

AX'Lin UHF laundry labels are either heat sealed or sewn onto each piece of laundry.

AX'Lin UHF Laundry Label

Withstands more than 200 washes
Withstands pressure up to 60 bars
Certification: OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Level 1
Material: Polyester
Application method: Heat sealing or sewing

Get a glimp!

Inventory & Traceability with RFID

With RFID, the laundry can ensure that the number of laundry items leaving the laundry matches the number of laundry items that came in.

1. Daily laundry cycle

The daily laundry cycle begins at pickup. The laundry is picked up directly from the customer at an agreed time and transported by one of Neutripuro's six vehicles.

2. Inventory counting

The laundry is transported on trolleys to the entrance of the industrial laundry. There, Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais offers two options for inventory counting.

The first option is to use a handheld reader. An employee scans all carts with dirty laundry using an RFID handheld reader. The laundry also offers this service to customers directly on-site.

3. RFID reader points

The second method uses fixed RFID reader points. Each individual trolley with dirty laundry is pushed into a special cabinet equipped with an RFID portal and two UHF RFID antennas from Axem Technology.

The antennas automatically detect and register the quantity of all laundry items in the trolley.

4. Sorting area

The trolleys with the dirty laundry are then transported to the sorting area. Here, the laundry is sorted manually through a screening process. Here, the employees select the correct washing process and detergent.

All laundry items are tagged with RFID labels and are thus traceable at every stage of the washing process.

5. Washing machine

Laundry items from different customers are all washed together in one of several industrial washing machines. This increases productivity. Each washing machine can wash laundry weighing between 50 and 120 kg.

After washing, the laundry is dried in industrial dryers and ironed over the mangle. At the end of the washing cycle there is an automatic folding machine and two towel folders. The freshly ironed laundry is then folded and packed.

6. Quality control

Before the linen items are delivered to the end customers, they are subjected to quality control. Employees inspect all laundry items to ensure that end customers receive clothing in optimal condition.

7. RFID portal

After a strict quality control, the laundry is stacked on a trolley and pushed through an RFID portal at the laundry's exit. Similar to the portal at the entrance, this portal is equipped with two UHF RFID antennas that precisely detect and register the amount of laundry leaving the building.

8. Linen item counting

The number of linen items leaving the building must match the number of linen items that were delivered. Customers can also request more, or less clothing according to their needs (for instance, more linen may be required in summer).

The clean laundry is then delivered to the end customer within an agreed time frame.

9. Invoicing

The quantity of laundry items recorded is compared with the number specified by the customer. An invoice for the laundry services is sent periodically (period agreed with the customer) to the respective customer.

This is based on the washed linen, which in most cases, is equal to the amount received. In some cases, the customer may request changes of stock.

Advantages of RFID

Fast and Accurate Inventories

Before the introduction of RFID, all laundry processes were done manually. Employees counted every piece of laundry that entered and left the laundry. Each day, up to 50 large trolleys, each containing about 100–200 pieces of laundry, need to be counted. It takes an employee approximately 15–20 minutes to count the laundry items in a cart. This resulted in inaccurate inventories and laborious counting processes.

With the RFID system, counting each cart is reduced to between 30 seconds and 1 minute, and inventory accuracy is also increased. Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais is currently in a transition phase. The Gameiro brothers have already started and are planning to invest in more industrial machinery and automation. The introduction of RFID is the first step.

Optimized Laundry Management in the Warehouse

With RFID, Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais is not only able to have a clear overview of its on-site laundry stocks, but also a clear overview and control of its off-site laundry stocks. In this way, the laundry knows the exact status of its linen stocks at its customers.

With this information, the laundry knows when a customer's inventory needs to be replenished or if there is excess inventory. An accurate overview of stock levels makes it possible to reduce inventories.

Cost Savings and an Improved Brand Image

Automation saves costs. Fewer employees are needed for the automated inventory of all laundry items. The employees can therefore be assigned to more important tasks. Thanks to an accurate inventory, Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais is able to provide solid evidence in the event of a discrepancy in the number of laundry items picked up or delivered.

As a result, brand image and customer relations have improved and the laundry is perceived as reliable and trustworthy.

The time needed to count laundry has been reduced from 20 minutes to 1 minute thanks to RFID.

With RFID, Neutripuro – Lavagens Industriais ensures that customers receive the right number of laundry items in the best quality.