Employee Laundry Volume Reduced by 50%
Israelitisches Krankenhaus Hamburg uses HF-RFID for the digital management of staff clothing.
By installing a laundry dispenser, two drop points, and management software, the number of laundry items per week was reduced from 2,000 to 1,000.
The hospital has 180 beds in nine wards. Every year, 7,800 patients are treated as stationary and 6,500 as ambulatory patients. The number of employees is approximately 400.
Process Requirements
Prior to the introduction of the RFID-based laundry management solution, the Israelite Hospital organized the preparation and distribution of scrubs manually at the respective wards. Each ward had to order the required number of scrubs from the laundry facility. A clothing set with garments for one week per employee had to be sorted into about 300 personalized compartments. Additional sets for each employee were simultaneously processed in the logistics and preparation departments.
Objective:
- Transparency of laundry consumption and reduction of the total amount of laundry
- Reduction of costs and distribution times
- Automated issue and return process
- Laundry delivery takes place individually according to clothing size and work assignment
Solution
For process automation, the KH installed a laundry dispensing station and positioned two discharging points. All garments were labeled with a HF RFID transponder. Several times a week, the automated garment dispenser is supplied with approximately 350 pieces of laundry. The maximum capacity of the machine is 890 articles. A total of around 1,000 items of clothing per week are issued through the machine.
Employees are able to access the laundry machine via RFID key fobs with an anonymous identification number. The laundry authorization is designed for the different tasks of permanent or temporary employees. This process is controlled by a variety of chips. Personal data regarding clothing size, position in hospital operations, required equipment, and quantity are stored in a database.
Nursing staff can remove a maximum of two items per category - such as trousers or scrubs. Doctors can take a maximum of three articles while interns and temporary staff can take a maximum of one article.
Advantages
- 100 % transparent laundry cycle
- Reduced time required for garment dispensing from 5 to a maximum of 45 seconds.
- Reduction of the weekly laundry quantity by 50%.
- Hygiene aspect: employees can exchange their clothing at any time.
- Combination of swimwear and personal clothing in one system.
- Laundry requirements of temporary employees can be integrated.
- Authorized access to specific clothing categories.
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