Wavepoint Group

Never say ‘No’, there’s always a solution, is the mantra here. As Jason Alexander, managing director at Wavepoint Group, says: “There’s a moment, early in almost every site visit, when a client points to a corner of their facility and says: ‘We looked at conveyors years ago. We were told it wouldn’t work here.’ Ceiling too low. Column in the wrong place. Layout too awkward. We hear it often. And we’ve spent decades proving it wrong.”

He points out that one of most underused assets in a drycleaning shop isn’t floor space – it’s height. Most shops have more vertical room than they realise, and a well-designed overhead conveyor puts that to work. Garments move up and out of the way, the floor opens up, and an operation that felt cramped suddenly has room to breathe.

A single shop with steady footfall needs something compact and reliable: organised garments, faster retrieval, without overwhelming the space or the budget. The system is deliberately simple and proportionate to the operation. But many busy drycleaners operate very differently. The shop a customer walks into is just the front end. Behind it, often at a separate hub, garments from several satellite locations are cleaned, sorted, packaged and dispatched with minimal staff involvement. The conveyor does the work; the team oversees rather than handles. In those operations, the Wavepoint team believes a Metalprogetti conveyor system should be the engine the whole model runs on.

For the processing hub, this is where Metalprogetti’s conveyor range earns its reputation. The Dispatch conveyor keeps running while garments are being picked up – no stopping the line, no waiting. Multiple pick-up points across the floor mean staff aren’t congregating in one place, and sorting logic is fully customisable to output requirements: by customer, delivery method, garment type, or any combination. Stock levels update in real time as items leave the system.

For smaller operations, the Assisted Assembly and Order Assembly systems bring the same error-free tracking and order management in a format that fits the space and can be upgraded as volumes grow. The Piece Assembly system takes this further: modular and expandable, with simultaneous loading and unloading and a minimal floor footprint. At the top of the range, One Touch Assembly is fully automated from start to finish with assembly, bagging and labelling in a single continuous process, ensuring no human errors.

Maintenance schedules are included in every installation, spare parts held in the UK, and the engineers who install systems are the same ones who support it afterwards.

Alexander says: “The most significant shift on the horizon is 24/7 unmanned collection. In the US, fully unstaffed drycleaning shops are already opening at scale. No counter staff, no set hours, customer queries handled remotely via video link. Customers collect using secure codes, any time of day. The technology is already here. For the right operator, it’s worth thinking about now. “Automation doesn’t have to mean complexity. It just has to mean the right fit.”

Dane Realstar

Dane Realstar offers ACS conveyor systems. These bespoke conveyors are manufactured with quality materials, producing perfect operation from a unique aerial steel continuous-rack system for storing garments. With the installation of an automated conveyor system, the drycleaner, launderer, retailer or hotel valet can improve efficiency and reduce costs.

From concept to completion, from a basic ‘I’ shape conveyor system to a complicated intricate system, there’s a determination to satisfy all a customer’s requirements. The ACS conveyors maximise space available while solving organisational problems, and modules of various shapes and sizes can be manufactured to incorporate storage on one or more floor levels.

The design process starts with a visit to the customer to discuss what they would like to achieve with the space available, keeping a close eye on budgets. Drawings are prepared from a simple design to the seemingly impossible. The promise is: we can work it out!

A conveyor can store hundreds of garments in a minimal area, reduce time for finding individual articles and can be operated by one person. The operator doesn’t have to leave the customer service counter but can locate a garment quickly and easily with either manual controls or an automatic computerised locating system with keyboard, calling for the desired articles and positioning them at a preset point. This ensures that the customer is not left unattended at the counter whilst the operator is searching for the garment.

Dane Realstar finds customers love the auto-research system which can be linked to an EPoS till system, barcoding, RFID and auto dispense. They offer solutions with a complete manufacturer software system, configuration for auto dispense on unloading arms within a distribution facility. There are two standard models: a slotted conveyor system with preset spaces for garments, and a continuous band system without predetermined positions.

The slotted conveyor system can be made in any shape required: either on a single or multiple levels. A spiral model on two or more levels allows for a more functional and convenient use of height, while always allowing the operator to work at eye level. An aerial or suspended design also leaves work areas free, and wall mounted supports reduce interruption to the working space. All Dane Realstar conveyor systems can be personalised to suit a customer’s specific design requirements.

For larger businesses and laundries computerised operation is possible with reading of garment bar codes, automatic transfer unit, and sorting and make-up of the laundry. Included in the installation design options are bespoke figure-of-8 conveyor systems, (the intricate twists and turns being achieved with the ACS technologically advanced manufacturing ability), G-shaped descending conveyors in factory environments, L-shape shop units and multi-level conveyors.

Jensen Group

Metricon, an automated conveyor system for garment handling and sorting from the Jensen Group is designed for high-volume laundries. The system combines automated sorting, conveyor technology and RFID-based garment identification to streamline internal garment flow while improving operational efficiency.

More than 1,200 Metricon systems have now been installed across some 70 countries. It can sort up to 7,000 garments per hour while maintaining a read accuracy above 99.7 per cent, helping laundries minimise sorting errors and ensure a stable production flow.

A key advantage is flexibility. Rather than following a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, Metricon can be adapted to different garment identification technologies, facility layouts and operational workflows. The modular conveyor concept also allows laundries to accommodate varying building configurations, production requirements and future capacity expansions.

The system has been developed with a focus on both operational efficiency and operator usability. Ergonomic workstation designs and configurable station setups support efficient garment handling while simplifying onboarding and daily operation. The software interface provides real-time production monitoring and operational visibility, allowing laundries to optimise performance and quickly identify bottlenecks.

An important component is the MetriQ loading station, specifically designed to improve garment feeding efficiency and ergonomics. By enabling garments to be consistently fed ‘buttons to the front’, operators can work more efficiently without constantly changing position or pre-sorting garments extensively. Integrated hanger turning and collapse functions further reduce manual handling steps.Adjustable working heights and integrated lighting improve operator comfort and visibility during operation, particularly in high-volume environments where repetitive handling tasks are common. Another recent development is MetriRead Pro, Jensen’s new UHF reading tunnel designed specifically for reliable garment ID reading in motion. The system combines UHF reader technology, shielding, and system controls into an integrated solution for garment identification in industrial laundries. By transporting garments sideways through the tunnel, the system is designed to improve UHF readability and reduce interference issues that can occur in dense tag environments.

According to Jensen, the integrated shielding eliminates over-reading while reducing the number of UHF readers required. This lowers infrastructure complexity and installation costs while maintaining high garment identification accuracy. As the use of UHF garment tracking continues to expand across laundries, integrated reading solutions such as MetriRead Pro are increasingly seen as a way to simplify system architecture while improving reliability, traceability, and data visibility.

For many laundries, automation projects are no longer focused solely on increasing speed. Instead, the emphasis is shifting toward creating more stable, scalable and operator-friendly production environments. Conveyor systems, ergonomic loading stations and integrated UHF technologies are becoming increasingly interconnected as laundries seek to optimise the complete garment handling process from sorting to finishing.

Kannegiesser

The approach here starts with the reality that every laundry is different and confronted daily with a wide variety of customer demands, expecting efficient processing in combination with the highest quality standards. The Kannegiesser Vectura stack management makes it possible to automate such processes and meet these expectations.

Flexibility is undoubtedly the watchword with Vectura, from simple stack transport to complex sorting in the dispatch area. As different as textiles are, the processing and logistics in customers’ businesses are just as varied. Some laundries process their own linen in large batches and with few sorting criteria, while others are confronted with an almost impossible to manage variety of customer-specific textiles. What they all have in common is that at the end of the laundry process, every item must be in the right place at the right time and the aim is to provide a suitable Vectura solution for every application.

For those prioritising that stacked laundry be automatically transported from the folding machines to the dispatch, bringing an end to manual pushing of laundry trolleys back and forth, they recommend VecturaCollect. Stacked items are collected by the machines and centrally provided at a pickup point in the journey for a simple, cost-effective and low-maintenance solution.

Should the laundry be transported automatically, including displaying the stack information on a display? VecturaTrack enables tracking of each laundry stack’s position and displays the stack information on a display. This means that a change in articles or customers is visible to the employees – a big advantage, especially if the stacks come from several machines.

In laundries where linen arrives from different folding machines to be transported to dispatch and sorted there according to origin, VecturaSort has a control system displaying information on pickup positions, the respective stacks of a machine or machine group. VecturaAutomatic ensures laundry is assigned to a sorting target approved by the operator.

VecturaMultisort is the most flexible version of the Vectura product family. It allows the laundry to use any complex configuration of stack properties for sorting. The list of properties includes machine, customer, programme, cloth, batch and article numbers. Up to 10 stack properties, each with three values per configuration, can be used. This flexibility is required if the laundry processes a very wide range of items.

The Vectura system is modular to best suit the needs of the laundry and the diversity of the product range. A variety of function modules are available for individual planning of the system. An example is the tiltable belt conveyor. This allows you to make areas accessible without having to build a bridge or have employees crawl under the belts. With the spiral belt conveyor you can bring the stacks to a second level. In addition, there are function modules for manually inserting stacks, for storing and sorting, for packaging, strapping, banding and shrink wrapping, as well as for printing of labels or on banderoles.

Broadbent and Vega Systems

It’s not just the reliability of Vega Systems Group’s conveyors that Broadbent’s laundry division general manager Steve Childs wants to highlight. “It’s the sheer extent of what tasks they can handle, throughout the laundry, taking labour out of the system, particularly when it comes to no longer pushing cages about. This makes them good value with an easy case to make for obvious payback.”

But, beyond the financial gains, it’s the technological advances which impress. It’s no longer about simply getting linen and garments from A to B. Automation with modern conveyor systems like Vega allows operators to easily push work to numerous destinations, sorting a huge variety of items along the way, for instance making up bed packs which arrive at despatch ready to go.

Childs, a longtime fan of RFID, is fascinated by the rapid developments with conveyors and how AI is starting to transform operations. Sometimes it’s best to take scrutiny and decisions away from tiring humans. When you have equipment which can spot the difference between two white sheets passing by (perhaps the thread count of one isn’t that demanded by a five star hotel), send the correct one to be part of a bed pack and the other on another route, it’s easy to see how today’s automation is cutting human error and so improving customer satisfaction. Vega can handle the comprehensive design of industrial laundry plants from concept to completion and say that with the right conveyor system productivity can increase by 20 per cent. A combination of options include their batch separator, batch breaker (the Vega paddle) and pickers handling 60 or 90kg. The batch separator is a large chute for monorail loading with pneumatically controlled flaps to separate items and is available in combination with a picker or as a standalone unit.

The batch breaker can handle all sorts of linen from garments and towels through to bed linen. Buffer lines, part of the monorail system, allow for grouping of various items and often create a lot more floor space, with less human intervention needed.

Vega Intelligent Picker X-Ray and RFID sorting system is actually a customer-designed concept to separate, identify, detect foreign objects, and further sort soiled laundry pieces. A garment picker picks up pieces from conveyor belts and transports them to an X-ray scanner which detects any unwanted objects in pockets. While this is happening, an RFID chip reader registers the garment, deciding its correct route through the system.

Maxi-Press DRM

As conveyor and monorail systems become increasingly automated and operate at ever higher throughput levels, laundries are placing greater emphasis on preventative maintenance, reliable spare part supply and efficient textile transport solutions. Maxi-Press DRM supports industrial laundries and workwear operations throughout the UK with compatible spare parts and textile handling solutions designed to improve reliability and minimise costly downtime.

The product range includes – besides many other spare parts – compatible automatic hangers and replacement components for Jensen Metricon and Kannegiesser Transline garment conveyor systems. Rather than replacing complete hanger assemblies, laundries can replace individual worn or damaged parts quickly and cost-effectively, helping to maintain continuous operation in demanding production environments. This repair-based approach not only reduces downtime and operating costs but also supports sustainability goals by extending the service life of existing components and reducing unnecessary material waste.

“Modern conveyor systems operate continuously under high production demands, so wear parts need replacing before failures interrupt the process,” explains Paul Crookes, general manager of Maxi-Press DRM in Manchester. “Having fast access to the correct spare parts is critical for maintaining productivity and avoiding expensive downtime.”

In addition to garment conveyor components, Maxi-Press DRM also supplies trolleys and other spare parts for overhead monorail systems including Jensen Futurail and Kannegiesser Supertrack installations widely used in industrial laundry and workwear facilities. Following the integration of DRM Industrial Fabrics into the Maxi-Press Group, the company has significantly expanded its textile handling range. Alongside laundry nets, hamper bags and cage liners, they supply custom-made laundry sacks for monorail systems according to individual customer requirements. These heavy-duty laundry sacks play an important role in automated textile transport within large-scale laundries and workwear processing plants, supporting efficient collection, sorting and internal material flow throughout the facility.

The company also supplies a wide range of conveyor belting solutions for laundry machinery applications including feeding systems, folders and towel folding equipment. Belt materials include polyester, cotton, synthetic, antistatic and rubberised belts tailored to individual machine requirements and textile types. According to Crookes, selecting the correct belting material is essential for maintaining product handling quality and long-term conveyor reliability: “Different textiles generate different levels of friction and static, so choosing the correct belt specification can improve both system performance and finishing quality.”

To support fast response times, Maxi-Press DRM maintains extensive stock levels within its warehouse operation in Manchester, allowing many spare and wear parts to be supplied on a next-day or even same-day basis.

Crookes believes the growing use of automation, AI-supported diagnostics and preventative maintenance strategies will continue to shape the future of industrial laundry operations: The principles of laundry haven’t changed, but the technology behind it has – hugely,” he says. “Automation and predictive maintenance are helping laundries improve productivity, reduce downtime and operate more efficiently than ever before.

Millfields Conveyor Belting

This Norfolk-based family business supplies belting and accessories to some of the UK’s leading laundry groups and healthcare providers including the NHS and HM Prison Service, alongside a continued commitment to supporting independent laundries.

Founded in 1985, it hasn’t stood still – just like those conveyors – but has expanded into larger premises at Thetford, some 20 miles or so from the original Swaffham base. This saw upgrades to their own production equipment but also meant they could hold more stock and improve delivery times. And from Norfolk they stretch round the planet with suppliers and clients right across Europe, the USA, Australia, and Middle East.

There’s nothing director Andrew Martin and the team like more than a challenge, whether that’s sourcing or making, from bespoke belts through to hard-to-find laundry machinery parts or not listed items, they also produce custom parts compatible with leading brands and manufacturers. You name a belting need and Millfields will find the solution, including conveyor belting and conveyor belt fasteners. All their high-quality woven beltings are produced in Europe and as well as cotton belting they also supply rubber woven, anti-static, heavy duty polyester cotton and elastic cotton belting.

Beltings come in either roll form or fabricated to length and width with either a fastener or vulcanised endless. Many are held in stock for immediate despatch with next day or same day delivery on drive belts if necessary. Millfields also offer conveyor belt maintenance tools for industrial and commercial ironers laundry folder belts. They are authorised distributors for the Flexco range of fasteners and other accessories.

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