A logistical solution for Ambulancezorg
The ambulance team of Ambulancezorg Zuid-Limburg is ready to provide medical assistance 24 hours a day. The emergency service has five stations. A lot of the time, employees start their shift in one location, and end it somewhere else. For Ambulancezorg Zuid-Limburg, this poses a logistical problem. Because how can employees in Maastricht get their clothing back, if they put it in the laundry in Heerlen or Gulpen?
“Colleagues were constantly missing clothing”, says Twan Breedveld, facility manager of the acute care department at GGD Zuid-Limburg. “They then had to call multiple locations, to ask if anyone had seen their polo shirt. Furthermore, the quality was not up to standard.” Especially the striping, the luminous stripes on jackets and pants, turned out to be especially vulnerable. “We work in unsafe situations, for example right next to the highway. In that case, the striping is essential.
When the contract with the previous laundry facility ended, Twan decided to start a direct agreement, after extensive research. He had heard good things about Nedlin, and called Nedlin Industry. “From the start, the contact went smoothly. We understood each other well.”
Automated laundry process
Bart Gort, New Business Development Manager at Nedlin Industry, took a look at the logistical process together with Twan. The automated laundry process at Nedlin was the perfect solution for the biggest issue, namely making sure that clean laundry would end up in the right place. “We give every item of clothing a chip”, explains Bart. “This chip contains information about the employee and their location. This way, we will know exactly where the clothing is supposed to go after it has been washed.”
Ambulance personnel put their clothes in the laundry in one of the five locations. The laundry is collected by Nedlin, washed, sorted and delivered to the right location. Every employee has their own mailbox, in which the Nedlin driver will deposit their clean clothing. This is very different from the old situation, which had employees looking for their clean laundry in a large container.
Optimal quality
The quality of the laundry has also improved significantly. For example, Ambulancezorg used to get a lot of clothing back with ink stains. At Nedlin, we have an X-ray scanner that automatically filters clothing with pens and other objects out of the laundry. This was a pleasant surprise for Twan when he visited the laundry facility: “I was very impressed with the way Nedlin furnished the laundry process, and the level of automation to guarantee the quality.”
The clothing chip does not just contain information about the owner, but also about the laundry detergent and temperature, among other things. Because of this optimisation of the laundry process, clothing will last longer and the consumption of things like water and energy are limited to a minimum. Was the focus on sustainability also an important point for Ambulancezorg? “Absolutely”, says Twan. “We are an organisation with an important social role. If we can say that we are also taking sustainability into account in our choice of laundry facility, that is ideal.”
The contact was very pleasant from the start. We understood each other.
Implementation
The switch to Nedlin coincided with the introduction of a new clothing line for all the ambulance personnel in the Netherlands. That is why Nedlin also monitored the logistical process of delivery for the ambulance team of Ambulancezorg Zuid-Limburg, from the first wash to coding and chipping the clothing, to the training of internal clothing managers. “Normally, we have a little more influence over the delivery process than now”, says Bram. “Normally, we have direct contact with the producer of work clothing. In this case, we are dealing with an interim supplier. That is why we have made a few things extra practical for our client.”
For example, Nedlin is able to switch gears a little less quickly, if new clothing needs to be ordered. Bart: “We solve this problem with the help of our strong supply. We always have the most common sizes in our warehouse, so we can deliver those quickly. We find this service very important. It does not cost the client anything: they will only start renting the item of clothing once it is in circulation.”
De-stressing
It is exactly this service that gave Twan the good feeling he was looking for. Because the biggest advantage of Nedlin is that the company de-stresses him. “I want to show our employees that we are a good employer”, he explains, “And I believed that we needed a good partner. The quality and continuity of our laundry are safeguarded. This is very important for our professionalism. Things have to keep moving.”
Impact
- always enough clothing in the right place
- increased insightfulness and safety
- safety is maintained
- contribution to CSR goals
- quality and continuity guaranteed
- an involved partner that takes away your worries