AUSTIN, TX—Laundris, a smart commercial laundry service based here, is set to build a new facility next month that will provide capacity for 7.5 million pounds of laundry on a yearly basis.

The new equipment will provide sustainability metrics that help reduce waste of water, electricity and detergents. It will also provide data applicable for full life-cycle and inventory management of linens and articles of clothing.

Many of the company’s clients are local hotels, such as Hotel Granduca and Arrive Hotel, which are among a number of properties around the country that have outsourced their laundry operations.

“As a hotel, unless you are monitoring your laundry costs separately, you are probably underestimating how much water, gas and electricity it costs you to run your commercial appliances every day,” said Don Ward, CEO, Laundris. “Using a large-scale, eco-friendly commercial laundry service is not only cost-effective, but provides an enhanced and rewarding customer experience. Some hotels may quickly be learning that their existing machines, while working OK, cannot keep up with the demand, or are unable to handle the luxury hotel sheets and towels. As with any piece of equipment, the value of the machine decreases over time, and certain levels of upkeep are required. Upkeeping commercial laundry equipment involves repairs and regular maintenance that could lead to downtime of machine usage.”

The equipment’s sustainability metrics are a benefit of outsourcing. “These metrics benefit clients, especially in hospitality, because of the ability to be more efficient with outsourcing,” he said. “If hotels continue to use their in-house laundry system, more water would continue to be wasted in a less cost-effective way.”

Laundris’ facility will be the first smart factory in the U.S., according to Ward. Laundris provides smart IoT-enabled systems with automated processes for efficient ordering and tracking, predictable billing and reporting and analytics on utilization. HB