ALEXANDRIA, Va. — June 7, 2017 — TRSA has upgraded its inspection management protocol for Clean Green and Hygienically Clean certifications, appointing an inspection program administrator and auditor to train and administer the inspection process and inspector training.

This enhances TRSA’s well-established reputation for expertise, consistency and impartiality for all applicant laundry companies and plants when inspectors verify their adherence to best management practices (BMPs). It also adds a highly expert third party to oversee the inspection program. It aligns with ISO quality management system (QMS) standards for assessing laundry applicants’ quality assurance practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans.

Laundry Design Group, LLC, Las Vegas, Nevada was selected as inspection program administrator after considering several firms, acknowledged for excellence in evaluating businesses’ QA guideline compliance. Bob Corfield, the firm’s CEO, has over 30 years’ industry experience, five performing inspections for Clean Green and Hygienically Clean. Corfield is a certified ISO QMS Lead Auditor with a HACCP designation.

As chief inspector and program administrator, Corfield identifies, administers and trains the independent inspector team. Each inspector enters a comprehensive training program including certification standards review, evidence collection procedures, interview protocol, ATP (work surface) testing, technology use, HACCP compliance and sample collection procedures. Training also focuses on educating inspectors regarding acceptable approaches launderers can take to implement BMPs.  Each inspector must agree to a code of ethics including confidentiality and conflict of interest statements.

The inspection program is deployed on an iPad application that all inspectors must use for note-taking, evidence collection, and inspection scoring. This creates consistency from inspection to inspection and inspector to inspector. Inspectors’ reports are disseminated within hours of each inspection for lead audit review and discussion if required.

Following initial training, each inspector is subject to a competency review by a third party ISO certified lead auditor (Enveratek, Calgary, Alberta, Canada).  Enveratek confirms the inspector’s knowledge of standards and procedures in alignment with ISO QMS audit protocols and suggests corrective training if needed.

The inspection program is reviewed twice per year to assure protocol and program compliance. These reviews are presented to TRSA leaders to strengthen the competency of the inspectors and the inspection program.

Tighter inspection management protocols reflect the certifications’ commitment to continuous improvement. Advisory boards and user groups examine development of new laundry and textile technologies to standards for sustainability (Clean Green) and laundered product cleanliness (Hygienically Clean).

“These programs’ leaders frequently participate in a variety of linen, uniform and facility services professional development activities contributing to TRSA’s 100+ years of facilitating information-sharing and collaboration to improve industry BMPs,” noted TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci. “Their commitment to the Clean Green and Hygienically Clean certification programs have helped make these programs the fastest growing, most internationally recognized standards for validating processes and quantifying results for sustainability and cleanliness.”

Posted June 7, 2017

Source: TRSA

LAS VEGAS — June 5, 2017 — TRSA unveiled at Clean 2017 Laundry Operations and Management, a 200-page guide that fosters a common understanding of fundamentals and best practices among all professionals in the industry. Regardless of job title or experience level, all industry executives, managers and supervisors benefit from this overview covering all aspects of laundry operations.

Processes are detailed for serving every customer market (Food and Beverage, Healthcare, Hospitality and Industrial). Easy-to-read, illustration-filled chapters explain procedures, technologies and transactions of production, sales and service as they apply to plant workflow:

• Soil Sorting
• Washing
• Drying and Finishing
• Pack Out (Inventory)
• Delivery

All management and employee positions in laundries are described with emphasis on how departments work together. An introduction covers the industry’s importance to customers (facilities, services, textiles, markets, history). Maintenance (engineering), safety, and textile basics and product life are detailed.

“In any industry, it’s natural to focus most on your individual job function or department. Seeing the big picture increases employee engagement and productivity. Laundry Operations and Management addresses this directly by helping linen and uniform managers understand their role in plant workflow with a common understanding of fundamentals and best practices,” explained Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO.

Laundry Operations and Management is the new source for educational sessions, text and testing for PMI Production, the first session of TRSA’s Roger F. Cocivera Production Management Institute. PMI consists of two 4-day sessions one year apart. Both cover fundamentals and technologies. PMI Management, the second session, adds skill development in organizing and evaluating production work. The program takes place this year Aug. 6-10 at the University of Maryland.

While the book’s chapters detail major steps in plant workflow, they describe the significance of each to the entire organization, not just the production department.

More than three years in the making, Laundry Operations and Management’s creation involved dozens of TRSA member operators and associates, led by a 21-member Subject Matter Experts (SME) Task Force chaired by Ian Bigelow of Crothall Healthcare. Another 20 members acted as SME contributors.

Posted June 6, 2016

Source: TRSA

WASHINGTON — June 5, 2017 — Paul O’Day, president of the American Fiber Manufacturing Association (AFMA) since 1984, died on June 1. He was 82.

“It is a sad day for the U.S. textile industry,” said National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) Chairman William V. McCrary Jr., chairman and CEO of Spartanburg, S.C.-based William Barnet & Son LLC, a synthetic fiber/yarn/polymer firm with plants and/or offices in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

“I’ve been proud to call Paul a friend for decades and worked with him closely during my two-year stint as AFMA chairman. He was a strategic thinker who safeguarded the U.S. fiber industry’s interests in Washington during very tumultuous times,” McCrary continued.

“Many important policy issues arose during Paul’s three decades as president at AFMA that would not have been resolved favorably without his wise counsel and resolute, steady leadership,” McCrary added.

NCTO President and CEO Auggie Tantillo, who worked directly with O’Day since the early 1980s said, “For 33 years, Paul O’Day exhibited an unmatched dedication to AFMA and the industry he loved.”

“Paul represented his constituency with a style and level of decorum virtually unheard of in the current Washington environment. Famously courteous and humble, Paul won heated policy debates through the power of his extraordinary intellect, his expansive institutional knowledge and his total command of the subject matter at hand. Completely secure in his role and the critical contribution he made to every project, Paul was always quick to defer credit and to shower praise on his colleagues,” Tantillo added.

“Fiber manufacturers and the U.S. textile industry lost a priceless asset who will be greatly and deservedly missed,” Tantillo finished.

AMFA’s press statement on Paul O’Day’s passing is at this link, and his obituary can be found here.

Posted June 5, 2017

Source: NCTO

TEMPE, Ariz. — June 1, 2017 — Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May, and the overall economygrew for the 96th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.

The report was issued today by Timothy R. Fiore, CPSM, C.P.M., Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee: “The May PMI® registered 54.9 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the April reading of 54.8 percent. The New Orders Index registered 59.5 percent, an increase of 2 percentage points from the April reading of 57.5 percent. The Production Index registered 57.1 percent, a 1.5 percentage points decrease compared to the April reading of 58.6 percent. The Employment Index registered 53.5 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the April reading of 52 percent. The Inventories Index registered 51.5 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the April reading of 51 percent. The Prices Index registered 60.5 percent in May, a decrease of 8 percentage points from the April reading of 68.5 percent, indicating higher raw materials prices for the 15th consecutive month, but at a noticeably slower rate of increase in May compared with April. Comments from the panel generally reflect stable to growing business conditions, with new orders, employment and inventories of raw materials all growing in May compared to April. The slowing of pricing pressure, especially in basic commodities, should have a positive impact on margins and buying policies as this moderation moves up the value chain.”

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth in May in the following order: Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Furniture & Related Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Machinery; Primary Metals; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Paper Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Computer & Electronic Products; Transportation Equipment; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; and Printing & Related Support Activities. Two industries reported contraction in May compared to April: Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; and Textile Mills.

WHAT RESPONDENTS ARE SAYING …

• “Sales have picked up compared to the last two months. Customer demand has increased.” (Plastics & Rubber Products)
• “Economy is still strong, but [the] political climate can change things very quickly.” (Transportation Equipment)
• “Global price increases for commodities.” (Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components)
• “Business (sales/production) is steady. Pricing pressures on raw materials. Skilled labor in short supply.” (Furniture & Related Products)
• “Agricultural demand very strong.” (Chemical Products)
• “Our business is definitely paying attention to developments with the Canadian lumber tariff announcement. The final outcome could change our fiber pricing.” (Paper Products)
• “OEM longer lead parts possibly longer lead time due to more orders.” (Nonmetallic Mineral Products)
• “Business conditions are steady, and with competition increasing, it’s making negotiations even more intense to reduce costs.” (Machinery)
• “Business is booming, and getting direct employees is increasingly difficult.” (Fabricated Metal Products)
• “Difficult to find qualified labor for factory positions.” (Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products)

Posted June 5, 2017

Source: Institute for Supply Management