Mission Linen Supply targets SF Bay-area linen service markets with an efficient, enviro-friendly plant.
If you could take a green-grass site and build the ideal plant that would marry the goals of environmentalism and operational efficiency, you’d probably come up with something like the new Mission Linen Supply plant in Newark, CA.
This—to our knowledge—is one of a very small number of commercial laundries that’s pursuing certification through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Qualifying for Silver LEED certification requires building owners to meet strict requirements designed to ensure maximum sustainability in terms of energy and water use, waste-management practices and much more.
Mission expects to finalize its LEED-certification process in the next couple of months. For Matt Augelli, the district manager who oversees Mission Newark, having a “green” plant is great. But he’s doubly pleased that this highly efficient laundry that began operations earlier this year is engineered to meet a growing demand from all areas of the linen supply industry.
“What we are hearing from the area’s customer base in all linen demographics (hospitality, F&B, and healthcare) is that capacity is currently a major issue in the Bay Area,” he says. “We have come across several very promising opportunities just because of the fact that with the area’s economic growth, there is a need for open production capacity, which is at a premium right now for the current commercial laundries in the area.” Also with in-house “on-premise” laundries losing favor, due to the high costs to processing linens on-site and the need for properties to maximize profitable use of their own real estate, “Facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area are going away from OPLs,” Augelli says. “So it’s a viable option for these OPLs to look for a vendor to process their linens. Obviously, one of the reasons we came to the Bay Area is that with the current economy, the demand for linen services has exceeded the area’s open capacity” This is Mission’s 44th location, according to the company.
Other Mission facilities are located elsewhere in California, plus Arizona, Texas, Oregon and New Mexico. The Newark plant, as well as these other facilities, offer textile rental services as well as direct-sale items, cleaning products, floor mats, restroom supplies and more.
Mission also collaborates with customers to monitor inventory, evaluate product usage and determine the most cost-effective supply programs. While capable of processing up to 70 million lbs. annually, this startup facility is currently processing about 230,000 lbs. per week, says Operations Manager Aaron Milroy, who led us on a tour of the 110,000-square-foot plant. They expect production to increase to 1.5 million lbs. per week within the next 18 months. The mix of goods now processed here is roughly 75% hospitality. The rest is a near-equal balance of healthcare and food and beverage (F&B) textiles. Roughly 75% of the textiles processed here also are COG goods, while about 25% of the work is rental textiles.
“Our customers do a lot of sheets; not a lot of terry (towels),” Milroy says, noting that . . . Read the full article here