Back-end digitisation
Many new laundry machines at the Laundrex Expo were IoT-enabled. Dharamsey said, “Connecting every machine to the Net allows owners to monitor the number of cycles a machine has run in a day, how many hours it remained idle, how much water and energy it consumed, and more. All this data is displayed on a utilities dashboard to the owner, who can use this information to better use his resources, budget more wisely and help improve the bottom line.”
The same information can be analysed to identify which machine from which brand offers the best water and energy efficiency.
Said Abhinav Arya, Director- Planning, Fabcare: “No more is there any need to pore over Excel sheets from laundry managers to understand how one’s laundry is performing. From the number of visits a single customer makes, to the frequency and periodicity of the visits, to suggesting ways to bring back customers who have not visited in a while by tailoring special offers for them, an IoT based interface can radically change the way a laundry functions.”
Predictive and preventive maintenance
This back-end system can help both owners and machine manufacturers track a machine’s performance, and detect wear and tear. Equipment breakdown can be anticipated and forestalled by scheduling a service visit.
Dharamsey delineates ADD’s model: Since every machine is online, someone sitting in the company headquarters in Spain can view a common dashboard, diagnose problems by comparing parameters, flag anomalies, and even identify which part needs to be replaced.
The number of breakdowns of individual machines can also be logged; for smaller machines, this number can be accessed by owners on a simple app, with measurements over a day, week, month or year.
Machine programming
Sanjeev Dixit, Head-Sales, Aquarius Appliances simplified this for us: “Machine design includes two parts: hardware and programming. The prewash, main wash, bleaching, number of rinses, etc., should be customisable for each load; this is possible if a machine is programmable. Once you design the perfect program, you get the best wash. If the machine is fully programmable and the hardware is also of good quality, the machine can even be used for 20-30 years.” But how can a person go about programming a machine?
Gautham Kumar Gupta, Head-Sales & Marketing, Gupta Electricals suggests two connected touchscreen interfaces. One, for a potentially less-trained employee, who may use the wrong amount of water or chemical, and damage the machine; this interface will only allow him to load and run the machine. The manager’s interface will be password-protected, and allow him to fine-tune the wash specification for each cycle.
Water saving
Few parts of India have a reliable source of water in terms of both quality and quantity. Consequently, he whose machine consumes the least amount of water and delivers the best results is bound to prove wildly popular with laundry entrepreneurs. This evolution to minimising water requirements is on a roll.
