Lindström invests increasingly in efforts to digitalize their services with the goal to enhance both customer experience and sustainability efforts. This has been done in close co-operation with customers and technology partner Nordic ID.
One spearhead is Lindström’s FlowAbility Storage Solutions for workwear distribution. The technology is based on Nordic ID’s solution for real time tracking in smart storages. The service is used for instance by Lindström customer Fazer, a Finnish food industry giant that utilizes the solution in their bakeries in Vantaa, Finland.
At Fazer, the system tracks and collects information on the 300 bakery workers’ usage of their workwear. Each garment contains an RFID- tag, which enables tracking workwear usage. The service helps to enhance hygiene and product safety as workers are at all times provided with the right workwear. Furthermore, the customer can with the help of Lindström train their employees on correct use of their workwear. At the same time, this also improves work satisfaction because employee always have the right amount of garments of the right size.
”It is essential, that the service is as easy and fast as possible for our customers’ employees to use. This makes it also very efficient. For Fazer, time spent managing the workwear flow could be cut by as much as 30%,” says Taneli Ranki, Director, Service Concepts at Lindström.
Each garment in the FlowAbility Storage Solutions- service is individually tagged: the employee signs in to the workwear storage and choses the needed garments. Then the tag in each garment is scanned by a reader next to the door. The same kind of reader is also installed above the return hamper. This way accurate real time data on the location and the time of use of each garment in the workplace can be collected.
”The readers transmit all the collected data to our Nordic ID Radea cloud platform. The data enables Lindström to plan and optimize their operations more accurately. In the future, artificial intelligence can analyse historical data and create new ideas for developing the business,” says Juuso Lehmuskoski, Vice President of Services & Solutions at Nordic ID.
”The data helps for instance our product development to design even more long-lasting garments. On a more general level, one of the core benefits is transparency: our customers have real- time information on the usage and circulation of their workwear. They see better how different groups of employees and even single persons use the service – in this way they can optimize the needed amounts of garments,” Ranki explains.
Sustainability and development are the cornerstones for both Lindström and Nordic ID.
”Our rented workwear is durable and mendable, which makes it as long-lasting as possible. At the same time, the carbon footprint of our workwear service is on average four times smaller than if the employees would wash their garments themselves,” Ranki concludes.
”In addition, on a grander scale, our solutions help to decrease unnecessary production, storage and waste. Real time tracking and analyzing help our customers to be more efficient and sustainable. It is one of the cornerstones of our operations,” says Lehmuskoski.
Developing the Storage Solutions started a few years ago in close co-operation between Lindström, Nordic ID and a few pilot customers. RFID turned out to be the superior technology for Lindström’s customers.
”Technology development was one factor behind the solution. The new generation UHF RFID -solutions enable several garments to be read rapidly and fluently. We do not develop the technology just for the sake of technology – all our solutions should serve our customers. This is also Nordic ID’s great strength. They are eager to break new ground, as well as has a genuine desire to understand both end customers and us,” says Ranki.
More information:
Juuso Lehmuskoski
VP, Services & Solutions at Nordic ID
+358 40 510 3790
Email: juuso.lehmuskoski(at)nordicid.com
About LINDSTRÖM
We are one of Europe’s leading textile service companies with 170 years of experience in the textile industry. We offer a wide range of textile services ranging from workwear, protective equipment, mats, restaurant and hotel textiles to industrial mats and towels. https://lindstromgroup.com/