AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

Three-day Laundry Servil in a widespread area

25th May 1951, Page 42
25th May 1951
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 42, 25th May 1951 — Three-day Laundry Servil in a widespread area
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By Ashley Taylor, A.I.R.T.E.

WHERE there is a concentration of population, a laundry may attain relatively easily a large volume of business, but in country areas, highly efficient transport arrangements are necessary to attract custom and, by reliability of collectiOn and delivq-y, to

retain it For that reason, special interest attaches to the activities of Lakeland Laundries, an organization covering the whole of Cumberland and Westmorland, Lancashire "north of the sands " (that is to say, The Furness district), and Yorkshire as far as Leyburn, Ilkley, Otley and Keighley.

Years ago, the farmer's wife was almost invariably her own washer-woman, but in these days motorvans penetrate high into the passes of Lakeland and the northern Pennines, bringing back not only the family wash but outer garments for dyeing or dry cleaning, and carpets for cleaning. The laundry business has followed lines of logical development, bringing into its ranks the associated services just mentioned.

What is now Lakeland Laundries has been built up of seven main units previously in existence. Plants are now operated at Barrow-in-Furness, Kendal, Working ton, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Ingletort, and Dkley. The nucleus of the organization was the Barrow Steam Laundry, which was founded 61 years ago by the mother and father of the present managing director. What has since become Lakeland Laundries at Kendal was formerly the Kendal Steam Laundry Co. and the Grange and District Laundry. At Workington there was the West Cumberland Steam Laundry, Ltd., which was established in 1897 and acquired in 1931, whilst the Whitehaven Steam Laundry Co., Ltd., founded in 1909, became part of the group in 1916. The County Laundry and Dyeing Co., Ltd., Carlisle, which 138 was acquired in 1933, dates back to 1898, whilst the Ilkley section of the organization, which included the Ilkley Sanitary Laundry Co., Ltd., and Skipton Steam Laundry, had its beginnings in the same year and was acquired in 1939. Ingleton and District Laundry, Ltd., started in 1910 and was acquired in 1919.

Although laundering is carried out at the seven works mentioned, specialized dry-cleaning is confined to Barrow-in-Furness, Workington and Ilkley. Dyeing is performed at Barrow-in-Furness only, whilst carpet cleaning is centralized at Kendal where, it is claimed, Lakeland Laundries has the most modern carpetcleaning plant in Europe.

In addition to business done by the vapmen, a substantial quantity of work is handled throiigh 17 shops, among them being establishments at Barrciw-in-Furness, Dalton, Ulverston, Millom, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Bowness onWindermere, Keswick, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Penrith, Ilkley, Keighley, and Skipton. The "Billy Boy" symbol of the company, used in publicity matter, urges "Quick Service," and to maintain such facilities for dry cleaning the area is divided into northern and southern districts. Barrow cleaning works cover Barrow, Kendal, Ingleton, and Ilkley, whilst Workington provides for the needs of Carlisle and Whitehaven Most of the fleet of 80 vans work on local collections and deliveries, but two trunk night services are run, calling at all depots en route for dry-cleaning work and carpets. From Workington, the vehicle collects cleaning for its own headquarters and carries carpets through to Kendal, whilst the Barrow van performs similar duties on the southern route. As all the dyeing is performed at Barrow, consignments collected by the first vehicle are transferred to the second at the Kendal interchange point.

Special Journeys By this system, work handed in at any of the shops, however distant, at 6 p.m. is at the appropriate plant ready for processing early next morning, whilst consignments which are finished off by evening are available for collection from the shops at opening time next day.

In addition to the set collection rounds, special journeys are made from Kendal in connection with big contracts for carpet cleaning, for the plant there deals with the large-scale requirements for ocean liners, holiday camps, hotels, and business houses.

Careful planning is necessary to ensure that the intake of laundry by the vans is correctly related to the processing capacity of the various machines, for if consignments were to be held up, the three-day service on which the organization prides itself would soon become impossible. Operatives working in the various sections of the plant have a fixed hourly quota, a reasonable figure for that period being laid down and a deduction made so as to allow for interruptions or unexpected difficulties. When the operative has completed that quota she may well have four or five minutes in hand, but she will not commence the next hour's work until the time given.

In this way, a steady flow through the works—essential ,if disruption •of service is to be avoided—is ensured and, when it is seen that Barrow alone deals with something like 200,000 articles a week, the need for such organization will be obvious. Thus, collections are planned so that on the average the right type of garment will usually arrive in approximately the right quantity—not a surplus of heavy, greasy overalls from the industrial areas one day and too many sheets from the hotels on another—so that all the while the machines have just about the correct amount of work.

Balanced Routine

Whereas in the old days vehicles went out empty and collected busily in the first part of the week, then delivered in the latter part of the week and returned empty, to-day's deliveries and collections are balanced. In the morning, the vans deliver the processed laundry and, returning by a different route during the afternoon, make their collections of parcels for attention. These routes are always maintained and the vans working outward from the various Lakeland Laundries' plants have their operations interlocked with those of their neighbours. Every area is adequately covered and potential customers cannot languish in a launderer's "no-man's land." The journeys run right up to the hill farms lying high on the fell sides, the Whitehaven routes, including Eskdale, and in summertime even extend up Wasdale to Wasdale Head. In wintertime, the weather is an important factor and careful observations are made of incoming reports regarding the state of roads over Shap Fell, Dunmail Raise and the coast road, so that in the case of closure alternative arrangements can be put into action. On some routes, shovels and other equipment for road clearance are carried during colder months and on many occasions the Lakeland Laundries' driver has been able to boast that his was the first van to reach some upland area isolated by the snow.

As a whole, the drivers have excellent safety records, and a team from the Carlisle plant was successful in winning a road safety quiz for the area. In passing, it may be mentioned that the van driven by one of the team had at that time travelled over 110,000 miles without failure or accident of any kind.

The administrative system is arranged so that the individual companies already mentioned, which operate the plants in the different towns, are the owners of the vehicles attached to their particular areas, each manager being responsible for the operation of his own units to the best advantage. For the purpose of maintenance they are co-ordinated by the company's fleet engineer, Mr. Charles Leigh, M.I.R.T.E., whose workshops at Barrow deal with repairs for the south-western area, whilst another repair depot at Whitehaven attends to the northern districts. A further repair depot is to be established for the south-eastern part of the territory. Routine maintenance is performed at the local plants and the main workshops are responsible for everything else except crankshaft grinding and cylinder reboring.

Monthly Service

All vehicles in the group are, as far as possible, passed through the workshops each month and given a thorough service and check, except the vans from Ingleton and Ilkley, which are serviced monthly by local garages.. Tyres throughout the group are inspected every three months. There is a special examination arranged for this purpose, and it is found that the system has a good effect. Drivers, knowing that tyres receive regular inspection, tend to exercise consistent care during their constant driving up to kerbs. From the tyre reports, the fleet engineer is able to keep track of pressures and alignment and to effect a saving in tyre costs.

Drivers are responsible for washing and cleaning their vehicles, time and facilities being put at their disposal BIO each week for this purpose. The van supervisor

superintends this work, and the date when a vehicle is washed has to be entered on the driver's weekly report sheet. Although rendered to headquarters each week, there are spaces for daily comment on this report sheet on the state of steering, brakes, lights, engine and transmission, whilst the general section includes notes on the condition of windscreen wiper, speedometer, tyres, body and cab.

• Road Testing The workshops inspection and maintenance report used in connection with routine service provide a record of checks on oils, battery and master brake cylinder. Vehicles are thoroughly greased, tyre pressures checked and covers examined for wear, whilst other points to receive attention are steering, starter, horn, lamps, dynamo, wiper, contact points, fuel pump, plugs, wheel nuts and spare wheel. A road test is carried out for assessment of brake and engine performance, with appropriate action to follow. The report

is signed by the mechanic responsible, who comments on the condition of the machine and on any further. attention that is desirable. Finally, the sheet is countersigned by the engineer, who at the same time records his own comments.

The fleet covers about 1 m. miles a year. For town work around Barrow, nine battery-electric vans are employed, and there are five at Carlisle. The remainder of the fleet consists principally of Commers, Fordson 10-cwt. vehicles and Bedfords of the 30-cwt.-2-ton class. One Commer bus is included in the fleet, this being used at busy seasons for the day-to-day transfer of staff from plants which have spare capacity to those which are overtaxed.

Two van horses whose drivers would not on any account part with their charges are still employed in Barrow. Formerly, there was a larger horsed element in the fleet, and ex-horse-drivers, accustomed to the slower movement, have proved to achieve better results with electric vehicles than experienced motor drivers, who usually suffer from a tendency to be exasperated by their rate of progress.

The vehicles have specially attractive livery, this being maintained, and bodywork repairs performed, by J. Coutts and Co., Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness. Mention has been made of the advertising symbol carried by the vans. The company realizes that smart vans have a great publicity value, reflecting the efficiency that regular and well-planned maintenance affords.


comments powered by Disqus