Case Study: Laundry Business Turns To Chemical Dispensing System

Contributed by Hydro Systems

Walter E. Nelson, Portland, Oregon, provides a wide range of jan/san and laundry products and equipment. To grow its laundry chemical business, the distributor determined it needed a multi-washer dispensing system with enhanced features and reporting in order to exceed its customers’ expectations in large laundries.

Specifically, Walter E. Nelson desired a dispensing system that provided remote access to critical laundry data, such as formulas, volume of washes and average projection rate. When Hydro Systems launched its Dositec chemical management system in 2015, Walter E. Nelson’s laundry team seized the opportunity to improve its commercial laundry offering and, in turn, enhance customer support and grow its business.

“When Hydro launched the Dositec system, it created a better market for buyers of these types of dispensers,” says Jerry Roberts, laundry specialist with Walter E. Nelson. “Other suppliers demanded a higher price, given the system’s benefits. Dositec offers a better value, better support and a better supply chain for parts than the competition.”

The Hydro Dositec multi-washer chemical dispensing system can dispense 10 chemicals on up to 10 washing machines at once, or can be configured specifically for tunnel washers with up to five channels. The system offers remote monitoring and control capabilities that allow customers to access critical chemical data and make adjustments from anywhere an internet connection is available. The system greatly simplifies the process of pumping chemical accurately in large laundries and reduces maintenance costs dramatically, says Roberts.

“The remote management functionality reduces chemical maintenance and response costs by approximately 80 percent in comparison to our previous system,” he says. “Other systems also require significantly more parts to maintain and higher repair and labor costs than the Dositec system.”

Roberts appreciates being able to respond to clients in real-time and make chemical changes immediately from anywhere in the world. He no longer is required to call his technicians at multiple locations who would then respond to the site to manually make adjustments. This also frees up time for Roberts and his team to focus on providing outstanding customer support and growing business. Roberts also likes that the equipment allows him to be preemptive in addressing wash house issues before they become problems.

“The Dositec System gives us real-time information that allows us to address issues immediately,” says Roberts. “For example, we can see from the Dositec reports function that a machine is running a formula at a lower or higher production rate than normal, which allows us to notify a wash house supervisor that an operation review is needed. We can also address wash results issues with on-the-spot formula adjustments if necessary. This has allowed us to improve our quality of service to customers.”

Walter E. Nelson has experienced numerous benefits since deploying the Hydro Dositec system, including:

• Reducing chemical dispensing labor and equipment costs by approximately 80 percent;
• Ensuring laundry results by monitoring proper chemical usage and by managing alarms remotely;
• Enhancing commercial laundry services by providing real-time access to chemical dispensing data.

In addition, the Dositec system is much smaller than traditional (peristaltic) chemical delivery systems, which frees up valuable space in the laundry area.