Global Best Practice Awards CINET
There’s something striking on the Facebook page of Bolle Blu Lavanderie. The laundry is located in Altamura , Italy. That city is famous because of the discovery that the region was already inhabited 400.000 years ago. The cave of Lamalunga is situated close by, the place where the Man of Altamura was found, a man that must have lived here 200.000 years ago. Bolle Blu has added videos and information on the city, the archeological discoveries and the Man of Altamura on its Facebook site. This shows that the company is very proud of the city where Bolle Blu was founded, thirty years ago. A guest should feel at home in Altamura and the shop of Bolle Blu. Life should be good – that’s the motto of Bolle Blu, as shown by its clean, pleasant and well-lit shops.
Safe and healthy
Bolle Blu has a comlete portfolio of services, including cleaning of leather garments, fur and carpets. The shop offers dry cleaning, but also wet cleaning, depending of the sort of garment. Upon receiving the garments the customer gets an advice on the best suitable cleaning method. The stores themselves are spacious : both customer and employee should feel comfortable in the shops. Bolle Blu has put a lot of effort in the air conditioning with forced air circulation within the laundry, all in order to create a safe and healthy environment. In the south of Italy a company can hardly operate without on air conditioning system and proper ventilation, but Bolle Blu has also installed a central vapor extraction system with exhaust hoods ad air absorption filters on each ironing machine.
Reducing emissions
A safe and healthy environment, it’s what matters to the city and to Bolle Blu. The laundry has implemented a variety of controls and technologies to reduce emissions, such as control of water drainage and quality of water, periodic review of the machines and the active carbon filters that are used in the dry cleaning. The company currently operates two PERC machines with DOWPER solvents and active carbon filtering, next to two wet cleaning machines that were purchased more recently. Storage of distillation sludge is done in special airtight containers and kept safe outside the workplace in a area that is only used for hazardous waste. Disposal is executed by authorized company : the contract between Bolle Blu and this company dates back to as early as 1989. All equipment is regularly checked and maintenance is carried out by technical specialist only. Filters and tanks are cleaned on a daily basis.
Recycling
Bolle Blu is indeed a very good example of a company that delivers quality by good housekeeping and following through on housekeeping policies. The whole production cycle is controlled in a closed loop to ensure the quality. That starts with separate stations for receiving and delivering garments. The washing process has been optimized including the drying times and the ironing.
Part of the housekeeping is the recycling of resources throughout the wash cycle and the operation of the laundry as a whole. Hot water, as an example, is produced by the steam that is returned to the water tank through the vapor system. But good housekeeping is not only about recycling; it’s also about minimizing risks, extending the lifecycle of equipment and off course hygiene. With regards to the latter: the washing machines are equipped with a high pressure, so-called spraymatic system to avoid that residues remain behind in the drums. Solvent remains are pumped directly into storage drums that are hermetically sealed, thus avoiding and skin contact with the operator.
Transparency
The biggest asset of Bolle Blu is the transparency of the laundry, though. Yes, the company has invested in a steam generator , air conditioning systems, an installation to soften the water, recycle technologies and proper management, but the most important thing is to tell the story of the Bolle Blu to the customer. A website, a Facebook page and leaflets have helped Bolle Blu acquire visibility, but it’s reputation relies on what customers tell others about the laundry. To achieve that, a laundry needs to be 100 percent transparent. Bolle Blu has a permanent collection of photographs that is shown in the shop. These pictures document the development of the laundry sector and of Bolle Blu as a company, showing the milestones in the history of the laundry. A customer that brings textiles for cleaning, gets a proper, detailed explanation on how the textile will be cleaned; the choice between dry and wet cleaning depends on what is best fort he garment. A monitor located in the entrance area of the shop shows the customer stages of processing cycle. It’s the professionalism, expertise and transparency that sets Bolle Blu apart, along with a high quality service, and even home delivery. Indeed : life should be good – without having to worry about textile cleaning.