Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110

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MEWA, quality and innovation to support industry 4.0

When the first Model T rolled off the assembly line at Ford in Detroit in 1908, Hermann Gebauer founded MEWA in Ostritz, Germany.

Factories were then on the threshold of Industry 2.0, producing products faster and cheaper, enabling more people to buy them.

MEWA supported the factories then with its innovative cleaning cloth system: 112 years later, it remains a key partner for companies across Europe that are now embracing in Industry 4.0.

Assembly lines, industrial robots, automation, digitalisation - production companies have advanced beyond recognition during the last 100 years. MEWA too has been at the forefront of these quantum leaps in industrial development.

The textile service provider has supported manufacturing companies with its highly efficient service system supplying cleaning cloths and a circular washing, care and delivery service. MEWA has tackled the challenge of increasing productivity without sacrificing quality with its successful business model.

The advantages for MEWA's customers are manifold: a cost-effective system, personalised and flexible customer service, competent consultants for on-site visits and online and a customer portal through which deliveries can be changed and tracked.

Over the decades, MEWA has continuously optimised the production, washing processes and quality assurance of its cleaning cloths. The specially woven, and particularly absorbent, cleaning cloths for tools, machines and systems are in-house developments, as are the washing and drying systems, the environmentally friendly washing process, the multi-stage quality control system and the MEWA SaCon safety container.

The safety container plays a key role in this unique circulating system. Clean wipes are supplied with the MEWA SaCon safety container. It is then used for safe and practical storage for cleaning cloths contaminated with oils and other combustible substances before they are collected.

The quality control after washing the cloths is carried out by both people and machines: the washed cloths are first pass on a conveyor belt where an employee checks them for dirt residues, holes and general wear and tear and removes all cloths that no longer meet the standard. Then the cloths undergo a second automatic quality test. Only then will they be delivered back to the customer. If a cloth does not meet the standard, it is removed from the circuit.

MEWA wipes are washed for 15 minutes at 90 °C, longer than the thermal disinfection time defined by scientific institutes to ensure that all germs have been completely killed. The washing and drying systems developed in the 1980s consume 80% less energy, less detergent and reduce water consumption by half compared to a conventional process.

The corporate ethos has always been that investments in the environment and investment in expansion are of equal importance for business.

Today MEWA supplies 45 locations from companies across Europe with work and protective clothing, cleaning cloths, oil collecting mats and floor mats - including care, maintenance, storage, logistics. In addition, occupational safety articles can be ordered. The company's 5,600 employees serve 188,000 customers from industry, trade, craft and gastronomy. In 2018 MEWA achieved sales of 704 million euros, making it a leader in the textile management segment. The company has received numerous awards for its commitment in the areas of sustainability and responsible action, as well as for its brand management.

Watch MEWA Textile Management videos at:

https://corporate.mewa.co.uk/newsroom/all-videos/

3rd September 2020