Sheffield launches Laundromat in Kenya

Sheffield Steel Systems Limited has launched the first commercial laundry coin automated machine alias Laundromat in Kenya. The demo event took place at their fully equipped experience centre in Syokimau on Wednesday, 26^th Sept 2018. Kenya comes second in East Africa to have the laundromat machine with Rwanda being the first to embrace the innovative laundry system.

The Laundromat machine designed by Alliance Laundry is Sheffield’s newest addition to the company’s time tested cutting edge technologies in commercial kitchen equipment, laundry equipment and heat, ventilation and air conditioning equipment.

In his opening remarks at the event, the Sheffield Managing Director, Dr. Suresh Kanotra described the venture as an excellent solution to fill a gap in the laundry management for the Kenyan homes and businesses.

The urban home owner has become busy and with the time constraints in the city, installation of this system in the neighbourhood will be a convenient service for quick clean and dry laundry. The Laundromat machines displays unique characteristics such as quality, functionality, recession resistance, flexibility, modest costs and high returns on investments estimated at an average of 20-35% among many other additional benefits.

The Machine is designed in a way that it can only operate once payment is made. Thanks to Sheffield’s partnership with Novek Ltd, payment can also be done via Mpesa. The machine is also designed in a way that in the event of power blackout, the machine automatically resets itself and continues from where it stopped.

Where does the building professional come in?

The first consideration when setting up a Laundromat is location. It is desirable to have a good mix of renting tenants and privately owned properties nearby as well as ensuring you are located in a busy area. Once the appropriate location has been identified, careful considerations need to be taken in regards to the site’s water supply, waste water management and gas. In addition, electricity supply is another key factor as majority of the commercial launderette equipment will mostly require 3 phase electricity supply.

Making sure that that premises are capable of having a larger incoming water supply is essential, as is the necessity for ducting of the dryers which will need to go through an external wall. Please note that planning permission for change may be necessary.

Most washer and dryer units will have a minimum incoming water supply of 15mm. Although this is adequate for running tap and toilets, it would not be suitable for running a laundry operation which requires many washers to be filled simultaneously. The options could include investing opportunities for water storage such as installing a tank or looking to upgrade the premises’ water supply. Likewise the outgoing waste pipe may also need to be upgraded. Both of these potential issues should be looked at and resolved beforehand by professionals in the respective areas.

According to the Sheffield Business Development Manager, Manish Bajaj, it is preferable to bring the laundry system design experts early on during the design of a building (for new buildings) where onsite laundry facility will be built. “Where possible, Sheffield should come in from design phase to conduct a survey on the adaptability of the machine to the suggested environment i.e. in terms of availability of water and electricity, do the layout plan, suggest the number of machines to be installed in the project and in collaboration with our engineers do the installation itself” explained Mr. Manish.

For more about the Laundromat machines, please contact Sheffield Steel Systems Ltd or visit their offices off Mombasa road, near the Syokimau Railway Station.