FALL RIVER, Mass. — Whirlpool Corp. called Thursday a day of celebration. At its manufacturing facility here, invited guests toured the company’s revamped commercial laundry equipment production facility, including a new assembly line solely dedicated to the Maytag® Commercial Laundry brand’s new rigid- and soft-mount multi-load washers.
Whirlpool says the 300,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility represents the completion of a multi-year, multimillion-dollar project intended to support strong customer demand for the commercial laundry equipment it builds.
“The Fall River facility allows us to expand our product capabilities and provide our customers in the vended and on-premises laundry markets with options for greater flexibility and control,” says Trey Northrup, general manager of Commercial Laundry for Whirlpool Corp. “With this capacity, we are able to be more nimble in our product offerings, delivering customized products and compelling solutions to our global customers.”
Select Maytag® Commercial Laundry distributor customers, several government and community officials, Whirlpool Corp. Commercial Laundry leadership, and members of the trade media took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Fall River plant to see how the company is bringing its new platform and innovation to market.
Equipped with safety glasses and other personal protective gear, visitors followed Nick Koukourakis, senior category manager for Whirlpool Corp. Global Commercial Laundry, as he led the group from station to station throughout the facility. The factory was humming but dignitaries used headsets to hear Koukourakis and other key personnel describe various areas within the plant, including the new washer assembly line—which can assemble different sizes and coin or non-coin models simultaneously—and specialized product testing labs.
Whirlpool officials expect factory volume to double next year through the addition of the new washer products.
“The No. 1 thing for us in this business was product quality and taking a leap forward in that, as well as innovation and technology,” Northrup says.
Designed to handle heavy loads of laundry turn after turn, the Maytag® Multi-Load Washer is available in 20- to 65-pound sizes and represents the brand’s newest solution for vended and on-premises laundries. The configure-to-order washer allows owners and operators to customize construction options to meet the needs of their business.
A variable frequency drive system, intelligent revenue-generating controls, customizable cycle settings, Wi-Fi connectivity and a large display screen are some of the product’s features.
“In a vended laundry environment, good customer experience is tied directly to how easy a machine is to work. Therefore, it makes sense to treat each customer as a first-time user, helping them navigate through different cycle options quickly and without confusion,” Koukourakis says. “During development, the Maytag Multi-Load Washer was tested to ensure positive user experiences. The machine’s controls with the full-color, 4.5-inch LCD screen and various help screens aid in the overall experience.”
Hercules Corp., a distributor that has served the commercial laundry industry for almost 60 years, was represented during the behind-the-scenes tour. Hercules has been testing the new Multi-Load Washer in several customer locations and is among the first distributors to place orders for the new machine.
“For us, the Maytag brand has long since represented reliability and dependability,” says Andrew May, CEO and president of Hercules Corp. “That tradition continues with the new Maytag® Multi-Load Washer, which showcases the brand’s leadership in engineering, design and manufacturing. We are looking forward to how this new solution will help us meet the increasing demands of the industry.”
The Maytag® Multi-Load Washer is available as a 30-pound rigid-mount beginning in October, while remaining sizes and configurations will be introduced over the next nine months, Whirlpool says.
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