Strategic agreement for demanding laundry market

Electrolux will supply the Berendsen laundries with industrial laundry equipment and technical services. This includes a range of products under the brand names Electrolux-Wascator, Electrolux-Washex and
Electrolux-Senking.
Co-operation has already started with the supply of a series of washer-extractors, 40 kilogram capacity, as well as a number of washer-extractors with a capacity of 125 kilograms and up. In addition, Sophus Berendsen has already placed orders for wash tunnels, presses, and dryers for installation in Sweden and Holland, from Electrolux's Senking factory in Germany.
Electrolux has been a supplier for the Sophus Berendsen Group for a long time, but with this agreement, the development of products and technology will be more tailored to the needs of the their laundries. This commitment also affects the development of technical organisation and services.
"This agreement makes us develop even faster and further for the future," says Mr. Håkan Johansson, CEO of Electrolux Laundry Systems. "Sophus Berendsen is a very demanding customer, and by meeting the high standards and requirements of our customers we are determined to stay on top in the business," says Johansson.
"Because we have more than 60 plants, we have to limit the number of our suppliers in order to standardise production, and the agreement is in line with this goal", says Mr. Gunnar Andréen, Executive Vice President and COO of Sophus Berendsen's Textile Service Sector. "We appreciate that they are listening to our demands in order to secure high quality, high productivity and improved working environment" says Andréen.

The Sophus Berendsen laundries are known for their tough requirements and up-to-date ideas on laundry systems. Among other things, the company focuses on low noise levels. As a result of an initiative from the Danish company's Swedish subsidiary, Electrolux is now supplying the laundry group with a new type of washer-extractor, the FLE 400 FC, that has a maximum noise level of 70 dB.
A completely new laundry will be built in Aarhus, Denmark, using a further development of the concepts that the two companies developed together and for the first time used in 1993 when Sophus Berendsen opened a state-of-the-art laundry in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Electrolux Laundry Systems is the world's largest producer of industrial laundry systems, and is a part of the Swedish-based, global, appliance manufacturer Electrolux. The Group is the world's largest manufacturer of household appliances, and employs more than 100,000 people in over 60 countries. In 1996 its sales were SEK 110,000 million (approx. USD 16,000 million).

Caption:
Electrolux Laundry Systems and the Textile Service Divison of Denmark's Sophus Berendsen group have signed a long-term pan-European agreement on supplies of industrial laundry equipment.
(Left:): Mr. Gunnar Andréen, Executive Vice President and COO of Sophus Berendsen's Textile Service Sector
(Right:) Håkan Johansson, CEO of Electrolux Laundry Systems

For further information, please contact:
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