[The Economics of Heatwaves⑪] 1000 Households' Laundry Surging Due to Heatwave, Washed at Smart Factory in One Go

Inside the Factory Producing the 'Most Fluffy Products' Amid the Heatwave

Automatic equipment transporting clothes washed at Lundrigo Seongsu Factory.

In Seongdong-gu, Seoul, there is a factory bustling from early dawn. It is the Seongsu Smart Factory of the mobile laundry service ‘Laundrigo,’ which has seen a surge in laundry volume recently due to continuous monsoon rains and heatwaves. Just as the old buildings in Seongsu-dong have been transformed into ‘hip’ spaces, this place is far from the traditional image one might associate with a factory. Sweat-soaked laundry passes through an automated process spanning about 3,000 square meters from the basement first floor to the fourth floor above ground, emerging clean, neatly folded, and packaged. Especially during this scorching heatwave, the demand for water washing has surged, making this period as busy as the transitional seasons when people change their clothes and bedding. We followed the process that produces the driest products of any factory during the muggy midsummer.

According to Uisikju Company, which operates Laundrigo, the Seongsu Smart Factory processes laundry from about 1,000 households daily. Laundrigo receives 3,500 to 4,000 laundry orders every day, and along with this factory, which opened in July last year, the workload is shared among three smart factories located in Deokchon-dong, Gangseo-gu, and Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do. CEO Jo Seong-woo of Uisikju Company said, "As we expand the smart factory, orders are increasing along with positive customer feedback. We are doing our best not only in laundry quality but also in customer response and service satisfaction."

Currently, with the overlapping heatwave and monsoon season, the laundry factory is operating at one of its busiest times. The number of daily household laundry orders handled by Laundrigo has increased by about 20%. In the fourth week of June, when the heatwave began and the monsoon season started, the volume of laundry compared to the first week of May increased by 27% for dress shirts, 23% for dry-cleaned pants, 20% for bedding, and 17% for sneakers.

In fact, laundry collected from various parts of Seoul was being received nonstop from early dawn until morning. Once received, the laundry is first sorted by washing type. Everyday laundry for washing machines is separated from dress shirts that require dry cleaning, and underwear, which must be washed individually to avoid mixing with other customers’ items, is also sorted separately. The sorted laundry slides down a chute to the basement, where it is registered and inspected. Previously, this process required manual work, but since this month, a ‘Style Scanner’ that automatically checks the condition of clothes has been introduced, making the work easier.

Clothes washed at Laundrigo Seongsu Factory are being sorted by customer.

The real laundry process now begins. Clothes are sorted by color and washed in large washing machines, while garments requiring individual cleaning are processed in a separate area. The most numerous items, dress shirts, are moved to the third floor, and shoes go to the fourth floor. The laundry moves along rails, gradually shedding accumulated dirt. Laundrigo recently launched a ‘Premium Laundry Service’ for luxury clothing such as designer brands. To support this, a dedicated team specializing in inspection, stain removal, and ironing was formed. The premium laundry process operates with individual precision washing and natural drying methods, with one expert assigned to each item to oversee the entire washing process.

After washing, the drying process begins. Dress shirts have their sleeves, collars, and body parts ironed separately by machines. Clothes that are dried by hot air and those requiring natural drying are sorted and processed accordingly. Once washing and drying are complete, the laundry is automatically packaged by size. As clothes move automatically, scanners recognize and collect laundry by household for delivery. The automatic shipping system called ‘Kicker’ sorts and dispatches the laundry grouped by customer. The ‘Kicker’ at this Seongsu factory can ship laundry for about 400 households simultaneously. To process laundry for 1,000 households daily, the process must be repeated two to three times each day. After this process, the laundry is brought back down to the first floor to await shipment. Now, ‘laundry is done,’ and Laundrigo boasts that washing and delivery are completed within a day.

The Seongsu Smart Factory was built using Laundrigo’s proprietary technology. To achieve this, Uisikju Company acquired an American laundry company last year. The company, A-Plus Machinery, is a laundry factory specialist based in New York City, established in 1998. With this acquisition, they can now independently handle everything from smart factory design and equipment procurement to distribution and construction. CEO Jo emphasized, "The laundry industry is easier to standardize globally because customer needs are similar compared to other fields. We will continue to secure core technologies and do our best to innovate the essentials of living?clothing, food, and shelter?through laundry."