- Workflow-aligned RFID and cloud software transformed manual linen counts into real-time inventory visibility.
- Durable textile tags and trolley-scale UHF reads enable fast batch scanning across mixed fabrics and metal surroundings.
- A shared portal between laundry and hotels reduces uncertainty, speeds communication, and improves housekeeping reliability.
- The system delivered cumulative productivity gains and paid for itself through reduced errors and faster logistics.
Royal Jersey Laundry (RJL) speaks the language of five-star hospitality: high-thread-count sheets, plush towels, crisp napery—and enough stock on hand to satisfy peak occupancy. That quality comes with velocity. From a purpose-built site in East London, RJL runs around the clock for London’s top hotels.
What they needed wasn’t more hands counting pieces at ironers. They needed RFID laundry tags and software that would turn linen flows into linen inventory management data everyone could act on—laundry and hotel, in real time.
They had tried RFID a decade ago. It didn’t stick. The breakthrough came when HID mapped technology to RJL’s actual workflows instead of the other way around: discreet textile RFID tags that survive hundreds of washes; fast, UHF RFID laundry reads at station and trolley scale; and a cloud platform that turns raw IDs into delivery notes, invoices, and live availability for housekeeping.
Where the change shows up
On the floor, the most visible shift is what people no longer do. Operators don’t tally stacks at the ironer; they scan, assign to a hotel with a tap, load the trolley, and move on. Whole trolleys pass through a cabinet reader in seconds, updating the system for both sides.
The “where is it?” question—on a bed, on a shelf, in transit, at the laundry—stops being a guessing game. The conversation between RJL and hotel housekeeping becomes calmer, faster, and more precise.
RJL also treats itself like two synchronized businesses: a high-throughput laundry and a city-wide logistics operation. The RFID backbone lets the logistics half keep pace with the wash floor, cutting the chances that one trolley in a tight schedule goes missing at drop-off.
Next in line is closing the loop at the hotel door: scanning at delivery to eliminate paperwork and prevent last-mile errors. It’s a laundry management system built from practical steps, not slogans.
The benefits are cumulative. Since the 2019 installation, the system has paid for itself through productivity and reliability gains. When a luxury property invests heavily in its linen pool, being able to show—at any moment—what’s clean, in process, and available for tonight is not a nice-to-have. It’s how a laundry becomes a visible partner in the guest experience.
Inside the HID solution
The HID stack respects textiles first. LinTRAK™ tags—sew-in or heat-sealable—hide inside hems where guests never notice them, yet they remain readable through pressing, folding, moisture, and dense stacks.
At stations, operators scan to log output by customer. At dispatch, a trolley-scale cabinet reads full loads reliably despite mixed fabrics and metal surrounds. Above it all, Acuity™ (HID’s cloud layer) transforms reads into delivery notes, billing, KPIs, and a self-service portal the hotels actually use. For RJL’s five-star clientele, that shared view is the difference between suspicion and trust.
This is industrial laundry RFID built for the wash, not for the lab. It favors consistent read performance, simple operator actions, and clean integration into finance and operations. About forty percent of RJL’s hotels already run fully on the RFID workflow; the rest are recorded in the same portal so everyone shares one source of truth. That inclusivity matters during change management—no team is left outside the system.
What’s next from HID: performance headroom for real laundries
Good systems leave room to grow. HID is extending that headroom with the LinTRAK™ E Series of UHF tags—launching in early October—combining superior read performance, energy efficiency, and global RF stability in a compact, rugged design proven across hundreds of wash cycles, with safety and sustainability certifications for linens, uniforms, and specialty textiles.
Powered by the Impinj M850 chip, the E Series fits the garments laundries actually touch every day.
For mobile workflows, a new datasheet highlights the Janam XR2 handheld reader for textile services—bringing modern ergonomics and RF performance to tasks that used to depend on older devices.
The practical impact of these updates is straightforward: reads get more forgiving in the messy reality of mixed textiles, moisture, and metal; and the tag roadmap stabilizes so operators can standardize SKUs without fear of obsolescence.
In short, hotel linen tracking gets faster and more dependable on busy days, which are the only days that matter.
Why it fits luxury hospitality
Five-star hotels operate on certainty. They own their linens, maintain higher par levels, and refuse ambiguity between laundry and housekeeping. Paper processes made that certainty expensive. HID’s combination—UHF RFID laundry tags that survive the wash, fast batch scanning, and an Acuity portal shared by both sides—makes certainty routine.
When the city fills up and every room is sold, RJL and its clients can make decisions based on live data rather than phone calls and best guesses.
This isn’t technology for its own sake. It’s a service upgrade powered by data: fewer emergencies, fewer blind spots, smoother billing, and happier housekeeping teams. And when a misplaced set of pillowcases—or a child’s toy tucked into the sheets—needs finding, the system narrows the search to minutes instead of hours. That’s guest experience, translated into operations.
Let’s make your textiles tell the truth — talk to us
If you run a laundry, hotel group, or textile service and want the clarity RJL achieved, now is the moment. Tell us about your operation; we’ll map your inventory and pain points to a pilot that pays for itself in saved time and fewer errors.
One conversation. One trolley scan. Immediate signal.
Bring RFID laundry tags into your workflow and turn linen into live data—from the wash floor to finance, from trial to rollout. You can learn more about HID’s RFID Laundry Management System at https://www.hidglobal.com/solutions/rfid-laundry-management-system
