Jensen-Group
TypePublic
Industryheavy-duty laundries
Founded1937 in Bornholm, Denmark
FounderJørn Munch Jensen (1932-2012)
RevenueIncrease €341.6 million (2022)
Number of employees
1'555 (2022)
Websitewww.jensen-group.com

Jensen-Group is an international company that manufactures machines for the heavy-duty laundry industry, based in Belgium, but originating in Denmark, on the island Bornholm. Its headquarters are at Neerhonderd 33, Wetteren, Ghent (Dutch language Gent), East Flanders, Belgium.

History

Finishing lines for flatwork and garments
The washroom section at an industrial laundry

Early developments

In 1937 on the island of Bornholm in Baltic Sea, Ejnar Jensen starts the company during a period of economic recession, as a repair shop for dairy equipment. In 1954 Ejnar Jensen’s son Jørn Munch Jensen (1932-2012) starts working in the company.[1]


From the Baltic Sea to the World

Jørn Munch Jensen is dreaming of living an international life abroad, and this encourages him to start his own business in the laundry industry. In 1960 the first folding machine developed by JENSEN is finished and installed at the Bornhold Laundry: The Combifolder changed the focus of the company, which resulted in the name JENSEN being synonymous with industrial laundries around the world. JENSEN sells 80 Combifolders abroad by 1961. In the mid sixties, the product range expands to encompass other areas, like feeders and ironers.[2]


Automation

JENSEN introduces in 1970 the Jenstack: the first stacker ever, JENSEN again adds to the wave of laundry automation. In the late sixties and early seventies, more industrial laundries emerge, and they need large heavy-duty machines to make their laundry process more efficient, which provides a great market opportunity for JENSEN to expand their business.[3]


Growth through acquistion

The 1990’s were a decade of growth: JENSEN acquires AB Metric Interconveyor (garment handling systems), Futurail (monorail systems) and Senkingwerk. Senking introduces JENSEN to a new complement product area. It breaks with an age-old strategy that JENSEN would never get wet and only offer finishing technology. Jørn Munch Jensen’s words “We will never get wet” are still quoted today within the company – with a twinkle in the eye.[4]


Leadership through Innovation

The concept of corner less feeding represents a major technological breakthrough in 1994. This method doubled the number of items which could be processed per operator as compared with traditional clamp feeding. The difference being one feeds the hem side of linen into the feeding bill of the machines without the time-consuming process of finding two corners.[5]


The new Millennium, the movement of CleanTech

The new Millennium marks a paradigm shift in the way society is expecting from technological solutions. The heavy-duty laundry industry is increasingly taking a responsible position regarding environmental protection and is committed to pursuing long term energy strategies: a combination of saving money and saving our planet and its precious resources. JENSEN is committed to developing and manufacturing high-performing laundry equipment that minimizes the energy and water consumption, and these undertakings are grouped in the JENSEN CleanTech concept, launced in 2008.[6]


Making the one-stop-shop approach complete

In 2015, Jensen expands its current product portfolio with JENSEN stand-alone washer extractor (JWE) and tumbler dryers (JTD) for the washroom section of heavy-duty laundries. In 2016, the JENSEN-GROUP introduced JENSEN Barrier Washers (JBW).[7]


Investment in laundry robotics and Al

On January 1, 2018, the JENSEN-GROUP acquires participants of 30% in Inwatec ApS, a Danish company that manufactures high-end heavy-duty laundry products. This investment is laundry robotics and Al (Artificial Intelligence) confirms the Group’s vision to automate all process in laundry. On March 26, 2021, the JENSEN-GROUP has increased its shareholding in Inwatec to 70%.

Robots sorting soiled linen in laundries

Inwatec spans the bridge between JENSEN’s current offering in laundry solutions and Industry 4.0.

The Inwatec’s core competencies includes automatic detection of foreign objects, identification of garments using high-performance cameras and fully automatic sorting of soiled garments with intelligent robots. The product portfolio is rounded off with robotics buffering of stacked cleaned articles and mat rollers with sorting extensions.[8]


Present day

Creation of a heavy-duty laundry Joint-Venture in Japan

In March 2023, the JENSEN-GROUP and MIURA have agreed to a Joint-Venture whereby the JENSEN-GROUP acquired 49% of the shares of Inax Corporation (“Inax”), a Japanese wholly owned subsidiary of MIURA. The transaction made the JENSEN-GROUP a key partner for Inax, one of the main manufacturing and distribution companies for heavy-duty laundry equipment in Japan.[9]

References

  1. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  2. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  3. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  4. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  5. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  6. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  7. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  8. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
  9. ↑ JENSEN – from the Baltic Sea to the World ISBN 978-87-993930-1-5
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