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<p class="MsoNormal">Dennis:<br>
We switched five years ago to Prudential. Please see my responses below.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Carl Chow<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">HPE Labs<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces@mtl.mit.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Dennis Schweiger<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, June 30, 2025 12:05 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Fab Network <labnetwork@mtl.mit.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [labnetwork] cleanroom garment vendor<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Good afternoon all,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Here at UofMichigan we're looking at changing cleanroom garment providers, and we are wondering if there is anyone out there that has recently switched from "someone else" to Prudential Cleanroom
Services? I have the following questions as a follow up to the one above that will help us to decide which path to chose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">1) Who was your previous garment provider? Previous provider starts with an “A” and has 3 syllables.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2) Why did you switch? Was it dollar cost, service, etc.? Cost and service. Actual laundry service was 400 miles away. Prudential is local and was much cheaper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">3) Approximately how many pieces of laundry do you send/receive every week? Previously, we had 249 pieces, made up of coveralls, hoods, boots and frocks, in sizes of small, medium, large, Xlarge
and XXlarge. We just downsized by 50% after seeing average usage was in the single digit range. Timing was after our initial 5 year contract expired.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">4) How do you handle the first in first out (FIFO) in your storage area and gown room for the clean items? I cleverly put new garments in the bottom of our bins, only to discover our more clever
users were using from the bottom of the bin as they thought I was stocking from the top.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">5) If you're now using Prudential, how was the transition, and did they get your inventory count correct? At first, the relationship was great, they hold business reviews every 6 months and
communication was great. We had minor issues with garments not being scanned for 6 months, so we would have to find them, and were puzzled how they could disappear on our end, being in a locked building, then inside a gownroom with biometric scanner. We
ended up paying for some garments we couldn’t account for. Then, there is the “beyond repair” charges. Again, a minor, once in a while charge, but since this line item did not show up on the quote, it couldn’t be matched in Ariba and caused a lot of manual
work to get the invoice paid. The biggest gripe was that their payment terms did not align with our company’s inflexible payment terms. Their previous general manager agreed to a compromise, but after he left, their accounting folks kept thinking we were
not paying our bills. I’d have to investigate every invoice they complained about, only to find we were paying according to agreed upon terms. This caused hours of aggravation and I had to fight off their credit and collections folks regularly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I made sure this was addressed when we discussed renewing our contract and brought in our Global Procurement folks so everything was on the record. Unfortunately, Prudential would not sign the contract until the last minute. To their
credit, Prudential did not raise their piece price after 5 years. However, we were below the minimum weekly charge, so we are now paying $100/week. But, I already see invoices that are greater than $100, so I have to research what is going on with that.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When we downsized the number of garments we need, we returned the garments, only to get charged an “inspection fee” that was equal to the “beyond repair” charge. These garments were the same ones we use week after week and are certainly
not “beyond repair” but have normal wear and tear. They returned 16 large boots to me but offered to reinspect them, so I sent them back. Then, Prudential lost them. They eventually replaced them and charged me the “beyond repair rate.” So, there is a
different standard of inspection for garments you continue to us versus ones that you return which will be used by another customer.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In summary, their local driver and actual laundry service is great, but it is taking a lot of time on the management side. Not bad enough to go back to “A.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Carl<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dennis<span class="gmaildefault"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Schweiger</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="gmaildefault"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Facilities</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="gmaildefault"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">University of Michigan/LNF</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">734.647.2055 Ofc<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">"People can be divided into 3 groups - those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened." Within which group do you belong?<o:p></o:p></p>
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