Dulwich College solves warewash problems with Winterhalter MTR rack machine

“My staff chose it,” says Paul Dunn, Head of Catering and Events at Dulwich College, the legendary south London public school. He’s talking of the new Winterhalter MTR multi-tank rack dishwasher, which the school installed in the summer of 2008.

The caterers of Dulwich College see a lot of work during term time, producing up to 1,600 meals a day, including breakfast and supper for 150 boarders and residential staff, and an impressive 1,300 for lunch.

The College is also at the heart of a busy residential summer school system for overseas students keen to learn English, as well as hosting conferences, functions, weddings and corporate occasions that generate valuable income, consequently the kitchens have heavy service up to 300 days a year.

“There’s a lot of pressure during term-time, but if anything holidays are now just as busy,” says Paul Dunn.

Dulwich College last refurbished its kitchens in 2005. They chose to keep their existing rack dishwasher rather than put a new one in, and in hindsight Paul Dunn says this later gave problems. Surrounded by impressive state-of-the-art equipment in the rest of the kitchen, it was soon evident how much the ‘legacy’ dishwasher was costing in maintenance, and particularly in running costs.

“The old machine always seemed to be breaking down and we were spending a fortune on running repairs and maintenance. Plus, it was really hard to clean,” he adds. “We needed a better, more reliable solution for our warewashing.”

In selecting the new warewasher, Paul took an approach that even today is unusual for catering managers – he consulted the people who would be expected to use it!

“I talked to the staff and asked them what they would want in a new machine. Whether a rack or flight-type, how it would be used differently in term time and the holidays, and so forth. I had an idea of what machine I thought we needed, but I wanted it to work for our staff – I didn’t want our staff to work for it.”

While the energy saving options, running costs, reliability and wash quality were important to Paul Dunn’s hard-headed decision, the staff raised two other questions: How easy is it to operate? And, how easy to keep clean?

“My staff’s opinions were really helpful and made me rethink my options,” he says. “Along with my Executive Head Chef and my Kitchen Assistant Supervisor I also visited sites using both machines we were seriously considering, so that we could see them working. “You could say that, together, all our staff chose the machine!”

The machine they chose was the Winterhalter MTR, the latest generation rack dishwasher that is easy to operate, gives wash results of stunning quality and speed, and with greater reliability and much lower energy, water consumption and operating costs than traditional warewashers.

Above all, the wash quality stands out. Tableware emerges from the machine hygienic, perfectly washed and almost completely dry. The fact that it is nearly dry means that fewer staff are needed to unload the machine, freeing someone for another role, such as filling the machine.

One difference from many conventional catering operations is the wide range of tableware the College uses. “We have standard, tough crockery for everyday catering in school term time and for the summer school,” says Paul. “But there’s another layer of tableware altogether, for our finer functions, such as corporate banquets and wedding receptions. This has the College crest on it, and is much more delicate and expensive.   The Winterhalter machine copes with this as well, without needing to switch between various programs or using separate detergents.”

This flexibility extends to glassware. “With the previous system, we needed to wash glasses separately. While we still often wash them separately, the quality of the wash on the new machine means we can run them through the Winterhalter MTR when required, with perfect results.”

Resource saving is a big advance with the MTR. “I like the way it only uses the chambers it needs. So if you put a single rack through, for example, it senses which chambers are empty and automatically switches off that section of the machine,” he says. “That’s a definite saving in running costs.”

Paul Dunn also believes that that support from the manufacturer is key to a successful installation – from specifying and customizing the chosen system, through installation, commissioning and staff training to ongoing maintenance. “I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to get expert advice, and in my experience that’s still rare,” he says.

Winterhalter’s machine performs superbly, but to cap it all from my point of view, Winterhalter’s staff on the ground helped to make the whole experience hassle-free.”

Winterhalter provides a total solution for warewashing, from pre-sales advice to after-sales service, training and maintenance. Alongside its market-leading dish and glasswashers, the company’s range includes utensil washers, advanced water treatment machines, cleaning chemicals and detergents. For further details, call Winterhalter on 01908 359000, see www.winterhalter.com/uk-en/ , or email info@winterhalter.co.uk.