DUBOIS – Just after 8 a.m. the last Friday in February, a Southern Express Airways plane landed at DuBois Regional Airport with a few special guests.
Making the trip to DuBois were Yuki Niwa and Junji Matsuda from the Duskin Company, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, visiting representatives at Paris Companies in DuBois.
Yoshihiko Oka of Tosen Company Ltd. of Tokyo, an industry colleague, also accompanied Niwa and Matsuda, who also served as interpreter.
Like Paris in the United States, the Duskin Company provides industrial laundering services and textile-based solutions throughout Japan.
The Japanese businessmen came to DuBois to meet with Paris to learn more about the technology implementation used in the company’s Smart Garment Program using a radio-frequency identification (RFID) laundry tracking system.
“We were happy to welcome these three Japanese visitors coming to explore the RFID technology at Paris Companies and utilizing Southern Express Airways from Pittsburgh to fly here,” said Bob Shaffer, manager of the DuBois Regional Airport.
“[Paris Companies] is one of the few places in the world that uses this technology and with flights multiple times a day from Pittsburgh and Baltimore, it really gives access to the world’s aviation system right here in the backyard of DuBois.”
“We enjoyed hosting our guests and are happy to cooperate in advancing the state of our industry internationally,” said Jason McCoy, Paris Companies’ chief financial officer. “It speaks well of Paris’ reputation, not just regionally, but nationally and internationally.”
In 2014, Paris introduced an RFID laundry tracking system at its Uniform Services plant in DuBois. Garments and other textile products were tagged with a radio transmitter “chip.”
Each chip stores specific garment and customer information and a wash history. A system of scanners automatically tracks “chipped” items through the plant, providing improved operational efficiencies and foolproof garment accountability.
At DuBois Regional Airport, flights on Southern Express Airways from DuBois to Pittsburgh or Baltimore range from $30-$59 depending on how far in advance the tickets are booked.
For the full schedule of early-morning and late-afternoon flights to both airports with advanced pricing information, visit www.duboisairport.com or www.iflysouthern.com.
