Software for dry cleaning and laundry services.

ABSTRACT

– A universal solution for the automation of various enterprises formats – from independent pick-up section, mini-workshop and till distributed chain of dry-cleaner’s with a single factory and plus on-site service for the customers. The decision is aimed at creating a unified information environment for uniting main activities of the company, including fast and efficient customer service, effective marketing, service sale, goods sale, as well as the storage and analysis of the received information. Using modern technology allows you to transfer company management to a new effective level and to ensure effective monitoring of staff performance and its motivation.

TYPICAL SOLUTIONS

INDEPENDENT PICK-UP SECTION

The main objective is to improve speed and quality for customer service.
Automated workstation (AWS) for an inspector:

• Reception and damage analysis of clothes with automatic printing receipts;
• Marking every cloth with a nylon tag that has a unique bar code;
• Weighing clothes on electronic scales with automatic weight clamping;
• Pay acceptance with a fiscal receipt in return;
• Credit card payment acceptance;
• Sale of related products and services
• Effective search of completed orders

MINI-WORKSHOP

A universal solution for a small enterprise.  This system configuration consists of two AWS:

•  «Inspector»  (see as above)
•  «Picker»

It allows you to automate the final part of a manufacturing process – assembly of orders. The main advantage is the ability to control the timing of execution and processing of products, and the possibility to send SMS- notifications to customers about order readiness.
AWS of a picker allows also to extend significantly the functionality of pick-up section and additionally to carry out the following operations:

• Automated clothes identification, reading barcode tags;
• Automatic change of order readiness status;
• Review the current status of each order;
• Marking of a completed order with a self-adhesive label that bears a unique barcode;

FACTORY

It has a work control of personnel and a workshop.
The system has all the functionality of “mini-workshop” configuration but it differs by its extended functional possibilities of a production control, as well as by the possibility of work organization for a chain of “remote” pick-up stations:
The factory automation system includes the following software modules:

• Module “Dry-cleaner’s”  “Picker» (basing on a number of job places);
• Module “Dry-cleaner’s” Assembling / Process planner ” ( basing on a number of job places);
• Module “Dry-cleaner’s”  “Workshop “. This module allows to automate the processes in the production area with the help of specific hardware controllers, and it controls:
  • Products displacement along the technological chain;
  • Types of completed operations
  • Timing for each operation execution
  • Personnel authorization and recording of its working time.
• Modules “Dry-cleaner’s” Manager “+” Dry – cleaning “Reports”.
• Module “Dry-cleaner’s” Multi-cash desk “(Virtual pick-up section) – It allows to organize the work of the remote pick-up sections where it is impossible to establish full-value inspector terminals.
• Dry-cleaner’s: “Document workflow” allows to keep separate clothes records, generate invoices for relocation of clothes (material values) from pick-up sections to the factory and back, as well as to track the current location of clothes in the production cycle.

FACTORY WITH A CHAIN OF PICK-UP UNITS

Factory operation and total control!
This configuration is the most complicated and allows to automate the whole business- the process of Dry Cleaning chain, including the work of the remote pick-up units, factory and the head office. In such case the indispensable condition is the connection of the above mentioned objects through the “dedicated” secure communication channels into unified information network.
The dedicated server provides work to the System Data Synchronization (SSD) between the different parts of the system, and allows to exchange information automatically in operating procedure between objects in a unified information network of a company.

ENHANCEMENT

It’s possible to connect additional features to all of the above mentioned system configurations:

• Dry-cleaning: “Management System of margins / discounts»
• Dry-cleaning: “The accounting system of personal VIP cards”
• Dry-cleaning: “Work with clothes photos”
• Dry-cleaning: “Credit Card Authorization”
• Dry-cleaning: “OLAP reports.”

THE BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTATION

EFFECTIVE PLANNING OF COMPANY WORK

• Unified electronic database maintenance
• Operational reports in «Online» regime
• Financial and statistical reports for any period

Flexibility

• Optimize system solutions due to the wide selection of electronic equipment.
• Ability to configure the system with the help of the existing technology of labeling clothes (barcodes, markers, RFID).
• Considerable system customization to create different configurations basing on customer’s requirements.

Reliability

• The system provides high performance and reliability of the system.
• Microsoft SQL Server are used as database systems, these platforms are one of the most advanced, reliable and easy to maintain.

Safety

• Assignment of access privileges of personnel by authorization with the help of electronic identifiers.
• Maintenance of detailed event loggings in the system.

Quality assurance and experience

• 10 years in the market of automated dry cleaners.