One of the top challenges in the daily chores of any Dry Cleaning and Laundry business is tracking the garments. Right from the moment the customer drops it onto the counter or the clothes are picked up from the customer’s location, each garment passes through various hands and processes, till it is finally delivered back to the customer. Lack of proper technology and predominant manual processes makes it one of the most vulnerable aspects of the whole business. While the processing fee of the garment (which the dry cleaner is going to charge the customer) may range anything between $1- $10, if it is lost or damaged the compensation paid is much higher. The rising prices of garments make the situation even worse. Thus, it becomes very important to prevent Garment Loss in a Dry Cleaning Business.
Quick Dry Cleaning Software solves this problem by offering a solution that acts as a garment tracking system for dry cleaners. It adopts a systematic approach through which a garment is identified as soon as it enters the booked or collected or enters in the workshop and then tracked whenever its status changes leaving accountability with different employees who pick up the garment for processing or transportation. The tracking continues till the garment is finally delivered back to the client after the processing. The system at any stage gives the current status of the cloth and the name of the current owner of the well-being of the customer’s possession.
An illustration of how this is achieved:
Step 1: As soon as the customer drops the garment at the counter or the laundry store’s delivery person collects it from the customer’s home, the garment reaches the store.Then immediately, an Order Tag is created by the system, assigning a unique number to the individual garment. This tag is then attached to the garment. The tag contains all relevant information by which it can be identified such as- the garment belongs to which customer and order, the order number, the QR Code, Customer Name,the scheduled delivery date and time, customer remarks and detail of clothes given by the customer. It also includes special instructions like Button Less, Colour Bleeded if any for the staff to be taken care of while actually processing the garment.
Illustration 1: Order Tag detailing unique id for garment, its description, delivery date, special instructions for processing.
Current Status of the garment in the system: Unprocessed, At Collection Center.
Current Owner: Store Manager
Step 2: Before the garments are moved to the workshop/processing unit, their status needs to be updated in the system. All the garments in the current lot are then selected and moved to the workshop by scanning each and every garment using the Code Scanner.
Illustration 2: Send to Workshop: The Garments are marked in the system as ‘Sent to workshop’.
Current Status of the garment in the system: Ready to transit
Current Owner: Store Manager and Transport Executive
Step 3: A comprehensive list (Workshop Note i.e. Workshop Challan) is generated consisting of all the garments that are being shipped in the current lot, along with the instructions to be followed while processing. Delivery date, time and remarks are marked clearly in the workshop note.
Illustration 3: Workshop Note: detailing all garments that are moved from collection center to processing unit, its description, delivery date and time, special instructions for processing.
Current Status of the garment in the system: In Transit – To Processing.
Current Owner: Driver/Transport Executive
Step 4: Garments are received by the workshop/processing unit manager, verified for the count, condition and accepted by the processing unit. The status is updated in the system.’
Illustration 4: Workshop Software detailing the clothes to be check into the workshop
Note: QDC has a specialised garment tracking mechanism which enables workshop managers to track garments at various departments in the workshop like Sorting, Washing and Drying, Steam Ironing, Packaging and Dispatch.
Current Status of the garment in the system: In Processing.
Current Owner: Workshop/processing unit manager.
Step 5: After the garments are processed and verified, they are moved back from the workshop to the collection center. The status is updated in the system using the Code Scanner.
Illustration 5: Workshop Sofwtare detailing the clothes to be checked out of the workshop after processing
Current Status of the garment in the system: In Transit – To Collection Center.
Current Owner: Driver/Transport Executive
Step 6: Garments are accepted at the collection center. Status of orders is marked as ‘Received from Workshop’ in the system. Then the clothes are further sent for finishing.
Illustration 6: Receive from Workshop: After the processing of clothes, they are marked as ‘Received from Workshop’ in the system. And further marked as Pending for Finishing by the Store Manager.
Current Status of the garment in the system: At Store
Current Owner: Store Manager
Step 7: The clothes are then sent for finishing and once they are ready to be delivered, an SMS is sent to the customers informing them about their order.
Illustration 7: After the finishing and packing of the order is done, they are marked ‘Ready’ in the system by moving them from ‘Pending for Finishing’ to ‘Ready for Delivery’
Current Status of the garment in the system: Ready to be Delivered.
Current Owner: Store Manager
Step 8: Delivery: Before returning back the garment, its QR Code is scanned to ensure that the garment is being delivered to the right customer. In case, some other garment is picked up which is not of the desired order, the system throws the warning and does not accept the delivery of the order. This ensures that no garment is delivered to the customer who does not own it.
Current Status of the garment in the system: Delivered.
Current Owner: Customer
This 8 step system ensures that the dry cleaner does not lose any garment due to lack of tracking mechanism or deliver clothes to the wrong customer. In a recent survey, it is revealed that dry cleaners have been able to save upto US $800- $ 2000 in a single year with the improved status of tracking.
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