Part II
This column will explain, in detail, a popular method for finishing suit coats in order to achieve good quality acceptable to all.
Last month, in Part I, we discussed and described finishing the collar using the mushroom press and the utility press. The Hoffman Coat-A-Matic and Korrect Kollar were noted as the best machines for shrinking and creasing the collar in addition to finishing the shoulders.
Also described were operation of the steam-air form finisher, removing the coat from the steam air form finisher and placing it onto the buck of the utility press.
3-Lays Plus Pocket Flaps Method
Left front lay (steps)
1. The coat is positioned so the left hand pocket is just off the back-pressure point of the buck, the sleeve head is just off the pressure point of the buck and the gorge seam (the seam between the collar and lapel) is just on the pressure point of the buck. The left front is now running diagonally from the back of the buck toward the front of the buck.
2. If necessary, steam slowly with buck steam (until you just see it) to smooth the fabric while holding your hands just off the pressure point of the front edge of the buck.
3. Apply vacuum to hold the coat to the buck, release your hands from the buck, bring the head down (use correct pressure as discussed in last month's column), release the vacuum and apply head steam for two seconds.
4. Release the head, smooth the fabric (if necessary) while applying vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry.
5. Flip over the lapel (face up). Use the hand iron to replace, or sharpen, the 1 1Ž2 inches to 2 inches crease below the gorge seam.
6. Move to the next lay.
Left pocket flap (steps)
7. Grasp the bottom of the left front with your left hand thumb and forefinger and the top of the coat with your right hand. Lift and move away so the left pocket is resting in the middle of the buck about four inches from the right (narrow) end of the buck.
8. Apply vacuum to hold the pocket against the buck.
9. Bring down the head to high pressure, release the vacuum and apply head steam for two seconds.
10. Release the head and apply vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry.
11. Lift the pocket flap and hand iron out the pocket flap impression.
Note: As an alternate method for removing the impression move the pocket to your right so the flap hangs over the right end of the buck, apply vacuum to hold the pocket (not the flap) against the buck, bring the head down to high pressure, release the vacuum and apply head steam for three seconds, release the head and apply vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry. Use the hand iron to remove any trace on the flap impression, if necessary.
12. Move to the next lay.
Rear vent and back lay (steps)
13. Grasp both parts of the bottom of the vent with your left hand thumb and forefinger and the top of the coat with the right hand. Lift and move away and position so the vent rests in the middle of the buck. The outside part of the vent is placed over the inside part, resting straight on the buck.
14. Apply vacuum to hold the vent straight and against the buck.
15. Bring down the head to contact pressure (just touching the buck lightly). Release the vacuum and apply head steam fro two seconds.
16. Release the head. Smooth out the vent (if necessary) while applying vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry.
17. Move to the next lay.
Right pocket and flap (steps)
18. Grasp the finished vent with your left hand thumb and forefinger and the top of the coat with the right hand. Lift and move away so the right pocket is resting in the middle of the buck about four inches from the right (narrow) end of the buck.
19. Apply vacuum to hold the pocket against the buck.
20. Bring down the head to high pressure, release the vacuum and apply head steam for two seconds.
21. Release the head and apply vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry.
22. Lift the pocket flap and hand iron out the pocket flap impression. Note: Follow the same alternative method as described in (11). Also, if the pocket has no flap but a finished slit, make sure that the slit is squared, not dipped.
23. Move to the next lay.
Right front lay (steps)
24. Grasp the bottom of the right front with the left hand thumb and forefinger. Grasp the coat at the top with the right hand. Lift and move the coat away toward the back edge of the buck.
25. The coat is positioned so the right hand pocket is just off the back pressure point of the buck, the sleeve head is just off the pressure point of the buck and the gorge seam is just on the pressure point of the buck The right front is now running diagonally from the front of the buck toward the back of the buck.
26. If necessary, steam slowly (until you see it) with buck steam to smooth the fabric while holding your hands on the coat just off the pressure point of the back edge of the buck.
27. Apply vacuum to hold the coat to the buck, release your hands from the buck, bring the bead down (use correct pressure), release the vacuum and apply head steam for two seconds.
28. Release the head, smooth the fabric (if necessary). While applying vacuum, grasp the front buttons with your thumbs and forefingers (both hands) and lift them from the fabric while running your forefingers around the base of the buttons to remove any button impressions.
29. Flip over the lapel (face up). Use the hand iron to replace, or sharpen the 11Ž2 inches to 2 inches crease below the gorge seam.
30. Move to the next lay.
Right lapel lay (face up)
31. Place the right lapel (face up) on the front edge of the right side of the buck with the gorge seam and the lower crease, just off the right end pressure point of the buck to avoid unsharpening, or removing, the 1 1Ž2 inches to 2 inches crease running below the gorge seam into the lapel. The lapel must stop at a point one inch to 11Ž2 inches above the top button with a roll over the rounded edge of the buck.
32. Apply vacuum to hold the lapel to the edge of the buck, bring down the head (use only high pressure), release the vacuum and apply head steam for two seconds.
33. Release the head and apply vacuum until the fabric is cool and dry. Note: If the fabric is hard cotton or linen, then apply vacuum before releasing the head and continue the vacuum after releasing the head until the fabric is cool and dry. The lapels must be firm and crisp.
34. The lapel should then be very lightly hand creased to have it lay down against the front of the coat. Note: My technique is to grasp the inside, top of the collar at the hanger strap with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, sling the lapel over the left, back forearm while grasping the bottom of the coat with the right hand, and then break the lapel by pulling down with the right hand while holding the top with the right thumb and forefinger, and, finally, making a light crease with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. The lapel is still rolled, but it lays down neatly.
35. Go to the next (left) lapel.
Left lapel lay (face up)
36. Follow the same procedure as for the right lapel, but transfer the left lapel to the left side of the buck and use the right hand and back forearm for the lapel break.
Note: While moving the coat for the next lay, always eyeball inspect for any wrinkles or unwanted creases and correct them.
Fully lined coat
Inspect the lining after the coat has been finished as described above. If the lining needs finishing, punch in both arm holes and expose the lining (fully lined).
1. Place the yoke area on the right (small) end of the buck and proceed as follows:
2. Hold the vacuum pedal down while you hand iron the yoke by short pats with no steam applied: If the area is considerably wrinkled, apply a very light, fine mist of water to the area.
3. Place one side of the lined area on the buck, apply a light fine mist of water (if necessary), hold the vacuum pedal down while you hand iron by short pats with no steam applied.
4. Place the full back on the buck and hand iron as described above.
5. Place the other side on the buck and hand iron as described above.
6. Punch out the two arm holes and finish the shoulders and armholes on the shoulder puff iron, do not over steam. Apply generous vacuum if the puff iron is so equipped.
Note: I strongly recommend a puff set equipped with fabric heads and vacuum for the drycleaning finishing department along with a water gun, hand all-steam iron and sleeve ironing board on the right hand, or left hand, utility press.
The up air ironing board (fully equipped) can be used to perform the same lays as on the right hand utility press described in this article. Also, a left hand utility press can be used with all lays performed on the opposite end as with the up-air ironing board.
Next month the series will continue with the procedure for finishing a wetcleaned and/or a very hard finish cotton, or linen suit/sport coat to include shaping the two chest areas. Also, drying the coat after it has been wetcleaned will be discussed since this subject is not new to experienced drycleaners.
Note: My video, "The Caplan Method of Stain Removal," which includes my comprehensive text with handy spotting board reference, is available from Dennis McCrory, Successful Management Group, (800) 646-5736, PIN 4615. Also, my latest video on step-by-step shirt finishing, utilizing the sequence I developed for top quality with no touch-up and top production will soon be available from Dennis McCrory. Both single operator cabinet and two operator double buck cabinet units are demonstrated. Attractive detailing, packaging, padding, steam pressure and timing are also discussed. The video shows how to properly dress each pressing machine and the proper breaking and forming of a collar. Stan Caplan has over 35 years experience in his own drycleaning/laundry business and over 20 years experience teaching and consulting. A former chief instructor at IFI, the SDA school in Denton, TX and the ISFA school in Illinois, he offers consulting services on work flow concepts, lot systems management, call-office efficiency studies, production studies, plant equipment layout, engineering studies and specifications, equipment specifications, TQM, training programs, cost analysis and accounting and general plant management. He can be reached at 7341 Amberly Lane. Suite 310, Delray Beach, FL 33446; phone/fax (561) 496-2548; e-mail: stancap100@aol.comI believe it was Marshall Fields of Chicago who coined the above phrase, "Give the lady what she wants."
His success at his department store proved that if you please the customer and take the trouble to find out what they want and what was important to them, you could succeed beyond your wildest imagination.
What was true then is still true today. All you have to do is find out and be certain of what your customers are looking for.
I seldom endorse or recommend a product or system for fear that it might not be used as recommended and I would be out on a limb and severely criticized.
I still go by my father's sound advice which has stood the test of time: "If you're not sure what you are buying, then at least know who you are buying from."
That of course says it all on the importance and value of reputation.
The other piece of sage advice is simply "investigate before you invest."
Either one of those sayings will always protect you from making a mistake. It's not just money that could be lost, but also time and energy.
Well, I took the trouble to do some investigating. I asked for, wrote to, made phone calls and contacted every winner I knew, asking, "How did you build up your volume?"
Not too surprisingly, I received dozens of replies, all telling me that they to increased their volume via the use of routes.
Pick-up and delivery was the quickest and most profitable method, they told me. Some even elaborated that it cost the least, and was an insurance policy on keeping their volume and production always on the increase. It was one the few choices that was not affected by competition, economics, neighborhood changes or the weather. No venture with so small an investment could offer so many advantages, they said. The world was theirs for the choosing.
I knew the formula too well because some 50 years ago I was involved in our family operation with my dad and with my three older brothers. That's five equal partners, and all expected to make a good living!
It was truly the fun time of my life: six long days a week, but we had Momma's big dinners on a Sunday with Poppa's home-made wine. All of us together shooting pool on the regulation table at the family's homestead. Wives and sisters-in-law chatting and cooking, young children playing and running around. We had it all. EverythingŠ except money.
That's when the choice was compulsory. We had to expand and the choice was routes. So for the next 10 years, I knocked on doors, solicited and built 10 routes in 10 years. Residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, theatrical -- wherever and whatever it took.
Life styles have changed, and the home became empty during the day with two-income families. But now it has come back. Mrs. Housewife and mother has become affluent, but the household is missing something, a quality of life, with little time to do anything, and to take care of the family's chores.
Now the service industries are starting to boom again. Lawns are being maintained with contracts. Restaurants deliver just about anything, from pizza to gourmet meals, and sales are booming with TV commercials promoting delivery and service to the home.
Drycleaning routes are now in demand, offering deliveries in the evening or Saturday mornings. The labor problem can be solved with a more than adequate army of part-time professionals, such as teachers, retirees, firemen, policemen and students eager to offer 15 hours per week.
Help the comeback
One way to boost this change and give it a running start would be with a free-standing drop box, a convenient receptacle to accept drycleaning 24 hours a day, seven days a week
About the size of a postal mail box, they can be purchased two at a time with one placed outside the drycleaner's location and another placed in front of the store with an attractive nightlight, adding to the night time security.
A second box is then placed at a trial location -- a busy office building, or lobby, laundry room of a luxury apartment house or perhaps at a reputable coin laundry that does not have the space to dryclean but would like to capture some of that drycleaning volume. This gives the busy two-income family a convenient outlet.
A drop box can be the equivalent of an additional drop store plus it offers an advantage over systems that are permanently installed. This second unit is your guarantee of success. It if fails to deliver the expected volume, you simply move it to a new location!
Most important, the finished drycleaning order can be delivered to the customer's home at no extra charge, together with the nylon bag and personalized luggage tag so it is ready for its next use.
Or it can be held in the store at the special VIP rack awaiting pick-up, delivered when asked for, or pre-arranged for an evening or Saturday morning delivery. No more store full of orders, processed and paid for, insured and protected -- but never picked-up.
Everything is done on charge account using a local bank charge or major credit card, payable on a monthly statement. The cleaner is reimbursed in three to four days.
Now the second half of building the route takes over. In making the delivery, the driver gains entry to a new market -- a new building or a new neighborhood -- and can survey the area. The wealthier the customer and the better the neighborhood, the more opportunity there is to build a route and make money!
When the order is delivered, the driver leaves several attractive "Hi Neighbor" door knob tags and applications on adjoining apartments or homes.
After leaving the second or third door knob tag, the driver stops and invites the prospective customer to "try our service" or asks, "May I stop and call next time?" An Introductory special of $10 credit on first order or introduction of some new service could be made.
The purpose is to never leave a stop empty handed. Set a minimum of six calls each time the vehicle stops.
Give the lady, what she wants!
Ray Colucci, a consultant to the fabric care industry, has three booklets available that cover key topics. The titles include: "Up Front is Where it Counts," which tells how to train people to work at the counter and contains a pre-hiring personality test; "The Route to Success," which tells how to start, hire, train and sell routes; and "Pressed for Perfection," which ends the dilemma of hire and fire in the finishing department and provides a quality control final inspection color coding system. The booklets are available for $20 each or all three for $50. He also has a slide presentation seminar entitled "Management and Motivation" and he is available for speaking engagements. For information, contact Ray Colucci, 410 Warren Ave., Mamaroneck, NY, 10543.A recent article explained a study by scientists on why coffee rings occurred on coffee tables.
The article explains that when the coffee spreads out, the driest portion of the coffee is on the outside of the ring. As the outside of the ring dries quickly it tends to pick up more of the residue from the middle of the coffee, therefore causing an accumulation of the coffee on the outer ring.
If these scientists had called the New York School of Drycleaning, we could have helped in this study.
Perhaps they were not aware that the ring may not become apparent until the coffee is exposed to the air.
Coffee is a tannin stain and will pick up oxygen from the air, causing it to darken. Cut an apple in half and leave it exposed to the air and it will oxidize and turn brown.
We might at this point offer methods to remove rings and tannin stains.
Rings
Rings on fabrics are removed by a technique referred to as feathering. A ring can occur from just plain water.
Feathering avoids the time needed to prespot, level and clean the garment.
Procedure
1. Steam the outside of ring with the steam gun. Use enough steam pressure to break up the ring.
2. Wipe each section of the ring with a towel. Wipe from the center of the wet area so the ring blends into the dry area.
Make sure the wetness of the fabric is spread out. This should be done section by section.
The success of the feathering depends on your skill and patience applied.
Work method for removing tannin
Flush
Neutral lubricant
Mechanical action
Flush
Acetic acid and neutral lubricant
Mechanical action
Flush
Oxalic Acid
Test with heat
Heat, no mechanical action
Flush
General Formula
Test with heat
Mechanical action
Flush
Rust Remover
Test with heat (over cheesecloth)
Heat, no mechanical action
Flush
If stain remains...
Peroxide plus ammonia
Test with heat
Heat, no mechanical action
Flush
Acetic acid or oxalic acid
Flush
Feather
When you have problems with certain fabrics, it may be interesting to know the roots of their names. Maybe it would be helpful to relate these facts to customers to educate them and to show them that you are knowledgeable about the fabrics you process.
Rayon: A young Frenchman, Count de Chardonnet, found in 1889 that by chewing up mulberry leaves the fiber produced was in appearance to raw silk. It was named artificial silk until rayon was agreed on by manufacturers.
Muslin: A light cotton fabric that was named after the town of Muslin in Mesopotamia, where weavers produced the fabric.
Corduroy: When the king of France wanted a rugged fabric for hunting, the weavers produced a corded fabric called "Core Du Roi" or "The King's Cord" (Corduroy).
Suede: A very soft napped leather was produced in Sweden. The leather was abraded by an emery wheel. The French called this leather Swedish. The French word for Swedish is Suede.
Leathernecks: Marines who wore protective leather in their collar were known as leather necks. Now when manufacturers produce garments with leather trim that bleeds, we call them unserviceable.
Tuxedo: In the 1880s, men were required to wear white ties and tails to dinner. The men of the Tuxedo Club at Tuxedo Park, 40 miles from Manhattan, needed a more comfortable jacket. The jacket became known as the Tuxedo.
Damask: A linen cloth with varied designs woven in was named for the place that made it famous, "Damascus."
Chenille: A fabric we are all familiar with, the chenille fabric has a soft pile that resembles the hair of a caterpillar. The French word for caterpillar is "Chenille."
Gauze: Light textiles from Gaza, the town for which the Gaza Strip in Palestine is named, gives us the English word gauze.
Cravat (formal name for neckties): Croatian soldiers in the employ of Louis XIV of France wore scarves of linen and muslin edged with lace. The French changed the word croat (cravate) to just Cravat.
Khaki: Means dust or earth in Hindustani. The cloth is named because of the dusty or dirty took.
Denim: A fabric in high style, fashionable and expressive. The word comes from the town of Nimes, in southern France. They manufactured this fabric called "denimes' with the "e" being silent.
Fifty years ago, a dry cleaner in White Plains, New York, made an amazing discovery. He realized that the future for his business was no longer with the classes, but with the masses.
Morris Friedman had a plant called Nu Way Cleaners that was located on Main Street in White Plains. They did a big job with high-income folks. They ran three routes out of this plant and had a very nice over-the-counter business.
But suddenly, all this changed when Main Street was converted to a one-way street and the plant was on the wrong side of the street. Sales took a drastic drop and even the routes had problems unloading as there was no parking in the back.
Through no fault of these hard working guys, a great business suddenly was not such a great business anymore.
Fortunately, Morris and his partners had made some money and were able to negotiate a property on a main artery leading into town. They put up a custom drive-in with a 5,000 square-foot plant and called it Johnny On The Spot.
It was launched with a parade through town. One of Morris' kids dressed up in a Superman costume with the Johnny On The Spot logo. He also had clowns and balloons and Buffalo Bob of Howdy Doody fame riding in an open convertible. Morris told me he spent $5,000 for this grand opening parade to let everyone in town know where he was now located.
With much fanfare, the plant opened and was an instant success. Within weeks, it was doing over $5,000 a week, charging 50 cents for pants and skirts and $1 for suits and dresses. This would equate to about $40,000 a week at today's prices.
Morris had installed two of everything -- two dry cleaning units, two boilers, two shirt units -- because he wanted no excuses for work not being ready on time.
Within weeks, he realized he had to siphon off some business as he was running over capacity and didn't want to lose his efficiency or quality.
So he did the only logical thing. He found another location within a mile of this one and opened a second plant which also reached capacity in a short time. He now had two plants going full blast and had to open more. He kept this up until he had about 150 similar plants.
He had found the magic formula for the times and it was then that he made the classic statement, "I used to cater to the classes, but now give me the masses."
About a year earlier, when his Main Street plant was still a two-way street, Morris told me about a lady presser who did nothing but touch up suit coat linings.
At one point, she was out for a month visiting her sick mother and they were too busy to find someone else to touch up the linings so they didn't bother. There were no problems and no complaints and Morris learned another lesson. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. When the presser returned to work, they put her on a regular press.
The new plants had no frills but they did turn out top quality work with precision and speed. The speed of the growth unnerved the partners so Morris bought them out and continued to expand.
So why am I bringing this up, since it is now immaterial that Morris Friedman created an empire that eventually disintegrated?
Because history is repeating itself, only now it's back to the classes and not the masses.
Why is this? Now, only people in the higher income brackets can afford to be good drycleaning customers.
The average family of four with a household income of under $50,000 can barely afford the luxury of having clothing processed professionally.
But the new rich (and there are now more millionaires than anyone could ever have conceived) are spending lots of money. They are buying expensive clothes, eating in fine restaurants, buying lavishly expensive homes and renting luxury cars.
These young people seem to have money to burn in that their 401(k) programs are growing in leaps and bounds and their money in the stock market and mutual funds has been returning 20 percent year after year.
And drycleaning for these folks is a way of life. They buy good clothes and think nothing of spending over $1,000 a year on the maintenance of their wardrobes.
But look how this has affected most every plant in the U.S. Now, just a relatively small number of customers (20 percent to be exact) account for 80 percent of a drycleaner's business.
The other 80 percent of all the customers are the masses Morris catered to some 50 years ago. But now these people have all they can do to meet their weekly expenses.
These people make a good living, but $50,000 a year for a family of four is no longer enough.
These people are taxed at 50 percent of their income when you consider all the taxes involved. With about $25,000 left to spend after taxes, these people have practically no money for drycleaning. They are the masses of Morris' time.
Knowing this, you see a rebirth in routes and drop stores that are locating in higher income areas and getting closer to the newly rich.
The masses, the 80 percent of all customers who spend so little on drycleaning, have become irrelevant. After all, statistics show that they spend less than $50 per household per year on services that drycleaners provide while the classes spend, on average, eight times that amount.
That's why there is such a resurgence in route business. Some plants have to go further out to find the higher income prospects. That's also why many plants are searching for locations for drop stores or package plants where the demographics indicate they can draw the higher income customers.
Many of you may doubt some of the things I'm saying, but let me illustrate just how serious this is.
If we take a plant doing $10,000 a week in over-the-counter sales, we know the plant will service about 5,000 active customers. Overall, the average customer spends $100 a yearŠ 5,000 customers times $100 each equals $500,000 a year.
But break this down and you'll find that 1,000 customers spend $8,000 a week while the remaining 4,000 spend the balance.
Is this the way it's now going to be? I don't think so because change is inevitable. We used to say that only two things are certain -- death and taxes. Now we can add change since we know that nothing will stay the same forever.
I think we are living in very interesting and unusual times, but I don't think it can last simply because, for the most part, the wealthy have now invested heavily in the stock market and faster and higher living.
For the first time in the history of our country, there are no personal savings. We recently hit a negative 2 percent and this is very dangerous.
A market correction of as little as 20 percent could wipe out a lot of people and when that happens, they panic and cut back on everything, including drycleaning.
My advice to you is, don't become complacent. Be aware of what's happening and be prepared to act accordingly.
Stan Golomb is president of The Golomb Group Inc., a firm that designs marketing programs for drycleaners. Contact him at The Golomb Group Inc., 7664 Plaza Ct., Willowbrook, IL 60521; phone (630) 887-7339. His e-mail address is: sgolomb@ix.netcom.comEmployees: Can't live with them, can't live without them.
Twice in the past six months, I have given seminars with this title.
The first time, the title was selected by the executive director of a trade association I represent, hoping to draw a large number of heating and air-conditioning contractors with problem employees.
The second time, the title was selected by the Maryland State Bar Association, the sponsor of a seminar for small law firms. Even solo practitioners, it seems, have at least one employee, usually a secretary.
In preparing my remarks, I thought back on the days when I was an employee, rather than a "boss."
A model employee
If I say so myself, I was a terrific employee. I got rave reviews from my supervisors, though sometimes they tempered their reviews with comments like "doesn't take criticism well," or "often fails to seek guidance from supervisors." For the life of me, I thought I was just doing my job. I could not understand what the fuss was about.
Then I got employees, and I began to understand why I got top rating when I was an employee.
I did my job, took responsibility for my actions, worried about the quality of my performance, and corrected my bad habits whenever they developed.
Sure, I have employees who do that now, but not everyone does. Supervising is like babysitting sometimes, and it's very difficult to do it right. Supervising is exasperating, which adds to the stress of running a business, no matter what the business is.
Square peg, round hole
Businesses so often make the mistake of taking a good employee and promoting him or her to supervise others. The net result is frequently the loss of a productive employee and the introduction of a poorly trained supervisor into the workplace. Supervisors need to have people skills, nerves of steel, a degree in psychology, lots of patience, and a very strong constitution.
Trained for the job
Every business needs to train its supervisors on dealing with employees. Obviously, that training needs to include the federal, state, and local labor laws that govern the workplace. Supervisors need to know what decisions or behavior can result in legal liability to the business.
It amazes me sometimes that businesses do not allow supervisors to spend $25 without permission, but allow untrained supervisors to take disciplinary action that can cost the business tens of thousands of dollars.
Training, however, also needs to take into account the human equation.
There are no secrets
First, supervisors need to understand how the workplace works. There are no secrets.
In fact, employees frequently know more about what is going on at the company than supervisors, who live in their offices pushing paper for a good portion of the day.
Also, employees know who the bad employees are, and they often resent no action being taken to correct poor performance. Secret deals between employees and management (like extra wages or benefits) rarely remain secret for long.
Further, it is a violation of the law to prevent employees from discussing their wages, including such secret deals.
Second, supervisors need more training in hiring, the first opportunity to screen for problems.
So often, employers worry more about discipline and discharge than hiring. Training on interviewing techniques, references, and other hiring tools would go a long way toward obtaining employees "you can live with."
Finally, management needs to understand that employees need to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect.
I have seen many companies unionized, not because of wages and benefits, but because of personal dignity issues. I have seen plenty of litigation generated by botched disciplinary actions, usually involving subjecting the employee to public humiliation.
Supervisors need to remember that the Golden Rule applies to dealing with employees.
It is impossible to run a business without employees. It is impossible to avoid employee problems.
Supervisor training, however, can make it easier to "live with" your employees and foster a productive workforce.
Frank Kollman is a partner in the law firm of Kollman & Sheehan, PA, in Baltimore, MD. He can be reached at (410) 727-4391. His firm also has a web site with more articles and other information on employee/employer relations at www.kollman-sheehan.com.Have you ever wished you could press the wrinkles out of a suede or leather? You can, you know! Read on and I will tell you how to do it.
Let's start with what you should already know. Think back to when I explained how the hand iron is used to press suede and leather in almost exactly the same way as pressing cloth garments.
I described the hand iron as a small hot head press. Well, now we are going to discuss the press and how it can be used to press suedes and leathers.
You can start pressing your suedes and leathers by using the press you have.
Just about every drycleaning plant has at least one steam press and just about every laundry department has at least one hot head press. Either one of these presses can be utilized to press suede & leather garments if the following precautions are observed:
1. Never allow live steam to come in contact with a suede or leather garment when using a drycleaning steam press or hot head laundry press with buck steam. Steam may be used on most suedes only if the pressure can be reduced to no more than 40 psi.
2. Never press creases into the sleeves of suede & leather garments unless the customer demands it!
So, don't jump the gun and start trying to press your wrinkled suedes and leathers until I finish telling you exactly how to do it safely and effectively.
3. Never press sewn in cloth linings with normal steam pressure when the suede, leather or fur is on the press under the lining.
The lays used for suede and leather garments are the same as those used when pressing the same type of cloth garments.
The only differences are that the steam pressure must be much lower for suedes and leathers, the sleeves must be protected from creasing and the suede nap must be brushed up just as velvet and corduroy are brushed up after pressing.
The utility press is the most versatile press that can be used for pressing suedes and leathers and is the most likely press to be found in your plant.
You may have an automatic steam utility press, a manual utility press or a hot head utility press. These can all be used to press suedes and leathers.
Other types of presses can also be used to press suedes and leathers.
The main precaution is to press with low steam pressure of under 40 psi or no live steam at all coming into contact with the suedes or leathers.
As you read on in coming months, we will look at how you can use your existing press for pressing your own suedes and leathers.
We will first consider the automatic drycleaning steam press. Then the manual drycleaning press. Then the hot head laundry or drycleaning press.
We will also look at how a drycleaning press can be adapted to pressing smooth leathers with optimum results. We will also show you how to press sleeves without creasing them and how to brush up suede nap easily and efficiently.
Frank Lucenta is president of Royaltone Co. Inc., a firm that manufactures products for drycleaning and wetcleaning suede, leather, fur and cloth garments. He also teaches plant owners to identify, accept, spot, wet clean, dryclean, press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs at the two-day training academy. The next training session will be held April 6-7 in Tulsa, OK. For information on training sessions or the subject covered in this article, or information on handling suedes, leathers and furs, or for a free three-ring binder to hold copies of these articles, or for information on the Royaltone Instruction Book & Spotting Charts, call (800) 331-5506 or send e-mail to royaltone@royaltone.com . Information is also available at the company's website: www.royaltone.comThe marketing flavor of the decade has been loyalty programs, otherwise known as relationship marketing. These frequent-flyer type programs have gained popularity at hotels, credit card companies, and even at the local drycleaner.
The major reason for having these programs is to build a high wall around as many of your most profitable customers as possible.
Rewarding repeat customers with credits, points, and merchandise is more than just a good idea.
The Minneapolis-based Carlson Marketing Group surveyed 522 customers of various businesses. They found the customers' spending was 46 percent higher with companies that offered loyalty programs.
Not every program will generate that kind of response, but I have several that can bring you to that level. The point of these programs is to increase individual sales, not just hand out rewards to customers who are already doing business with you.
The biggest problem with loyalty programs is that they are hard to stop. Six out of ten customers said they would spend less with a company that discontinued a particular program. However, this was more true with credit card companies (56 percent) and less true with retail and service businesses (13 percent).
There are many industries where there's little difference between products and services. Loyalty programs are what really differentiates one company from another. However, if you discontinue a program and a competitor offers it, a customer may jump ship.
It's important to find new and better ways to build customer loyalty because good customer service is becoming even more difficult to use as a competitive advantage.
Companies in the business of taking care of customers, like drycleaners, now have to fine-tune the practices they thought would satisfy the ever-changing whims of the consumer.
We have to consider new and subtle ways to stay on top of the game of keeping customers. We have to keep the "silent majority" quiet and understand the true meaning of caring for our customers.
We all know about the silent majority -- that for every customer that voices a bad experience, there are 25 more customers out there who are not telling us about their displeasure with our services but who may be telling between 8 and 13 other people.
The number-one rule for everyone who works for you needs to be to remember this silent majority. If any part of your team -- be it management, production, or counter-personnel -- does not pay attention to the silent majority rule, business can walk out the door very quickly. Companies like General Electric and Motorola, who claim less than 3.4 defects per million transactions, pay close attention to the silent majority.
"Defects" are customers who have slipped though the system, usually because of unresolved complaints or someone deciding that the customer was not worth a follow-up call.
Some of these defects may have had the potential to become high-volume customers, but that potential will never be realized without a system that goes as deep as the silent majority prevention system to ensure that customers do not fall though the cracks to become defects.
It is five times more expensive to create a new customer than to retain a current one, and it may cost as much as 16 times as much to bring in a new customer of an equal caliber.
Understanding how expensive defects can be should be enough to add them to your marketing strategy.
Customer-oriented companies, like Lands' End and Nordstrom, have "caring" as their trademarks.
These companies care whether their customers can find what they want and whether customers are notified when orders are delayed. These procedures cost time and money, but they are what set these companies apart from their competitors.
Harvey McKay, in his book "Swim With the Sharks," reminds us that "Customers don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Caring requires work, and the cleaners who exhibit it have built this process into their business.
The importance of keeping the silent majority satisfied and defects to a minimum, as well as showing customers that you care, will not be lost on today's customers.
Dennis McCrory offers several programs and products to assist drycleaners. For more information or to place an order (credit cards accepted), call (800) 646-5736, PIN 4615. Identify the package you are interested in as follows:The year 2000 is here and the "new economy" continues to expand our horizons and opportunities.
During the past decade we heard and read a great deal about team management and empowering employees to be a part of the decision-making process.
To be sure, changes in the way we work with our employees are here to stay but we cannot forget the basic disciplines upon which the science of "managing others" was founded. These disciplines were the genius of management guru, Peter Drucker.
A recent Wall Street Journal article, "The Original Management Guru," reviews the works of Drucker in the 1950s, '60s and '70s
Drucker recently celebrated his 90th birthday and has written a new book, "Management Challenges for the 21st Century."
In the 1940s, Peter Drucker was the first to study management as a whole -- seeing "the big picture." He applied Frederick Taylor's approach to the study of labor activities to the study of management.
Taylor, known as the "father of scientific management," would analyze every segment of a work task and determine the most efficient way to perform that task.
Drucker spent two years studying General Motors. He discovered that by viewing management as a discipline it could be structured and then taught. This would, "enable ordinary people to achieve better-than-ordinary results."
Drucker was also the first to introduce the notion that good managers are those who help others "manage themselves by focusing consistently on performance and results and by teaching them, often by example, to think about what they are good at, how they learn, what they value."
Drucker's insight showed that when we bring people together in an organization to perform work tasks, their collective output has to be greater than what these people could achieve if they worked independently.
In his studies he found that organizations defined themselves by the products and services they provided. What companies did not do was define their purpose for being an organization.
Drucker discovered that there were some essential questions each company must answer in order to define its purpose:
The companies that adapted Drucker's philosophies began to focus on the market. Customers do not buy a product or a service -- they buy the satisfaction of a personal need.
Home Depot reached $30 billion in sales in 21 years. They accomplished this phenomenal feat by asking the question, "What do our customers value?"
Obviously, their customers do not buy hardware supplies and tools because they like owning these things. They buy them because they want affordable home improvements.
The customers buy them from Home Depot because the company provides instructions and classes, and they give amateurs the confidence they need to do their own work. Home Depot sells value.
Your business purpose
When you accept the premise that the purpose of your drycleaning business is to satisfy the needs of your customers, you can begin to develop a clear picture of how the business needs to operate.
Note that as much of a necessity that profits are, profits are not the purpose of your business. Profits are the results -- the yardstick by which to measure how well or how poorly you have performed in fulfilling your purpose. If profits do not meet or exceed your expectations, then it is time to re-work your model.
Part art, part science
Because management is two parts science and three parts art, it should be considered a liberal art. As a liberal art you must
The difficult part is the "art" part, and the art part is communications. It is human instinct to resist being managed. The majority of your employees want to contribute and participate in the success of your business, but they want to do it their way. They do not want to be managed (forced) into doing it your way.
To successfully manage people you must communicate what the "purpose" of your business is. In order to do this you must first define it. If your purpose is to satisfy the personal needs of your customers you had best find out what those needs are.
Do not, under any circumstances, assume that you know what your customers' needs are. Survey your customers and reward them with a coupon for taking time out of their busy schedules to help you serve them better.
Once you have determined what your customers' needs are, get your key employees involved in designing the procedures to fulfill those needs. When you communicate your customers' needs to your employees and you accept your employees input in designing a program, your employees will respond by making it work.
The other part of the art of managing others is treating people with dignity. I am privileged to be working with some of the most professional and successful drycleaners in America.
These professional business people pay all their employees better than competitive wages, pay their employees on the books and offer a variety of benefits. They never manage under the fear of having an employee turn them in to any agency. These owners are free to grow their businesses and prosper. These are the business people who will dominate the drycleaning industry in the years to come.
Remember, in the game of business the more you know the better you can play the game.
Alan Robson is a private consultant dealing with the specialized needs of the drycleaning industry. Readers are encouraged to contact him with questions or comments by telephone at (508) 753-6619 or e-mail at: agrobson@ma.ultranet.com
Date created: Dec 29 1999 Last modified: Dec 29 1999 Copyright © 1999, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning Hal Horning