Processing a large volume of work
Part 1
hat must we do and know to process a large
volume? First of all, we need to assume that our plant’s
volume consists of, let’s say, eight drop stores and two
routes, as an example for this article.
We have found, over the years, that the
most efficient assembly, bagging and distribution operation is
performed at the main plant and not at the drop stores.
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The other school says that we do not
really know if we are sending the drop store complete orders
when we ship only individual garments, and the drop store
doesn’t tell us that an order is missing a garment(s)
until it is too late for an effective search at the plant. The
plant can manage the “incomplete line” more
effectively than the drop store.
Also, the control of in-store inventory
can be made centrally at the plant by a series of charges and
credits to the drop stores.
Both schools of thought have their merits
and their shortcomings. I remember at one of my assignments in
South Africa where the operator had several drop stores, and
all the work was assembled and bagged at the drop store.
He later discovered that the CSRs at the
drop store had purchased sales tickets on their own and used
them to receive and deliver work that was not “on the
books” of the main plant. The plant only knew that a
certain number of garments were received for process and a
certain number of garments were returned to the drop store. No
knowledge of complete orders, or who the customers were, was
the problem.
It was when a customer complained to the
main plant that a garment was “lost” that the
situation surfaced since there was no record of the transaction
ever being made.
I immediately convinced this operator that
assembly and bagging, together with a system of debits and
credits, be installed. Simply, the store was debited with the
delivery to the store (by order numbers and amount of sale) and
credited upon delivery by the store to the customer (by
submitting the original invoice stapled to the bag along with
the money). Each week an inventory at the store was made by the
drop store supervisor from the plant.
I have seen a case where the CSRs bought
their own marking tags so the plant had no way of telling
whether the transaction with the customer had been made.
The CSRs were in business for themselves
at the expense of the main plant. It was only through a
professional shopper that this situation was exposed.
The first procedure that must be refined
is the methodology of pick up and delivery to and from the drop
stores. It is critical that, by the end of the business day or
before the beginning of the work day at the plant, all the work
has been brought into the plant for processing.
In this example, like my own operation at
Ft. Meade, MD, there are two types of service:
“Special” and “Regular.” Special
service is either same day or one day, and regular service is
the normal two days. The driver brings in the specials in one
area of the receiving room and the regulars in a separate area
of the receiving room.
The marked work was placed into pick up
bags at the drop store according to several classifications:
"Special Drycleaning,” “Special
Laundry,” “Regular Dry Cleaning,”
“Regular Laundry,” “Household,”
“Sewing & Dry Cleaning.”
Press only and sewing only were on hangers
along with extra fancy garments, etc.
Spots were identified by a box with
tailor’s chalk and description on a long pre-spot flag
tag inserted within the marking tag.
Note: All marking tags were placed on the
right, front belt loop of pants (stapled paper-to-paper) and in
the neck area of all other garments (dangling from the care
label or looped over the hanger strap and stapled
paper-to-paper). The flag tags were prominently displayed so
they could be seen by the cleaner during classification for
drycleaning or wetcleaning.
When the driver makes his first delivery
in the morning to the drop stores, he is charged with bringing
in only the “Specials” that were taken in for the
same day or next day. This is important since we do not want to
inter-mingle any “new work” with the “old
work.”
When the driver makes his second and
successive deliveries to the drop stores he is permitted to
bring in the “new work” which is placed away from
the “old work” which is still in the drycleaning
process.
After the “old work” has been
cleaned and spotted, and most of it has been distributed to the
pressers, the cleaner/spotter is now permitted to clean and
spot the “new work.” This new work, however, is
held back from the pressers to give the cleaner/spotter an edge
on work for tomorrow’s processing.
In my plant, we were only concerned with
getting out the work required for that day plus any specials
available for processing for the next day.
Each drop store and route would be
identified by a different colored marking tag. Red was used
only to denote a “Special.” The busiest store was
assigned a red marking tag for its specials, and the other
stores used a red “day tag” inserted into the
marking tag for its specials.
The lots were formed by combining two or
more stores in order to get at least 50 orders together. By
using this lot system, we could greatly assist the driver by
making his run to only a small number of stores at one time
rather than going all over the area with piecemeal deliveries.
Also, using a lot system, rather than the
“day lot system,” gave us a small assembly area
with better control of “stragglers” to ensure more
completed orders for delivery to the drop stores.
Next month, I will discuss processing the
work efficiently within the plant using a very valuable tool:
The “Daily Production Report.”
Note: My spotting video, “The
Caplan Method of Stain Removal,” which includes my
comprehensive text and handy spotting board reference available
in English, Spanish and Korean (video only in Korean) from the
Golomb Group, c/o Dennis McCrory, 7664 Plaza Court,
Willowbrook, IL 60521, phone (800) 679-5856. A lecture and
demonstration are presented similar to my classes over the
years at IFI and SDA. This video and text are ideal for
training inexperienced spotters as well as a good review for
experienced spotters. Digesting with enzymes, bleaching,
oxidized oil stains and caramelized sugar stains are discussed
and demonstrated. An article on “Removing Spots in the
Cleaning Machine” and an article on “How to
Increase Production in the Spotting Department” are
included in the comprehensive text book.
Also available from the Golomb Group, in
English and Spanish, is my video on step-by-step shirt
finishing which includes my comprehensive text in loose-leaf
form outlining each procedure for single-operator and
two-operator cabinet shirt unit using a cabinet sleeve press.
Proper forming of the collar using heated collar formers is
demonstrated. Each lay is demonstrated for top quality with
very little effort by the operators. Attractive detailing and
packaging of the hangered shirt, padding, steam pressures and
timing are all discussed. A unique wash formula for whiter
whites and brighter colors and removal of grease and body oils
is included in the loose-leaf text book.
My experience with shirts spans over 55
years with US Army as a principal laundry and dry-cleaning
concessionaire at Ft. Meade, MD, where average shirt volume was
approximately 10,000 per day. We were constantly
“sampled” for excellent quality in both finishing
and washing in laundry and drycleaning and in tailoring. We
operated our own 40,000-sq.-ft. plant for over 35 years.
Stan Caplan has over 35 years experience
in his own high volume dry-cleaning, laundry and tailoring
plant and two package plants with adjoining coin-operated
laundry and drycleaning. Stan is the former chief instructor at
the International Fabricare Institute, the Southwest
Drycleaners Association and various other trade
association-sponsored schools throughout the US and courses in
Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong. Stan
offers consulting, training and engineering services in all
areas from customer service area to the boiler room since 1981.
His complete system withtotal quality management will produce
maximum efficiency, economy and product excellent quality. Stan
can be reached at 3601 Clarks Lane, Suite 307, Baltimore, MD
21215-2731, phone/fax (410) 358-0870. His e-mail address is stancap100@aol.com.
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