But Broken Arrow-based Yale Cleaners has put the mobile media device to work - it uses them to collect payments and return the right set of clothes faster than they've ever been able to do.
John Rothrock, vice president of Yale Cleaners, said the new system is a combination of recently licensed technology and unique software created just for the dry-cleaning business in metro Tulsa.
At its heart are iPod Touches enclosed within cases with PayWare Mobile Enterprise image scanners, which can quickly look up customers' information, find their dry cleaning orders and log payments.
"Before, we'd have to go outside to the customer's car, come back inside, look up their order, go back outside, get their credit card, come back inside to scan it, and so on," Rothrock said. "With this, we have to take two trips rather than six."
The system is in place at four of Yale Cleaners' 12 area locations, with all of them due to get it in the near future, Rothrock said.
Although the hardware comes from VeriPhone, a maker of point-of-sale equipment, the software running on it is a local creation. Since Rothrock wanted everything to be part of one system rather than two separate systems trying to communicate with one another - Yale Cleaners' sales software is another custom creation - he contacted local developer Matt Galloway to incorporate them.
Galloway said that while integrating the systems was a challenge, he felt the idea was a great one.
"It's a task that lends itself very well to a mobile device," he said. "The only reason you have to stop at a desk is because that's where the sales equipment has been."
The main goal was to eliminate having to run back inside to register a payment at a credit card terminal, although Rothrock said there are other benefits.
For example, Yale Cleaners can now scan in electronic coupons directly from customers' phones and automatically know how much of a discount to give or whether the coupon is still valid.
Rothrock said Yale Cleaners has always worked to come up with its own solutions to make the process better. For example, the company uses industrial washers from outside manufacturers, though Yale has come up with its own control panels for them.
The company also created its own clothes-sorting system that involves permanently placing a small bar code on the inside of each article. When the dry cleaning process is completed, scanning the bar code checks in the piece of clothing and triggers a numbered hanging slot to light up and electronically say its number for easy sorting.
"We used to hand-write people's names in the bottom of their shirts or use tags," Rothrock said. "Now it's faster and it eliminates errors."
The bar codes also allow the company to keep a complete history of each customer's transaction, including which articles of clothing were cleaned during each transaction, and which location they were taken to.
Rothrock said Yale Cleaners is developing a mobile app and hopes to have it done by August.
Original Print Headline: Going mobile helps firm
Robert Evatt 918-581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com
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