New LinenTrack RFID Software is used with TSL 1128 Bluetooth^® UHF RFID Reader and Tablet Mount

Project Overview

The stock-taking of linen within a laundry, hotel or gym has traditionally been a time-consuming manual process, with multiple issues affecting accuracy.  Information on where an item of linen is at any given time and how many times it has been washed or rewashed has been difficult to keep track of in a sector where speed of turnaround is paramount.  With a manual system for one of our hotel customers, a recent stock-taking of 200 rooms and 7 pantries took around 4 man days to complete.  There was the added complexity of rooms being cleaned during the stock-take, so linen was leaving and returning to the hotel numerous times per day. Simply keeping track of what had been counted was nearly impossible.

LM Computers’ current key markets are commercial laundries, hotels and sports and leisure establishments.

Challenge

To design a solution that automates the time consuming and laborious processes that have traditionally been done manually. This included stock taking in rooms and pantries, checking accuracy of deliveries and recording uniforms and linen leaving the premises.

Solution

LM Computers has created a software package called ‘LinenTrack RFID’ which runs on a 7” Windows 8.1 tablet – mounted on top of the TSL 1128 Bluetooth® UHF RFID reader – providing clear and easily readable information.

• • • A hand-held, mobile device can now be used to carry out stock takes within large hotels, laundries and gyms, dramatically reducing the time spent on the activity.
    • Stock taking within the hotel rooms and pantries is as easy as waving the hand-held device around the area.
    • Uniforms can now be scanned in and out of hotels and laundries.
    • An instant itemized inventory count is displayed on the screen and fed back to a centralized database.
    • Users are able to assign an item to the hand-held database directly.
    • The history of an item can be viewed on the tablet screen at the inventory point.
    • The system can produce a range of reports as standard, or bespoke reports can be written by either the user or LM Computers.

The size of the tablet ensures that the information on the screen is easily readable and the touchscreen hardware is commonly used and intuitive.  The TSL 1128 Bluetooth® UHF RFID reader is incredibly versatile, as the software has been designed to be used with any type of stock / inventory chipped with UHF tags. This is done simply by assigning the RFID chips on the tablet, or picking up relevant text files from external systems. Using the UHF reader, the tablet will display all known information about the items, including their description, packing time, despatch time and other customisable information.

Result

Using TSL’s 1128 Bluetooth^® UHF RFID reader in conjunction with LinenTrack RFID software  replaces the need for any manual stock take, or adhoc counting of any linen within the laundry, hotel or gym.  Time scales for this activity have been greatly reduced, and information about each item can be viewed at the touch of a button.  The richness of the information that is available whilst going about one’s tasks, gives the user the ability to ascertain accuracy of deliveries and quality of that item.

Response/Feedback

The feedback from our customers is incredibly favourable, both from management and staff alike. From a management perspective they are able to gain a full overview of data which will help highlight quality issues, i.e. if an item is unusable after only 20 washes, and the guarantee is 50 washes, then this can be brought up with the supplier.  From a staff perspective, they no longer have to carry out laborious tasks such as manual counting of inventory for deliveries or stock taking.

The hand-held device has proven to be highly effective within the uniform / garment management arena, where users have seen significant reduction in uniform losses and mixed orders.

Customer Testimonials

Bates of London – Flatwork Laundry

When asked about his view on LinenTrack RFID Matthew Pantlin, MD of Bates of London said “It gives me the ability to better manage my stock – I get an accurate stock count and know its whereabouts.  It shows me how well my customers are rotating or not rotating my linen.  In this business to manually decipher the lifecycle of an item of linen, is a really difficult thing to ascertain, however with the availability of data, I can now get all the information I need, such as the number of washes and rewashes at the touch of a button.  What really impresses me is the time that RFID saves me, this morning using the handheld device, the stock take of a 200 room, six floor hotel took one person just 40 minutes, there was a linen room on each floor.”

Sylvia Gray Ltd – Uniform / Garment Laundry

Shahid Diwan, MD of Sylvia Gray Ltd, London, when asked his opinion on LinenTrack said “Since chipping the uniform with RFID my sorting costs have reduced dramatically. My customers are so much happier with the service, as there are far less incorrect orders as most of the mistakes are noticed and rectified at the customer site before arriving at my laundry. I can see by waving the RFID reader over the rail, that all the orders are complete and ready to go, all in a matter of seconds.”

Further Information

For more information on  business solutions from LM Computers Ltd, please visit lmcomputers.co.uk