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The flow thru your assembly area will truly improve with tailwinds no matter how good it is now. Your employees will like it as well it makes things so much easier.
Scott Bell, Bryan's Cleaners & Laundry
"Tailwind! What gets you from place to place faster? A good tailwind. The Tailwind System helps us get garments back to our customers faster and with fewer mistakes. What more could I ask for?"
Paula L. Kostick, Classic Drycleaners & Laundromats
Tailwind is our window
into our production system quickly showing where we need to concentrate
attention to maintain the highest levels of production efficiency.
Bill Bridgeman, Drycleaning Station-Oregon.
Bensinger’s
Fine Cleaners, Memphis, adopted the Tailwind System in 1999. We would
highly recommend the system, as well as the backup and consulting
abilities, of it's inventor, Don Desrosiers.
Larry Adler, Bensingers Fine Cleaners, Memphis, TN
Well
worth the time and money. He was able to help us eliminate a couple of
positions and streamline our assembly. We are actually finishing sooner
with less people. I would recommend Don and his system.
Gary Dow, Supreme Laundry and Cleaners
Don
Desrosiers and Tailwind Systems has been great for my company. Not
only is Tailwind a system which is more efficient than any other I have
seen leading to much improved profits, it also allows for easy
monitoring by management. There are two types of laundries, those that
maximize profit with the use of Tailwind Systems, and those that only
work harder.
Bake Schaffer, Schaffer’s Fine Cleaners
I have
benefited from the Tailwind system since its inception to the present
day. It is still important to have a set of experienced, trained eyes
review our shirt procedures and efficiency on a periodic basis. Don has
a keen eye for detail and an uncanny ability to remember nuances in my
plant. Every time he visits, we benefit.
Terry Dermody, Dermody Cleaners
I
have never been more pleased with a vendor. You set us up right and it
has stayed right. You took our PPH to a new level and moral has never
been higher. 32,000 shirts per week at 28 PPH. Thank you Don, all of
our plants have Tailwind and we still enjoy having you in to coach and
fine tune our company. We learn each and every year.
Gary Glover, Puritan Systems, Inc.
After
Sterling Cleaners installed the Tailwind System, claims as the result
of misfiling went to 0%. Tailwind did the job with a minimum amount of
effort and change in our company. The simplicity of the system is what
makes it so successful and easy to operate.
Harvey Gershenson, Sterling Cleaners
Looking for a dashboard view of how to manage you business? This is it!! Are you so far into the forest that you can’t see through the trees? Follow the "Wind" Does
your plant have the same speed and efficiency that mine does? No
it doesn't, because Don says I am the best, but it would not hurt to
try.... Don will show you how. Double your plant’s PPOH if you
want to. If you don't, do what you have always done and get what you
always have. Even though Don talks funny.....he knows how to get
results.
Eric Severson, Geneva Cleaners
Of all the
money I may have spent on new machinery or technologies, the Tailwind
system is clearly the best money I've ever spent. Prior to Tailwind we
were constantly losing shirts, now maybe 2 or 3 a year, and it is our
fault not the Tailwind System’s fault.
Greg Stewart, Tri City Cleaners
The
organization that we received from the Tailwind System has immensely
improved our production and customer service levels. I could never
imagine going back to the way we used to do things before Tailwind.
Steve Grashoff, Peerless Cleaners
The
Tailwind System paid for itself in 8 months. Tailwinds System improved
completion of all items in lots; assembly mistakes gone and completed
within 20 minutes of production; saved 2 FTE's.
Ron Rizzo, Star Cleaners
Our
biggest issue was the number of claims we were paying on missing
shirts. The Tailwind System has virtually eliminated that headache. The
system is equally as effective in the drycleaning department. Thanks
Don.
Bill Lifrieri, CRDN of Westchester/Fairfield Counties
Mine
is a wholesale/retail shirt laundry in operation since
1986, processing an average of 7500 shirts per week. Prior to
implementing the Tailwind Shirt System, I tried many types of marking
types and assembly procedures, all with the same result - Too many
claims for misassembled and/or missing shirts. I implemented the
Tailwind tagging system in 2003, and followed up with on-sight training
by Don to complete the assembly training earlier this year. Since then
my claims for missing shirts have all but disappeared, and my work flow
is amazingly organized.
Bill Schaffer, Leather & Lace Fabricare, Washington, DC
Since I started using the Tailwind Shirt System I have reduced my workforce by 25%. Thanks so much for your help.
Randy Earp, Fireweed Cleaners, Anchorage, AK
I got your book on doing shirts and did a "self install"
Our
shirt production went up from 18 ppoh to 22 ppoh. Then I decided to
have you come out for a couple days. Our ppoh has hit in the mid to
high 20's (25-27 range). There are about 15 or so steps in the Tailwind
process, each one you do or don't do affects the ppoh. Your system paid
for itself in less than a month. Thanks
Dave Sabo, Jay Dee Cleaners, Euclid, OH
Bryan's
and Marin did a number making Tailwind sound next to God. It was
wonderful! I used them to cover for our mess and it was fun to watch
Tom when they said what they said. Just off the cuff remarks like, "Of
course after Tailwind PPOH goes up by 3 or 5 or whatever." Anyway,
later and aside talking with Tom his concern is he believes they are
doing a superb job with PPOH now. I think he said 19 pieces per hour.
Then he went on to explain what they do, how it is a little different,
how it might really be hard for Tailwind to improve on it because of
this and that and so on. The more he explained his system the more I
was glad I was me and not you. You might really be up for a
challenge. Hopefully it will just be one of many that you have
overcome and made better. At any rate, I have sold and resold him on
the importance of his people having buy in before you arrive. He
assured me they will and they are giving you a blank sheet of paper.
(…and here’s what happened..)
Don
did a great good. We were reluctant to some of his suggestions atfirst,
but have been won over on all accounts now. We installed the system in
one location got it running smoothly. Now we are going back in to check
on it and already are finding the system is not being followed. Today
Jerry new GM) is sitting down with the manager to require her support.
Last week even with Don in the store we did 28.43 shirts per hour. And
we needed to fix the unit which had them down for hours. We will keep
you posted.
Best Regards, Tom
I'd like to plug Don and his
system. We look at PPOH and I was doing 18. 20 was a great week. I was
in a national management group and 20 was achieved by the better
operators. After using Don's system we are doing consistently 27-29
PPOH. A 25 or less PPOH week and I'm looking for answers. I also agree
with Carl when you look at individual numbers on an hourly basis. My
experience is to call in people like Don and get great numbers and save
money. Don and guys like him cost money but, I saw a pay back in 6 - 7
weeks. This savings continues forever, cool.
Dave Sabo, Jay Dee Cleaners, Euclid, OH
If
this is primarily a shirt laundry, contact Don Desrosiers here on the
forum. I've been using his system for about 4+ years and haven't lost a
shirt and taught the system to assemblers and baggers who can't speak
English.
Michael Straus, The Superior Cleaners of Wilmington, DE
Don
at Tailwind is what you need. In 3 years since I have been using his
system, I have not lost a shirt in production. That is the absolute
truth!!
Mitch Jacobs, Sycamore Cleaners, Memphis, TN
Before
I changed to the Tailwind system we were so disorganized. It
eliminated one half person's job and instead of 3 people in the shirt
department I now have 2 and a half. We don't lose shirts any more, and
the production is so smooth and constant that it is a pleasure to do
shirts, instead of a necessary agony.
Ed Roth, UN Cleaners, Flushing, NY
I would recommend Don’s system to anyone who has any kind of a problem with shirts. It is easy to follow and is easily adapted to any situation. Before Don, we were averaging 16 pieces per operator hour. Now we consistently achieve 27 ppoh, and some days achieve 30. Our staff was cut from 7 people to 4. We work the same hours pressing the same amount of shirts. We are able to do between 4500 to 5000 shirts per week with 4 people total, 2 pressers, 2support people and that includes the washer. He saved us $1500 per week in payroll, well worth his nominal fee. Thanks again Don.
Tom Herr, Kirt's Cleaners, Goshen, Indiana
When
we started working with Don and the Tailwind system we were doing about
$100,000.00 in the Restoration added to our Retail and Window Covering
Business. At this time we felt overwhelmed with the amount of volume
that went through our plant. We were putting in overtime as well.
After
Don came out and implemented the Tailwind System in our plant we saw
some improvements and used part of the system thinking that we were
smart rats and tweaked the system some to suit our purposes (or so we
thought). One thing you will find about Don is that he will NOT just
leave it at that. We have him come out twice a year in March and
September. Every time he comes out we learn more and more how much his
system (as it is supposed to work) makes our plant run so much more
efficient, organized and timely. The more you use the system the more
you appreciate the simplicity of it and how powerful it really is!! We
are now doing about $200,000.00 a month in Disaster Restoration in
addition to our Retail and Window Covering Business and it is so much
easier thatn it was at $100,000.00. I would highly recommend the
Tailwind System and Don to anyone who wants to run their plants easier
and more cost effective give this a chance you will not be sorry! Our
PPOH is unbelievably high if you have any questions please see me at
the convention.
Brad Paluck, CRDN of Oregon and Eastern Washington, Mt. Hood Cleaners and Laundry Inc.
In
late January, you asked me if I thought Tailwinds would be a good thing
for DCS. I said yes, based solely on what I had heard over the years
about the system and its creator, Don Desrosiers. I added I would give
you more comment after seeing a conversion first-hand and talking to
Bill. It's later than I had planned on...but here goes.
Before
I went to Portland to observe the installation, I was comfortable with
the system's basic features. I was more familiar with the shirt-side
of Tailwinds because I used it briefly at my own cleaners before we
sold it. I knew Tailwind for shirts would be a success. I was totally
unfamiliar with the drycleaning side. My initial expectation was a
similarly-slick way of tagging and moving garments through a plant. It
turns out to be that, and so much more.
The entire Tailwind
system creates a management system of checks and balances that I've
never seen used in any other plant. Watching the Portland plant evolve
from Monday to Friday was nothing short of amazingly fun. Monday the
plant looked like a normal plant; carts of stuff everywhere...Andy
getting each cart done as it came up....pieces being hunted for. By
the end of the week, every piece was accounted for by late morning
because the assembly was done there. Any pieces held back for stain
removal were accounted for. Everyone had a goal posted at their work
station, and graphs were created to show them their progress as the
weeks went by. The plant was humming better than I had ever seen it
humming (keeping in mind I've been there now 3 times).
My
opinion now, based on what has evolved in Portland, is yes, Tailwind
should be a part of each of our plants. Bill can provide you with
before and after numbers as far as a reduction in payroll costs.
Tailwind has an excellent reputation across the country; in doing
research on it I have YET to find a negative comment about it. I
believe introducing Tailwinds into our system would be yet another way
of differentiating ourselves from the competition.
I am
presuming that your biggest concern about Tailwinds is that all
assembly is done in the plant. Your argument against that practice is
it leaves lots of down time for people in the drop stores. I see it in
a different way. It provides the people in the drop stores the time
and opportunity to do marketing with that time. They can make phone
calls. Hand-address postcards. If it's the owner--work on emails
using Gray's system so they're not taking up their evenings with work.
Doing the assembly at the plant means everyone knows the orders are
complete when they arrive--no last minute scrambles trying to find
missing pieces.
I believe Tailwinds should be part of our system.
It's not the kind of system where we can take a few pieces from his
program and make it work; part of the success of Tailwinds is the
knowledge Don brings to the program. He stands in a plant, soaks it
all in, and then tweaks the program to make it work in any size plant.
I've seen lots of consultants in this industry over the years, and have
had the privilege to share the stage with some of them. In my opinion,
Don Desrosiers is the best of those consultants.
Debbie Barnett, Director of Corporate Training, Drycleaning Station
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