Understanding Uniform Rental Billing and Invoicing

One of the most common concerns we encounter when talking with potential prospects is invoicing and how we can make our billing and the process as convenient as possible. We want to make sure you can understand your invoice without having to decipher small details to comprehend why you received a certain charge.

 

We aim to make our billing and route accounting as easy as possible for all parties involved – from our Route Service Representatives to provide a quality service, to the CITY office staff to support you and for you to receive a top service while clearly understanding each invoice.

 

 

In CITY’s case, the ability to provide easy to understand invoicing to you on all levels of our company is our route accounting software. Our partnership with Alliant Systems has enabled a clean and simple service for our clients.

 

“Alliant allows the office to work with production and get necessary products for the service team seamlessly,” Cara Jensen, CITY’s Controller said. “It’s one of CITY’s main software and keeps us running.”

 

Alliant Systems was established as an important tool for the textile rental industry when it comes to billing, route management and production reporting. Independent laundry providers have especially benefitted from this software as it has been tailored to the industry’s changing needs and it is also supported by a knowledgeable staff to help train each user.

 

In the advent of information technology, many companies started computerizing or automating their billing inside a closed system where the data was not readily accessible. Alliant is an open system and functions as a repository for the whole plant, so data is accessible to anyone in multiple points throughout the CITY plant.

 

The CITY office staff uses Alliant to set up new customer accounts, create daily invoices and tracks accounts receivable. The office also uses Alliant to create production requirements, so the plant knows exactly what is needed for each route every single day. Alliant is also the software where all garments are assigned to employees with a barcode and processed through our Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tracking technology.

 

“Alliant works for us because it has so many functions,” Cara said. “We analyze Alliant’s data, including UHF data, on a daily basis to make decisions and to continue to improve.”

 

Creating more transparency for the customer, the UHF system tracks every single uniform throughout the entire laundering process, ensuring what you turn in will be returned. This also includes reports on each individual garment’s wash history so we know the life of each garment, how many times it has been washed, repaired and turned in.

 

The service department uses Alliant multiple times on a daily basis to make sure they are providing each customer exactly what they need. By utilizing a company cellphone with the Alliant app, CITY Route Service Representatives are able to react to customers’ requests instantly.

 

 

Alliant focuses on a customer-centric approach while installing and supporting their customers.

 

“We are trying to make the process as easy for our customers as possible,” Eric Smith, Director of Sales and Marketing at Alliant Systems said. “We spend a lot of time during the implementation kickoff to figure out what options fit into the business workings of the company.”

 

From flexible delivery schedules to invoices and payment history. The system enables companies to take charge of many things that previously were taken care of by hand. Alliant can help alleviate some of the mistakes that come from a handwritten manual by creating a designated digital management structure.

 

Inside CITY’s service department, work has also become more efficient for CITY’s Route Service Representatives [RSR] and office staff. We are proud to say, with Alliant, manual mistakes have virtually been eliminated, essentially defining how we want to do business with our customers.

 

“Alliant helps automate the process of changes to an account right there with the customer,” Cara said. “If there are any changes, they can be made on-site without having to wait. We can also add service notes on the go, so changes happen right away and they are less likely to be updated incorrectly.”

 

Established in the 1970s, Alliant was a product of necessity. Its founder worked at a mixed textile rental facility in Lincoln, Nebraska.

 

Thanks to Alliant Systems, independent laundry facilities across the country can now rely on accurate and accountable billing and planning, to support their staff and make life more fluent for their customers.

 

“It’s the technology that drives us,” Eric said. “Anytime we can improve our databases and our software, we are going to go the extra mile to make it better for our customers.”