Thanks to the confidence you are placing on us we can go on improving Winfotinto, so that little by little it can get to be the best program in the world for Dry Cleaners Management.

Our goal for 2010 is to be present at 100 countries. To be able to get to this number in such a short time, we are making a 50% special discount on Winfotinto’s retail price to the first customer from each country. For us, to get to a new country means to know its particularities, tax regulations, common work system,… In some countries we need to make specific adjustments for Winfotinto to meet the rules of the country or else we need to adapt to the common habits and customs. Once we get the first customer from a country, we can adapt Winfotinto to its needs, so that getting a second customer is much easier.

That’s the reason why we think that a 50% discount is a very interesting offer that can drive the person interested in it make the decision to buy Winfotinto and so allow us to have Winfotinto adjusted to meet more countries needs. For example, in Australia we have been asked to make Winfotinto invoice without the customer’s financial identification number or code, so we have added a new setting to the program for it to invoice without this number. So far, it does not seem to need more adjustments and our customer is already working at their store with Winfotinto only 2 days after buying the program.

Currently, there are Winfotintos in Spain, Portugal, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Italy, France, England, Ireland, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Oman, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Morocco, Algeria and Andorra.

If you come from a country not listed above, and you want to help us enter your country and benefit from our 50% discount offer to the first customer from this country, please, send us an e-mail to sales@winfotinto.com with your contact data and telephone for us to be able to contact you and see whether we need to make any adjustments on Winfotinto or it suits you as it is.

There is a long way to make together and we think that everybody will benefit from Winfotinto’s presence in many countries. The more Winfotintos are in the world, the more news and improvements we will incorporate; as Winfotinto enters new markets, we will incorporate new needs to be used in other countries, so the program gets richer and current users can benefit from new options which did not exist before.

In 2007 we would like to enlarge our email support business hours and to this end we will hire one or two technicians working in countries with a +- 6 time zone difference from Spain. This will allow us to better cover international business hours, and thus be able to offer our service at different time zones. At the moment we are looking for people in South America with a good command of English as a second language to be able to address Spanish and Anglo-Saxon speaking people.

We look forward to your joining us in this exciting trip and to witnessing together how Winfotinto 3.0 improves your businesses management a great deal, with its help in daily management and making your businesses work better every day.

Regards,
Lucas

Version 2.1.9 10/5/06
——————————————————
> Delete companies
——————————————————
A new form has been added in the Companies Menu
that allows to delete companies. You just need to select
the company on the list and press the Delete Company button.
This process is not reversible. You won’t be able to
delete the main company (company001) nor the company
currently opened.

> Restore any company with another one
——————————————————
From now on, you can restore a company with another one using the Restore Company option, without need for them to have the same number.
For example, if the company you have opened is the 002 one, now you can restore it with company 003, if you want to.

> Invoicing without the customer’s financial identification number
——————————————————
A new setting has been added on the
General settings list that will allow you to invoice without
needing to have the customer’s financial identification number included in
your customer’s register in order to invoice.

> Serial printer settings
——————————————————
We have added on the Printers Settings display the possibility
to set up the serial port settings, which by default will be
9600,n,8,1. Thus, you will be able to set up
printers with different settings.

> Number of hanger on polyamide labels
——————————————————
Now you can print the number of hanger on the items tickets, when they are
printed with a polyamide printer, such as the Zebra

Regards,
Lucas

It is taking place in Barcelona (Spain) in October 21 to 25, 2006.
Location: Montjuïc, Pabellón 7, Nivel 0, Calle A, Stand 106 (Pavilion 7, Level 0, Street A, Stand 106)

You will find us in the Barcelona Dry Cleaners and Laundries Trade Stand, where we will introduce you to Winfotinto 2.2. with all the news related to it, and you will be able to try on site the different accessories such as printers, cameras, wireless bar code readers, polyamide printer, tickets printer, SMS, etc.

If you still do not have Winfotinto, we are preparing an offer you won’t be able to resist. You will soon find out about it.

Interesting links on Expolimp:
How to get to, Travel and Bookings, Read more about Expolimp, Activities

We look forward to meeting all of you and to showing you the new functionality of Winfotinto, which we are certain you will like.

> New model of Pickup Sheet and Invoice
————————————————————
A new A4 size model of invoice has been created named Invoice NameEnvelope which is ready to be enclosed in window envelopes, so that the client data can fit the window. You will also be able to add your business logo on the invoice. To do it, you will have to prepare a 245×99 sized image, named InvoiceEnvelopePic1.gif and place it in the path C:\LGI\Winfotinto.
We have also created a new Pickup Sheet named PickupEnvelope, with the same features as the new Invoice. In this case, the image must be named PickupEnvelopePic1.gif.

> Increased Information on the Search for Collections
————————————————————————
If you are looking up in Collections, press the Search button and search for a customer’s Collections; now the lines that have been totally or partially picked up on the customer’s Collections list will be in another color and will also display the pickup date.

Dear friends, today we are going to deal with the different options allowed by Winfotinto when printing customer receipts, tags for items and adhesive labels.

To begin with, I’ll explain the different document formats printed by Winfotinto, so that we can see the possibilities of paper or media to use.

Customer receipt: It’s the ticket kept by the client. We speak of ticket to mean that it’s printed by roll-to-roll ticket printers, and it allows logo printing depending on the printer. It is the most common format used for individuals, and it is usually always printed. This document cannot be changed. In the event that you need a customized ticket, the customer collect sheet must be used, since it allows changes. The customer collect sheet may have the same format as the ticket, if desired.

Customer collect sheet: In the event that you don’t like working with a ticket format, you can work with this format which allows you to use preprinted paper with you data and logo, paper with multiple copies, different sizes, etc. For example it is usually used for hotels, restaurants, etc. We have several default formats you can try, to find the one that best suits your needs, either because of its design and size, or because of its format, way to group items or data shown.

Pickup ticket: It is the ticket that the client keeps when s/he comes to collect his/her items. It is the document that allows justifying the picked up items and the amount charged. Most times it does not require printing if the client does not request it.

Pickup sheet: Same as for customer receipt and customer collect sheet, the pickup sheet is similar to the pickup ticket but with a format you can customize, printable usually on preprinted paper with business and logos data, etc.

Invoice: It usually has a similar format to the collect sheet, in case you use collect sheets, or any format you like from the ones available. We can also adapt Winfotinto to the desired format. They are usually printed on Letter or DINA4 size, even though they can be adapted to almost any size. It is usually the document given to the client as a tax valid document to qualify for tax exemption, etc.
There is also the possibility to print tickets with your business tax data and your client’s tax data, so as not to have to use the invoice format. It can be useful, for example, if you don’t want to have another printer at the store apart from the ticket printer.

Outstanding Payments ticket: This ticket is the one printed when a client makes a payment from Outstanding Debt and there is neither collection nor pickup. It is not very common and it is usually used with reliable clients to whom we allow to take the items without paying the service, clients we charge at the end of the month, etc.

We have a service of format adjustment to adapt your existing formats to Winfotinto for Collect sheet, Pickup sheet and Invoice for EUR180.

The tickets collect sheets and invoices serve as tax documents, and in most countries they require to keep a copy of them for 4 or 5 years. In other countries, these documents must have special numbers that are controlled by the IRS/Inland Revenue.

The following Wikipedia document may be useful, where the different names used in different Latin America countries are used to refer to what we call Collect sheets and Invoices. http:// ://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albar%C3%A1n

Item ticket: is the ticket printed for each item to which we have to provide a service. They are usually printed on paper or special media that stands washing and dry cleaning. It can be printed on Hydro special paper (it stands about 3 dry cleaning processes and washing, in case we have to repeat the service) or on polyamide, which is the material usually used for all items labels with the information on the items composition and washing standards; it stands all washes we need to perform.

Finished item ticket: it is the format usually used for items already completed. It usually hangs from the plastic bag of the completed item. It can be printed on paper or adhesive label.

The last Winfotinto formats to explain are Listings, Statistics and Charts. They are ready to be printed on DINA4 or Letter normal sized paper, the one we usually use with inkjet or laser printers.

Now that we have defined the different formats used by Winfotinto, I’ll comment the paper or media formats that can be used with the program.

Hydro roll paper is thicker than normal paper, and it is usually available in 6 colours; it stands more or less washes depending on its quality and thickness. This type of paper uses printer waterproof indelible tape. It is usually used for item tickets and customer receipts:

Thermal paper is coated with a colourless formula which reveals an image by applying heat. Its advantage is that thermal paper printers do not need ink, which results in less expensive and much faster printing. Its disadvantage is that prints get deleted with handling over time.

It is the typical paper for days gone by faxes, even if many of these types of paper faxes continue to work and sell. It is usually used to print Collection tickets, Pickup tickets, Outstanding payments and collect sheets or invoices if desired.

Polyamide fabric rolls are used for item tickets, since they are washable and do not get worn with washing. Their advantage is their strength and they are ideal to use with bar codes and to read in good conditions. Their disadvantage is the polyamide printer cost, which more or less doubles the tickets printer for Hydro paper. It is also usually more expensive than the hydro paper solution.

Adhesive labels stuck to the completed item bags can be in different formats and thermal (requiring thermal printers without ink) or normal (requiring printers with ink).

Now it is the turn of printers:

I’ll mention the most common printers or those predefined in Winfotinto. In case you want to use other printers, please, consult with us.

The most common ticket printer or the one we recommend is the EPSON TMU220PB.

This ticket printer prints on 7.5 centimeters diameter paper rolls; it is a needle printer which requires the use of indelible tape if we print on Hydro paper for items labels. Make sure the printer has automatic cut, otherwise you would need to cut manually all tickets and item tickets, which would not be very practical for our sector.

The advantage of this printer is its high reliability and strength, and it allows us to print all tickets used with Winfotinto. Its disadvantage is that if we use it with Hydro paper to print the items tickets, we also usually print with them the customer receipt as well, with the consequent supplies expense increase. One Hydro paper roll costs between EUR2 and EUR3 based on quality, quantity, etc.

The other common ticket printer for dry cleaners and laundry is the Epson TM88III or now the TM88IV, a thermal printer used to print customer, pickup and payments receipts, as well as invoices if desired.
This printer has the advantage of being extremely fast; spending little in supplies, since it only loads paper (it does not use ink because it’s thermal) and the disadvantage is that the printed tickets are deleted over time.

A normal solution is having these two printers, the Epson TM88III or IV for customer receipts, etc. and the Epson TMU220PB for item tickets, since in this way we only spend paper and indelible tape for item tickets, which are the only ones needing washing or dry cleaning.

Another option we are currently recommending is the polyamide fabric printing, which delivers a much improved ticket quality than the hydro paper solution and it is perfect for bar code reading. This allows you to accelerate and control processes and workloads.

For this use, we recommend the Zebra TLP2844 printer with automatic cut. To print on polyamide, we will use as supplies polyamide fabric rolls and ribbon (substitute for ink to print on polyamide), which is a type of usually black plastic roll that sticks to the polyamide fabric by transfer.

There are clients who prefer not to print item tickets, since they use the TAGS usually sold by the sector providers. They are normally made of board, which is more resistant than Hydro paper, they have numbers we can assign at items collection and it allows us to manage the relationship between collect sheet numbers printed by Winfotinto and these TAGS numbers.

The most common solution among our clients to print the tickets is using a single printer for hydro paper or 2 printers, one for white or thermal paper and the other one for Hydro paper.

Another solution that is getting more and more used is printing with the TM88III or IV customer receipts, pickup and payments receipts and the Zebra TLP2844 for polyamide items tickets.

Winfotinto allows printing with up to 3 ticket printers, one for collection, pickup and payments tickets, another one for polyamide item tickets, and the third to print adhesive labels for items completion.

In case you do not want to work with collection, pickup and payments tickets, because you prefer to print Collect sheets and Invoices, you can opt for any other printer running on Windows. The reason is usually the habit of using another type of format or regular work with Hotels, Restaurants, etc. requiring multiple copies or a wider format for the regular volume of items processed by client/collect sheet.

In this case any printer running on Windows can be used with Winfotinto. We will need it installed in Windows with its driver; then we will choose from Winfotinto which printer we will use for each different format of Collect and Pickup sheets or Invoices.

Winfotinto has already several default formats you can use, or else you can request a customized format that suits your needs.

To decide which type of printer to use if you want to work with Collect sheets, the most important thing to decide is whether you will need several copies of each document or not.

In case of needing copies, the most common decision is the use of matrix printers. You can use any printer running on Windows, but the most common printer in these cases is the Epson LX300+, because of its price and functionality.

In case you do not need copies or that the volume of collect sheets/invoices is not very high, you can use any inkjet or laser printer. The most common course of action is to use any printer you may already have or if you have to buy a printer, we recommend any laser printer with paper load capacity suited to the volume of work and a performance/consumption supplies ratio suited to your needs. Laser printers are usually more expensive than inkjet printers, but supplies’ saving is considerable from 100 monthly collect sheets/invoices. In case you want to use color, we recommend opting for inkjet printers, since laser printers are still a little more expensive, even if prices are falling dramatically. When making the decision to buy an inkjet or laser printer, it is important to perform a little cost per sheet survey.

To print Listings, we can also use any printer running on Windows. In case you work with ticket printers, the most common thing to do is to have an inkjet or laser printer for invoices, listing, statistics and charts. In case of printing collect sheets with matrix printers (needle printers), that are slower and can use roll-to-roll paper with a preprinted format, the normal thing is to have another printer for listings, statistics or charts, so as not to need to change paper every time you want to print something different from a collect sheet or invoice.

If you work with a Laser printer for collect sheets, on a standard paper format without preprinting, or the printer has different trays for different paper types, the same printer for listings, statistics and charts is usually used.

Winfotinto allows you to print the copies you wish of any printed document. It is useful to have copies of these documents if you do not use multiple print paper.

To sum up, Winfotinto considers many printing options, allows several printer types and can manage up to 6 different printers connected to the same computer or networked under Windows.

We recommend choosing the option EPSON TMU220PB to print on hydro paper for customer and item receipts, and any other inkjet printer as an economical option.

The most complete solution to us and that allows you to manage your business making the most of all Winfotinto features is using the printer Epson TM88IV for thermal paper to print customer receipts, the printer Zebra TLP2844 to print polyamide item labels and a laser printer such as the HP4 for invoices, listings, statistics and charts.

The Finished item ticket can be printed by the ticket printer we have. The most common procedure is to print them with an Epson TM88III or IV or a Zebra TLP2844 if we want to use adhesive labels.

In case you don’t need to print item tickets because you use an already existing TAGS format, as we have commented on before, you can have a single printer to print customer receipts or customer collect sheets. This option can be cheaper, since with a single printer you can print everything you need.

We are advancing the news on Version 2.1.6:

> Marketing
———–
This Winfotinto version integrates the possibility to send text messages to customers’ mobile phones and e-mail or generate phone numbers lists for the IVM program. Different filters can be applied to select the customers we want to send messages to.

To use this new option we need to enter the Marketing option within the Queries menu. First, we need to select the type of forwarding we wish to perform (SMS, e-mail or IVM). Then, we need to select from the list the type of filter we want to apply. After selecting the filter we need to introduce the necessary data before applying it. For example, for the clients that do not bring items filter we have to indicate how long the clients have not brought items (number of days) Press the Apply filter button to display the clients you will send the messages to. In case you send them via SMS or e-mail, we have also a box to decide whether the forwarding will be only for clients with the SMS or email forwarding option enabled in their records.
Prepare the message to be sent according to the type of forwarding. In case the means is SMS, we need to write the message to be sent to the filtered clients taking into account the maximum length for messages allowed. At the bottom we have a list from which we can select the client’s different data to add to the message. For example, if we select Name from the list, the code %NAMEC% will be added to the message body. This text will be replaced by the client’s name when sending the message.
When sending e-mails, apart from the message body we will also be able to include a subject or title on the email. Here we will also have the client’s Add data option, which we can select from the list.
If you have selected the option IVM, press the button to generate a list of phone numbers that can be used in the UVM to make calls.

> Faster printing with polyamide printers
—————————————–
We have improved Winfotinto for faster printing of polyamide labels.

> New shortcut keys
——————-
New shortcut keys have been added to some options of the program. Press F4 in the
main menu to access the Finish items screen. Within the Add items at the collection
screen, by pressing the combination Shift+F8 we can deploy the Calendar to
select the Delivery date.

> Opening the cash register drawer
———————————-
In the new version the cash register drawer can be opened without need to get any
payments. To do so, we need to enter the cash extras screen and press the keys combination Shift+F9.

> # hanger in items ticket with 2 printers
——————————————
We have corrected it so that if we are using a band of hangers that we move manually and we have 2 tickets printers, the number of hanger gets printed on the items hangers.

> Default values in Finish items
——————————–
On the Finish items screen there are three options for the process:
Print Receipt, Use bar code reader and Finish complete collections. In the new version, the values selected in the previous Finish items will be kept, so it won’t be necessary
to select them again.
For example, if we always wish to use the bar code reader we just have to select this
option the first time, and the following times that we enter the screen the option will already be enabled.
We hope you enjoy these changes.

Pinfotinto allows you to collect from any point and to synchronize collections with Winfotinto.

Thanks to Pinfotinto’s help, you can do home collections or avoid waiting for them at your premises by collecting items with the Palm, and centralizing all the information in the counter computer with Winfotinto.

Through Winfotinto you will be able to reprint, invoice and control the process to be performed with the items collected with Pinfotinto, and thus have centralized and automated information.

Pinfotinto works with many types of Palm and pocket PC.

Ask for a demo version to see Pinfotinto in action.

Please, see the demo video here.

http://tienda.winfotinto.com/images/stories/winfotinto/pinfotinto_english.html

We are making our blog’s debut because we would like to share with you information about Winfotinto and Pinfotinto, as well as everything related to computing and your Dry Cleaner’s and Laundry businesses.

The summer is almost through in this area and we felt like a last fresh swim.

In this blog we would like to publish information that is useful to you and that helps you with Winfotinto and Pinfotinto, our software for the industry.

We look forward to your comments. Please, tell us what you would like to read about, what topics you would like us to talk about, what are your needs, what you would like to comment on. We are interested in everything that comes to your head. We are here to listen to you and discuss with all of you everything related to computing and Dry Cleaner’s or Laundry.

Welcome, please participate and share with us your concerns and interests!

If you want to know how to increase your sales and customers’ loyalty, start today and in the following six months you will be getting the results.

Take actions now and be one of 5% Dry Cleaner’s to move forward in the market.

In 2006 this is no news, but still, you will get many profits…

Today’s world is in ongoing evolution, and in this context mobile phones have started playing a very important role. Firms are starting to get this new marketing tool that cannot compare to any previous one, because it gives a range of possibilities both in your communication and interaction with customers, that would have been unthinkable before.

When you use SMS in your business, you will be able to warn your customers when you have their items ready; they will come to fetch them before; you will be able to get paid in advance for our services; you can remind them they have items in your store when they forget about them; you can congratulate them on their birthday; you can
communicate offers, season changes, warn them that they owe you money, offer advice and any other thing that you can think of, such as timetable changes, holidays, and plenty of options we are getting ready to help you improve your business.

To send SMS with Winfotinto, you need to hire with a supplier the gateway that allows Winfotinto to deliver the messages to someone who is in charge of sending them to your customers.

Any supplier who accepts your sending him a message to the email address X, in which the receiver’s phone number appears on the subject and the body includes the message you wish to send to your customer is suitable for use with Winfotinto. This type of gateway is usually called email SMS.

For you to be able to start RIGHT AWAY, and be spared looking for a supplier, we have reached an agreement with www.Infoavisos.com for you to get a lower price both for registering in this service and for the SMS packets you buy, so you can forget about this issue.

Infoavisos is an established firm in the computing industry belonging to the Intercom Group, which has developed www.infojobs.net and www.softonic.com among others.

The price is EUR0.10 for message if you buy the 1,000 messages packet or EUR0.09 if we buy the 2,000 messages packet.

So, for EUR100 or EUR180 depending on the packet, you can start your first SMS campaign. Once you have run the database cleaning, you will know how many of your customers have a mobile phone and among other things this will help you opt for one packet or another. We recommend buying directly the 2,000 messages packet, because otherwise the test is very limited.

Starting to use SMSs in your business if you already have Winfotinto will only mean an inversion of EUR100. Are you going to miss this opportunity for so little?

To be able to rightly assess the impact of SMSs on your business, you need about 3 months. Integrate the warning in finishing items and send some promotional messages to about 500 customers at least.

Even if with your first forwarding you start getting good response and day-to-day use gives you multiple examples of the benefits which this technology involves, you will have to learn how to use it and customize it to your preferences. You will realize that as time goes by you will be profiling the messages for them to be more and more effective.
Some comments from dry cleaner’s using SMSs:

I’ve tried massive SMSs and after over a month sending them the experience is VERY satisfying. The modernity and service image transmitted by this service is very pleasing and welcomed by users.

I can tell you the results for using this system are good, since for example the customer feels important when you send them a message about their items. They usually come immediately to pick them up and you get a very modern image, you know - new technologies; as regards advertising, you prepare the SMSs’ forwarding in 10 minutes with an advertising message to all your clients. I use this system and I am very pleased with it.

Now, with version 2.1.3 you can set the SMS automatic pilot to start using this option right away.

To begin, we have enabled an option that reviews you current customer database, in the event that you have entered mobile phone numbers in the “normal telephone” field, instead of doing it in the specialized field for mobile phone numbers. It automatically activates the field “Send text messages” and the program prepares your database for you to start sending messages. At the end of this process, the program shows you how many mobiles telephone numbers you have in the database, and then you know how many messages to send in the first massive forwarding to your customers.
To make easier the work of improving the database and capturing mobile phone numbers from new customers coming to bring their items, we have enabled a new General parameter called Capture SMS at pickup. When you enable it, the program asks your customer’s mobile phone number every time you collect items if you still do not have it. This option is very useful because in a few months you can end up having most customers’ phone mobile numbers and you will be able to communicate directly with them at a much lower cost than that of any other kind of advertising.

Once your database is ready, you need to set up Winfotinto for it to know how to communicate with your supplier; it is very simple, just introduce 4 basic data such as the e-mail address that Winfotinto will use to send the messages and your supplier’s e-mail address. There is a message test button in the SMS set up screen that allows you to enter your mobile phone number and receive messages when you press Try a TEST message, which enables you to ensure everything is properly set up. Then you still need to set up the message you want to send to your customer when their items are ready.

Example: Dear Marthe, we already have your jacket ready for pickup. Have a nice day, Dry Cleaner’s XXXXX.

Once Winfotinto knows how to send messages to your supplier, you can start testing them. I would start testing the Finish items option. This option informs Winfotinto which process the item is in, and if you tell it the item is completed and you have your customer’s mobile telephone number and the option Send SMSs is enabled, your customer will automatically be sent a warning with the text you have defined when setting up the automatic warning in finishing the items.

Winfotinto’s Polyamide label - Using the Finish items option is usually linked to the packaging process. To simplify and automate it, we recommend using the bar codes and the packaging label print, but we will talk about this issue another day.

You still have to test the massive forwarding, which allows you to use different filters, for example customers from a specific area, customers who owe money, customers who have not come to fetch the items since X, customers who have not come since X.

We recommend trying to introduce values in the different options and see the amount of customers warned.

Do not complete the message until you are sure about what you are doing.

We recommend you to ask any question you may have and to contact us for help when implementing these options in your business.