Meet the GBPAP18’s outstanding PTC showcases: Laverap (Argentina)

For the coming period, we will present you week by week, the most outstanding PTC showcases that were officially nominated for The Global Best Practices Awards Program 2018. The profiles of these companies are also present in the WOPCOM platform, which you can access here.

Laverap (Argentina)

Operational excellence in self-service

Not too far from the coast, close to the botanical gardens of Buenos Aires, you come across the blue shop front of the Laverap laundry & dry cleaning store. This business has known how to handle itself in the Argentinian market for 37 years! That means something as it is a market that has not been free of crisis during those years. In its younger years, Laverap was a pioneer in the automated laundry business in Argentine.

From self-service to delivery

Laverap started off with a self-service laundry model. However, the company always stays on top of the changes in consumer needs and thus the potential of other services was explored a long time ago. Adapting to the wishes of costumers, Laverap started to provide additional services as well. Today, clients also come to the store for laundry service, ironing and specialty cleaning of leather and rugs. In addition, there is the possibility for home delivery of cleaned garments.

For hotels and other businesses, Laverap offers a valet laundry service. Laundry is picked up, (dry) cleaned, folded, perfumed, even bagged per guest and delivered back to the hotel.

Quest for quality

For Laverap, quality is of an incredible importance. First of all, to achieve this, the workplace is being kept neat and clean. Also, manufacturers’ recommendations are followed closely, like for example with the dosing of chemicals based on the amount of clothes that is processed. Constant monitoring and regular quality checks by the supervisors further ensure quality.

However, Laverap’s quest for quality is not limited to good housekeeping practices. It speaks for itself that Laverap favours detergents that cause no harm to garments, but at the same time achieve excellent cleanliness.

Over the years, developments in the industry have come a long way in achieving this. Nevertheless, Laverap believes there is always room for improvement. Therefore they meet periodically with suppliers to communicate experiences, wishes and ideas for the development of even better products.

For the earlier mentioned laundry self service, which still makes up a large part of the business, Laverap is also determined to deliver a high quality. In order to achieve this, there always is a supervisor present to assist customers when they are doing the laundry themselves.

Optimized operating times

Sustainability is an important focus for Laverap. As the shop contains quite some machinery and equipment, energy consumption is managed by optimizing of the operating times. To ensure longevity of the machines, there is a strict maintenance schedule. Furthermore, all operation and maintenance processes are adjusted to government regulations.

Since its beginning 37 years ago, Laverap has always been at the forefront of technological developments in automated dry cleaning industry. Old equipment has been updated and replaced by energy saving machines.