Road to Frankfurt. Meet the GBPA2020’s outstanding PTC showcases: Bel et Blanc (France)

The Global Best Practices Awards Program 2020 is advancing at a fast pace, towards the Final in Frankfurt, during Texcare International (June, 22nd, 2020). For the coming period, we will present you week by week, the most outstanding PTC showcases that have joined GBPA2020.

BEL ET BLANC – Passion for this beautiful job

What first characterizes Bel and Blanc is its know-how: a family business, now in the eighth generation in professional textile care. “Our know-how is transmitted from generation to generation with the same passion for this beautiful job,” says Marie Geoffroy, the commercial director. This state of mind reflects the relationship with all employees. The entire network is structured by city animators who permanently ensure a field presence with employees. It is a structured organization in terms of controls and team meetings to ensure cross-communication between the field and the administrative unit.

It’s always the first day

The network of stores is governed by an administrative unit that provides social services in connection with the accounting firm, a customer relationship service that allows customers to speak and follow up on their requests, an administrative service that manages all dry cleaning requests. The administrative unit has the opportunity to connect to all the cash registers of dry cleaners in order to ensure a technical follow-up or to help the partners. The management is close to the customers and partners, they try every day to invent new services to satisfy their customers. The company is constantly on the lookout for the best in terms of technology, equipment, innovation, regulations and communication. Their motto is every morning ” it’s always the first day ” in order to always keep a critical eye on each of their actions. Their staff policy is a daily accompaniment of the employees, through a participative management to be closer to their demands and well-being within the company.

100% wetcleaning process

Bel et Blanc chose to completely stop dry cleaning on its network. In order to reduce the amount of water use, they are sorting the clothes (heavy/light) (fine/thick) (dark/light) to optimize the use of the machines. They use Kreussler’s LANADOL process which complies with all criteria for awarding the “Blue Angel” environmental label. They use retention tanks for all their products and a check valve on the main water inlet. Pipelines were installed for extracting hot air from the dryers and each wastewater outlet is equipped with a lint filter. Compared with dry cleaning, the water-cleaning generated a 30% reduction in water consumption and 30% in electricity consumption. For all their dry cleaning they established a rejection agreement for the discharges of wastewater with each water service. In terms of recycling in the dry cleaning stores, they have set up a hanger collector, which allows them to recycle the hangers and put them back in circuit. 100% of the plastic sleeves used in dry cleaning  is replaced with 100% biodegradable sheath of potato starch. Because it is important to be eco-responsible for all actions that have an immediate impact on the environmental footprint. ”

Eco-responsibility

The company has lived through dry cleaning in 100% perchlorethylene for 35 years. But 5 years ago they have changed their profession, their know-how, by a technological sprint and training to become 100% wetcleaning. The have become experts in this process and wish to be the example, the flame, that will guide colleagues in the choice of environmental reconquest in the public opinion so that the business becomes a link of textile eco-responsibility. They want to create a uniqueness within the profession and be able to promote their know-how so that it becomes again a must in the consumption of French households. The dry cleaning needs to become trend, economic and ecological.

Strong features

  • Team meetings every 1st Thursday of the month outside the store around a café in order to communicate the information, the theme of the month, the promotions and the evolution of the companies to all employees and listen to their requests.
  • Every month a small journal “La gazette Bel & Blanc” to inform employees about the network, the tips of the job, and give voice to employees.
  •  Challenges: in order to animate the teams and business, they set up store challenges, which can be quantitative as well as qualitative.
  •  Collective performance: all employees have access to a bonus system on several themes in order to reward their daily investment.
  • Decrease in litigation by 2 versus dry cleaning, which today represents less than 0.05% of turnover excluding taxes.
  • Closer to customers: in partnership with PROBLANC, they are implementing home collection of customer furnishings to make life easier for the customers.
  • Dynamic communication: all channels are effective for communicating with consumers because each consumer is different and communicates differently.

JOIN GBPA2020

re you a retail textile cleaner? Or do you represent an industrial laundry? Does your company meet the best practices criteria? Showcase it among the best PTC companies worldwide by joining the GBPA2020. What’s in it for you?

  • Free Publicity for all the participants in the World of PTC (Book 7)
  • Personal exchange with likewise companies around the world for new ideas to new market area’s and business models.
  • The (World) PTC stage is yours! The chance (for the 40 selected finalists) to deliver a presentation in front of the International Jury and the international audience in Frankfurt, Germany on June, 20th, 2020 (during Texcare International 2020).
  • Massive PR which you can use in order to increase the turnover
Massive PR exposure globally for the Global Best Practices Awards 2018 participating companies

The application process doesn’t require any fee and there are 2 ways in which you can apply:

  1. Directly, via CINET Secretariat
  2. Via The National Pre-selection

Applying via CINET Secretariat.

Fill-in the reply form for the GBPAP20 competition which corresponds to your company’s profile: the reply form for the Retail Textile Cleaning (RTC) companies (download here!) or the reply form for the Industrial Textile Services companies (download here!). Once filled-in, the form will have to be submitted to CINET Secretariat (cinet@cinet-online.com) until the 1st of March, 2020.

Applying via The National Pre-selections.

Is there any Pre-selection event in your country/region? Keep an eye on the E-news section of the CINET website, get the form, fill it in and join the National Pre-selection in your country! The winners of the National Awards will be automatically nominated for the GBPAP2020 Final in Frankfurt and invited to come over to pitch their company!

Note: All the nominees from National Preselections are automatically submitted for the Global Awards Program, entering in the first selection of the International GBPA2020 Jury.

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