CHICAGO — In July, America’s Best Cleaners (ABC) hosted its first live studio event for its WorkFlow suite of programs and training and development services. Led by ABC Senior Consultant Liz Davies and Executive Director Chris White, the three-day event held in Chicago was built around the principles of production management for dry cleaners.
The organization reports that 16 leaders from across the ABC affiliation came together to build a community and exchange best business practices, systems development and coaching techniques for team success.
In response to the rapidly changing labor landscape and the loss of technical knowledge in the drycleaning industry, ABC says that it created the WorkFlow suite of products and services to support its Affiliates in developing strong and sustainable leaders within their organizations.
“This event marks the first in a series of WorkFlow Studio live events,” says White, “which complement our WorkFlow Connect Leadership monthly meetings and our WorkFlow Guides customized systems development and training materials. Our Affiliates, who deal with high-end couture fashions daily, need to continuously develop and implement systems and skills to keep up with the ever-changing fashion landscape and the latest technologies. These trainings ensure they stay at the forefront of providing the premium service our clientele expects.”
The training events were hosted at the Sankosha USA headquarters in Chicago, where attendees could take advantage of Sankosha's training facilities and production lab. Other offsite activities were hosted at the Westin Chicago Northwest hotel, including a Clifton Strengths workshop and Affiliate speed dating. There was also an awards dinner held at the Capital Grille.
“The 2023 WorkFlow Studio Principles of Production Management event by America's Best Cleaners had a profound impact on our Production Manager, Cesar,” says Maggie Fox, owner of ABC Affiliate Fox Cleaners. “Upon his return to work, he was filled with inspiration, excitement, and a strong determination to put into practice many of the valuable lessons he learned. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Liz and Chris for generously sharing their extensive knowledge and experience. Their dedication to nurturing and fostering the industry's talent and leadership potential is evident, and it greatly contributes to our efforts in cultivating a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and ongoing investment in our team members at Fox Cleaners.”
“The two-day program is innovative and has ‘real life’ interactions for the industry's future leaders,” says Jan Barlow, owner of ABC Affiliate Jan’s Professional Cleaners Owner. “It’s hard to find proper management training programs for the next generation in this industry, so we look forward to these events. My team members returned with a punch list that perfectly fit our Vision/Traction plan. This class was well planned and executed, and I also appreciated the Sankosha training facility location. Attendees were able to see and try out the equipment, which made for an immersive experience!”
Kevin Frank, production manager at Jan’s Professional Cleaners, says, “As a newer plant manager, the ABC Live Studio event was extremely beneficial. The atmosphere was empowering and encouraging without being an overload of information. The information we learned has helped us to start tracking more data and to assess that data more efficiently. It was also great to meet so many other managers who could relate to our experiences at Jan's Professional Dry Cleaners. I was grateful to be involved and hope to put all my new knowledge to work in the best way possible.”
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