BDS Expands Global Distribution Enhances Customer Experience
In addition to equipping and managing laundry rooms for university dormitories, condos, and apartment complexes, BDS Laundry also provides on-premise laundry solutions to the healthcare and hospitality industries and government entities, assists investors in organizing and outfitting laundromats and distributes replacement commercial laundry parts throughout the United States via their online store.
BDS Laundry has used Microsoft Dynamics NAV since 2008. They originally chose Dynamics NAV because of its services functionality but found that it’s been a flexible, effective tool to manage all aspects of the business.
BDS Laundry embraces technology in an industry that isn’t typically viewed as a tech innovator. “We’re a technology forward company,” says BDS Laundry’s Chief Financial Officer, Sandy Englund. “Dynamics NAV is so open and has been easily modified to fit our needs.”
Stoneridge Software has proven to be a true partner to BDS Laundry’s success and growth. “Stoneridge Software is in this with us. They analyze our needs and provide guidance as to the best way to move our business forward. They have a deep understanding of Dynamics NAV and their team is great,” says Englund.
Using technology to enhance the customer experience
The laundry industry has seen plenty of advances that benefit the consumer and BDS Laundry is dedicated to providing an exceptional level of support to each and every customer, every day. In partnering with two online laundry monitoring companies, BDS Laundry offers LaundryEye, a real-time monitoring program for multi-housing laundry rooms. Each connected laundry room has a dedicated webpage showing which machines are in use and even how many minutes are remaining on a washer or dryer cycle. Residents only need to set up a free account to receive instant laundry alerts via text or email.
Additional examples of their enhanced customer service can be found on their website; requests for refunds or service may be submitted online. BDS Laundry has also eliminated the need to keep quarters on hand. The BDS Laundry payment card enables residents to load funds to their laundry card by credit card directly from their website. Their technology also enables residents to use a credit card at the laundry machine.
Providing outstanding customer service through mobile technology
BDS Laundry’s business has grown tremendously since the mid- 1990s. They have a dispatch module add-on that they’ve enhanced specifically for the laundry industry and use the Dynamics NAV web client to provide their field technicians access to web portals specifically designed for quick data entry and easy access to information.
Today, when a service call is scheduled by a dispatcher, the assigned technician receives the information in the field via tablet. Providing technicians with increased access to information has resulted in improved customer service as well as increased technician satisfaction.
BDS Laundry wants to do even better. “We’re currently evaluating how we perform service and the information our technicians can access,” Englund says. “We want to make the experience more user-friendly and ensure our technicians can easily access what they need.”
Expanding global parts distribution with inventory controls
BDS Laundry offers tens of thousands of commercial laundry parts on their website. They launched a web store in 2015 and since its launch, their parts distribution company has grown significantly. The online store is integrated with Dynamics NAV and automatically decrements their inventory as items are sold, enabling them to better control inventory levels.
Allowing customers to purchase items via web store has resulted in decreased data entry errors and positioned BDS Laundry for future growth as they add products to their inventory. They’re currently optimizing their website to ensure their web traffic increases and their global parts distribution continues to grow.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in sales and traffic after connecting Dynamic NAV to our e-commerce platform. Adding parts to NAV and pushing live to the site is a breeze,” says Englund. “We’re excited to see continued growth and benefit from the simple integration offerings from Dynamics NAV.”
