LATEST ISSUE / Editorial
Interesting what people are looking for ... the past couple of weeks I have had phone calls from three small laundries, all looking for single roll ironers. One even wanted something just for pillow cases - a meter wide would do. If you have equipment you aren't using, don't forget to advertise with us. Our Classifieds section gets hits from some surprising places.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Greetings dear reader! I trust your Christmas and New Year break provided you with a restful end to the year and a great jumping off point for 2012. The next issue of the NATIONAL publishes at the end of February. If you have items for inclusion - editorial or advertising - please direct these to my email address. I am currently on annual leave and return to the office Monday 30th January. Oh boy ... I can hardly wait to see what 2012 holds!
OFFICE OF NDCL
In this age of technology, and particularly with my business being largely conducted by email and telephone, I have decided that operating a business office is largely a waste of money and travel time and like a lot of IT people, I now work from a home based office. The NDCL business line has been disconnected and will be rerouted direct to my mobile number. Please delete the office details and replace with telephone +61 (0) 408 600 312 (International callers: please change your telephone contact details for NDCL to +61 (0) 408 600 312). Thank you!
Mail to: PO BOX 920 SYLVANIA SOUTHGATE NSW 2224 AUSTRALIA
PDA - WA ... FABULOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SAW RENEWING MEMBERS RECEIVE iPAD2
Yes, those amazing people on the PDA Inc. - WA Committee have thought of a new and clever way to give back to their Membership.
They have bought iPad2 in bulk, and given one to each Member renewing their Membership for 2011/12. I was there on August 10th to join in the fun, and talk to Members. (There were 85 people present on the night.) I think there should be a "Get To Know Your iPad2 Seminar" coming up shortly. :)
This was not just a cute gift ... it's a valuable working tool. Industry Awards, Customer Complaint Forms, information from previous meetings ... it's all there on the iPad. What if an Award rate changes, for example. Content can be updated instantly for the whole Membership via the control DropBox. So clever! And the iPad2 is only being given to RENEWING Members ... it's a thank you, not a ploy to attract new Members.
Meanwhile, PDA Inc. WA is serving as a Guinea Pig for the NATIONAL. In addition to receiving their magazine in the mail, the .pdf of the NATIONAL will become available to them via the Member DropBox which is controlled by Secretary Linda Ashburner. I will be surveying Members in 12 months time to ascertain how they feel about reading their magazine online.
More Help for Mature Age Workers – At last some funding for those who are normally ineligible
Finally some funding for those who own/manage a laundry/dry cleaning business to get either their cert III in dry cleaning operations or cert IV Frontline Management. The Australian Government is making $30 million available over the next three years, so that 7500 mature age workers with trade relevant skills but no formal qualifications will have the opportunity to have their skills assessed and formally recognised. More Help for Mature Age Workers is aimed at workers aged 50 years and over and provides a focus on skilling up mature age workers to address both productivity and skills shortages.
LDCT Laundry Dry Cleaning Training can help those who own or run a laundry/dry cleaning business to apply for this funding and provide the necessary tools for an RPL (recognised prior learning) to achieve their trade qualifications in either cert III in Dry Cleaning Operations or Cert IV Frontline management for those who already have their trade qualifications.
The Federal Government is offering $2200 to successful applicants per qualification. LDCT can then provide Fee for Service, the necessary RPL/Skills recognition to achieve the qualification Australia Wide. This offer is for all industries across Australia so first in best Qualified.
For more details or help with applications please contact Kerryn Rizza 0416052528
Kerryn J Rizza Grad Dip Industrial Education & Training TAE CertIV FLM
Head Trainer
LDCT Laundry Dry Cleaning Training
PO Box 608
Cardiff NSW 2285
0416052528 Mobile
02 49 588817 BH
02 49 588877 Fax
kerryn@ldct.com.au
www.ldct.com.au
MANY BLOOD BANKS ACROSS AUSTRALIA ARE REPORTING CRITICALLY LOW LEVELS OF STOCK - PLEASE GIVE YOUR BLOOD TODAY
http://www.donateblood.com.au
How many family members do you have? Workmates? Friends? Do you know that 1 in 3 Australians will need a blood product during their lifetime? Heart surgery, cancer treatment, road accident victims, fire and burns, pre-term babies .... the list is endless. Do you know only 1 in 30 Australians donates blood? Find your nearest Blood Bank today and make a deposit. We need more blood donors of whole blood and it doesn't matter what type you are. Note to Happy Wanderers: my time to donate again came up and the Red Cross phoned me as usual. In establishing a date they asked if I had been overseas lately. I said to the US, and they advised an eight week non-donation period from the date of return. And if I'm out of the mix to the end of August YOU need to make up for it!!! You are needed NOW! Recent news example below:
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/what-if-this-had-happened-at-home-she-wouldnt-be-here-20110716-1hj1r.html
WANTED: LAUNDRY SOFTWARE PACKAGE. PLEASE REPLY SHIRLEY shirley@nationaldrycleaners.com.au
Hi Shirley,
We are looking to upgrade our laundry software from Quickbooks to something more specific to our industry and I was wondering if you know of any software that would be appropriate for us being a commercial laundry without any dry cleaning?
Kind Regards,
A Commercial Laundry
FILTERFAB ON SAFETY AND IRONER TRAINING 
"Our ironer training freely available on http://www.filterfab.com/training and "Germstop" is now on here too. All the posters can bedownloaded from here as a pdf BUT Filterfab are happy to send out a laminated poster in A3 – Free of Charge – on request to any customer who wants it.
GreenEarth Cleaning Wins Australian Award
The United Nations Association of Australia announced GreenEarth Cleaning and its Affiliates as finalists in this year's national World Environment Day Awards. The Virgin Blue Business Awards - Best Specific Environmental Initiative selected "GreenEarth Cleaning Australasia - 'Eco Friendly Cleaning For Your Entire Wardrobe'" as one of the outstanding initiatives in bringing an eco-friendly process to Australia to help replace hazardous alternatives. Please see EVENTS this website for full details.
NEWSFLASH! CHECK OUT THE NEW GARMENT ALERTS FROM DCCAS, LOCATED IN THE ORANGE BOX ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THIS HOME PAGE. ADDITIONAL BACK COPIES OF ALERTS ARE BEING LOADED PERIODICALLY.
As regular readers of the NATIONAL would be aware, Steve Pyott, (B.Sc., M.Sc., CText A.T.I., Grad.Cert.Ed., Adv.Dep.Ed) and Chartered Textile Technologist contributes a regular column to the NATIONAL magazine over the banner of his company, DCCAS (Dry Cleaning Complaints Arbitration Services). I was so delighted to hear from Steve this week when he wrote to advise a Queensland drycleaner had phoned to say he had Hugo Boss suit on his counter which corresponded to the latest Alert, and wondered if Steve had a copy of the article as published in the NATIONAL magazine. Of course, Steve had the .pdf which he promptly emailed to the drycleaner. It is this sort of interlinked activity in the industry, where different bodies work together, that is so practical and beneficial.
UPDATE: Check out the attached .pdf with the Update on this story at DCCAS at left.
Then, there is the same old struggle which our industry continues to face where helpful information is provided – in this instance by both Steve Pyott and DIA - only to find it printed under the banner "Don't get taken to the Cleaners". Nothing more than a lazy way of attracting readers with a headline that has little to do with the content.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/dont-get-taken-to-the-cleaners/story-fn6ccy9u-1226024020076
YOU ARE INVITED
If you have News and Views to share, please forward to shirley@nationaldrycleaners.com.au or www.nationaldrycleaners.com.au
Meanwhile, don't forget to click the heading bars above for EVENTS, CLASSIFIEDS, and the like as this website is updated practically daily! We also have an additional two new pages on our site, while breaking news is still at the forefront on the front home page, recent news is now split off into both Laundry and Drycleaning News Archives. If you have any suggestions for the site, don't hesitate to drop me a line!
Shirley Naylor,
Editor
PS: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/style/men-dressing-badly-20110406-1d3oy.html
Check out the comments ....








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