Whilst more basic off-the-shelf EPoS systems are satisfactory for stand alone units, businesses with more than oneretail shop, or operations sending work to a remote factory unit, need a more comprehensive data management system to integrate and share customer and management data. It is precisely to meet these sophisticated IT requirements that LM Computers has developed Touchtill. Much of what Touchtill does goes on below the surface.

What customers and staff see is a touch screen till. What management benefits from is the most advanced data management system on the market, which has been specially developed for the laundry and dry cleaning industry. Touchtill is unique in the way it operates. It is the only fully managed system on the market and the only one to offer remote back-up.

Naturally, the system takes the basic operation of a touch screen till in its stride - recording customers' orders, printing receipts and generating computer garment tickets. That you might expect, but Touchtill goes much, much further - networking all your points of sale, managing the system for you throughout the workflow process and in so doing, providing you with a full audit trail of activity, concisely encapsulated in valuable management report summaries. Touchtill software is developed and run by LM Computers, who manage the system remotely.

Touchtill is a great boon for individual sites, where its advanced software and reporting systems offer a much more professional approach to running a small retail shop. However, Touchtill really comes into its own when there are multiple points-of-sale to be integrated. In the laundry and drycleaning market that means retail dry cleaning shops and factory units.

At the stroke of a till key, orders are recorded and tickets created. Orders can then be batched for transporting to a remote factory or from receiving shop to processing unit. Batches can easily be processed and tickets edited at the factory unit. Staff can look up ticket codes and track the garment history, seeing clearly what time they need to be back at the receiving shop. Touchtill also enables shops to split orders between factory and third parties such as leather and wedding gown specialists or shoe repairers.

Touchtill makes the process of setting up and running a delivery and collection service so much more simple. The system takes each batch of orders and automatically creates a route for the van driver to follow. For ultimate control, a vehicle tracking system may be integrated within the software so the factory or head office can see where vans are at any time and last minute calls added in.