Get started with Price Tables

The department, category, and item are the three basic elements of a price table:

Department: This is used to distinguish between major methods of cleaning/treating items. The most common used are 'Drycleaning', 'Household', 'Laundry', 'Leather', and 'Wedding'.

Category: Under the department, this is used to group items by general design. For instance, categories under the 'Drycleaning' department could be described as 'Shirts', 'Pants', 'Dress', 'Coats', etc.

Item: Under the category, this is used to describe a the particular garment. For instance, an item under 'Pants' could be described as 'Jeans', 'Slacks', 'Ski', etc.

Department groups are a key part of SPOT operations. These groups allow you to organize your departments and provide opportunities for setting changes and reporting. It is important to keep in mind that department groups are a required setting in the departments themselves, if used for nothing else.

Example: You might have a department group called ‘DryCleaning’. This department group will contain all your drycleaning departments such as ‘Men’s DryCleaning’ and ‘Women’s DryCleaning’.

The promise date table is used to set default due dates for orders at the mark-in stage. A single price table can use multiple promise date tables based on your needs. In particular, routes and hotels generally have different promise date needs.

In addition to the regular promise date table there is now a production promise date table that is optional. This can be configured to give your in-house staff a due date to complete the invoice.

Upcharge tables are used to complement the price table. These tables are used to change the price of a item based on special care it might require. This could be based on a something like fabric or specific customer request. The upcharge tables are linked to the price table at the item level, allowing you to customize each one to meet the item's needs.

The upcharge table is represented in the mark-in process by the Special Charges column.

The alteration table is used in conjunction with the price table to label items with one-time changes. Depending on your range of services, this could be anything from adding a button back on to hemming pants. The alteration tables are assigned at the item level in price table settings. These can be used during mark-in, using the 'Item Alteration'.

WARNING! Changing the name of an existing department group will render its current production invoices unusable. If this is a new copy that has not been in production, there will be no issue with renaming.

Because department groups are required for each department, they should be completed first.

Setup > Program Configuration > Company>Mark-in Settings > Price Table > (Your Price Table) > Department Groups

Right-click ‘Department Groups’ next to the blue box and select ‘Create new ‘Department Group'.

There are three main settings here that need to be filled out.

Name: Name the department group in a way that makes sense to you. (Normally something like DryCleaning, Laundry, Household, etc.)

MaxPieceCount: This will be used later with automatic split settings if you choose to use them. (Recommended at 5 to start, or 999 if you will not split at mark-in.)

Workflow Template: This MUST be set, otherwise the price table will malfunction. (See more on Workflow templates in our Order Process & Settings .)

Repeat this process until you have all of the department groups that you require.

WARNING! Changing the name of an existing department will render its current production invoices unusable. If this is a new copy that has not been in production, there will be no issue with renaming.

This is where you are going to create the header for specific groups of clothing. Under this header you will also create categories and the individual items themselves.

Setup > Program Configuration > Company > Mark-in Settings > Price Table > (Your Price Table) > Departments

To create a new Department, right-click ‘Department’ next to the blue box and select ‘Create new ‘Department’.

Once you have your department there are a few key settings that should be set:

Name: Name this something appropriate as customers will see this on invoices. (Example: Men’s Drycleaning.)

Department Group: This MUST be set, otherwise the price table will malfunction. (Link this with the appropriate group. If you are following the examples so far, this would be ‘DryCleaning’.)

EnviroCharge?: Check if applicable. (Some states require a fee for dealing with the solvents used by dry cleaners.)

Preferences to Print: Select your customer's preferences you would like to add to the printed invoice.

Taxable: Check if applicable. (Some states require dry cleaning to be taxed while others do not. If you are unsure what applies to you, consult a tax professional.)

Repeat this process until you have all of the departments that you require.

WARNING! Changing the name of an existing category will render its current production invoices unusable. If this is a new copy that has not been in production, there will be no issue with renaming.

Categories are the next stepping stone to your items. This will give you greater control over what Items are grouped together.

Setup > Program Configuration > Company > Mark-in Settings > Price Table > (Your Price Table) > Departments > (Your Department) > Categories

To create new categories, right-click Categories’ next to the blue box and select ‘Create new 'Categories’.

Name: Name this something appropriate as customers will see this on invoices. (Example: ‘Shirts’.)

Describe & Price Available: This will enable a button at mark-in allowing custom item creation under this category.

Describe & Price Conveyor Context: Set this to hanging if you want Describe & Price items to go on your automated assembly and/or storage conveyor.

Repeat this process until you have all of the categories that you require.

WARNING! Changing the name of an existing Item will render its current production invoices unusable. If this is a new copy that has not been in production, there will be no issue with renaming.

Items are the ultimate descriptor for your garments. Make sure you create all the items that you need, though keep in mind that the more items you have, the more complicated your mark-in sessions will be.

Setup > Program Configuration > Company > Mark-in Settings > Price Table > (Your Price Table) > Departments > (Your Department) > Categories > (Your Category) > Items

Right-click ‘Items’ next to the blue box and select ‘Create new Items’.

Name: Name this something appropriate as customers will see this on invoices. (Example: ‘Dress Shirt’.)

Price: This will be the cost given to the item when marked in.

Pieces: This will determine how many pieces show up on the invoice. The most common use for this is with Suits. If you only want to mark in 1 item but include an entire suit (e.g., jacket and pants), you would input ‘2’ here.

Upcharge Table: This will populate a upcharge table under the special charges section in the detail mark-in session. Find out more on these later in this training.

Alteration Table: This will give the list of alterations based on the table selected when using the Alterations button in the detail mark-in screen. Find out more on these later in this training.

Conveyor Context: This is only important if you have an automated conveyor. If you would like the item to be usable with the conveyor, set this to 'Hanging'.

Repeat this process until you have all of the Items that you require.

WARNING! Changing the name of an existing promise date table will render its current production invoices unusable. If this is a new copy that has not been in production, there will be no issue with renaming.

This is to set up an automatic date due for garments based on the ‘Department’ level at the time of quick/detail.

Setup > Program Configuration > Company > Mark-in Settings > Price Table > (Your Price Table) > PromiseDates

Right-click ‘PromiseDates’ next to the blue box and select ‘Create new PromiseDates’.

Name: Be sure to name this something appropriate. Keep in mind you may have multiple promise date tables to meet all your route and hotel needs.

Select 'Edit' to configure your table.

Cut off time: Anything before this time will be promised for the first day listed. Anything after will be for the second day listed. Make sure to re-select the Cutoff time for each new selection.

Tip: You must make all three selections each time you wish to change one of the settings. Automatic selections will not be applied.

To disable a day from production you will need to select the day and then select ‘Do not Accept Orders’. This will blank the day out, preventing orders from being promised for that day.

You can also set the promise date to be specific to your category levels instead of your departments. Select the drop down for ‘Level’ and Choose Categories.

The hotel settings function the same as the default store settings. You can find them at:

Setup > Program Configuration > Store > Mark-in Settings > Hotel > (Your hotel) > Price Table

Setup > Program Configuration > Store > Mark-in Settings > Hotel > (Your hotel) > Promise Date Assignment

The route settings function the same as the default store settings. You can find them at:

Setup > Program Configuration > Store > Route Settings > Routes > (Your Route) > Price Table

Setup > Program Configuration > Store > Route Settings > Routes > (Your Route) > Promise Date Assignment

You can set a price table to override ALL settings per customer at:

Search > Customer > Customer View > Details > Price Table