Ticket Board is a system for storing luggage and a program to track the locations where the luggage is stored. This system was developed to maximize the available space for storage, and to speed up the storage and retrieval times. The program requires that the ticket number and the person checking in the luggage must be entered. Optionally, you may require that a guest id be entered for greater security, and is very useful in the case on a lost ticket. The ticket may be found by the guest id. You may also require that a guest name/comments be entered. You may also require that the storage location must be entered. This program allows us to quickly locate luggage, and tracks when the luggage was stored, and by whom.
The way we used to store and retreive luggage is probably the same way you do it now. When a bell person or door person checkes luggage, the luggage is ticketed, and the luggage is stored in a baggage room. The baggage room is usually organized by having sections numbered from 0 to 9. The luggage is stored in the section corresponding to the last number on the claim check. When a guest retreives their luggage, the bell person has to check the whole section corresponding to the last number on the claim check. Not very efficient! It is also a problem when a section is filled up, and you have to store bags in that section. Another problem is that bell persons tend to take out all of the tickets that correspond to locations closest to the front of the baggage room.
I decided that the best way to store luggage is a system similar to the one used to valet park cars. Cars can be parked in any location in the garage. The location where the car is parked is noted when it is parked. To retrieve the car, the driver simply goes to the location where the car is parked. I use the same system to store luggage. Each bin for the storage of luggage is now numbered. When luggage is stored we simply record the bin number on our part of the claim check. This way we can store luggage in the closest location. To retrieve the luggage, you just go to the the numbered bin to find the luggage. Much faster and efficient!
This system was developed as part of a Kaizen event. These events are a way to analayze the work flow in a department. We discovered that it was actually taking quite a long time to store and retreive luggage. We found it to be inefficient to have our bellstaff search for a place to store luggage when the baggage room was getting full. It was an even bigger problem to look for luggage when the bell person has to look thru a whole section full of luggage. We looked at several alternative ways to get a handle on the storage and retreival of luggage. The Ticket Board system was modeled on the way valet parkers park cars. We found that by having the luggage stored in a numbered location, we cound fill up our baggage room from the front sections to the back sections. Now, our bell staff can simply go to the numbered location when retreiving the luggage.
If you also have Bell Desk Insight installed, the Ticket Board program will automatically update to reflect who retreived the luggage, and where it was delivered to. Using the ticket history window you can see a complete history of all luggage that was deleivered. This includes the time it was checked in, who checked it, who retrieved it, and where it was delivered by what bell person.
