“Once you understand the operation and maintenance required, it’s then time to put into place a maintenance checklist and the training to keep it going. But, this is not the only step to take for proper prevention protocol. The first step to being more preventive when it comes to maintenance is to read the manual, shares Andre. “However, the tracking of time-in-service/cars washed and the training needed to perform these tasks is often overlooked until equipment issues are apparent.” “A lack of proper preventative maintenance clearly accounts for the vast majority of business-disrupting failures, despite most equipment manufacturers providing documentation for recommended maintenance,” notes Bertsch. Furthermore, he adds, although defective parts can also cause equipment to fail, this rarely occurs and would normally happen upon startup or within the first few weeks.Ĭarwashes must know the difference between preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance, states Bertsch. The two biggest reasons for equipment failures at the wash, according to Andre, are improper operation/installation and lack of proper maintenance. “And it isn’t just Murphy’s law that will cause failure on your busiest day - it’s the extra stress on the equipment that naturally occurs that will force you out of the game.” “Maintenance costs are an integral part of the business, and the price of performing the maintenance prior to failure will represent a smaller increase in cost per car compared to the damage done to your equipment (and reputation) when you have to shut down for hours or even days to repair a failure,” explains Bertsch. “And while I don’t ever want to waste money, I prefer to look at proper maintenance as a way to protect my investment.” Preventative versus reactiveįor car care businesses that experience periods of increased traffic, such as during the winter months for many carwashes located in colder climates, running vital equipment close to the failure point leading into the busiest seasons “can be a costly game of chicken,” asserts Bertsch. “Oftentimes, maintenance is simply looked at as a cost to decrease,” says Nathan Bertsch, director of special projects for Tommy Car Wash Systems. And, although this task may seem daunting and even costly to adequately sustain, the benefits far outweigh any negatives. To ensure smooth operations, and in turn happy customers, proper maintenance is crucial. If any one piece isn’t in working order you will deliver an end product that doesn’t meet expectations of the customer, and you will have to throw labor at it to fix it.” “In order for that to happen, each piece has to do its part. “A carwash is essentially a production line being fed dirty cars in one end and should be delivering clean cars out the other - it’s what your customers expect,” explains Robert Andre, vice president of training and education for SONNY’S The CarWash Factory.
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