IBA Unlimited Washing Platform

[Bubbles Galore]

I have been working on developing a solution for an unlimited washing platform for some time now and have come across this system for door access entry.

Essex Electronics

While it is not 100% optimal, I think it may offer the necessary option at a better price point and quicker ROI than RFID. What do you guys think? I dont have the extra $1000 to purchase the unit since we are in the middle of a refinance, but maybe someone else wants to give it a go.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

My first question would be how do you prevent a customer from using it to wash all three or four of their vehicles since it can be passed around unlike an RFID sticker?

 

[ONEcard]

Years ago we built a controller with a PLC that monitored the functions in the wash bay, instead of using an in ground magnetic loop.

The last feature everyone would use was SFR. So once you left the SFR function the bay would terminate 5 seconds after leaving SFR.

This prevented this problem

 

[Bubbles Galore]

From the IBA wash standpoint, it would have to be built into the contract and monitored to ensure the system wasn't being abused. By using both a prox and code for entry, I would think that we could at least curb a little bit of abuse. It would be a work in progress and have to be adjusted/modified as these issues came up. What else comes to mind?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Years ago we built a controller with a PLC that monitored the functions in the wash bay, instead of using an in ground magnetic loop.

The last feature everyone would use was SFR. So once you left the SFR function the bay would terminate 5 seconds after leaving SFR.

This prevented this problem

I'm referencing an IBA wash, not self serve bays. Good idea though.

 

[Ric]

I've considered unlimited washes in my iba but I don't feel it would work for me do to the lack of throughput. Let's say I have just 50 members. It's a dry sunny Saturday in Feb. Most of them show up for their "free" wash. The line is 10 deep. My "club member" is thinking...gee thanks for the convenience of making me wait an hour for my "free" wash. I...as an owner am thinking about all the "paying" customers I'm missing out on today.
Limiting it to weekdays, off days, etc. may work but I think it's best suited for a wash that can do some good hourly volume such as a tunnel or multiple iba's.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I've considered unlimited washes in my iba but I don't feel it would work for me do to the lack of throughput. Let's say I have just 50 members. It's a dry sunny Saturday in Feb. Most of them show up for their "free" wash. The line is 10 deep. My "club member" is thinking...gee thanks for the convenience of making me wait an hour for my "free" wash. I...as an owner am thinking about all the "paying" customers I'm missing out on today.
Limiting it to weekdays, off days, etc. may work but I think it's best suited for a wash that can do some good hourly volume such as a tunnel or multiple iba's.

All valid points. Have you talked to an IBA owner with a similar platform that has experienced the issues you reference? I like to think that activity breeds activity at my car wash. If i have a long line of people, that really is the least of my worries to be quite honest. I already have customers that come later in the evenings and off times to ensure they don't have a wait. I think the convenience coupled with the reduced cost will make the customer much more forgiving if and when they have to wait.

 

[robert roman]

“I don't feel it would work for me do to the lack of throughput.”

“The line is 10 deep. My "club member" is thinking...gee thanks for the convenience of making me wait an hour for my "free" wash.”

I believe Pic is right-on, on both points, but I don’t agree with notion of “free.”

Regardless of the price customers pay to join your unlimited plan and recharge, they have paid for the right to wash as often as you contracted for. If the price is $19.95 and customer washes 20 times, each wash costs about a buck. If the customer washes three times, each wash costs the customer about $6.65. There is no free.

So, the unlimited customer will expect no less convenience or service than a customer that pays full price. In fact, they will most likely expect more because they are giving you their loyalty.

“If i have a long line of people, that really is the least of my worries to be quite honest.”

Any veteran operator will tell you when you have a long line you are losing money because you are not washing as many vehicles as you could be.

If people are coming at night to avoid waiting, most likely you are giving some other customers an excuse to go somewhere else.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I can't and won't argue with the points made, but I really would like to hear from an operator that has an RFID or similar system. Someone to corroborate the opinions here will go a long way in helping me understand why this might be a less than desirable option.

 

[raisetheprice]

If it were me and maybe you already have it, I'd go with a Point of Service system and sell accounts that way. Your customers have to enter their personal code and you can still get their $ up front and discount washes, perhaps every 5 prepaid washes get 1 free. Having to police abuse on top of everything else (idk how you guys operate in a cold climate on top of all the other Sh!t) doesn't sound like a good idea imo. With a throughput of around 10 cars and hour, your full paying customers won't wait. We're double bay and sometimes they won't wait with 2 in and 2 waiting regardless what day or time it is. They'll wait longer on the weekends, but if your unlimited guys show up too, you might find your ox in the ditch.

 

[robert roman]

“…., but I really would like to hear from an operator that has an RFID or similar system. Someone to corroborate the opinions here will go a long way in helping me understand why this might be a less than desirable option.”

I can assure you my opinion comes from being a former carwash operator.

I can also use statistics to demonstrate.

The service rate of an in-bay is the total time it takes to complete one wash.

The stop watch starts when a customer stops at the pay station and stops when the customer exits the wash bay.

Let’s assume the service rate is 12 cars an hour or an average of 5 minutes a wash.

The nature of a single server line is that the length of the waiting line and average waiting time will grow rapidly as the arrival rate of customers (random) approaches the service rate of the machine.

So, if your machine has service rate of 12 cars an hour and the arrival rate of customers is 9 an hour (an average of 60 cars daily), you will have 4 or more vehicles in the system 32% of the time.

The problem is when the arrival rate of customers exceeds 9 an hour, the length of the waiting line and average waiting time will grow indefinitely. Who wants to wait in line for 20 or 25 minutes to get a carwash?

As the other gentleman mentioned, people will pull out of line with as few as two cars in line.

Again, if you have long lines, you are not washing all you can get. Once people pull away, you can’t make up for today’s lost business tomorrow.

This is why slow in-bays are more suitable for lower volume applications.

RFID may give you capacity to support unlimited and a bit more speed, in an in-bay environment, but remember it will only have an effect on the portion of time it takes to complete the sales transaction part of the total wash process/service time.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Thanks for the feedback Robert. I have read and interacted with your posts on numerous occasions and appreciate your opinions. Buyer sentiment is always evolving, which is why I want to hear from someone that may be experiencing these theoretical issues that several of you have brought up.

I like to think of lines on a busy weekend as a badge of honor. I have done my job as a car wash proprietor and people WANT to be at my facility for plenty of different reasons. I constantly talk with customers who pass 4 different washes to come to my facility. I constantly monitor my competitors and am quite pleased with myself when I see people using my facility on a weekly basis.

I'm not bragging, just trying to be clear that we have set the bar and want to continue to innovate and give our customers what they want. One thing I need to do is bolster my throughput on the automatic side of things. I have tried a number of different marketing methods, but feel as though the referenced platform will offer the best return for both me and the customer.

If they are truly issues as several of you feel, I just want a few operators WITH similar equipment (RFID etc.) on their IBA's to agree that is what they are experiencing.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I appreciate all the opinions...kinda hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes.

 

[pcb]

You may want to contact Wash Card. (I don't represent them) I am looking at their system and if I remember correctly they had someone who had put one in at a IBA. Just a thought.

 

[robert roman]

“…. I want to hear from someone that may be experiencing these theoretical issues that several of you have brought up.”

Although theory is the basis for expressing the characteristics of single server line, I can assure you the theory has been confirmed countless times by people who did counts.

In other words, a single server line works the same for carwash, dry cleaner, fast food or any other business that has one server line.

“I like to think of lines on a busy weekend as a badge of honor.”

I can’t deny business tends to attract more business. For example, during the slow days of summer, I would have my staff clean their own cars out front to make the wash look busier to attract more business.

As for long waiting lines, the operations director of the chain I once worked for visited my wash, the company’s flagship site, during a very busy day during the winter.

We were washing 90 cars an hour and the waiting line was out to the street. Instead of being happy with an average of almost $20 a car, the director wanted to shove a broom handle up my behind because we were not wash 100 cars or more an hour.

“One thing I need to do is bolster my throughput on the automatic side of things.”

Is it throughput (capacity in cars per hour) or customer base you want to improve?

If you want indisputable feedback, I suggest you contact the horse.

In my mind, this could include the good people at DRB or ICS.

DRB has like 700 plus RFID out in the field and is led by people lik

 

[robert roman]

DRB has like 700 plus RFID out in the field and is led by people like Ken Brott, VP, who I have a great deal of respect for. DRB and ICS also have numbers guys.

 

[bigleo48]

With a single IBA, I just can't see doing the unlimited (somewhat anyway) wash program.

I can do mine with my washpay server as I can issue cards and dictate maximum uses per day. So that would help with the policing...but I don't want to discourage the full ticket customers with long lineups.