Clean Profits
Not just the manufacturing units, even the service and fuel filling stations are adopting mechanised cleaning. The number of petrol filling stations or petrol bunks as is popularly known in India has shot up with figures crossing 36,000 as per a survey done in 2009. The increased infrastructure development in the last two years has also prompted the need for having filling stations close to prime locations like malls, multiplexes, hotels, highways and other places where there is more traffic. In the race to attract more vehicles, petrol stations and workshops have taken the clean way by installing automated and mechanised cleaning systems.
“Earlier, the workshops owners were investing only in vacuum cleaners to be able to earn additional revenue by offering car cleaning services. Subsequently, they have graduated to buying industrial vacuum cleaners and upholstery cleaning machines. But the overall housekeeping of the workshop was never so much of a concern. There were a few high pressure water pumps attached to the pipes to clean the exterior of the cars. But today, changes are slowly coming in.
“The presence of a scrubber drier in a workshop adds to its image as a clean place. Workshops are keen to present an environment akin to that of a showroom,” said Puneet Mishra.
Inventa Cleantech Pvt Ltd has installed the automatic car washing systems in filling stations and workshops recently.
It is only last year that a filling station on a highway in Jalandhar installed the car wash system and “since then this place has become the most sought after filling station,” said Proprietor Anup Tiwari. “The sales have gone up too. It has become more convenient for people to have their car wash done while stopping to get fuel. Now we are receiving all kinds of cars for washing at the filling station. In Jalandhar, we are the only filling station which has this equipment.”
This novel concept is slowly catching up, mainly because people do not have to wait for their next service to get their car washed. The downtime of getting a car washed is reduced to 20 minutes unlike in a workshop one has to take prior appointment and leave the car behind.
Installing the car wash in a filling station has not been all that difficult for Tiwari. “I had a large room space and it was easy for me to covert it for the car wash system. Initially, we did have some teething problem with the system due to power fluctuation, which has now been rectified. Since, we already had proper water connection, it has been easy for us to meet the requirement of 40-50 litres per car wash,” he explained.
The flow of vehicles for wash is seasonal, says Tiwari. “Winter is the peak season with around 25-30 cars coming in each day. Monsoon is usually a lean period.
During the wash process, the car is shampooed and washed thoroughly. “In case of stubborn dirt, we have to remove it manually. We use car shampoo of Sandal Enterprises and use a microfibre cloth to dry the car after the wash. Shortly, we have also procured a compounding and lamination machine for polishing of cars.”
While the cars are getting washed, customers get treated at a well-equipped waiting lounge where Tiwari has made arrangement for people to watch TV or read newspapers & magazines and also buy some refreshments. Sutlej Filling Station is located on the highway at G.T. Road in Jalandhar.
Automatic car wash system in workshops / service stations has made life simpler, said Jitendra Shah, Director of Jitendra Motors Pvt Ltd, Nashik.
“In the last four months, since the car washing plant has been installed in the service station, the income has more than doubled. “Moreover, my biggest problem in the last 14 years has been getting stable labourers. Now, with the new washing system, I need just two of them, which is a big relief,” said Sandeep S Borse, Customer Care Head.
The actual workload of washing a car has also reduced considerably. “In the manual system, four of them had to lift the car on the jack and then use spray jets to clean the car. What took us 45 minutes is now getting done in less than 20 minutes. The productivity has increased to 35 from 14 vehicles. Besides, servicing the car, when the customer receives his vehicle well washed and perfectly cleaned the entire perception changes. In manual cleaning, there were always chances of the car not getting cleaned completely. Certain areas that are difficult to access would be left unclean,” explained Borse. Jitendra Motors are the authorized service station of Chevrolet, Hero Honda, Volkswagen, Mahindra &Mahindra.
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Since the car washing plant has been installed in the service station, the income has more than doubled. Moreover, my biggest problem of getting stable labourers has been solved.
– Jitendra Shah
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The system, being more systematic, also ensures that the surrounding area in the workshop does not get stained. “In the new automatic system, the car is mounted on a forklift and the oil gets dispensed into a collection tank. The work is more hygienic and there is no spillage as such. We also have bought Inventa’s manual scrubbers to keep the outside area clean.” About eight of them are doing the cleaning job at the workshop.
“Cleanliness makes a lot of difference,” added Jitendra Shah.
“While mechanised housekeeping has largely been accepted and everybody understands the need for machines. Today, the major area of discussion is the right combination of machines. If you have an area of 10,000sqm that needs to be cleaned in two hours then the machines should have a capacity of 5000sqm an hour. There is no point of investing in a machine with a capacity of 2000sqm an hour and expect it to the job in two hours! These are issues that surface today,” concludes Puneet Mishra.
