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“We want to have 200 plus outlets in the next 5 years with a target to have at least one car wash in every town and city. As our PM is going forward with Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, we also want to introduce clean car culture in every city of India.” – Karan Sethi
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Constant Coaching
Educating a customer on the need of such systems is also important. “We also did a profitability study for a customer to show savings up to 75% in water consumption, 25 to 30% in electricity and reduction in labour by 50%. We also offered detergents and waxes that are eco-friendly. In fact, one of the tests at a workshop revealed a saving of Rs.2.96 lakh in a year with our products which was bought for Rs.1.35 lakh. Over and above, such products also help employee retention. In an industry where workers quit constantly, if operators are given good products that do not tire them or they do not get wet or fall sick during winters, their shoes are not wet… with good systems and chemicals they would prefer to stay and work.”
Understanding Products
Each of the accessories offered with the system provides a return on investment. “If we are offering a high pressure, we are giving it loaded with all the accessories so that they do not have to purchase them later separately. If it is a vacuum cleaner with double motor, we have two separate systems giving the option of switching to single motor at any time and saving electricity. There are special car vacuums which is a very handy tool by which the operator can clean the car very well. We have given it a red colour so that it is identified as an important tool. We are trying to include standard by colour coding products.”
While the systems and solutions are in place, it is also essential to sensitize the operators on the usage of products. “We have thus made programs to simplify applications. We educate operators on what products to use in case of 10 cars a day, 15-20 cars a day and 40 plus cars a day.”
Futuristic Approach
The environment is changing and we are also preparing for the future. Water is going to be an issue. In a definitive move, Pune Municipal Corporation has issued a notification recently that no water should be used for car washing as water tables are going down.
In fact, unauthorised centres and local car washers use around 200-300 litres per car, revealed Karan Sethi.
Looking into the future, we have introduced an amazing steam jet machine which uses only four to six litres of water to clean and polish a car in a single action. With the use of local mineral water which costs one rupee per litre, a single car wash and polishing will require water worth Rs.6. This will help avoid scale formation in the machine and sustain its life for a longer period. This is where the awareness comes in and we advise the customer to use mineral water. Right products need right supplies to provide right solutions/ output.
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“We are launching the first car wash app to make car wash more convenient and enjoyable for the customers. This app will allow them to book their car wash using Paytm. They can also find the closest outlet near them. We are also planning radio adds to educate the masses about car wash.” – Kunal Sethi
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Automatic Car washing < /strong>
Car wash is an important market and Manmachine Works ventured into this segment four years back. After testing the market for a year, it went operational in the city and did a study on why a good car wash is required. “We can offer quality and quick service, good environment, safe place using good quality products… multiple solutions but our aim was to get a car washed in 20 minutes. We designed a programme for the operator to go through the entire process.
“We are also doing automatic car washing with a capacity of washing 200 cars a day. We have one installed at Hyderabad with a Maruti dealer who is washing 80 cars a day.” In two decades, India would be the largest automobile producer in the world. There will not be much space then to wash a car and we are offering a system that will use less than 100 litres of water to wash & deliver a car in less than 20 minutes.
“With Exppress Car Wash we make sure we do not use more than 60-80 litres per car which is around 70% reduction and now we have also introduced steam systems which only use 20-25 litres of water per car,” explains Karan. Owning a car wash and operating one is a massive task in India because of the laws. Car cleaning chemicals need to be environment friendly therefore the chemicals used in Exppress Car Wash are bio-degradable; all are ISO recognised. They are all imported from Europe and made with European standards.
Manmachine Works has also started a car wash college. “In the case of M&M, we are not only selling car wash solutions but also a car wash training programme. Our trainers go to the respective dealers and give a two-day training to the operators over and above the regular training that we offer to every customer.
“At Manmachine we believe in what we do and that is why we have started our own car wash outlets. Today, we have 10 such outlets operating in Delhi,” says Anil Sethi.
