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Humbled By 1 Week of Downtime!
- Thread starter Waxman
- Start date
I.B. Washincars
Car Washer Emeritus
Kevin James
Active member
It’s totally unacceptable for a piece of equipment that makes you money to be broken for 5 days. It shouldn’t have been down for any longer than 12 hours. We don’t let any piece of equipment be down for more than 6 hours. If it’s broken it’s not making money. Have a bay blocked off looks bad.
When I was in college I worked in the woods logging. I can remember many times when a piece of equipment would break down we’d work all night if we had too to get it up and running. I recall one time driving 300 miles round trip in the late afternoon to get $75 worth of parts that we couldn’t get shipped next day UPS and then meeting the boss at the job site at 2 am to installed to parts to get the equipment operational.
In this day and age there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t have parts on hand to fix any problem that might come up or the resources to get the repair parts fast. You should have at least the common parts in stock, fittings, coin acceptor, timer, pump parts etc.
When I was in college I worked in the woods logging. I can remember many times when a piece of equipment would break down we’d work all night if we had too to get it up and running. I recall one time driving 300 miles round trip in the late afternoon to get $75 worth of parts that we couldn’t get shipped next day UPS and then meeting the boss at the job site at 2 am to installed to parts to get the equipment operational.
In this day and age there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t have parts on hand to fix any problem that might come up or the resources to get the repair parts fast. You should have at least the common parts in stock, fittings, coin acceptor, timer, pump parts etc.
Waxman
Super Moderator
Kevin; I greatly admire your work in 'The King of Queens' and even 'Mall Cop'. However, your business model and standards are fine for you but I can't get all hung up over being down for a duration. My customers are back. Sometimes in this business things crop up in groups of three. Sometimes you need to shut the carwash down to diagnose trouble sources. My problems were many at once. I wasn't slacking off; I was fixing things. New guys like me don't know enough at first to stock bearings, belts, switches, relays, hoses etc. How long have you been in this business? How old are you? Sounds like you've got alot of great experience in logging and other tough businesses. Kudos. I am a little guy who is new and learning so back er down a notch and let me be 'waxman'.
termn8tr
Member
Waxman,
Often we allow ourselves to get all worked up about things that, upon closer examination, aren't really that big a deal. We focus on little problems and blow them out of proportion. ... Whether we had to wait in line, listen to unfair criticism, or do the lion's share of the work, it pays enormous dividends if we learn not to worry about little things. So many people spend so much of their life energy "sweating the small stuff" that they completely lose touch with the magic and beauty of life. So don't sweat the small stuff.., and it's all small stuff. You did your best, that's all that matters!!!!!!!!!
Often we allow ourselves to get all worked up about things that, upon closer examination, aren't really that big a deal. We focus on little problems and blow them out of proportion. ... Whether we had to wait in line, listen to unfair criticism, or do the lion's share of the work, it pays enormous dividends if we learn not to worry about little things. So many people spend so much of their life energy "sweating the small stuff" that they completely lose touch with the magic and beauty of life. So don't sweat the small stuff.., and it's all small stuff. You did your best, that's all that matters!!!!!!!!!
soapy
Senior Member
Physical location of the site often determiines how long it will take to make a repair. You only learn with experience which propietary parts you really need to carry from the factory. It is pretty hard to get parts quick when a distributor is over 300 miles away. If you live in a small town where you can't even buy a simple bearing it will add time to simple repairs. I think all good car wash owners try to minimize down time. The second time you under take a repair it goes alot smoother and quicker.
Waxman
Super Moderator
Exactly! I see this ordeal as a benefit for me; tweaking my PM schedule for the machine, stocking parts that are similar (other pillow block bearings etc.), becoming familiar with the requirements of a major job like the ones we did, as well as the possible necessity of re-engineering parts to perform better and more reliably. Those tasks took us some time, maybe too much, but if the end results are those mentioned above plus washing cars with less future downtime, I am completely satisfied.
mjwalsh
6 bay SS w/laundromat
Musings
Sometimes we will stock extra parts just to buy us time until we can correct the lesser design of something with a better design. If certain distributors & OEMs & even their repair people go out of their way to sabotage & penalize those of us that do that --- then their hearts really aren't where they should be. Oh I forgot, we should never question their motives. There has to be true education at some level though!
Sometimes we will stock extra parts just to buy us time until we can correct the lesser design of something with a better design. If certain distributors & OEMs & even their repair people go out of their way to sabotage & penalize those of us that do that --- then their hearts really aren't where they should be. Oh I forgot, we should never question their motives. There has to be true education at some level though!
Totally agree!
Waxman, it feels like you just opened a can of worms!
Well, it took you five days. So what! These were your own five days and your own loss (or maybe not since the customer might have washed the car the following week). Of course there is always somebody who could've repaired it faster, shipped it quicker, done it better. Nothing to worry about. This reminds me about the time when there was no fax, no email just the ol' snail mail. When we worked through our daily mail it was time to have a coffee or a beer. Man, my life was much easier. Less pressure to do things immediately. Today with all the so called things "that-make-my-life-easier" it is usually the opposite. Since everything is so much faster you are also pressured to work so much faster.
Time to smell the roses...
