Adding a Second IBA...Expectations

[bigleo48]

Clean bay is right, holy FRP batman! or Extrutech perhaps? Nice job.

Where did you get those wheels spinners Big? How do they compare to the standard T-bar undercarriage?

Building is all Royal Building System. I did everything in RBS, including my vac islands & garbage enclosures.

The spinners are Mosmatic and you can get them at Kleen-rite for $425 a pair
http://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-4557-mostmatic-tire-cleaner-w21-ss-housing.aspx

I like them much better than the what came from PDQ.

 

[ScottV]

Big,

Back in 2005 I added a 2nd IBA at my fist site, one year after the initial build. I too watched long lines, cars driving off, and lived in fear of a Friday afternoon breakdown that I couldnt fix. The incremental volume amounted to +30% of the single IBA in the first year. It continued to grow after that and they now wash the same amount of cars in each bay(+/- 3%) and the total is probably 40% over the initial year. Some of that growth is the amount of time it takes to buildup customers at a new site. Some of it is definitely adding a 2nd bay. I think alot of the drive offs have to do with the number of options customers have (ie. proximity of competitors).

When adding another IBA, I would highly recommend looking at the Tandem, or another soft touch machine. I have a 3yr old site with 2-LW360's and 3 SS bays. In April of this year we converted one of the SS bays and installed a Tandem. So far it's washing as many cars as the two L360's combined on a daily basis. I know it won't be able to hold those numbers when the banner wash days are upon us, but I have been amazed at the positive feedback from customers. My PDQ distributor tells me they are seeing more and more sites with a touch and touch free installed next to each other. It not only broadens your product offering and allows you to attract another segment of customers, it also gives your current customer base more options for getting a clean car.

 

[rph9168]

I totally agree with Scott. Several years ago I did some work for several days on a site that had side by side automatics at a c-store - one touch free and one friction. When the customer purchased a code they could use it at either bay. There was room before entering to easily select either one. If there were any lines almost all of them chose the one with the shortest or no line. When there was no line at either one more picked the friction wash over the touch free wash. While I realize that this is not very scientific I have talked with many operators that had the same set up and most of them verified what I had seen.

 

[robert roman]

If doubt the life cycle of wand-bay or market moving away from DIY, consider the following.

Census and industry information indicate per capita spending on wands has dropped from $15 to $8 over the last decade, spending on in-bays in self-service dropped by $0.50.

In 1970, 70% of men performed home maintenance. Today, only 44% do. Over the last 5 years, the number over the age of 50 who perform their own auto maintenance dropped by over 40%. The number of people using self-service check-out dropped by 22%.

Experts like Adam Hartung suggest what is often needed is a reinvention of a firm's approach to the market with an emphasis on customer service and introducing new products that meet today's needs - not yesterday's.

Is there a need/want for wands? Yes. However, there may be half as much money being spent. Consider the number of SS sites where sales dropped significantly or foreclosed, auctioned, demolished, etc. Also, consider how many OEM’s and dealers have folded.

“Maybe your wash would be a good candidate for a campaign to educate people in the proper use of self-serve bays.” With all due respect, this would be like educating people on advantages and proper use of rotary dial telephones when most people want a cell phone.

A dog wash may help, but I see salvation for self-service through multiple in-bays and flex-serve. The why is the express format seems to have forever blurred the distinction between market segments.

For these reasons, I believe it makes more sense to determine total potential sales and anticipated market share than it does to use capture rate or segment a market into neat little boxes like how many will use wand - or touch-less or friction or hybrid in-bay - how many won’t come because their full-service or wash at home - how many will defect if an express wash builds nearby - etc.

Using this approach, I believe many SS owners will find more potential exists for automated washing than previously thought.

 

[Ric]

Big,

Back in 2005 I added a 2nd IBA at my fist site, one year after the initial build. I too watched long lines, cars driving off, and lived in fear of a Friday afternoon breakdown that I couldnt fix. The incremental volume amounted to +30% of the single IBA in the first year. It continued to grow after that and they now wash the same amount of cars in each bay(+/- 3%) and the total is probably 40% over the initial year. Some of that growth is the amount of time it takes to buildup customers at a new site. Some of it is definitely adding a 2nd bay. I think alot of the drive offs have to do with the number of options customers have (ie. proximity of competitors).

When adding another IBA, I would highly recommend looking at the Tandem, or another soft touch machine. I have a 3yr old site with 2-LW360's and 3 SS bays. In April of this year we converted one of the SS bays and installed a Tandem. So far it's washing as many cars as the two L360's combined on a daily basis. I know it won't be able to hold those numbers when the banner wash days are upon us, but I have been amazed at the positive feedback from customers. My PDQ distributor tells me they are seeing more and more sites with a touch and touch free installed next to each other. It not only broadens your product offering and allows you to attract another segment of customers, it also gives your current customer base more options for getting a clean car.

Have you seen an increase in damage "claims" with the friction wash?

 

[mmurra]

Several SS washes in our market (SE Mich), added one then two in-bay touch free automatics, in the late 1990's. Both did very well with one and then initially with two. As the economy in our area tanked in the following decade my guess is that, as total wash volume decreased significantly, the throughput on both tandem automatics decreased on both washes, to a volume at or less that the volume going through the single unit. It is the economy as much as anything else, in our market IMO.

 

[ScottV]

Ric,

No I have not, and that was the biggest concern I had going into the Tandem investment. Coming from a totally touch free environment, I wasnt sure what to expect. We were very prescriptive about our signage, placing a notice next to the screen on the paystation stating "This is a touch environment. We are not responsible for any damage claims unless the equipment malfunctions."

Our policy in the touch free bays has always been that if our machine touched your car in any way, then it is our problem and we will make it right. Unless of course there are cow catchers or extra long trailer hitches involved. In the Tandem bay, customers expect the machine to touch their car, so I've taken the approach that if the machine malfunctions in any way and damages the car, then I'm responsible. If the wash does exactly what it was supposed to do, and the customer feels like their car was damaged, then it's not our issue. They assume the responsibility when they purchase the wash and pull into the bay. We have no idea what condition the finish of the cars are before they pull into the wash and I make that clear to anyone who's ever called to complain.

Since opening the bay on May 1st, we've only had two people claim that the machine 'scratched' their finish. I think in both cases the machine washed their car so well, that they were finally able to see micro scratches in the surface of the clear coat. They were both older model vehicles, and I gave them a couple of wash cards, but nothing else. I've heard from other operators that it will rip off plastic license plate holders, etc. but have not experienced any of those problems as of yet.

It's a great machine and washes the vehicles better than any touch free machine ever could!

 

[Ric]

Thanks for sharing Scott. I owned and operated a friction tunnel for 25 years. The few legitimate claims I would get were not a problem to me. If we did the damage I would make it right. What got to be old were the bogus claims....the shopping cart dings, door dings, keyed scratches, the list is long. I have many stories to tell, like being accused of scratching the inside of a window. Dealing with those claims is time and energy consuming. It slowly drained my enthusiasm for the business. When I sold the the tunnel and installed a touchfree in bay at one of my locations is was nice not to have to deal with that stuff anymore. I am considering a second iba and I know a friction wash would open up another market for me but I just don't think I want to go back to dealing with the damage "claims". I'm riding the fence right now. It will be interesting to see what others have experienced.