The story of
the ultimate express carwash began over 45 years ago
my grandfather his brother built their first car wash
in 1969
who would have known that over four decades later three generations of our
family would be helping build car washes
all over the world. But this is what happens when you commit
to the core philosophy of constant and never-ending
improvement.
we purchased this land fifteen years ago
with the plan to build a car wash here. Back then we had a plan approved
and ready to go but we realized that it wasn't perfect so we scraped the plans and put
the project on hold
over the last fifteen years technologies changed
and everything has evolved in the industry so we came back at three years
ago
with the new plan to usher in a new era of car wash technology
with this new state-of-the-art facility we're gonna give you a little tour today
of this project
this facility is what we call a totally Tommy gas wash c-store model and the
choice model of our corporate owned stores here in Michigan
it integrates a traditional feeling gas station connected to
the car wash as well as a Tim Hortons coffee shop with drive-through
now this model creates an integrated profit center
when the low labor environment the way we lay this out design it in a drive
through for the car wash and the Tim Hortons tied on the one building
Now when entering into the convenience store
on the left we have a Tim Hortons coffee shop for the franchisees for
with the drive to integrated and this is the inside part of that. Coming straight
ahead you have the gas station cashiers which are precisely in line with the
loading area the car wash in the flight deck area there
now if you drill a line through the facility we try to center the curb cut out front
with the center the gas pumps to the main center of the front door here
to the flight deck to the loading area of the car wash now over here we have
the coffee shop and restaurant area. we try to build a homey feel not make it
feel like you're having lunch in a gas station
fireplace TV and a nice sitting area
for the coffee shop that's inside the convenience store
the point of sale area is the first destination when entering the property
so it's key that it is line of sight from the entrance
behind me you'll see the new Tommy pay station canopy in the fascia with the
channel letters spelling out the lane options. now something unique here as we
offer
three lanes all working together the first lane being a cashier
with a manned cashier window
the middle lane being an auto teller which we direct cash or credit customers
to
in the outside lane the unlimited club speed pass lane
for club members to bypass the line now this payment system
is highly visible with the tower in a tower creates
the iconic look to draw people in
to that point of sale destination area. and you'll see also the finishing detail
the towers the Standard & the Tommy facility
what we call sometimes the dealership theme it's an architectural metal panel
with the split face block knee wall in the corrugated metal band
all three lanes are gated and whichever transaction finishes first the gate
opens in the customer can proceed into the queue
so here we are inside the pay station tower this we're all three lanes are
manage from at the cashier window
we can process transactions take coupons to special promotions and answer
questions
on the screens up here we monitor lane two and three
what's going on on those auto tellers on the right stack control to monitor the queue
and the cameras down here to monitor everything going on around the facility
we also new club member administration back here
in this usually a two-person task back here at the window
they come on the point of sale system making a left-hand turn toward the
carwash tunnel
we like to have a minimum of five cars in the queue here
that gives people enough time to get situated and prepare for loading
so we can keep on real tight when they get in we also come downhill into
the car wash tunnel
this allows a customer to ride the break and create a safer and faster loading
process
the secret to an outstanding car wash in high volume is
processing
the number 1 one tool all we have the process vehicles fast is what we call a Tommy
transporter belt conveyor
moving floor system. now the beauty in this is cars never have to stop moving
we want to get them in as tight as we can as fast as we can
in a peak hour we'll put a loader out here to bring them in tighter
but the car doesn't have to wait for a roller to pop up so as soon as they hit the
belt they go
we also reduce miss cars because we don't
have customers turning the wheel, jumping a roller, or things like that on the belt
it doesn't matter they can turn the wheel
hit the break or even put the car in park with limited issues.
So we load 'em in fast we get them on here smooth
with less customer intimidation. people are fearful
trying to line up getting scratched wheels by the old chain and roller conveyors
so this is the solution the Tommy transporter belt
to getting high-throughput now we've been open eighty six days we just passed a
hundred thousand cars washed total
our big day was 2350 cars
in our peak hour right now it's been a 194 cars an hour
to bring them in as tight and fast as we can
here we are standing in the flight deck behind you see cars loading themselves
in a self-loading process
that's only thanks to the design of the flight deck and its proximity to
the cashiers to the loading area. the carwash is all tied into this
gas wash c-store integrated model
Now as a gas station cashier I'm able to help a customer
right here
as well as turn around and monitor the loading process behind me
you see this design of the windows is very specific to get a longer-range view
to see the tire on the track, verify that they're on-line and
in neutral you hear the voice commander trainers give me a little reminder to do
a head check make sure everything looks good
the flight deck key design also incorporates
this panoramic window and allows me to look down the car wash tunnel
see everything happening right here with full control. in addition to the line of sight
we have the control console. this gives me an additional push button station
start, stop, some wash controls, as well as a conveyor pause feature
pause slows down the belt conveyor to a crawl so if we have trouble with somebody
loading
maybe something we got to grab on a pickup bed, this will cause the conveyor
to slow down for a few seconds and restart at full speed without stopping
the wash
these two touch screens give us an auxiliary controller
here in this is the management application which controls the daily
checklist in a cloud software program we put together
daily a checklist totals chemical levels and cost per car reading
now we get right here on the management application giving us full control
of this facility. the most unique thing you'll see behind me
32 foot wide car wash bay. now this creates a wide open spacious environment
for the customer as well as for the staff to manage and maintain the carwash
now also when it comes to the equipment we've completely
overhauled the innovation by getting rid of the old big back rooms. we used to have
a 100 foot long back room plus for pipes going this way and that way. well today
the chemical pod houses
most of that stuff in just nine feet of space
all the chemical functions and the chemicals themselves are plumbed in from the
bottom up with the pod chase way and
out overhead through the ladder rack system you see behind me
now we designed this latter rack bracket to hold all the chemical lines on bottom
hydraulics on top when they go out to the bay
they connect all the arches together in on one bend and no lines ever have to
criss-cross
a second pod down the tunnel is what we call a maintenance pod
this is crucial for day-to-day operation for maintenance on the nozzles
chemical injectors, tip cleaning, light duty maintenance
this has a workbench, a vice
a toolbox, wall cleaner, window cleaner with a retractable reel guns for high
pressure low pressure
and a water rinse so if we're doing windows at night or cleaning the wash bay this makes it easy
Centered in the tunnel
so the hoses can reach both ends. now the third pod down on the end is the
hydraulic shield we call it. again plumbs out
overhead connects all over the ladder rack to the arches for all the hydraulics
in the system
now i wanna show you some the extra services in the package
up-front's the fire red-hot lava service in the works package
in the middle of the tunnel we have the rainbow code trademarks service
downstream we have the hot wax application
then we go into a high-pressure rinse, the ice sealers, spot free rinse
now another unique innovation in this equipment package
is what we call the all in one module. this incorporates a set of side washers
mitter curtain
a set of rocker brushes and a set of wraps all on module
and then we have two of those modules. that creates a standardization
consistency
with the lot interchangeable parts so its very simple
foamers on board its an awesome unique product. Now we're gonna take a walk out in
the wash bay
I want to point out a couple things to notice.take note of the epoxy floor
and rolled edge
in the corners which makes it easy to clean. we also made a very
narrow ledge underneath the windows for easy cleaning and to reduce
any ledge for water to sit on. the window frame is a very specific
I design with the frame on the outside of the window
and a minimal almost non-existent frame on the inside of the ledge making it very easy
to clean
and again avoiding the ledge. now this is an acrylic roof system for the carwash
making it bright inside the wash bay
and LED lighting to accompany that. then we're going into the dry back room at
the end now
new technology today is much smaller you're gonna see the whole back room
very open and spacious
but it's only 30 feet long based in this new technology
at the end of the room is an electrical area and as the
vfd panel and the controller in the sub panels consolidate at the end of the
room
in a dry environment then in the middle of the room we have the RO system for filter
water
then we have the all in one pump station or something unique about the all in one pump
station
we're combining all the right pumps for the right purposes. wheel blasters
pumps, then our grundfos pump that ramps up and down to feed the chemical
pods, a cat pump
for cleaning the bay and a booster pump for the rinse. so you'll see that
we're doing a few unique things with water distribution to get some extra
pressure
with fewer pumps really unique you gotta take a look at. then up
in the mezzanine see the RO water storage tanks which is a new narrow 400
gallon tank. a hot water heater up there that
runs a heat exchanger to do snow melt and the hot water for the wash
then the air compressor down on the end. then we're gonna go out in the drying
chamber and take a look at the vehicles coming out. the most important thing.
now we're running 180 to 200 car per hour chain speed and getting some of the driest
and best vehicles I've ever seen
we have 16 10 horsepower blower producers
we have a new side drying cloth that does reverse rotation
comes in only on the mirror and the side windows just for three seconds
and then we got heated blowers shooting down on the tops of the car for a little added drying
at the end
tire shine is designing new system that's leg mounted
off the blower arches, get rid of the frame and keeps it up off the floor
we have 11 free vacuum stalls here in the front corner the property
so customer walks up hits the button and starts a vacuum the benefit of this
design
is that they're not running if they're not being used. now the vacuum drops a
hose on each side the vehicle the balls are trash cans
as well as hose holders. the vacuums are powered a producer
on the stanchion there a slim stainless steel canister for the cartridge filter inside
to two 220 volt motors this unique design gets the best customer experience
extreme suction even if they're using both hoses at once
as well as energy efficiency
here we are standing outside the exit of the tunnel. I want to point out a few
building features behind me
you see what's the outside on the dry back room. the vertical wall here is
finished with the product called Nichiha. on the left you see the storage
tower as we call it. For supplies and storage as well as a heavy duty workbench back
there
in the end wall starburst creating the iconic design recognizable by
motorists
You see cars coming out at nearly 200 cars per hour
clean shiny and dry. our doors are open to share with you more
we welcome you to come out and tour and check it out behind the scenes
and we are open to sharing information to help you improve your business
or build a new car wash. "from a contractor standpoint it was nice to go
into a project where all those little details are worked out so really what we
needed to do
was just coordinate the trades to get the job done as fast as we could"
"to emphasize the idea that you know the the details
everywhere from I how the dry back room works
to how it drains to where the tools that were all
each piece of equipment as planned be
it's all reproduced in the exact same way because this has been thought out
by not only the equipment
group but the
the operations group in making sure that everyone has been pulled together to
review each detail
so the the quality car wash that you're looking at is
is a fine example of everybody pulling together as a team to review every
every single aspect so that operators don't have to"
WOO!
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