car wash centre, Borna - Germany

WashTec made to order

The external appearance of the Borna car wash centre is a real eye catcher as whole; the sight of the wash bay on its own is quite something. The shape of the brand-new car wash tunnel building resembles the hull of a motor catamaran. Compared with a real-life ferry, the captain does not sit up above on the bridge, but the boss Aris Fleischer sits in his office in the “left-hand section of the hull” . Passengers and customers do not have to sit on deck during the crossing, but remain seated in their vehicles as they pass through the tunnel, so as to experience the wash and care their vehicles receive live and at close quarters. And unlike the floating version, the whitish-grey wash bay and the turquoise painted washing technology are firmly anchored to the ground in a greenfield development about half an hour’s drive away from Leipzig heading south. WashTec supplies the textile conveyor tunnel system as a complete solution and is part of the still young car wash centre. It was only in late 2014 that modern self-service booths were erected on the site following the examples in Schkeuditz, Markleeberg, Merseburg and Delitzsch. All of which are facilities that have been opened one after the other by Bosch Car Service Schkeuditz – Drischmann & Richardt GbR.

Location is key factor

“The Borna site, directly on the main road 93, was suitable for setting up a conveyor tunnel system on account of the location and the development of the region”, says facility boss Aris Fleischer. This because “residential property in Leipzig is no longer affordable for most people today. And why they are moving to outlying areas, including Borna”, he says assessing the demographic situation. The managing directors of Bosch Car Service in Schkeuditz thus also opted for this site because a large shopping centre in the immediate vicinity magically attracts customers. The car wash centre is also looking to benefit from this and acquire them as customers. “Many already turn off to our centre”, says Fleischer delightedly. More and more of them also head for the entrance to the conveyor tunnel system because they are greeted by helpful staff who pre-clean their vehicles and the wash prices are also right for them – all prices being for vehicle washes that the installed washing technology “Made by WashTec” masters reliably, supremely and with a focus on quality.

Contract awarded to WashTec

However, before the textile conveyor tunnel system could open on a sunny October day in 2015, it was first a matter of finding the right partner for the washing technology. Once the managing directors had researched extensively into manufacturers and their technical concepts, they compared what was available at that time with the equipping variants actually possible. The result was the decision that “all the segments of the facility were to come from WashTec, because what the company from Augsburg was offering us appealed to us the most”, remembers Aris Fleischer with respect to the efficient technology and modular design of the conveyor tunnel system". Before WashTec started work, a building company erected the wash bay building and designed it such that as much light as possible could penetrate inside. Secondly, WashTec presented the modules for the conveyor tunnel system in line with the managers’ expectations and the dimensions of the building – a modern entrance gantry with an integrated foam system greets every customer with “Welcome”, linear wheel washers, high-pressure arch with oscillating spot-spray nozzles, roof and side washers of the brush and care station, blower dryer and textile, rotating cloth dryer, the shiny chrome LED countdown traffic light. The program pillar reminds customers of the wash and care service they have just received.

The experienced WashTec service technicians finally installed the facility without any problems within just two weeks. No technical hitches were encountered in the subsequent regular washing operation. In a few cases, the start settings of the pumps, for example, had to be corrected slightly. For a possible future emergency, Aris Fleischer says: “Personally, I believe that system faults can be fixed more flexibly and faster with a full maintenance contract.”

Besides Aris Fleischer, two employees and one flat-rate employee are deployed in the car wash. “To avoid long waiting times, a second pre-wash station has been installed in front of the ‘normal’ pre-wash station. For which we constantly receive good feedback”, confirm the pre-wash staff, not to mention the quality of the wash results. Working as a duo is also a good idea, because the older generation, who buy new cars equipped with lots of driver assistance features, often find themselves struggling. When they have their cars washed in an automatic car wash, the electric parking brake for example can cause quite a bit of excitement. “We offer those customers who are afraid or don’t feel safe driving into the car wash themselves the option of doing this for them. A service for which the affected car wash customers are very grateful.” All the customers are also grateful to the manufacturer WashTec for installing a plastic conveyor belt that does not damage their wheel rims.

The special service

The water is very hard at the car wash site. This requires on the one hand intensive maintenance and basic cleaning as well as preventive care of the equipment and bay in shorter intervals, as otherwise white marks are left behind after drying, which are most visible on the surfaces of dark vehicles. “We issue every customer who passes through our car wash with a drying cloth. They use this to dry their vehicles in the area of the doors and also around the boot lid. Most customers put the cloths they have used in the collection container we provide. This proves popular, and customers are pleased. It is a meaningful gesture that sets us apart from the competition”, says the facility boss summing up the most important points. Customers do not pay anything for the cloths printed with the car wash centre logo, most of whom return them. “Cloths are also issued at other car wash businesses. In most cases, the car washes request that their customers pay for these. We do not want to do this because we believe that the free service fits in much better with the site in Borna – a small town with a population of 20,000 located to the south of Leipzig."

On good days, the WashTec technology washes around 400 vehicles with AUWA chemicals. “The customers and us too are very satisfied with the washing results achieved”, says Aris Fleischer summing up. The potential to systematically boost the washing business over the coming months and years is great. On the one hand, because the operators and employees are fully committed to ensuring that all vehicles leave the car wash perfectly clean. On the other hand, it is WashTec’s efficient and reliable system modules and the cleaning and care products of its subsidiary AUWA that combine to make brilliant results possible.

Text/ Pictures: Bernd Fiehöfer