Service
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14a Oak Industrial Park
Chelmsford Road
Great Dunmow
Essex CM6 1XN
Phone: +44 1371 878 800
Bring the van wash up to speed
The managing directors of Urbaniak GmbH Thomas Urbaniak and Manfred Riemer took their decision for the future of the automatic vehicle washing facility after only two weeks of fact finding and deliberation. A decision for a custom-built facility and in particular one for the manufacturer of ultra-modern washing technology, whose advertising is spot on. Vehicle washing goes by the name WashTec. The world over. So much for the basics, then – by taking a closer look – the specific details had to be considered. "At first, we thought about replacing only individual gantry car washes to keep costs down", says Thomas Urbaniak, still clearly remembering springtime 2017. We are after all talking about a considerable investment. "Ultimately, we made the conscious decision to replace the entire system technology."
Our number 1
Today's field worker and former fitter with the company WashTec Thomas Bolz, who, for many years, was the "Number 1" contact for servicing the installation technology at Herne car wash centre, is now continuing the long-standing and very good working relationship as a sales consultant. "Only he knew the installation very well and we knew him. A situation that provided the necessary basis for excellent technical knowledge and a trusting relationship", says Manfred Riemer. The experienced WashTec practitioner Bolz very adeptly advised the two managing directors, showed them the technical possibilities compared with the old system, promised impressive cleaning and care results by opting for the new technology, recommended the modules that were to be tailored to fit in the almost 40 m long wash bay and above all suit the car wash customers. The suggestions resulted in the decision for the ultra-modern washing technology of the highly flexible and individually configurable SoftLine². "We took everything that made sense and that fit in the wash bay", says Thomas Urbaniak, who is already certain after almost half a year of operating the car wash that it was a very smart and wise decision to have the "best" fitted. His summary: "The customers were quick to accept the new system and like it." These now also include owners of vans, who come to the car wash centre in Herne's Heerstrasse, because the gantries were selected to be wider and higher than the standard and even wide tyres fit on the rim-friendly 32 m steel conveyor belt. "We really wanted to bring the van wash up to speed. That we can now also wash vans in our car wash is still relatively unknown", says Manfred Riemer assessing the current situation.
Perfect for premium models
The description of the excellent technical equipment is in keeping with a black Porsche Panamera, whose driver trusts the sophisticated car wash technology, the gentle SofTecs® wash material and the fleecy dryer strip at the end of the wash. After the thorough and extremely careful manual pre-wash by the employees – first, all the rims are sprayed, followed by high-pressure washing and cleaning with the hand brush – the exclusive saloon drives onto the enclosed steel conveyor belt, which can accommodate tyre widths of up to 330 mm. The custom-designed stainless steel entrance gantry smart LED greets every customer in style with the words "Nice that you are here", displays the selected programme and indicates important preparatory actions to be heeded by the driver to ensure a smooth wash process. Seconds later, the illuminated foam curtain FoamSensation descends on the surfaces of the Porsche, because the customer has selected the best, the Premium wash. Powerful side high pressure as well as spot sprayers moving up and down conclude the automatic pre-wash. The SofTecs® material now shows what it can do. The electronic brush in-feed ensures a gentle, but extremely intensive wash. Thanks to linear technology, the brushes remain in contact with the vehicle for longer. The contour-tracking and linear travelling blower dryer with its rotating roof nozzle subsequently delivers convincing drying results because it achieves an up to 30 percent longer drying time. In practice, this not only means a fantastic drying result for the Porsche. The improved side drying thanks to the integral effect produced by the roof nozzle leads to significantly better drying results for example on vans. When the Panamera emerges from the textile brush dryer and the cloths of the rotating cloth dryer, the vehicle surfaces gleam magnificently.
Premium from AUWA
The gleaming results are convincing and word about them quickly gets around, not just amongst regular customers. This would hardly be the case if the two businessmen Urbaniak and Riemer had not gone for premium also in terms of washing chemicals. "In the course of the purchase and installation of the car wash technology, WashTec suggested testing AUWA chemicals. The fitters adjusted the dosing pumps perfectly, we were instantly wowed by the washing and care results. The fragrance added the finishing touch to these results. He set up the transport company together with Ernst Urbaniak almost four decades ago. The service portfolio at the current location includes a workshop for commercial vehicles, DEKRA vehicle inspection service, petrol station, vehicle preparation, self-service wash and a truck wash.
The washing station for the trucks is adjacent to the workshop shed, stands in the open air and originates from WashTec's predecessor California Kleindienst. The indestructible gantry has now been moving to and fro on its rails for a quarter of century, while the roof and side brushes wash the vehicle fleet tirelessly and reliably. This speaks for the long-lasting excellent quality of the technology. The wash results are significantly better than the competition. "We wash with 70° water temperature", says Manfred Riemer indicating the main reason. Ideally, he would also like to heat up the cold water used for the manual high-pressure pre-wash. "But that would be too expensive for me", he says declining.
Short shutdown
The old car wash technology was dismantled by a Dutch company within a single day, before "we sold it to Latvia." Within only three weeks, WashTec's service technicians had laid new water and waste water pipes, relocated power connections, installed a high-pressure arch, foam, washing, care and drying station. "Since we had prepared and coordinated the dismantling and installation works well in advance, everything ran like clockwork." During the course of replacing the technical equipment, the wash bay was also renovated. Dutch specialists clad the wash bay walls with special, extremely hardwearing plastic and facade panels. "They are very easy to clean." The employees perform the cleaning, care and maintenance themselves. "If it rains, they know that they have to clean the equipment and bay. The few teething problems after commissioning were dealt with quickly and efficiently by the service technicians. Thank you, WashTec."
Text/ Bilder: Bernd Fiehöfer