Chemical purchasing & understanding container labels

by Stuart Levy

How many of you belong to one of the big box stores bulk purchasing clubs. The clubs that encourage you to purchase much more of something than you really need because there is a discount or deal associated with the purchase. If you have a big enough family or there is a deal on a particular item it would seem to make sense.

Sometimes, when I walk into a car wash equipment room it feels like the operator went to some big box store to go shopping for his cleaning solutions because there are so many different product drums taking up valuable floor space. With as many as 13 different product applications inside the tunnel it’s important to know which products you need to keep on hand based upon your car washes volume and usage and which ones you don’t.

Investment

It’s easy enough to figure out which products you should be keeping more of in inventory and which ones you don’t need as much of. We know that products that are applied to every vehicle such as cleaning agents, tire cleaners and drying agents will have the highest usage rate. Special service products such as pay waxes, polishes and conditioners and tire dressing applications are only used about 30 percent of the time. Of course you don’t want to wait to the last minute to order replacement product but you also do not have to have standing inventory of these items. In the past, before raw material components increased at a dramatic rate driving the cost of goods significantly higher, it made sense to keep a fair amount of inventory on hand. But, like everything else in life, times change. Inventory is an investment that costs money. When there are bad stretches of weather and you’re not washing any cars the money you have invested in product inventory can probably be put to better use. Over the past few years the weather has been very unpredictable.

Packaging
With all of the different products used in today’s modern car wash it’s important to understand that package sizing can impact your inventory as well. The only products you should be using that are packaged in 55-gallon drums are your presoak and tire cleaners, as well as your drying agent. All other products are pretty much considered to be special service or income producing products. These products are now being offered in 30 gallon or 15 gallon containers. They are generally the most expensive products you use. This is because they cost more to manufacturer due to either proprietary raw material ingredients or because they contain either fragrances or dyes for color. By purchasing certain products in smaller containers you can keep your overall inventory costs down. It may cost a little more to purchase certain products in a smaller container but it’s a great way to keep your immediate out of pocket chemical cost down. Ask your supplier if they provide special service products in smaller containers. If they don’t, you may want to look at a supplier who does. Also, using smaller containers can open up valuable floor space in your equipment room. Older car washes can be tremendously cramped. Giving yourself additional floor space to work with may be beneficial.

Inventory
Your chemical supplier should also be advising you about the best way to handle your chemical inventory. If they are providing you with regular cost-per-car and usage analysis sheets they should be able to tell you how to best manage product inventory. Many chemical companies do not provide this service in which case you should be keeping track of this information yourself. In addition to providing you with inventory information this is also a good way to make sure that you are not inadvertently using too much of a given product. It’s also a great way to make sure that your chemical dispensing systems are all functioning properly.

It always amazes me how many car wash operators do not have a clue as to what it is really costing them to wash a car. Frankly, there is no excuse for this. The other day I had received a customer complaint. They felt their chemical cost per car was too high. Upon entering the equipment room and evaluating product pump performance I found one of the direct feed pumps to not be drawing properly. Simply re-priming the pump and re-adjusting the chemical draw solved the problem. Who knows how long it had been that way.

Product Labels

This brings me to the subject of product labels. Product labels will give you a brief description of the product and what it should be used for. It will tell you an approximate range of how much product mixed with water you should apply to each vehicle. It may say something like “dilution range is 1:75 – 1:120” and apply between 1ounce to 2 ounces of mixed product per vehicle. The reason for this is that we are not dealing with an exact science. The manufacturer doesn’t know your water quality, how much equipment you have or how fast you run your chain speed. The only alternative for them is to take an average of what they think will give you the best performance from their product.

Product labels also give you information regarding whether or not the product is considered hazardous, toxic or safe for the environment. Some also tell you specifically what raw materials are in the product. On the label will be various illustrations that correspond to EPA regulations. If you don’t understand what the various icons mean they are easily looked up on the Web. There is no reason for anyone to be ignorant of what manufacturer’s product labels are warning you about. Product labels are for the manufacturer’s safety as well as yours. They are like mini Material Safety Data Sheets. Any employees who are responsible for working with these cleaning solutions should be aware of what the labels say and any warnings on the label should be carefully adhered to.

Labels placed on solution mixing containers can be a great way to properly identify which product is in the mixing tank. This is better than having to follow the feed line from the drum to the tank. In addition this allows you to readily read the products label. In many equipment rooms, drum labels are difficult to read because they get wet and tear or they are turned to the back of the wall. Not to mention that they are generally very close to the ground causing the reader to bend down to read the information. Your supplier should be able to provide these labels to you at no charge if you ask for them.

All chemical manufacture’s and suppliers want to see their products lining the walls of your equipment room. They know what the value is of the product that is on hand. The question is, do you? If you can only afford to keep on hand what you use then that is what you should do. Don’t wait until the last moment to place your order but at the same time keep a careful eye on your inventory investment.

Stuart Levy is the president of Clean Car Consulting. The company represents a variety of OEM car wash manufacturer’s products as well as providing car wash consulting services. For more information visit the CCC Web site at www.cleancarconsulting.com.