Is Manually Cleaning Parts Crippling Your Business?

Presented by A.M.D.S.

If you’re a business owner that services or repairs machinery, you know the profit you gain from charging out your technician(s) is a major part of your business’ revenue. And every moment a technician spends manually cleaning parts by hand is time away from a paid customer’s job. 

If done repeatedly, the cost of manual cleaning snowballs dramatically. Find out just how much it might be costing you. 

The Parts Washers Changing the Game

Australiasian Machinery Dealer Services (A.M.D.S.), based in Wagga Wagga NSW, brings the Prentice Xtra-Man rotary parts washers to the Australian market.

The Prentice Xtra-Man automatic rotary parts washer helps free up technicians to return to billable work, resulting in an increase in productivity, improved efficiency, and an increase in the volume of work that can be completed.

A.M.D.S. sales executive, Malcolm Irvin, says that while it’s not a cost that is immediately felt, it is certainly a cost that can get out of hand quickly. 

“Having worked at one of our local car dealerships, I know that $145 is not an unreasonable charge out rate for a mechanical technician.

If you take into account how much it costs you to pay just the technician’s hourly rate, well that’s one thing, but to also take into consideration the profit you lose by not being able to charge out that technician, that’s when things really ramp up,” he says.

What does a breakdown of these costs generally look like?

Put simply, if a technician manually cleans at least 15 minutes a day, it can cost the business owner anywhere up to $9,500-$10,000 a year.

If technicians are manually cleaning at least 30 minutes a day, it can cost the business owner anywhere up to $17,000-$18,000 a year.

If they’re manually cleaning at least 1 hour a day, it can cost the business owner anywhere up to  $35,000-$37,000 a year.

“At A.M.D.S., we don’t shy away from the fact that if you’re going to invest in a Prentice Xtra-Man automatic rotary parts washer, then you should be getting a return from it, one way or another,” adds Malcolm. “Power, detergent and waste removal costs involved in the cleaning process are not costs that should be absorbed by the business.”

How do you get ROI on a parts washer?

There are a few different ways to go about flipping the cleaning costs into a return on investment.

1. Charging your customers an ‘environmental’ fee for cleaning their parts quickly becomes a way to cover the costs of repayments, if you’re financing, and any other overheads that come with operating a parts washer. 
2. When you free up your technicians’ time to work on customer jobs, it increases your billable hours!
3. Getting through work faster means an increase in productivity and, of course, work volume, which translates into a much more profitable business and healthier bottom line. 

Whether you need a parts washer for industrial work that is auto/light, plant, heavy duty, or extra heavy duty, A.M.D.S. can assist you. Check out their range of automatic parts washers here.