Duane - ANYMORE AUTOMATION IDEAS

[millenniumplus]

Duane -really enjoyed the May article in "The Journal" that highlighted your laundromat. Your
environment is very well automated. Do you have anymore ideas towards automating things??

[Duane]

How about a small robot that runs around picks up dryer sheets?

[JamesD]

It's called a 7 year-old earning his allowance!!

[Duane]

I do like to automate things as much as possible. My wife says that I'll take two hours to make a 5 minute job easier. I spend my spare time trying to come up with ways to save time.

I am still new to the business so chances are most of the things I do already have been done by everyone else. Usually I take the task that I usually hate to do the most and try to improve on it to make it better. Once I succeed, the process will start all over again with the next task I hate to do.

The last thing I improved in my store was the way I filled the vending machines. It took about 1.5 hours to pull out the soap for the soap machine, then the pop for the pop machine and then the snacks for the snacks machine. I was running back and forth from the machines to the back room with the hand truck several times for each vending machine. What I came up with was a 2 foot by 4 foot heavy duty cart that held everything. Soap on the bottom, pop on the next two shelves and snacks on the top shelf. I hung the keys on the side of the rack and now it takes about 20 - 30 minutes to fill all the machines and I don't have to leave the vending machines open to run to the back room. I bought the largest capacity vending machines I could so I wouldn't have to always be loading them. Just a couple of weeks ago I eliminated some of the slower selling vending items and then doubled up on the faster selling items. The end result is now I can go about 10 - 14 days before refilling and I don't need to stock as many items. I had 40 different items in my snack machine and now I am down to only 24 different items.

As for dryer sheets. Since I installed an LED sign the sheets on the floor have been less, even with sales rising, so the sign did make a difference. But I would like to reduce them even further. I really have thought about buying one of those small robotic sweepers and modifying it to pick up dryer sheets. Just stick a tall caution flag on it for safety and your all set, constant cleaning. Or maybe not...

Hopefully my copy of The Journal will be in the mail tomorrow so I can read the article.

[Howard]

Put up a big sign, WE PAY ONE CENT FOR EVERY USED DRYER SHEET TURNED IN - the problem will go away! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[millenniumplus]

Let us know how that one works out (Duane). Unfortunately the penny rebate program for
dryer sheets would not work here (LoL). Many people don't pick up dryer sheets or pennies.
We collect from the floor and left on the counters 50+ cents a day in pennies alone - hmm,
maybe the dryer sheet/penny program is working in reverse.