The company is not only expanding with a second building in Lelystad but is also renewing its systems. It all started with the supply of car wash components, and for the past year the company has also been building its own car wash structures – with much success. Now the company is already looking ahead to the next innovation: its own conveyor system for conveyor belts.
Affiliate company K&W Transmissies is located on Poseidonweg in Lelystad. Car Wash Transmissies was also operating from this building, but quickly it outgrew the location and had to move. “Initially, the focus was on car wash components such as chains, sprockets and rollers, and that went very well. From the moment we started making our own structures, we grew so fast that we had to sacrifice part of the warehouse in the current building,” says Patrick Ketelaar, co-owner of Car Wash Transmissies. “In order to meet the demand for structures, we really needed more space.” This space is now available, thanks to a newly constructed building in Lelystad that has already been completed, just down the road at Apolloweg 104. Part of the building is used as a warehouse for chains, rollers, reversing and drive stations, sliding and guide strips, and motor reducers and structures suitable for all brands of car washes. The other half forms the production hall, where the structures are welded in-house. With this new location, the company hopes to be able to continue for several years.
Solutions for every brand
According to Ketelaar, the success of the structures is mainly due to the fact that CWT produces them itself. “We don’t use any intermediaries; all the structures are expertly welded by our own welders. The many years of expertise of our sister company K&W Productie is a major advantage in this respect. This team has been working well together for many years, and together with them we continue to innovate and improve our products.”
Another advantage is that Car Wash Transmissies is not dependent on a brand. Co-owner Diana Hoolwerf explains: “We have three affiliate companies: K&W Productie, K&W Transmissies and Car Wash Transmissies. These companies complement each other and that synergy allows us to tailor everything to our customers. The brand of the car wash does not matter; our solutions always fit.”
Collaboration
Car Wash Transmissies works closely with business partner Maurice Piket to build the structures. “We are always looking for collaborations in the market to create a good product,” says Ketelaar. “Maurice Piket has a lot of knowledge about installations and took us to various car washes to view the steel structures. He was able to show us exactly how it works and what to look out for. That is how we got the ball rolling and started with our first structures.”
In the meantime, the news that Car Wash Transmissies builds and supplies its own structures has spread widely in the European car wash market. “It is going very fast and we are building up a large stock. We are still relatively new to the market, but we notice that there is a great need for a company like Car Wash Transmissies.”
Hoolwerf adds: “Our company has of course been around for a lot longer and we are now very familiar with the car wash world. However, at a certain point Patrick saw a number of points in the existing structures that could be changed to benefit the strength and quality of the systems. Our position within the industry is mainly in the replacement market, and we focus largely on this. Nevertheless, we are also approached for new structure projects. In this, we try to work with Maurice Piket as much as possible, and we certainly do not shy away from these challenges. Many large suppliers build complete car washes, the structures of which eventually have to be replaced. Customers can have these replacements done by their old supplier, or by us. More and more entrepreneurs are coming to us for this service.”
Central Europe
Hoolwerf and Ketelaar are proud of how far they have come since the start of Car Wash Transmissies. “We have managed to attract new customers in 13 different countries – both inside and outside Europe,” says Hoolwerf. “We also expect the Central European region to be an interesting market for CWT. This is a growing market in which we would like to be better known. For this reason, Car Wash Transmissies will participate as an exhibitor at the SHINE networking event that will take place in Krakow at the beginning of October. We do not yet know exactly what it will bring us, but it is important to be there. You have to broaden your horizons and discover the market further.”
Its own conveyor system
Although the company only recently started building structures, it is already looking ahead to the next innovation: its own conveyor system for belts. “The use of belts is growing in the industry, but we do not yet have that in-house,” says Ketelaar. He emphasizes ‘yet’ because Car Wash Transmissies is exploring the possibilities together with belt specialist Ammeraal. “We want to develop our own belt conveyor in collaboration with Ammeraal, so that we can also establish a strong brand on a qualitative level.”
Ketelaar recently visited the United States to take a look at various car washes with a belt conveyor. “There, belts are used much more than they are here in the Netherlands. So together with our head of R&D, I went there to ask car wash owners and ‘operators’ about their experiences. What are the pros and cons, and what could be improved? We deliberately discussed this with the operators of the car wash, who are after all the customers and the people who have to work with the products every day. Our goal with this belt conveyor is to develop a system that is easy to use and requires as little maintenance as possible. And if maintenance does need to be done, it should be relatively easy to do.”
“It is common knowledge that the investment in a belt conveyor is greater than in a chain conveyor, and therefore it is not interesting for every car wash, even if they want it. We see this as a challenge to design a product that is affordable yet still high quality. That is our priority,” says Ketelaar.
‘Benefiting together’
The family is convinced that they will soon be able to offer the best conveyor system. Ketelaar elaborates: “There are many people from the industry helping us to realize this. Ammeraal has the belts, Maurice handles the installations and we ourselves have a great deal of knowledge of construction work. That is also where our added value lies. We have thirty years of experience in the field of chains. We know where we can improve, and I believe that through this collaboration with our partners we can distinguish ourselves from our competitors.”
“We really do it together, and that is great to see,” says Hoolwerf. “It is important that the entire industry benefits from this. You also give each other the opportunity to progress.”
Further pioneering
In the coming months, the focus will be entirely on the belts. Car Wash Transmissies hopes to have its own system ready by the end of the year. “It looks like we can deliver the first units early next year. So, we still have a few months to produce, test and further pioneer,” says Ketelaar.
Bronvermelding: Carwashpro - Belinda Meijers
Ever since it opened, about 8 years ago, there have been problems with the cars moving on the chain conveyor. Maurice Piket: “The chain conveyor was too deep in the floor, causing the cars to turn left and the rims to run against the chain on the left side, which regularly resulted in damage to rims. This was very annoying for customers and expensive for an entrepreneur who takes responsibility for this.”
The drive for the brushes in a car wash requires special gearmotors. This motor gearbox is built from two main parts: the reduction gearbox and the electric motor. Each part is made by a specialized factory and then assembled into the perfect gearmotor that drives the brush.