One of the world’s largest car wash operators with over 800 facilities in 13 countries had been using effective controllers and human machine interfaces (HMIs) to control its facilities – brushes, pumps, car movement and more – for over a decade. The requirements across the hundreds of facilities, however, were varied and constantly changing, depending on the local market, weather and competition. In evaluating its next-generation control system, the company sought a solution that would be simple to migrate, easy to program, meet its future expansion and technology needs, and leverage the benefits of the industrial internet, all significant challenges with the potential to impact costs and operations drastically.
The company selected the PACSystemsTM RX3i controller to run their car wash equipment and the QuickPanel+TM operator interface to manually operate each site when necessary.
The company programming manager said, “We could use the existing I/O and didn’t have to rewire the control panel in the cabinet. That saved us both time and money.”
Once the new PACSystems RX3i controllers were installed, it was fast and easy to convert the control programs onto the new platform. Upgrade of the hardware to PACSystems RX3i and software conversion took only a few hours thanks to the remote access capabilities of the PACSystems RX3i.
As much as soap, water, and brushes, the company relies on data to keep its business going. A vast amount of information is gathered on each location’s operation. With the high-performance PACSystems RX3i controllers, the company can now capture and transmit operational data to headquarters, where it can then be analyzed to optimize operations, troubleshoot and repair faults and assist with financial analysis. The new system runs a very complex reporting system that sends fault data as well as information on incidents that occur such as time and date stamp, weather at the site, and the position of the car. This data can be critical in understanding and addressing unforeseen events.
The RX3i system allows for remote access and programming, which can occur frequently. Changes to a site can be put into operation by someone without programming skills. The PACSystems RX3i Ethernet connectivity provides a fast, secure connection. This saves time and the cost of sending an engineer to sites, which also increases uptime.
During the controls upgrade, the company also replaced its old DataPanel operator interfaces with new 7” QuickPanel+ models. In addition, they now hold a spares inventory of 6” QuickPanel+ for fast and easy replacement of old DataPanels when needed. The new QuickPanel+ allows each machine at each location to be operated manually, during maintenance via the touch screen.
And with the new QuickPanel+ operator interfaces, employees across multiple countries can control the system at each site with easy-to-understand diagrams, requiring no language translation, making it simple for operators to manually run the car wash as needed. With a newly upgraded control system, the company has reduced costs, increased uptime, and provided operational insights for its fleet of car wash facilities. Now, no matter what the weather, the market, or the competition does, the company can quickly adapt to keep its facilities running at peak efficiency and profitability.