Upselling cleaning products to busy workshop technicians and garage owners can sometimes be an uphill task. PMF caught up with Chris Brooks, Technical Product Manager at Swarfega, who provided some money-saving tips to pass onto your customers.
Garages that use the traditional bulk bucket hand cleaners could be washing more than a £1,000 a year down the drain in wasted product. A recent Swarfega survey, found that over a third of workshop technicians wash their hands over ten times a day. The research also showed that the average size of bulk product used by technicians to wash their hands is 40ml. However, of this 40ml of product, up to 80% of the cleaner gets washed down the plughole without making sufficient contact with the mechanics’ hands or removing any dirt. With employees washing their hands so often, workforce hygiene could soon become a costly overhead.
Garages and workshops can unlock these savings by simply switching to a dispensing system instead of the bulk buckets. The system dispenses a 4.5ml shot of hand cleaner, nine times less than the typical volume of cleaner used from a bulk bucket. Put another way, a 15 litre bucket will typically provide 375 washes, whereas a four litre dispenser will provide nearly 900 washes. Therefore, whilst the cost of the bulk bucket appears cheaper, the dispenser system actually provides great value, saving up to 65% of the cost of hand cleaning.
Hand care for technicians
Not only does switching to a dispenser system make sense for business, it can also help to keep mechanics’ hands in better condition. Using too much cleaner or too harsh a cleaner can strip the skin of its natural fats and oils. This can lead to conditions such as dermatitis and potentially allergic reactions to some contaminants. With this in mind, Swarfega offers a skin safety centre, with dispensers of pre-work protection cream, hand cleaner and after work cream on a single wall mounted board. This single, easy-to-use system provides the right products for mechanics to use so that their hands are kept in good working order.
Swarfega solutions
Swarfega, celebrating 70 years in 2017, offers a host of cost-effective products that are suitable for workshop applications. Its wall- mounted dispensers are developed to deliver consistent dosages of the exact amount of cleaner required to do the job.
Fast Facts
● 80% of hand cleaner from bulk buckets gets washed down the drain without removing any dirt;
● Switching to a dispenser system can reduce spend on hand cleaning products by 65%;
● 900 washes – a four litre dispenser will provide almost 900 hand washes compared to the 375 from a 15 litre bucket;
● A typical garage with five mechanics could save £1,000 by switching from bulk buckets to a dispenser system.
