Amano Pioneer Eclipse Stripping System Saves Time, Cuts Costs for Carlson Building Maintenance, Inc.

It’s often said that time is everyone’s most precious commodity, but there may be no business for which this statement rings truer than for the professional floorcare firm. “Labor is our single biggest cost, by far,” says Rob Hamme, CEO of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Carlson Building Maintenance, Inc. “The ability to get the job done quickly while maintaining our high standards of quality is the key to running a profitable and growing business.”

About 90 percent of Carlson’s clients are in the retail sector, with the rest representing a variety of institutional applications. “Working in retail poses two challenges,” Hamme continues. “First, the floors have to look fantastic. Our clients’ businesses depend, in large part, on the appearance of their stores. In the hard-surface flooring applications, ‘looks great’ usually translates into ‘high gloss,’ and getting that gloss requires applying about six to eight coats of wax. The entire process, from stripping off and vacuuming up the old coating, to applying the new one, usually requires a full night and part of the next to complete. Again, with labor as our most significant cost, reducing the time it takes to complete a task sends dollars straight to our bottom line.

“The second challenge in retail is that many stores are now 24/7 operations, so we have to do our work when stock crews and customers are in the store. In these cases, being able to work quickly causes the least interruption to our clients’ businesses.”

Early in 2008, Carlson implemented a total stripping solution from Amano Pioneer Eclipse that has significantly cut the time – and the cost – of delivering the high quality, high gloss finish his customers require. The solution is comprised of the full compliment of Pioneer Eclipse chemicals including Formula X^® plus three machines. The HydroStar^® Stripper Applicator is exceptionally easy to use, minimizes lay-down time and ensures even, thorough stripper solution coverage. For the actual stripping, the propane powered barracuda^®, a state-of-the-art propane stripper that combines a low-profile deck, a high-powered Kawasaki engine, bail throttle with electronic clutch, and counter-rotating brushes to deliver unparalleled performance. And to clean up the slurry, the lightweight, battery-powered StripVac^® Stripper Recovery Vacuum offers exceptional maneuverability and a breakaway squeegee that adjusts for perfect pick-up.

“We started using the Amano Pioneer Eclipse system about six months ago,” says Hamme, “after years of using Aztec equipment. In our lock-in applications – the ones where we’re working while the store is closed – we’re able to strip an additional 2,000 square feet per night. Getting the stripping done faster means we have more time to apply the extra coats of wax required to get our desired gloss. Currently, we’re applying about six to eight coats over two nights. Depending on the type of floor we typically use either Equinox^®, Eclipse Hard Floor or EnviroStar Green^® HS25. The more we can get done the first night, the less time we have to spend on the second. This should translate into a significant savings in labor costs.”

“In the applications where we’re working while customers and stock crews are in the store, the speed of the Amano Pioneer Eclipse equipment allows us to work on fewer aisles at a time. Before, we had to shut down four or five aisles to do our work, which can be a real inconvenience to any shoppers that are in the store, and can get in the way of the stock crew. Now, we can limit ourselves to two-to-three aisle work areas, making our crews much more compatible with the customer’s business.”

“We’re much happier with the Amano Pioneer Eclipse equipment,” concludes Hamme. “We’re saving time, cutting costs, providing our customers with better service and delivering superior results.”