The following is to consider for those who make a commitment to wash rugs as an ongoing business. So, if you already had the space to accommodate some new equipment, an existing wash floor and space for rug storage, consider the math for a suggested set up with automated tools like the following:
10’ Tumble Duster
14’ Stainless Steel Centrifuge (SP-14
Centri-Maxx®)
12’ Stainless Steel paddle wheel Wash Tub (Centrum Star)
10 Pole Dry Tower motorized and cabled rug hanging system (X-Series)
This whole package retails under $125K. Let’s demonstrate a lease option scenario of 5 years with a buy out for $1 at the end. Let’s assume 7% financing and no money down. Payments would be around $2475 a month for 5 years and then the payments stop.
To illustrate the lease cost: The cost per 8 hour day, 5 days a week, is only $14 an hour. The cost becomes less per hour if more than 40 hours a week is considered for rug plant work. The reality: It is less than the cost of an employee that you hire around $10-12 an hour depending on what your State & Federal taxes are and whether you factor additional expense due to insurance coverage and any other benefits you may offer. Another cost factor to consider in acquiring machines over adding more humans to do the same work is that the payroll may have to offer some medical insurance and vacation time. This adds to the hourly commitment of more employees.
Given the foregoing perspective by way of illustration, the question now is: Does owning these production tools to reduce your time, while increasing your efficiency and capacity, appear expensive?
It also depends whether paying $14 an hour (for the equipment acquisition) speeds things up enough to give you a significant return on the money being spent on it. Granted, you have to have the flow of rugs coming in to justify the hourly expense too. I submit that 20-25 rugs a day or 2000-2500 sq. ft at a minimum average ticket of $3 a sq. ft would yield about $6K a day. Most of the work could be done with one person if this equipment was put into play, but two people with this equipment is better. Little to no post cleaning work will occur provided the operators are skilled during the wash process.
Note: Equipment does not ever replace education, and the aptitude for the skill of implementation of things learned not the ability to identify what you are processing to insure proper techniques are being used for each rug.
