Traffic looking for a space
Anyone who cannot see which bay is free drives down the row. That costs your customer time and blocks the entrance for everyone else along the way.
Every free bay is visible immediately
Ultrasonic sensors detect occupied vacuum bays, measure dwell time and show the status via LED and dashboard — without a camera, without number plates, without building work.
- Ultrasound instead of a camera — no image data is created
- Retrofits onto existing boom or ceiling rails
- Expandable bay by bay
Fixed facts
Four things are settled before you read a quote
What a site costs depends on its size. These four points depend on nothing.
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UltrasoundWhat is measured is the distance to the ground, not the vehicleNo images and no number plates are created
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3 to 6 weeksfrom deposit to installationNormal case
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4 hourstarget response time for critical faultswithin service and maintenance
Starting point
A blocked vacuum bay costs twice
The vacuum area is the only part of a car wash site where the customer decides how long they take. That works on quiet days and tips over exactly when it gets busy. One vehicle has been there for forty minutes, three more drive down the row looking. One customer blocks, the others wait — and anyone who waits too long drives off without vacuuming.
The second loss is invisible: you have no figure for it. How long a bay was actually occupied, how often all bays were full at once, which day of the week it regularly gets tight — today that can only be estimated. If a complaint comes in, it is one recollection against another. And whether an extra bay is worth it is decided by gut feeling rather than an occupancy curve.
Long occupancy without consequence
Without a measured dwell time there is no objective reason to point out that a bay has been occupied too long. Staff are reluctant to enter an argument they cannot back up.
Walking rounds instead of an overview
To know the state of the vacuum area, someone has to go and look today. Several times a day — and the information is out of date again five minutes later.
Technology
Three steps per bay: measure, display, analyse
The system works bay by bay. Every vacuum bay gets its own sensor and its own display and is evaluated independently of its neighbours. That means the rollout can be limited to individual bays and extended later.
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Measure
Above every bay sits an ultrasonic sensor, mounted on the existing boom, on the ceiling rail or on a post. It sends a sound pulse downwards and measures the time until the echo returns. If no vehicle is in the bay, the echo comes from the ground. If one is there, it comes back sooner. All the sensor records is a distance value — no image, no number plate, no person.
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Display
A signal module shows the state of each bay: green for free, red for occupied, flashing red for occupied too long. The modules are mounted high enough to be readable from the entrance over the roofs of the vehicles. Your customer decides on the way in where to go, instead of searching down the row.
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Analyse
The start and end of every occupancy go to the on-site computer with a timestamp. From that comes the dwell time per session and per bay. The dashboard shows the live state of all bays — and speaks up by itself: when it gets tight, the tablet gives a sound and a notification. Your staff no longer have to keep an eye on the area; they are told.
Footage
This is what it looks like in live operation
Footage from a working vacuum hall.
On the left the bay layout as numbered in the dashboard, on the right the same bay in the hall. When a vehicle drives in, the display above the bay changes and the dwell time starts running.
Sensors
One ultrasonic sensor per bay, mounted above, measures the distance to the ground.
Signal
A display module per bay, green for free, red for occupied, readable from the entrance.
Dwell time
Start and end of every occupancy with a timestamp, giving the duration per session.
Dashboard
Live state of all bays.
Notification
The tablet speaks up with a sound and a message as soon as free bays get scarce — without anyone having to look.
Effect
Four things change in day-to-day operation
Searching traffic ends at the entrance
Anyone who can see on the way in which bay is free drives straight there. The lap down the row disappears, and the entrance stays clear for the vehicles behind.
Complaints become verifiable
“That bay was blocked for ages” becomes a question for the dashboard and no longer a matter of opinion. For every bay you can see when an occupancy started and when it ends.
Nobody has to go and look any more
A glance at the screen replaces the walk outside — and even that is usually unnecessary: if the vacuum area gets tight, the tablet speaks up with a sound and a notification. Your staff then react, instead of checking regularly in advance.
Scope
Is this the right system for you? Vacuum bay monitoring is right for you if your vacuum area is full at peak times, customers search down the row and you do not know how long a bay was actually occupied. If instead you want to know who was in a bay or what happened there, this system will not help you: ultrasound measures distances, no images are created. For that you need a camera — that is vehicle documentation.
Work it out yourself
Your bay capacity is arithmetic, not a feeling
How many vehicles your vacuum area can take per day follows from three figures: the number of bays, the average dwell time and your opening hours. Set the values as you know your business.
The number of minutes by which average occupancy falls once long stayers become visible and searching laps disappear. Your assumption — not a promise from us.
Extra capacity only has any effect during those hours. If everything is never full, more capacity achieves nothing.
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additional sessions per day, counted only for the hours when all bays are occupied
theoretical capacity today
capacity with shorter occupancy
What this calculation does and does not do. Capacity is an upper limit, not revenue. It describes how many vehicles your bays could take during opening hours on paper — not how many actually come. Hence the slider for the busy share: extra capacity only has an effect during the hours when all bays are already occupied and vehicles are waiting. If everything is rarely full at your site, the commercial lever of this system is small, and the value lies in the data rather than in throughput.
The reduction in average occupancy is your assumption, not our promise. We have not published our own measurement series for vacuum bay monitoring and therefore put no figure on it. How strong the effect is at your site is something you will see in your own data after the first few weeks.
Capacity formula: bays × operating minutes ÷ average dwell time. Entry and exit time and gaps between two occupancies are not deducted; actual capacity is therefore somewhat below the figure shown.
Pricing model
Three components — we state the amount after the initial call
The price depends almost entirely on your site: on the number of bays, on how they are laid out and on how far power and network already reach. A figure on a web page would be too high for half the sites and too low for the other half. So here we set out the model rather than the amount: you can see what the price is made of and what moves it up or down.
Hardware
Ultrasonic sensor and signal module per bay, cabling, mounting materials and the central processing unit on site. The quantity scales with the number of bays; the central unit is a one-off.
Installation and setup
Installation on site, connection, commissioning and setting the detection threshold for each bay. Plus a briefing for your team on the dashboard. The figure depends on the number of bays, the mounting method and the travel distance.
Running the system
Right to use the software, ongoing updates, dashboard access and round-the-clock remote monitoring with the four-hour target response time for critical faults. Free sensor replacement in the event of a technical fault is also included.
What determines your price
- Number of bays. Sensor and signal module are needed per bay. That is the single biggest lever — and the reason a four-bay site and a twenty-bay site are not comparable.
- Layout and mounting point. If there is a hall, a canopy or an existing boom rail, sensor and display go there. On an open forecourt with no structure, every bay needs its own mounting point — that is the more involved case.
- Power and network provision. If a supply already reaches the vacuum area, installation is short. If the supply has to be run first, the installation share grows.
- Number of sites. A volume discount applies to multiple systems: the monthly cost per system falls with each additional one.
- Contract scope. Whether you take the ongoing monitoring with sensor replacement and on-site inspection or not changes the monthly amount.
Terms
- Minimum term of 6–12 months per system from commissioning, after which it can be cancelled monthly with 3 months' notice to the end of the month
- Payment 50% on order, 50% on delivery — we carry the time in between
- Installation usually 3 to 6 weeks after the deposit
- The monthly costs start on successful commissioning; part months are charged pro rata
- Public and product liability insurance with €5 million of cover for personal injury and property damage
- All amounts excl. VAT
Only the written quote for your site is binding.
Does this fit your site
The retrofit builds on what is already there
Vacuum bay monitoring is a retrofit system. It does not intervene in your wash controller and does not replace any existing equipment. Sensor and display go above the bay, the processing runs on a computer in the equipment room. Your till, your vacuum equipment and your billing stay unchanged.
- A power supply at the vacuum area that the sensor and display line can connect to
- A stable internet connection on site and a network connection from the equipment room to the vacuum area
- A mounting point above or beside every bay: existing boom rail, hall ceiling, canopy or post
- Access to the site during installation and a contact person on site
- Sensors, signal modules, cabling and mounting materials
- The processing unit for the equipment room and setting up the dashboard
- Setting the detection threshold for each bay at commissioning, logged bay by bay
- The briefing for your team and ongoing remote access for maintenance and updates
- With a service and maintenance contract: 3 to 5 spare sensors directly on your site, so a faulty one can be swapped without waiting
Timeframe. Installation usually takes place 3 to 6 weeks after the deposit and normally takes one working day on site. Mounting is done bay by bay: only the bay currently being worked on is out of use — the vacuum area as a whole stays open.
Expansion. The system is built bay by bay. If bays are added later, a sensor and display are added; the processing unit and the dashboard stay the same.
Data
This system sees nobody — it only measures distances
The most important data protection point about vacuum bay monitoring is what is never created in the first place. An ultrasonic sensor supplies a distance in centimetres and nothing else. There is no image, no number plate, no face and no way of working out afterwards who was in a bay. What is stored is the bay number, a timestamp and a duration.
That removes the most common objection to technology in the customer area: for this area you need neither signage under CCTV rules nor a retention and deletion policy for image material.
Straight answers
What speaks against this system — and what does not
What if my customers simply ignore the green or red signal?
Then they park in the bay they want anyway. A display is not a barrier, and we do not claim it replaces one. The effect lies elsewhere: the customer looking for a free bay finds one faster — and that is the majority. For the few who block the area, the measured dwell time is the real lever: you can point out matter-of-factly that a bay has been occupied for an hour, instead of arguing about whether that is true.
What does the sensor do in rain, frost, fog and wash chemicals?
Ultrasound is less sensitive to wet and darkness than optical methods — it needs no light and is not dazzled by a wet surface. With a service and maintenance contract, 3 to 5 spare sensors are kept on your site, and swapping one is straightforward.
Can this be retrofitted without building work?
In a hall or under a canopy, as a rule yes: sensors and displays are mounted on the existing boom or ceiling rail, and the cabling follows the same route. On an open forecourt with no structure it is different — there every bay needs a mounting point, and depending on the situation that means a post and a foundation. That is the only case where genuine building work can arise. Send us a photo of your vacuum area and we will tell you in advance which of the two applies to you.
How does power reach each individual bay?
The bays are cabled along one shared route and connected to an existing supply in the vacuum area — each bay does not need its own socket. The prerequisite is a supply at the area itself. If there is nothing there today, running the supply is part of the installation work and is itemised in the quote, rather than turning up later.
Other systems
What else is worth it for the same business
Vehicle tracking & collision protection
If your car wash site includes a tunnel car wash: the most expensive incident of the day does not happen in the vacuum bay but in the tunnel. Collision protection stops the conveyor before vehicles meet — 154 times in five months at a site in Bavaria.
from €9,000 excl. VAT plus licence — read more →Cloud platform for car wash systems
From the second system onwards a shared interface becomes worthwhile: occupancy, consumption and maintenance data in one login, across several sites too.
Price range after an initial call →If arguments at your site arise not in the bay but at the entrance, vehicle documentation is the better fit. The order to follow for several components is set out in our Digital car wash checklist (in German).
Next step
Four details are enough for your price range
For a solid estimate we need neither a meeting on site nor a visit, but four details. Have them ready and the rest becomes clear on the phone.
- The number of your vacuum bays
- Whether the area is in a hall, under a canopy or on an open forecourt
- A photo of the vacuum area taken from the entrance — that shows us the mounting points
- Whether power and a network connection reach the vacuum area
- The number of sites you want to fit
You speak directly to the developer and owner, not to a call centre. If the system does not pay off for your number of bays, we will tell you in the same conversation.
Available Monday to Friday, 9am–4pm · info@flowcontrol.de