The Hidden Cost of Manual Cleaning:
Why a Skilled Technician Shouldn't Be a Parts Washer
In workshops across Australia, a scene plays out every day: a highly-skilled, highly-paid technician, whose expertise is in diagnostics and precision rebuilds, stands over a solvent sink, manually scrubbing grease and carbon from a component.
For many workshop managers, this is just a routine part of the job. But in a modern, competitive industrial environment, this scene represents something else entirely: a critical productivity bottleneck, a drain on resources, and a hidden cost that is silently eroding profitability.
Every hour a skilled technician spends with a brush in their hand is an hour of lost revenue. It’s an hour they could have spent on a high-value, billable task.
It is time to re-frame the investment in automated cleaning equipment. A machine like an Apollo Automated parts washer doesn’t add cost—it’s a productivity tool that unlocks the full value of a workshop’s most valuable asset: its team’s time.
The “90/10 Rule”: Finding the Right Balance
Let’s be clear: there will always be a time and place for manual cleaning. A final, detailed inspection of a critical component, a delicate part that cannot be submerged, or a quick spot-clean before a final assembly—these “10%” tasks are a necessary part of a quality-controlled process.
The problem arises when this “10%” becomes “100%.”
The “90%”—the heavy, time-consuming, and dirty work of stripping bulk grease, oil, paint, and carbon from an entire engine block or a batch of truck hubs—is not a good use of a skilled technician’s time.
Smart industry is automated.
This is where automated cleaning equipment changes the entire workflow. The goal of automation is not to replace the technician, but to redirect them from this 90% of work. This is not to say cleaning is unimportant, but rather that it is not a productive use of a skilled technician’s time when more valuable, billable tasks are waiting. An automated spray wash or hot tank can handle this bulk cleaning process in the background, allowing the technician to focus on the high-value 10% (the final inspection) before moving on to their actual job.
When 90% of the cleaning process can be automated, the savings in time, effort, and resources are not just marginal—they are transformative.
The Fallacy of "Cost" vs. The Reality of "Investment"
A high-quality, Australian-made automated parts washer is a significant piece of capital equipment. When viewed in isolation as a line item on a budget, its “cost” can cause hesitation. This is the single biggest misconception in workshop management.
This hesitation over a large capital purchase (CapEx) is precisely why Apollo also offers a rental model. This alternative removes the upfront cost entirely, converting the machine into a simple, predictable operating expense (OpEx). The benefit is immediate: from the very first month, the low rental charge is often significantly less than the value of the labour it saves. This puts the workshop in a “positive productivity” state, where the machine is generating more value than it costs, all while the team focuses on billable work.
If you lease or buy the result is the same: you save money
Whether purchased outright or as a rental, an automated parts washer should not be viewed as a cost. It should be viewed as a tool, no different from a high-end diagnostic computer, a hydraulic press, or a precision torque wrench. It is a productivity multiplier.
Let’s do some simple, conservative math. A skilled diesel mechanic or technician is a high-value asset. When factoring in wages, superannuation, tools, insurance, and workshop overheads, their loaded cost to the business can easily exceed $100 per hour.
If that technician spends just one hour per day on manual parts cleaning—a very realistic number—that’s $100 of high-value time spent on a low-value task.
- Per week: $500
- Per year (48 weeks): $24,000 in lost productivity.
But this analysis only focuses on saving that $24,000. The true financial impact is far greater. That reclaimed hour is not just a $100 cost avoided; it is a $130 billable hour gained.
If that technician’s time is billed at $130/hr, that one hour of automated cleaning doesn’t just save $24,000 in lost productivity. It actively generates an additional $31,200 in new revenue (1 hr/day @ $130 x 48 weeks). This turns the parts washer from a cost-saving device into a revenue-generating tool.
Here is a question for a workshop manager: would you be happy to pay a skilled mechanic to load a parts washer and then stand there for 30 minutes, just watching it work?
Of course not. That would be an obvious waste of their time.
So, why is it acceptable to have that same mechanic spend those same 30 minutes manually scrubbing one single part?
The only difference is that one looks like waiting while the other looks like working. In reality, the manual cleaning is far less productive. In that same 30-minute automated cycle, the machine could have cleaned an entire load of components—perhaps 4x or 10x the volume—while the technician was freed up to perform a billable task.
Suddenly, the “cost” of a machine that can do this job automatically is not just recovered, it is paid back in 12-24 months. For theremaining life of the machine, it is a pure profit centre that pays for itself over and over again.
The Three Pillars of Value:
More Than Just Clean Parts
The return on investment (ROI) goes far beyond just a simple time-and-money calculation. The benefits of automating the "90%" are immediate and profound.
1
Increased Productivity and Workshop Throughput This is the most obvious benefit. An automated machine runs in the background. A technician can load a 20-30min cycle (depending on severity of contamination) and then immediately turn to another job—diagnosing a new engine, starting a different rebuild, or preparing the next component.
This shifts the workflow from a linear bottleneck (where work stops until cleaning is done) to a parallel process (where cleaning and high-value work happen at the same time).
The machine doesn’t take breaks, it doesn’t get distracted, and it doesn’t have a “good enough” attitude on a Friday afternoon. It delivers a consistent result, every time, allowing for better workshop scheduling and a faster “door-to-door” time for every job.
2
Improved Safety and Compliance Manually cleaning parts is one of the highest-risk jobs in a workshop. It involves direct, prolonged exposure to harsh solvents and chemicals, skin contact, the inhalation of fumes, and often, poor ergonomic positions.
Automated, enclosed cleaning systems virtually eliminate these risks. The cleaning process happens inside a sealed cabinet. The team is not exposed to the chemicals. Modern, gear-driven machines, like the Apollo Spray Wash Range, are designed to meet rigorous standards like AS4024 (Safety of Machinery), with controlled turntable speeds and safety interlocks that prevent an operator from ever being exposed to a moving part.
This improved safety doesn’t just protect the team; it protects the business from risk, liability, and the costs associated with workplace injuries.
3
Worker Satisfaction and Staff Retention (The “Hidden” ROI)In a market defined by a critical shortage of skilled labour, this “hidden ROI” may be the most important benefit of all. A skilled technician’s motivation is to overhaul, build, and repair components—not to scrub parts. While cleaning is a vital part of the process, using a technician’s valuable time for manual cleaning is a direct source of frustration. This can lead to low morale and, in a competitive market, a higher rate of staff turnover. The goal is to let the machine do the cleaning, so the technician can focus on the billable work they are trained for.
Investing in automation sends a powerful message to the team:“We value your skill, we value your time, and we will give you the right tools for the job to set us all up for success!”
It shows that the business is investing in tools that help them do their real job better. It removes a major point of friction and frustration, which directly contributes to higher job satisfaction. A happier, more respected team is a more stable and loyal team. In an era where a good technician is worth their weight in gold, a tool that improves staff retention is one of the wisest investments a business can make.