June 28, 2023 • 41 mins
innovateIT's new General Manager Stefan Casey joins hosts Kevin Zalaznik and Shane Groff to discuss his transition from the world of robotics to the car wash industry. The group tackles the importance of automation, supply chain challenges, and more, including the next shows you should binge.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kevin Zalaznik (00:12):
All right.
Welcome to the Modern Car WashPodcast, season three.
And it's been, unfortunately,over a year since our last
podcast and, uh, a lot haschanged.
Um, not only with, uh, ourcompany, but also the format of
the podcast.
So originally I was the host,uh, and then I relinquished
(00:34):
those duties to Dan St-Jacques,who then relinquished them back
to me.
We've added Shane gr as the coco-host of the show.
Um, so Shane, welcome and we'rehere with Stefan Casey, who's
the new, uh, I guess new if youwanna still call.
Him new, um, general manager forHoffman Innovated Carwash.
(00:54):
So Stefan, welcome.
Thank you.
So it's funny, uh, our office atSo Hoffman Development, uh,
which owns Hoffman Carwash,Hoffman innovateIT, um, our, uh,
where the marketing departmentsits, uh, directly behind is
where in Innovated essentiallystarts.
And Shane was in the innovatedsection.
He got booted for, uh, cuz wewere.
(01:17):
Hired staff.
So Shane moved into like themarketing place and within, I
don't know, what was it, like anhour, we were like, we gotta
bring back the podcast.
So here we are.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So Shane, you've, uh, you weretelling me like how ma how much,
uh, you hear about peopleenjoying the podcast, uh, when
you're on the
Shane Groff (01:35):
road.
Yeah.
Abso, I mean, our, our currentcustomers, they stay up to tune
on it.
People at the trade shows arealways commenting, oh, I've seen
this episode about this.
And it spurs a lot of greatconversations.
So that's why I kind of needledDan to bring it back.
But you know, Dan didn't wannabe in front of the camera when
he came back, so he, hes herewith us.
(01:57):
So say Hi,
Kevin Zalaznik (01:57):
Dan.
Yes.
Hello everybody.
Yeah, we're like, all right Dan,we're gonna do this, but you
have to do all the legwork.
We just have to talk.
So here we are.
So, yeah, I think I, you know,initially when we set out for
it, it was, the idea was, youknow, we have.
Uh, Hoffman Carwash has beenaround since 1965.
There's just so much knowledgewithin the walls of this, uh, of
this company and, um, what canwe do almost to give back or
(02:20):
share what, what were happeningand, you know, hopefully spur
conversation across theindustry.
Um, and at the same time, um,you know, we're able to talk
about what we have going on inour lives and our businesses, et
cetera.
So, Um, like I said, our, ourguest today is Stefan Casey.
Casey, uh, who's the generalmanager for Innovative.
(02:41):
Steph.
Uh, I, I can't remember when youinterviewed.
I was trying to go back and Ikind of lost time.
So how long have you been, uh,
Stefan Casey (02:47):
With the company.
So I interviewed with you abouta year ago, so there we go.
Yeah.
Back in June, July of last year.
Okay.
And then officially came onboard at the end of September.
Okay.
So it's about eight months nowthat I've been, uh, fully in, in
position.
Time flies.
Can't really for sure.
Kevin Zalaznik (03:04):
Really, I, you know, the last time we had the
podcast, uh, I certainly didn'thave a beard.
I don't think Shane had a beard.
So maybe you're trend-setting.
Yeah, we, it's, uh, certainlysome, which is that, this is
completely off topic, but it's,it's interesting how the facial
hair, especially in our company,but also in the industry, like,
it's just, it's a beardindustry, right?
Yeah.
So you fit right back, fit rightin.
(03:26):
So, um, Seven, eight, so eightmonths really.
Uh, which is, uh, again, likeyou said, time flies.
Uh, I don't know.
How's it going for you?
You're still working here, soyou haven't left still?
Still here,
Stefan Casey (03:37):
still here.
I come here every day.
Uh, and every day has been a, adifferent new challenge.
Um, it's been exciting.
I mean, there's, I look backkind of the past eight months of
how much we have accomplished ineight months, but also how much
is left to, to continue to do,to get us to where we need to
be.
Um, You know, it's, it's prettyan amazing environment here.
(04:00):
Mm-hmm.
Um, got a lot of good, goodgroups and individuals both on
the innovative side and also onthe car wash side.
So there's a lot ofcollaboration and discussion
that goes on that helps mylearning as new to the industry,
um, but helps us kind of reallyrefine and improve our products.
So that we can address not onlyprobably one of the higher
(04:20):
demand customers in HoffmanUhhuh, but you know, the rest of
the customers out there for, um,that are gonna be using our
Kevin Zalaznik (04:27):
equipment.
Yeah.
So your background, uh,engineered at heart, um, and you
came from Applied Robotics, um,which is a, a local company to,
uh, the Albany, the capitalregion, upstate New York.
Uh, can you just walk us throughwhat Applied Robotics is?
Yeah.
And uh, what you were doingthere.
Yeah, so it's kind of funny.
Stefan Casey (04:47):
I, uh, when I was interviewing for this position,
I'm sitting there thinking carwashes like that, that's just,
that's gotta be vastly differentthan what I've been doing for
the past decade, uh, withapplied robotics, that I found
out is actually a lot ofsimilarities.
Um, but applied roboticsmanufacturers end of arm
tooling, equipment for roboticsand automation.
(05:08):
And, uh, it was, it's company'sbeen around since 83, uh, has
been operating outta Glenville,New York.
Um, since early nineties and,uh, we sell our equipment, uh,
not only in the United States,but we sold throughout the
entire world, uh, every, everyreach of the world in every
automotive install, uh, generalindustry, uh, robotic
(05:32):
application.
Um, but we were a small, smallmanufacturing company similar to
what Innovative is.
And the, what I found is a verysimilar aspect of the
manufacturing end is ourcustomers.
We're looking for, um, a kind ofcustomized configuration custom
solution that was kind of tailorfitted to their application, um,
(05:56):
which is very similar to what wedo with our car wash equipment.
Everybody's got their own uniqueway of, of putting a tunnel in
and how they wanna wash cars andwhat kind of equipment they want
to use.
And we, uh, innovative aretrying to set ourselves up so we
can kind of tailor a solutionspecific to the customer.
Any specific to that applicationcuz every wash is
Kevin Zalaznik (06:16):
different.
Yeah.
Jane, is that you're, you're theman who's been in the industry
the longest.
Like, has that always been thecase?
Like just every, was there evera one size fits all?
Or like a standard model?
Is this like everyone's goingtheir different direction
Recently?
Shane Groff (06:29):
Uh uh, a lot of guys have started out with the
mentality of one size fits all,but you quickly learn it.
It's very hard to adapt thatmentality.
And when we.
You know, I just use, we, wemake this high pressure arch
with vertical nozzles thatoscillates, uh, four and aft.
And here in Albany, we run it aslow to the ground as we can try
(06:51):
to get that bottom nozzle justabove the conveyor rail because
we wash a lot of really lowsedans and bmw, Mercedes,
whatever you want.
And then, uh, we've got thatsame exact piece of equipment in
Texas and they have it a footoff the ground because they're
washing all taller vehicles.
And they don't want, want thewater spraying underneath the
car.
(07:12):
So, you know, back in theeighties, nineties, even the
early two thousands, everybodywelded everything to the arch,
you know, and we just took thatdifferent approach of we're
gonna bolt it so they could dowhat they wanted.
So much like what Stephan's beensaying, where they want the
product, but they want to beable to kind of tweak it,
(07:34):
configure it their own.
Yeah, that's our customer.
You know, it's one of the thingsthat attracted us to Stefan.
He, he was a believer in it andhe understood that side of, of,
of an industry.
Kevin Zalaznik (07:48):
Is it, it's interesting cuz uh, I guess I
never really thought of it.
And again, I said in differentchairs than you guys doing.
My world is very, uh, when I putmy Hoffman Carl hat on, it's
very much the.
The Northeast and well deal withAnd salt and snow and all that
fun stuff.
But really you think you usedthe example of Texas?
(08:09):
Well, more trucks.
Uh, I guess it, it really isregional then, right?
It's not necessarily theoperator, it's the, it's the
weather conditions, it's thetype of vehicles you're washing,
et cetera.
So certainly at our site,
Stefan Casey (08:23):
it's even, you know, we've been experiencing
with some of the new sitesgoing, it's, it's site specific.
It's, you know, utility supplyand how that could affect the
equipment's operation.
It's.
So many aspects have to go into,you know, the equipment that
you're providing, how it's gonnafunction and operate.
Yeah.
Um, and it's, you know, from theengineering end, it's a fun
challenge to have to deal with.
(08:43):
Uh, definitely makes you wake upevery day and, you know, come to
work going, all right, whatproblems are we gonna solve
Kevin Zalaznik (08:48):
today?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So how much of that are those,um, well, I guess how do you
game plan that then?
Like, you, you're, you'reconstantly, it seems like you're
adapting to the wash, to theregion, et cetera.
You know, what's the best wayforward then to like, where do
you go to the benchmark and belike, okay, this is probably
where we wanna start.
How do you figure that out?
Stefan Casey (09:09):
So it's funny, we have at Applied Robotics, I've
always, we, we, uh, manufacturedhigh precision product, but we
offered up maximum flexibility,which you kind of think of the
two wars.
You're like precision andflexibility.
It's kind of hard to blend thosetwo.
You feel like it's, they're theopposite.
Um, That's kind of what we'vebeen, we're starting to build
(09:31):
here, is that flexibility in theproduct, like Shaa was saying,
about having the adaptabilityand flexibility to be able to
adjust how it operates based onwhere you're, where you're
operating, that but also havethe robustness and the rigidity
of a, of an industrial piece ofequipment.
Um, you know, fighting thatblend is challenging.
(09:52):
Mm-hmm.
Um, you really have to build itfrom the, from the design level.
Up through the supply chain tothe production and how it goes
to the customers and everyaspect of sales to, to, you
know, engineering and productionhave to be all in alignment.
So you're kind of tackling thesame goals.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but it's, you know, it'skind of trying to gather that,
(10:16):
what are those variables thatyou're having to deal with and
can you build a foundation of,you know, kind of common
building blocks to be able toaddress those and.
Chain, you know, brings that,you know, many, many years of
experience and, andunderstanding of how different
wash operators want to use theequipment, how different regions
are gonna use the equipment.
Um, and it, it allows us to sitthere and say, all right, how
(10:39):
are we gonna take thosedifferent requirements and how
are we gonna put it into aproduct or a piece of equipment
that can be flexible enough fromthe.
From the conceptualization, fromthe engineering end all the way
to the production.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, and, and still make itso it's got that same
reliability and, and robustnessthat we intend.
Yeah.
I think,
Kevin Zalaznik (10:59):
uh, about a eight months ago, we were just
getting ready to launch the roYeah.
Was that first ro So that waslike, you walked in and we're
like, okay.
We're like, I, I think, I don'teven know if we launched it at
that point, but I rememberhaving that conversation so, It
was a pretty significant launchto, it's a popular product.
(11:20):
Um, uh, Shane, do you wanna talkabout what, what exactly am I
talking about here with the ROsystem?
Buy it?
Shane Groff (11:27):
Yeah.
I mean, we, we were knee deep,needless to say, and developed
an a product that took anapproach that nobody else did,
you know?
Uh, we didn't want to have bigtanks in the back room.
We wanted a small footprint, youknow, and we wanted to utilize.
High quality components that aregonna last a long time.
(11:49):
So, um, there, there were manyyears of beta testing and
engineering.
It went behind it, but it, it'sbeen a long road.
Uh, we baptized him by fire withthe U r o Ena, you know, it's,
You know, Stefan kind of, youknow, he, he's adapted, you
know, in middle of winter.
Last winter we took him to Texaswhere it was nice and warm.
(12:10):
We went to trade show and hekind of thought that was what
winter was about.
Well, then I quickly took him toMinnesota and when, where, uh,
uh, me, him and Tom Jr.
We, we did some startups on someRos up there in Minnesota for a
customer.
So it, it's been a long journeyand without the, the help of the
engineers and the productionstaff.
(12:32):
We wouldn't be where we're attoday.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (12:34):
What was it, so you, and really, like when you
think about the launch of RO forInnovate, you know, when in
Innovated started in 2018, Imean the products were
developed, they were
Shane Groff (12:51):
used for the most
Kevin Zalaznik (12:52):
part within the Hoffman car wash tunnels.
Yeah.
I felt the ro uh, was the firstlike major launch of a product.
And for you, you walked in.
Yeah.
You didn't have, you didn't havefingerprints on it, but you
were, now you're in charge ofit.
Yeah.
Right.
How was it a difficult, I, Iimagine you're just trying to
wrap your head around it and,or, uh, how much was it hard to
(13:15):
just say?
Okay.
Well, you guys cut it up.
You kind of, you know whatyou're talking about.
Like, I'll just let them handlethis one and then I'll, I'll,
I'll tackle in the next one.
Stefan Casey (13:24):
But it's definitely a major learning
curve.
Um, try to come in first just tounderstand.
Everything, what the product isand, and, and what's its
intended use and why, why doesit even exist in car washes?
Yeah.
Um, you know, then once you havethat understanding, it's all
right, well, well, has everybodyelse been doing, you know, in
the past and what makes this onedifferent?
(13:45):
Um, so just kind of gettingeducated on it and, you know,
being informed on it.
Um, talking to Shane, talking toothers out there that have used
RO systems or that, um, Youknow, helped in some of the
creation of the one that, thatwe're manufacturing.
Uh, but even, you know, evenafter release and you continue
to learn more and more aboutthat piece of equipment and
(14:07):
about how people are going touse it.
And we're, we're continuing tolearn, you know, these days
about different site effects andfactors that go into play, that
goes to having that flexibility,uh, in your product.
And, you know, that's one of thegreat things about having.
Uh, an industry like this andproducts that, that we provide
to it is, is every, everyapplication, every use is, is
(14:29):
kind of unique.
Um, and, you know, some can get,you get frustrated by putting
something in a wash and, and itoperating a little differently
than the one before because ofdifferent site factors.
At the same time, it's a greatlearning experience to, to try
to deploy a solution to that andput it into the core foundation
(14:50):
of the product and make it so Ican work in any environment.
Mm-hmm.
I can be operating up in, youknow, the whole winters of
Minnesota and that same piece ofequipment can then go down into
Texas in a nice, warm climateand be functioning pretty much
the same way.
Um, with different wash demands.
Yeah.
Uh, based on differentoperators.
(15:11):
So it's, uh, it's been truly anexperience and, and a fun one,
um, particularly at the tradeshows to see just the, the
quality level of discussionsthat you're having with, with
others out there.
Uh, I went to many, many tradeshows that my, my old office, I
used to have my lanyards fromall the trade shows that I went
to.
And it was God, 50 60, um, youknow, different lanyards sitting
(15:34):
there and, I would say thediscussions there were more kind
of exploratory, you know, peoplekind of just trying to learn
some technology, see what elseis out there.
Um, but, you know, conversationsmaybe last five minutes that's,
uh, here in the carwashindustry, people really want to
understand the product,understand the, the use and the
(15:54):
technology behind it.
And they take the time to, toreally learn from the experts in
there.
Um, so you know, you're having a30, 45 minute long conversation
at a trade show.
It's.
It was very beneficial for me tokind of shadow Shane and, and
learn, um, at the same time,hear from others, come all
around the, uh, you know, thecountry and, and even the globe,
(16:16):
you know, had some, had someindividuals from Guam, you know
Yeah.
Has it, the, the booth.
Uh, and could hear about some oftheir struggles and experiences
with these types of systems.
Um, you know, Canada, uh, andthen the Southern US and even
the northern, northern states.
So real interesting.
Kevin Zalaznik (16:32):
And in kind of comparison with the.
Replied, applied Robotics andwho your customer wears.
And I'm going make an assumptionthat very different than the car
wash in the sense of the carwash.
There's such a wide range ofoperators.
You have the, you have privateequity, a hundred, a hundred car
washes across the country.
(16:53):
You have regional powerhouses.
You have maybe, uh, familyowned, you know, five businesses
and you have the singleoperator.
There's just such a wide varietyof, uh, Of interest or people
in, in the wash.
The one thing that I noticedwhen I got in the industry
though, is just like the passionof the people.
(17:13):
And I think what you weresaying, like the, there's such
a, there's a, this thirst forknowledge to, to learn as much
as possible.
Um, uh, I think what's in ourbring up trade shows and I went
to the ICA in Vegas.
What was that?
In May?
May, yeah.
May.
Right.
Um, I, that was my first tradeshow, believe it or not.
(17:35):
And one of the things that, thatI found, uh, uh, interesting or,
you know, you have a goodproduct when you see other
manufacturers or like yourcompetitors, like, you know,
peeking around the corner, likemaybe walking over, checking out
what you got going on.
And, uh, I.
In my eyes, what I saw was, Ithink, you know, the ro the
(17:58):
reclaim, even even our controlcabinets, things along those
lines are, you know, and kudosto you guys like trying to
really push kind of innovationin those areas.
Um, and I gotta think, you know,innovation aids and in the name
of the company, but has to be atop of the, the mission
statement for this and.
You know, how important is that,that the products you putting
(18:20):
out or the vision you have forthe company, you know,
innovation's right there
at
Stefan Casey (18:24):
the top.
Oh, oh, absolutely.
I mean, car washes are, they'rea giant automated production
line.
Mm-hmm.
Um, it, what has fascinated meis that it's probably one of the
more complex automation problemsout there.
Um, you know, robotics andautomation has always been, Uh,
(18:45):
very rigid and structuredenvironments.
They're pretty much, uh, fixed.
And the product that you'reprocessing is the same size,
same form, time and time again.
Uh, car washes, you have adifferent car going through
every single time.
Mm-hmm.
You have a different, uh, carbased on region.
You have seven good times have,you know, big trucks and, and
(19:06):
SUVs.
Sometimes you have small sedansand, um, you have to have a.
A system that's flexible enoughto be able to, to handle that,
which is what makes car washingvery, very exciting.
That's why, that's what drew mein.
Um, and with that is just theopportunity for, for a lot of
(19:26):
innovation, uh, to be able tohandle all those variables.
I mean, new models of cars arecoming out.
They've got new features.
Um, They've got new curves,they've got new, uh, areas that
need to be, you know, touchedwithin a car wash, which means
you have to have new advancingtechnology all the time.
Um, and so both in, in thetunnel and in the back room
(19:48):
equipment, um, you need to havethe best technology to make sure
that that production line isstaying operational as often as
possible.
Mm-hmm.
Um, Yeah, I worked a lot in theautomotive industry, so
manufacturing body and whitemanufacturing and, uh, most
major automotive manufacturers,15 minutes of downtime was, was
(20:09):
the most you could accommodatewhen you pa when past 15 minutes
you started losing a lot ofprofit.
Um, and so there was a bigstress uptime and having
reliable, um, robust equipmentwas, was absolutely paramount in
that industry.
Yeah, I think the same goes truein in car wash.
Mm-hmm.
You need your equipmentoperating a hundred percent of
(20:32):
the time and you need to need itto be, uh, informative enough to
allow the operators to know whenit needs to be serviced.
Right.
And, and what needs to beserviced.
And that's what we're trying todo here at Innovative, is to sit
there and put the besttechnology in our product that
informs the operators.
Um, In an effective way so thatthey can keep the water
(20:54):
operating
Kevin Zalaznik (20:54):
when they need to be.
Yeah.
When, when do you think you,like, uh, what would you say you
start seeing technology come inthat would be, um, kind of
setting those alerts?
Oh yeah.
Like, hey, you know, big redflashing button saying, change
me now, or fix me, or somethinglike that.
Oh,
Shane Groff (21:13):
I mean, some of the cutting edge guys.
Operators, you know, were doingit in the nineties, you know,
uh, Tom Jr.
And his family being one ofthem.
Um, a lot of that came from thefamily organizations like the
Hoffman's.
And, um, it's taken a long time,I think, to flow over the entire
(21:36):
industry, where some people, youknow, they're just looking at
the p and l.
Or, or the cost of the buildand, and not seeing no long term
cost of some things.
It could be something as simpleas when there's a stop button
press and you've got eight ofthem in the building, which
one's pressed, you know, youknow, and you have, you know,
(22:02):
young generation operating awash.
You know, you think about six,seven o'clock at night.
You have, you know, high schoolkids in there and an assistant
manager.
So, So you, you really need togive them the information,
precise information, and youneed to do it quickly so they
don't panic.
Cuz if they panic, thecustomer's gonna panic, you
(22:24):
know?
So it's, it's, it's been a longroad, but I, I think, I think
our f industry's finally foundthe time and to sit down and,
and just say, you know what,there is a long-term savings by
paying a little upfront.
Getting the innovativetechnology in there that's gonna
give them the information andtools they need to operate their
(22:46):
car washes successfully.
Kevin Zalaznik (22:49):
Yeah.
It's uh, I think dummy proofmight have been the word without
saying it.
Yeah.
But that's, we, uh, so we openedoften Car wash, opened the
location, uh, couple days ago,and I forget what day it was.
I, I, I got a text messageThursday night.
We open on Tuesday, so we dofree car washes as a kind of an
(23:12):
introduction, grand opening typething.
So, uh, I'll choose my wordsnicely or trying to, some guy
on, on Facebook posted a photoand it wasn't our tunnel, but he
made it seem like it was ourtunnel and it was a car
completely on its side.
Um, and it and the text ma thetext said like, you know, oh no,
(23:34):
like, don't go to HoffmanCarwash at this location.
Like, look what's happeningthere.
This car was completely on itsside.
I'm like, you gotta be kiddingme.
Like, are you serious?
Like, this is fake news if Iever heard it.
So, which from a marketingperspective is, you know, like
how much do you want tointerject and get involved in
this?
And, um, You know, we had someemployees on their own accounts
(23:58):
get involved and, uh, and thenwe actually replied from Hoffman
Carwash saying like, wow, that'scrazy.
Like, not our wash.
Here's why.
Like, you know, it was the, uh,there was like a room in the
tunnel.
And anyway, I'm like, how, firstoff, how did this car get up on
its side?
Me
Shane Groff (24:16):
Photoshop?
Kevin Zalaznik (24:17):
Yeah.
I, it just, it was, it was crazyto see, uh, But anyways, I, I
don't know where I was goingwith that.
I, I think the dummy proofing orwhatever it was, it just, uh,
uh, just interesting story Iguess.
So, uh, no, we did not flip acar on its side and we were
completely operational.
So, uh, anyways, uh, you know,about, uh, speaking of other
(24:40):
challenges, um, about a yearago, we were sitting here and,
and we would have.
Different guests on talk aboutchallenges facing the car wash.
And at that time, uh, and maybethis is still the case in some
areas, but labor was a big, um,cause for concern within the
industry, finding help, um, youknow, new York's going through
(25:03):
a, a, uh, minimum wage is goingup, which, you know, kind of
brings everything else up so,Since that everything's kind of
settled down.
Like our, the Hoffman Car Wash,for the most part is fully
staffed.
It's not something that we're,you know, uh, we're concerned
about, but not too concerned.
Um, but what we would talk aboutis, okay, like automation, that
(25:26):
process and the wash and howthat reduces labor costs.
And, um, uh, so maybe we're pastthat, but you know, as of June
of 2023, what do you guys think?
I.
Biggest challenges
Shane Groff (25:40):
facing car wash.
A year ago when, when we broughtStefan on, you know, one of our
biggest challenges was supplychain.
Uh, and, uh, we warned him upfront in the interview process
the, the challenges that facedhim with supply chain and, and
the challenge.
(26:02):
Of our relatively new companyand how we had mismanaged our
supply chain.
So, you know, we'll let him tellyou about his, uh, his journey
over the last months that, youknow, really it's a question I
still get asked a lot,especially at trade shows.
Everybody wants to know leadtime.
They want to know, you know, isthe supply chain hurting you if
(26:24):
I need a replacement part?
Yeah.
And rightfully so.
Yeah, rightfully so.
They gotta keep their businessesrunning, but, um, We, we turned
a corner, you know, and thingsare getting brighter.
And this gentleman next to us,you know, method to the madness.
I mean, what'd you do?
Yeah, the, uh, I mean, I'm
Kevin Zalaznik (26:44):
sure this is, I mean, this is not, uh, this
isn't just our, an innovativeproblem.
This is, this is everywhere,
Stefan Casey (26:52):
everywhere.
I mean, the supply chain and,and material shortages has been
kind of the.
The wo of every manufacturer forGod, two year over two years.
Yeah.
Uh, since probably late year oneof Covid.
Um, and then
Shane Groff (27:08):
unfortunately kind of used as an excuse nowadays by
some.
Sure.
You know, when you're like,well, where is that?
Oh, so supply chain, it's like,oh, I forgot to place the order.
Wait, wait, let's get over theword supply chain.
Stefan Casey (27:22):
Yeah.
What happened is, was happening,uh, at Applied Robotics before I
left is.
You know, there were rightmanufacturers and, and the
employees were not at the plantsmanufacturing the products.
And so there was, once the stockwas diminished, there was gonna
be a, a delay until they couldreplenish those, those
(27:44):
inventories and that that spot alot of manufacturers to overbuy.
They bought up as much materialas they could, um, to put it on
their shelf, so they didn't havethat delay.
And that left an a, a bigshortage.
Um, and in some areas like the,uh, microprocessors chips, uh,
(28:05):
you know, they're still playingcatch up.
Mm-hmm.
Um, a lot of elec electricalcomponents who are, you know,
we're working at trying to stillget a supply chain that is built
and robust so that we can handlefluctuating demands.
Um, I think it's gonna be acontinued challenge for a good
year or two to come.
Right.
Um, But what we're trying to dois, is, you know, second source
(28:28):
we're trying to provide, youknow, appropriate alternatives
for certain components.
And where we can't, we'reworking directly with our
vendors to, to set up thatsupply chain so that we have
that supply when we need it.
Um, so that includes both, youknow, onsite inventory as well
as our vendor, uh, inventory.
We're really managing thatclosely.
Yeah.
Um, you know, so that we canmake sure that we can produce
(28:51):
the products that, that, uh, ourcustomers are looking for,
whether they try to open up.
So the,
Kevin Zalaznik (28:56):
uh, it, I gotta
Stefan Casey (28:58):
assume it comes a lot down to relationships
Kevin Zalaznik (29:01):
and the relationships that you're able
to build and not, not with yourcustomers, but with your vendors
and communication needs to beclear from them.
Stefan Casey (29:09):
Uh, yeah.
You wanna have, you know, therelationships you have with your
customers, you wanna have thesame type of relationship with
your suppliers.
You know, very open, very, youknow, transparent.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, communication with what yourexpectations are.
Hey, here's what, here's what weneed.
We, we need to, we need to solveit together.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, I approach all myconversation with my suppliers
is, here's the problem.
(29:29):
I'm not gonna, you know, I don'twanna solely provide an answer
cuz it may not fit with whatthey're trying to do.
We need to come to a, a solutiontogether.
That works for both companies.
Yeah.
Um, so we really try to work ona kind of a collaborative and,
um, you know, productive mannerwith our suppliers.
Same way we would with ourcustomers trying to hear their,
their needs, you know, theirpain points and work towards a,
(29:52):
a common solution.
Okay.
So that's
Kevin Zalaznik (29:54):
the, I guess the bad of it or the things that,
the challenges.
What most excites you guyslooking forward?
Not necessarily just like, Fromproduct standpoint, but just
like, I don't know, for me, likeAI is exciting for me and I
think from a marketingstandpoint it kind of just like
gets the juices flowing a littlebit.
But I don't know if you guyshave anything that's you're like
(30:15):
really looking forward to in theupcoming year, two years, five
years, whatever
Stefan Casey (30:19):
it is mean I with too old on the AI point.
I think, um, you know, weimplement a lot of controls
within our, our equipment thatallow us to adapt to different.
Types of cars and, um, proattempt to provide the best
product coming outta thattunnel.
Um, you know, some of that is alot of just, you know, trial and
(30:42):
error mm-hmm.
Leak and, you know, through a,through adjustments that we
learn within the Hoffman Washes.
Um, getting that to where youhave some basic level of, of
learning, I think on thecontrols end of things, to how
your equipment can then respondto, you know, different
environments, different types ofcars.
And change.
(31:02):
Its, its performance andsettings I think could add a lot
of value in getting a consistentproduct coming through the
tunnel.
Yeah.
Is
Kevin Zalaznik (31:10):
that, uh, are you, uh, putting energy towards
Stefan Casey (31:14):
that now?
That is, uh, we're, we'resetting the foundation that will
allow us to start?
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (31:20):
I think it's interesting week.
Uh, Shane mentioned Tommy, who.
Tom Junior, Tom Hoffman, Jr.
Uh, he loves this stuff.
I mean, just absolutely lovesit.
So it's great to have someonewho's like, you know, at the
very top who is excited about itand gets it, and I think will
drive things forward.
And I think a lot of justconversations, like I said, our,
our departments right next toInnovat it, and like, just
(31:43):
different, you just heardifferent things going through
and like, uh, effects AI couldhave in a positive way for for
many businesses.
Um, so.
Which is certainly exciting.
What's, um, I guess what's nextfor Innovative?
What's the next big productlaunch or what do you got?
What's coming up?
Stefan Casey (32:02):
Oh, we got, uh, RO and Reclaim that we, uh, we
launched last October, Ibelieve, at the, at rcc.
Um, you know, we've got a lot ofgood feedback on that, um, both
directly from our customers forour trade shows internally.
Um, and so.
At, uh, Southwest Show next, uh,early spring, late late winter,
(32:24):
early spring.
We're gonna be presenting kindof the gen two of our oil rec
clay, which has taking a lot ofthat feedback into a, a next
level advancement of that.
Kevin Zalaznik (32:34):
But do you put it out there so it has to
happen?
Oh, it's hap it has
Stefan Casey (32:37):
happen.
Um, Yeah, I hope that's, I won'tbe here if that one's happening.
Um, no, I've actually, I'mreally looking forward to that
cause we have had a lot ofreally great feedback both
internally at Hoffman and fromsome of our other coast
customers.
Um, and so I'm really excited tokind of implement some of that
in that house generation.
Um, and that we've been, beenworking on kind of a, a smart
(32:59):
mcc and we kind of did a, a softlaunch of it at, uh, ICA in
Vegas this past year, uh, at alot of.
A lot of diagnostics, a lot oftechnology within our, um, MCCs
and controllers that we arepretty excited about.
That kind of just adds to the,the options and the, um, the
(33:23):
flexibility with the operators,uh, really informs them, allows
'em to make informed decisions,allows them to respond to
failures that may happen in avery quick.
In a rapid manner.
They don't need a professionaltechnician to sit there and help
guide them into resolvingissues.
You know, you're, anybody that'soperating that wash can easily
sit there and go up into an hmi,see what is happening, be able
(33:46):
to resolve the, the problemright then and there.
Um, so we're trying to be moreintuitive and more constructive
for the, for the operator.
Kevin Zalaznik (33:53):
I think it's, a lot of it is just driven by it,
how people operate their lives.
Right?
And, and the user experiencethey have on their following or
on the computer or whatever itwas.
You know, it's like the days oflike turning a nod or whatever
it is, those are gone.
It's all, you know, it's on the,it's on the user from the
interface.
Um, what about you, Shane?
What are, what, what's, what areyou excited
Shane Groff (34:14):
about?
I, I think I'm most excitedabout the relationships we're
building.
I mean, I still go to the showsand, um, each show we get a
bigger booth and we bring moreequipment so people see more and
more what, what we do.
Um, I would say two to threeweeks out of the month where we
have operators touring thefactory and touring, washes the
(34:37):
sea, you know, kick the tires.
And, uh, you know, we get a, ageneral comment a lot of the
time is like, you guys areserious about this.
And, and the first couple timesI'd be like, well, what do you
mean?
And they would be, oh, well Ididn't know if you were making
this in Tom's garage or what youwere doing, you know, and no,
we're serious.
I mean, we've, we've got afacility.
(35:00):
That we built, you know, and,uh, even rent, uh, extra space
in a building next to us.
Yeah.
Uh, so, you know, as people getexposed to that and I, I think
it brings them over to theinnovative team and make some
family, cuz they, they knowwe're here for the long run.
They, they know what we'recapable of and, uh, you know, we
(35:22):
have a lot of great, strongrelationships with operators and
vendors and other manufacturers.
Yeah.
And uh, you know, every sixmonths it goes by you.
You just, you really feel goodabout it cuz it's growing and
it's growing in a really healthyway.
So that's what, you know, I lookto that, I love that side of my
(35:43):
job and really enjoy it.
Kevin Zalaznik (35:45):
What do well outside of the I a, when you
look at the industry as a whole,what's most exciting for you?
Wow.
That's a
Shane Groff (35:53):
loaded question.
Kevin Zalaznik (35:56):
Hey, I'll tell you.
I'll, I'll go first and thenmake it up.
I think, um, uh, I think you'restarting to see, I, I love
technology, um, and I love theai, but I think the, the growth
of carwash and from a marketingstandpoint, I think marketers
are just getting smarter aboutit.
It's not, you know, Oh, let'sjust do a print ad with a coupon
(36:18):
or whatever it is.
I think you're, I think thosedays are gone.
I think you have a, you have ayounger, not younger, just a, a
newer, more progressive flow oftactics when it comes to
marketing and to be able tolook, you know, across the
country and see differentoperators or what they're doing.
I think, you know, some of itis, uh, is pretty innovative.
(36:40):
Um, uh, uh, if you haven't seenit, uh, Take five.
They launched this, uh, pigeon,uh, campaign.
It's, it's brilliant.
Anyone out there just, um, youknow, if you Google Take Five
Pigeon, uh, it's pretty good.
It's very clever, very creative.
So just seeing, um, you know,operators who are taking a, a
(37:03):
much larger approach or, uh,than just, you know, a coupon.
Yeah.
Uh, certainly exciting to see.
Shane Groff (37:11):
I, for me, I, I guess it's really the, the
education of the operators.
Um, you know, I'll use anexample, a couple weeks ago we
did a tour and we're at the carwash and it's, we're in the
northeast, so like everybody intheir brother has a car that has
some kind of rack on it.
It's a kayak, it's a bike, it'sa ski rack, it's in, yeah, it's
(37:35):
unbelievable.
And we were just washing thesecars right through and the
operator's like, Mandy, well,what happens if that top brush
gets caught on that snowboardrack?
I'm like, well, the conveyorpulses, the brush lifts out of
the way and the conveyorrestarts and like, they just
don't know this technologyexists and it's available to'em.
(37:56):
So, you know, for the next likefour hours of our tour, I mean,
he just kept coming back tothat.
He's like, he's like, I justdon't get it.
Why doesn't anybody else do it?
And I'm like, I don't know.
You know?
Uh, we're fortunate enough thatwe operate successful car
washes, and if we turned aroundor turned away cars with some
(38:16):
sort of rack on them, we'd belooking for something to do.
I mean, even in our own parkinglot here in the office, it's
like everybody's got some kindof stinking rack, you know, so
that it excites me that peopleare really, they're learning
about it and they're open to it.
I mean, it, it, I, I started in1993.
(38:37):
Yeah.
If you would've said to somebodylike, Hey, I'm gonna control
that wraparound in the event itgets called on a big towing
mirror, the operators would'velaughed you out of the room,
probably fired you.
Hey, I, I don't know.
It's, but you, you have to doit.
You can't always rely on, on anemployee.
They do the best they can, buthey, sometimes they're short
(38:59):
staffed and they're doing thebest they can and you get a
little hiccup.
Yeah.
So I, I think.
That's really exci.
I'm, I'm a nerd like Tom when itcomes to the control side of
things.
Running around with my laptopand the in the car washes not so
much anymore.
Stuff keeps me busy on the salesside.
But, um, you know, being able toeducate people on that, uh, I
(39:23):
really enjoy it.
And I think the next five, 10years with, like Steph was
saying, all the differentshapes, sizes, colors, whatever
it is.
It's gonna force us to, to getmore creative and that that
future looks bright.
Kevin Zalaznik (39:39):
Yeah.
Well, I'll leave it this, we'llleave on a, a light air note.
And I'm doing, I'm gonna askthis question as a pure selfish
reason.
Uh, has nothing to do with carwash, but I am near the end, end
of, uh, season three of TedLasso and I need something to
watch afterwards.
So what are you guys currentlywatching?
Stefan Casey (39:58):
Uh, or.
Ooh.
Uh, I, I'm, hardest question ofthe day,
Kevin Zalaznik (40:03):
right?
Stefan Casey (40:04):
I, I did just finish Ted Lasso.
Um, and I'm in between tryingto, I'm trying to figure out the
next, you know, next series tostart watching if you have not
watched succession.
Okay.
That is a good one.
Okay.
That is a, a very good show.
You
Shane Groff (40:18):
got shape well in the, uh, In the absence of
Yellowstone this summer, I'velike caught up on every Viking
show there is on Netflix, and Ijust finished it last week.
And luckily season five, thesecond half, season five,
Yellowstone will be out.
So I'll finish that after that.
(40:38):
Um, my better half says I betterget to work out in the yard, so
I, I guess I'm not gonna bewatching any TV this summer,
but,
Kevin Zalaznik (40:46):
I'll tell Yellow sends of, cause you're like, I
wanna be a cowboy.
So bad exact words I used to mywife, I was like, I think we can
be cowboy.
End up the cowboys scout.
I've
Shane Groff (40:55):
got horses at home and hey, if you ever want to be
a cowboy, come over.
Take care of our horses.
We'll see how long you want tobe a cowboy.
Kevin Zalaznik (41:03):
Exactly.
All right.
Well Stephan, thanks so much forjoining us everyone.
Thanks Your.
Thanks for your patience, uh,for the start of season three
and, uh, hopefully we'll haveyou back at some point.
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
All right.
All right.
Bye bye.
All right.
Welcome to the Modern Car WashPodcast, season three.
And it's been, unfortunately,over a year since our last
podcast and, uh, a lot haschanged.
Um, not only with, uh, ourcompany, but also the format of
the podcast.
So originally I was the host,uh, and then I relinquished
(00:34):
those duties to Dan St-Jacques,who then relinquished them back
to me.
We've added Shane gr as the coco-host of the show.
Um, so Shane, welcome and we'rehere with Stefan Casey, who's
the new, uh, I guess new if youwanna still call.
Him new, um, general manager forHoffman Innovated Carwash.
(00:54):
So Stefan, welcome.
Thank you.
So it's funny, uh, our office atSo Hoffman Development, uh,
which owns Hoffman Carwash,Hoffman innovateIT, um, our, uh,
where the marketing departmentsits, uh, directly behind is
where in Innovated essentiallystarts.
And Shane was in the innovatedsection.
He got booted for, uh, cuz wewere.
(01:17):
Hired staff.
So Shane moved into like themarketing place and within, I
don't know, what was it, like anhour, we were like, we gotta
bring back the podcast.
So here we are.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So Shane, you've, uh, you weretelling me like how ma how much,
uh, you hear about peopleenjoying the podcast, uh, when
you're on the
Shane Groff (01:35):
road.
Yeah.
Abso, I mean, our, our currentcustomers, they stay up to tune
on it.
People at the trade shows arealways commenting, oh, I've seen
this episode about this.
And it spurs a lot of greatconversations.
So that's why I kind of needledDan to bring it back.
But you know, Dan didn't wannabe in front of the camera when
he came back, so he, hes herewith us.
(01:57):
So say Hi,
Kevin Zalaznik (01:57):
Dan.
Yes.
Hello everybody.
Yeah, we're like, all right Dan,we're gonna do this, but you
have to do all the legwork.
We just have to talk.
So here we are.
So, yeah, I think I, you know,initially when we set out for
it, it was, the idea was, youknow, we have.
Uh, Hoffman Carwash has beenaround since 1965.
There's just so much knowledgewithin the walls of this, uh, of
this company and, um, what canwe do almost to give back or
(02:20):
share what, what were happeningand, you know, hopefully spur
conversation across theindustry.
Um, and at the same time, um,you know, we're able to talk
about what we have going on inour lives and our businesses, et
cetera.
So, Um, like I said, our, ourguest today is Stefan Casey.
Casey, uh, who's the generalmanager for Innovative.
(02:41):
Steph.
Uh, I, I can't remember when youinterviewed.
I was trying to go back and Ikind of lost time.
So how long have you been, uh,
Stefan Casey (02:47):
With the company.
So I interviewed with you abouta year ago, so there we go.
Yeah.
Back in June, July of last year.
Okay.
And then officially came onboard at the end of September.
Okay.
So it's about eight months nowthat I've been, uh, fully in, in
position.
Time flies.
Can't really for sure.
Kevin Zalaznik (03:04):
Really, I, you know, the last time we had the
podcast, uh, I certainly didn'thave a beard.
I don't think Shane had a beard.
So maybe you're trend-setting.
Yeah, we, it's, uh, certainlysome, which is that, this is
completely off topic, but it's,it's interesting how the facial
hair, especially in our company,but also in the industry, like,
it's just, it's a beardindustry, right?
Yeah.
So you fit right back, fit rightin.
(03:26):
So, um, Seven, eight, so eightmonths really.
Uh, which is, uh, again, likeyou said, time flies.
Uh, I don't know.
How's it going for you?
You're still working here, soyou haven't left still?
Still here,
Stefan Casey (03:37):
still here.
I come here every day.
Uh, and every day has been a, adifferent new challenge.
Um, it's been exciting.
I mean, there's, I look backkind of the past eight months of
how much we have accomplished ineight months, but also how much
is left to, to continue to do,to get us to where we need to
be.
Um, You know, it's, it's prettyan amazing environment here.
(04:00):
Mm-hmm.
Um, got a lot of good, goodgroups and individuals both on
the innovative side and also onthe car wash side.
So there's a lot ofcollaboration and discussion
that goes on that helps mylearning as new to the industry,
um, but helps us kind of reallyrefine and improve our products.
So that we can address not onlyprobably one of the higher
(04:20):
demand customers in HoffmanUhhuh, but you know, the rest of
the customers out there for, um,that are gonna be using our
Kevin Zalaznik (04:27):
equipment.
Yeah.
So your background, uh,engineered at heart, um, and you
came from Applied Robotics, um,which is a, a local company to,
uh, the Albany, the capitalregion, upstate New York.
Uh, can you just walk us throughwhat Applied Robotics is?
Yeah.
And uh, what you were doingthere.
Yeah, so it's kind of funny.
Stefan Casey (04:47):
I, uh, when I was interviewing for this position,
I'm sitting there thinking carwashes like that, that's just,
that's gotta be vastly differentthan what I've been doing for
the past decade, uh, withapplied robotics, that I found
out is actually a lot ofsimilarities.
Um, but applied roboticsmanufacturers end of arm
tooling, equipment for roboticsand automation.
(05:08):
And, uh, it was, it's company'sbeen around since 83, uh, has
been operating outta Glenville,New York.
Um, since early nineties and,uh, we sell our equipment, uh,
not only in the United States,but we sold throughout the
entire world, uh, every, everyreach of the world in every
automotive install, uh, generalindustry, uh, robotic
(05:32):
application.
Um, but we were a small, smallmanufacturing company similar to
what Innovative is.
And the, what I found is a verysimilar aspect of the
manufacturing end is ourcustomers.
We're looking for, um, a kind ofcustomized configuration custom
solution that was kind of tailorfitted to their application, um,
(05:56):
which is very similar to what wedo with our car wash equipment.
Everybody's got their own uniqueway of, of putting a tunnel in
and how they wanna wash cars andwhat kind of equipment they want
to use.
And we, uh, innovative aretrying to set ourselves up so we
can kind of tailor a solutionspecific to the customer.
Any specific to that applicationcuz every wash is
Kevin Zalaznik (06:16):
different.
Yeah.
Jane, is that you're, you're theman who's been in the industry
the longest.
Like, has that always been thecase?
Like just every, was there evera one size fits all?
Or like a standard model?
Is this like everyone's goingtheir different direction
Recently?
Shane Groff (06:29):
Uh uh, a lot of guys have started out with the
mentality of one size fits all,but you quickly learn it.
It's very hard to adapt thatmentality.
And when we.
You know, I just use, we, wemake this high pressure arch
with vertical nozzles thatoscillates, uh, four and aft.
And here in Albany, we run it aslow to the ground as we can try
(06:51):
to get that bottom nozzle justabove the conveyor rail because
we wash a lot of really lowsedans and bmw, Mercedes,
whatever you want.
And then, uh, we've got thatsame exact piece of equipment in
Texas and they have it a footoff the ground because they're
washing all taller vehicles.
And they don't want, want thewater spraying underneath the
car.
(07:12):
So, you know, back in theeighties, nineties, even the
early two thousands, everybodywelded everything to the arch,
you know, and we just took thatdifferent approach of we're
gonna bolt it so they could dowhat they wanted.
So much like what Stephan's beensaying, where they want the
product, but they want to beable to kind of tweak it,
(07:34):
configure it their own.
Yeah, that's our customer.
You know, it's one of the thingsthat attracted us to Stefan.
He, he was a believer in it andhe understood that side of, of,
of an industry.
Kevin Zalaznik (07:48):
Is it, it's interesting cuz uh, I guess I
never really thought of it.
And again, I said in differentchairs than you guys doing.
My world is very, uh, when I putmy Hoffman Carl hat on, it's
very much the.
The Northeast and well deal withAnd salt and snow and all that
fun stuff.
But really you think you usedthe example of Texas?
(08:09):
Well, more trucks.
Uh, I guess it, it really isregional then, right?
It's not necessarily theoperator, it's the, it's the
weather conditions, it's thetype of vehicles you're washing,
et cetera.
So certainly at our site,
Stefan Casey (08:23):
it's even, you know, we've been experiencing
with some of the new sitesgoing, it's, it's site specific.
It's, you know, utility supplyand how that could affect the
equipment's operation.
It's.
So many aspects have to go into,you know, the equipment that
you're providing, how it's gonnafunction and operate.
Yeah.
Um, and it's, you know, from theengineering end, it's a fun
challenge to have to deal with.
(08:43):
Uh, definitely makes you wake upevery day and, you know, come to
work going, all right, whatproblems are we gonna solve
Kevin Zalaznik (08:48):
today?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So how much of that are those,um, well, I guess how do you
game plan that then?
Like, you, you're, you'reconstantly, it seems like you're
adapting to the wash, to theregion, et cetera.
You know, what's the best wayforward then to like, where do
you go to the benchmark and belike, okay, this is probably
where we wanna start.
How do you figure that out?
Stefan Casey (09:09):
So it's funny, we have at Applied Robotics, I've
always, we, we, uh, manufacturedhigh precision product, but we
offered up maximum flexibility,which you kind of think of the
two wars.
You're like precision andflexibility.
It's kind of hard to blend thosetwo.
You feel like it's, they're theopposite.
Um, That's kind of what we'vebeen, we're starting to build
(09:31):
here, is that flexibility in theproduct, like Shaa was saying,
about having the adaptabilityand flexibility to be able to
adjust how it operates based onwhere you're, where you're
operating, that but also havethe robustness and the rigidity
of a, of an industrial piece ofequipment.
Um, you know, fighting thatblend is challenging.
(09:52):
Mm-hmm.
Um, you really have to build itfrom the, from the design level.
Up through the supply chain tothe production and how it goes
to the customers and everyaspect of sales to, to, you
know, engineering and productionhave to be all in alignment.
So you're kind of tackling thesame goals.
Mm-hmm.
Um, but it's, you know, it'skind of trying to gather that,
(10:16):
what are those variables thatyou're having to deal with and
can you build a foundation of,you know, kind of common
building blocks to be able toaddress those and.
Chain, you know, brings that,you know, many, many years of
experience and, andunderstanding of how different
wash operators want to use theequipment, how different regions
are gonna use the equipment.
Um, and it, it allows us to sitthere and say, all right, how
(10:39):
are we gonna take thosedifferent requirements and how
are we gonna put it into aproduct or a piece of equipment
that can be flexible enough fromthe.
From the conceptualization, fromthe engineering end all the way
to the production.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, and, and still make itso it's got that same
reliability and, and robustnessthat we intend.
Yeah.
I think,
Kevin Zalaznik (10:59):
uh, about a eight months ago, we were just
getting ready to launch the roYeah.
Was that first ro So that waslike, you walked in and we're
like, okay.
We're like, I, I think, I don'teven know if we launched it at
that point, but I rememberhaving that conversation so, It
was a pretty significant launchto, it's a popular product.
(11:20):
Um, uh, Shane, do you wanna talkabout what, what exactly am I
talking about here with the ROsystem?
Buy it?
Shane Groff (11:27):
Yeah.
I mean, we, we were knee deep,needless to say, and developed
an a product that took anapproach that nobody else did,
you know?
Uh, we didn't want to have bigtanks in the back room.
We wanted a small footprint, youknow, and we wanted to utilize.
High quality components that aregonna last a long time.
(11:49):
So, um, there, there were manyyears of beta testing and
engineering.
It went behind it, but it, it'sbeen a long road.
Uh, we baptized him by fire withthe U r o Ena, you know, it's,
You know, Stefan kind of, youknow, he, he's adapted, you
know, in middle of winter.
Last winter we took him to Texaswhere it was nice and warm.
(12:10):
We went to trade show and hekind of thought that was what
winter was about.
Well, then I quickly took him toMinnesota and when, where, uh,
uh, me, him and Tom Jr.
We, we did some startups on someRos up there in Minnesota for a
customer.
So it, it's been a long journeyand without the, the help of the
engineers and the productionstaff.
(12:32):
We wouldn't be where we're attoday.
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (12:34):
What was it, so you, and really, like when you
think about the launch of RO forInnovate, you know, when in
Innovated started in 2018, Imean the products were
developed, they were
Shane Groff (12:51):
used for the most
Kevin Zalaznik (12:52):
part within the Hoffman car wash tunnels.
Yeah.
I felt the ro uh, was the firstlike major launch of a product.
And for you, you walked in.
Yeah.
You didn't have, you didn't havefingerprints on it, but you
were, now you're in charge ofit.
Yeah.
Right.
How was it a difficult, I, Iimagine you're just trying to
wrap your head around it and,or, uh, how much was it hard to
(13:15):
just say?
Okay.
Well, you guys cut it up.
You kind of, you know whatyou're talking about.
Like, I'll just let them handlethis one and then I'll, I'll,
I'll tackle in the next one.
Stefan Casey (13:24):
But it's definitely a major learning
curve.
Um, try to come in first just tounderstand.
Everything, what the product isand, and, and what's its
intended use and why, why doesit even exist in car washes?
Yeah.
Um, you know, then once you havethat understanding, it's all
right, well, well, has everybodyelse been doing, you know, in
the past and what makes this onedifferent?
(13:45):
Um, so just kind of gettingeducated on it and, you know,
being informed on it.
Um, talking to Shane, talking toothers out there that have used
RO systems or that, um, Youknow, helped in some of the
creation of the one that, thatwe're manufacturing.
Uh, but even, you know, evenafter release and you continue
to learn more and more aboutthat piece of equipment and
(14:07):
about how people are going touse it.
And we're, we're continuing tolearn, you know, these days
about different site effects andfactors that go into play, that
goes to having that flexibility,uh, in your product.
And, you know, that's one of thegreat things about having.
Uh, an industry like this andproducts that, that we provide
to it is, is every, everyapplication, every use is, is
(14:29):
kind of unique.
Um, and, you know, some can get,you get frustrated by putting
something in a wash and, and itoperating a little differently
than the one before because ofdifferent site factors.
At the same time, it's a greatlearning experience to, to try
to deploy a solution to that andput it into the core foundation
(14:50):
of the product and make it so Ican work in any environment.
Mm-hmm.
I can be operating up in, youknow, the whole winters of
Minnesota and that same piece ofequipment can then go down into
Texas in a nice, warm climateand be functioning pretty much
the same way.
Um, with different wash demands.
Yeah.
Uh, based on differentoperators.
(15:11):
So it's, uh, it's been truly anexperience and, and a fun one,
um, particularly at the tradeshows to see just the, the
quality level of discussionsthat you're having with, with
others out there.
Uh, I went to many, many tradeshows that my, my old office, I
used to have my lanyards fromall the trade shows that I went
to.
And it was God, 50 60, um, youknow, different lanyards sitting
(15:34):
there and, I would say thediscussions there were more kind
of exploratory, you know, peoplekind of just trying to learn
some technology, see what elseis out there.
Um, but, you know, conversationsmaybe last five minutes that's,
uh, here in the carwashindustry, people really want to
understand the product,understand the, the use and the
(15:54):
technology behind it.
And they take the time to, toreally learn from the experts in
there.
Um, so you know, you're having a30, 45 minute long conversation
at a trade show.
It's.
It was very beneficial for me tokind of shadow Shane and, and
learn, um, at the same time,hear from others, come all
around the, uh, you know, thecountry and, and even the globe,
(16:16):
you know, had some, had someindividuals from Guam, you know
Yeah.
Has it, the, the booth.
Uh, and could hear about some oftheir struggles and experiences
with these types of systems.
Um, you know, Canada, uh, andthen the Southern US and even
the northern, northern states.
So real interesting.
Kevin Zalaznik (16:32):
And in kind of comparison with the.
Replied, applied Robotics andwho your customer wears.
And I'm going make an assumptionthat very different than the car
wash in the sense of the carwash.
There's such a wide range ofoperators.
You have the, you have privateequity, a hundred, a hundred car
washes across the country.
(16:53):
You have regional powerhouses.
You have maybe, uh, familyowned, you know, five businesses
and you have the singleoperator.
There's just such a wide varietyof, uh, Of interest or people
in, in the wash.
The one thing that I noticedwhen I got in the industry
though, is just like the passionof the people.
(17:13):
And I think what you weresaying, like the, there's such
a, there's a, this thirst forknowledge to, to learn as much
as possible.
Um, uh, I think what's in ourbring up trade shows and I went
to the ICA in Vegas.
What was that?
In May?
May, yeah.
May.
Right.
Um, I, that was my first tradeshow, believe it or not.
(17:35):
And one of the things that, thatI found, uh, uh, interesting or,
you know, you have a goodproduct when you see other
manufacturers or like yourcompetitors, like, you know,
peeking around the corner, likemaybe walking over, checking out
what you got going on.
And, uh, I.
In my eyes, what I saw was, Ithink, you know, the ro the
(17:58):
reclaim, even even our controlcabinets, things along those
lines are, you know, and kudosto you guys like trying to
really push kind of innovationin those areas.
Um, and I gotta think, you know,innovation aids and in the name
of the company, but has to be atop of the, the mission
statement for this and.
You know, how important is that,that the products you putting
(18:20):
out or the vision you have forthe company, you know,
innovation's right there
at
Stefan Casey (18:24):
the top.
Oh, oh, absolutely.
I mean, car washes are, they'rea giant automated production
line.
Mm-hmm.
Um, it, what has fascinated meis that it's probably one of the
more complex automation problemsout there.
Um, you know, robotics andautomation has always been, Uh,
(18:45):
very rigid and structuredenvironments.
They're pretty much, uh, fixed.
And the product that you'reprocessing is the same size,
same form, time and time again.
Uh, car washes, you have adifferent car going through
every single time.
Mm-hmm.
You have a different, uh, carbased on region.
You have seven good times have,you know, big trucks and, and
(19:06):
SUVs.
Sometimes you have small sedansand, um, you have to have a.
A system that's flexible enoughto be able to, to handle that,
which is what makes car washingvery, very exciting.
That's why, that's what drew mein.
Um, and with that is just theopportunity for, for a lot of
(19:26):
innovation, uh, to be able tohandle all those variables.
I mean, new models of cars arecoming out.
They've got new features.
Um, They've got new curves,they've got new, uh, areas that
need to be, you know, touchedwithin a car wash, which means
you have to have new advancingtechnology all the time.
Um, and so both in, in thetunnel and in the back room
(19:48):
equipment, um, you need to havethe best technology to make sure
that that production line isstaying operational as often as
possible.
Mm-hmm.
Um, Yeah, I worked a lot in theautomotive industry, so
manufacturing body and whitemanufacturing and, uh, most
major automotive manufacturers,15 minutes of downtime was, was
(20:09):
the most you could accommodatewhen you pa when past 15 minutes
you started losing a lot ofprofit.
Um, and so there was a bigstress uptime and having
reliable, um, robust equipmentwas, was absolutely paramount in
that industry.
Yeah, I think the same goes truein in car wash.
Mm-hmm.
You need your equipmentoperating a hundred percent of
(20:32):
the time and you need to need itto be, uh, informative enough to
allow the operators to know whenit needs to be serviced.
Right.
And, and what needs to beserviced.
And that's what we're trying todo here at Innovative, is to sit
there and put the besttechnology in our product that
informs the operators.
Um, In an effective way so thatthey can keep the water
(20:54):
operating
Kevin Zalaznik (20:54):
when they need to be.
Yeah.
When, when do you think you,like, uh, what would you say you
start seeing technology come inthat would be, um, kind of
setting those alerts?
Oh yeah.
Like, hey, you know, big redflashing button saying, change
me now, or fix me, or somethinglike that.
Oh,
Shane Groff (21:13):
I mean, some of the cutting edge guys.
Operators, you know, were doingit in the nineties, you know,
uh, Tom Jr.
And his family being one ofthem.
Um, a lot of that came from thefamily organizations like the
Hoffman's.
And, um, it's taken a long time,I think, to flow over the entire
(21:36):
industry, where some people, youknow, they're just looking at
the p and l.
Or, or the cost of the buildand, and not seeing no long term
cost of some things.
It could be something as simpleas when there's a stop button
press and you've got eight ofthem in the building, which
one's pressed, you know, youknow, and you have, you know,
(22:02):
young generation operating awash.
You know, you think about six,seven o'clock at night.
You have, you know, high schoolkids in there and an assistant
manager.
So, So you, you really need togive them the information,
precise information, and youneed to do it quickly so they
don't panic.
Cuz if they panic, thecustomer's gonna panic, you
(22:24):
know?
So it's, it's, it's been a longroad, but I, I think, I think
our f industry's finally foundthe time and to sit down and,
and just say, you know what,there is a long-term savings by
paying a little upfront.
Getting the innovativetechnology in there that's gonna
give them the information andtools they need to operate their
(22:46):
car washes successfully.
Kevin Zalaznik (22:49):
Yeah.
It's uh, I think dummy proofmight have been the word without
saying it.
Yeah.
But that's, we, uh, so we openedoften Car wash, opened the
location, uh, couple days ago,and I forget what day it was.
I, I, I got a text messageThursday night.
We open on Tuesday, so we dofree car washes as a kind of an
(23:12):
introduction, grand opening typething.
So, uh, I'll choose my wordsnicely or trying to, some guy
on, on Facebook posted a photoand it wasn't our tunnel, but he
made it seem like it was ourtunnel and it was a car
completely on its side.
Um, and it and the text ma thetext said like, you know, oh no,
(23:34):
like, don't go to HoffmanCarwash at this location.
Like, look what's happeningthere.
This car was completely on itsside.
I'm like, you gotta be kiddingme.
Like, are you serious?
Like, this is fake news if Iever heard it.
So, which from a marketingperspective is, you know, like
how much do you want tointerject and get involved in
this?
And, um, You know, we had someemployees on their own accounts
(23:58):
get involved and, uh, and thenwe actually replied from Hoffman
Carwash saying like, wow, that'scrazy.
Like, not our wash.
Here's why.
Like, you know, it was the, uh,there was like a room in the
tunnel.
And anyway, I'm like, how, firstoff, how did this car get up on
its side?
Me
Shane Groff (24:16):
Photoshop?
Kevin Zalaznik (24:17):
Yeah.
I, it just, it was, it was crazyto see, uh, But anyways, I, I
don't know where I was goingwith that.
I, I think the dummy proofing orwhatever it was, it just, uh,
uh, just interesting story Iguess.
So, uh, no, we did not flip acar on its side and we were
completely operational.
So, uh, anyways, uh, you know,about, uh, speaking of other
(24:40):
challenges, um, about a yearago, we were sitting here and,
and we would have.
Different guests on talk aboutchallenges facing the car wash.
And at that time, uh, and maybethis is still the case in some
areas, but labor was a big, um,cause for concern within the
industry, finding help, um, youknow, new York's going through
(25:03):
a, a, uh, minimum wage is goingup, which, you know, kind of
brings everything else up so,Since that everything's kind of
settled down.
Like our, the Hoffman Car Wash,for the most part is fully
staffed.
It's not something that we're,you know, uh, we're concerned
about, but not too concerned.
Um, but what we would talk aboutis, okay, like automation, that
(25:26):
process and the wash and howthat reduces labor costs.
And, um, uh, so maybe we're pastthat, but you know, as of June
of 2023, what do you guys think?
I.
Biggest challenges
Shane Groff (25:40):
facing car wash.
A year ago when, when we broughtStefan on, you know, one of our
biggest challenges was supplychain.
Uh, and, uh, we warned him upfront in the interview process
the, the challenges that facedhim with supply chain and, and
the challenge.
(26:02):
Of our relatively new companyand how we had mismanaged our
supply chain.
So, you know, we'll let him tellyou about his, uh, his journey
over the last months that, youknow, really it's a question I
still get asked a lot,especially at trade shows.
Everybody wants to know leadtime.
They want to know, you know, isthe supply chain hurting you if
(26:24):
I need a replacement part?
Yeah.
And rightfully so.
Yeah, rightfully so.
They gotta keep their businessesrunning, but, um, We, we turned
a corner, you know, and thingsare getting brighter.
And this gentleman next to us,you know, method to the madness.
I mean, what'd you do?
Yeah, the, uh, I mean, I'm
Kevin Zalaznik (26:44):
sure this is, I mean, this is not, uh, this
isn't just our, an innovativeproblem.
This is, this is everywhere,
Stefan Casey (26:52):
everywhere.
I mean, the supply chain and,and material shortages has been
kind of the.
The wo of every manufacturer forGod, two year over two years.
Yeah.
Uh, since probably late year oneof Covid.
Um, and then
Shane Groff (27:08):
unfortunately kind of used as an excuse nowadays by
some.
Sure.
You know, when you're like,well, where is that?
Oh, so supply chain, it's like,oh, I forgot to place the order.
Wait, wait, let's get over theword supply chain.
Stefan Casey (27:22):
Yeah.
What happened is, was happening,uh, at Applied Robotics before I
left is.
You know, there were rightmanufacturers and, and the
employees were not at the plantsmanufacturing the products.
And so there was, once the stockwas diminished, there was gonna
be a, a delay until they couldreplenish those, those
(27:44):
inventories and that that spot alot of manufacturers to overbuy.
They bought up as much materialas they could, um, to put it on
their shelf, so they didn't havethat delay.
And that left an a, a bigshortage.
Um, and in some areas like the,uh, microprocessors chips, uh,
(28:05):
you know, they're still playingcatch up.
Mm-hmm.
Um, a lot of elec electricalcomponents who are, you know,
we're working at trying to stillget a supply chain that is built
and robust so that we can handlefluctuating demands.
Um, I think it's gonna be acontinued challenge for a good
year or two to come.
Right.
Um, But what we're trying to dois, is, you know, second source
(28:28):
we're trying to provide, youknow, appropriate alternatives
for certain components.
And where we can't, we'reworking directly with our
vendors to, to set up thatsupply chain so that we have
that supply when we need it.
Um, so that includes both, youknow, onsite inventory as well
as our vendor, uh, inventory.
We're really managing thatclosely.
Yeah.
Um, you know, so that we canmake sure that we can produce
(28:51):
the products that, that, uh, ourcustomers are looking for,
whether they try to open up.
So the,
Kevin Zalaznik (28:56):
uh, it, I gotta
Stefan Casey (28:58):
assume it comes a lot down to relationships
Kevin Zalaznik (29:01):
and the relationships that you're able
to build and not, not with yourcustomers, but with your vendors
and communication needs to beclear from them.
Stefan Casey (29:09):
Uh, yeah.
You wanna have, you know, therelationships you have with your
customers, you wanna have thesame type of relationship with
your suppliers.
You know, very open, very, youknow, transparent.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, communication with what yourexpectations are.
Hey, here's what, here's what weneed.
We, we need to, we need to solveit together.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, I approach all myconversation with my suppliers
is, here's the problem.
(29:29):
I'm not gonna, you know, I don'twanna solely provide an answer
cuz it may not fit with whatthey're trying to do.
We need to come to a, a solutiontogether.
That works for both companies.
Yeah.
Um, so we really try to work ona kind of a collaborative and,
um, you know, productive mannerwith our suppliers.
Same way we would with ourcustomers trying to hear their,
their needs, you know, theirpain points and work towards a,
(29:52):
a common solution.
Okay.
So that's
Kevin Zalaznik (29:54):
the, I guess the bad of it or the things that,
the challenges.
What most excites you guyslooking forward?
Not necessarily just like, Fromproduct standpoint, but just
like, I don't know, for me, likeAI is exciting for me and I
think from a marketingstandpoint it kind of just like
gets the juices flowing a littlebit.
But I don't know if you guyshave anything that's you're like
(30:15):
really looking forward to in theupcoming year, two years, five
years, whatever
Stefan Casey (30:19):
it is mean I with too old on the AI point.
I think, um, you know, weimplement a lot of controls
within our, our equipment thatallow us to adapt to different.
Types of cars and, um, proattempt to provide the best
product coming outta thattunnel.
Um, you know, some of that is alot of just, you know, trial and
(30:42):
error mm-hmm.
Leak and, you know, through a,through adjustments that we
learn within the Hoffman Washes.
Um, getting that to where youhave some basic level of, of
learning, I think on thecontrols end of things, to how
your equipment can then respondto, you know, different
environments, different types ofcars.
And change.
(31:02):
Its, its performance andsettings I think could add a lot
of value in getting a consistentproduct coming through the
tunnel.
Yeah.
Is
Kevin Zalaznik (31:10):
that, uh, are you, uh, putting energy towards
Stefan Casey (31:14):
that now?
That is, uh, we're, we'resetting the foundation that will
allow us to start?
Yeah.
Kevin Zalaznik (31:20):
I think it's interesting week.
Uh, Shane mentioned Tommy, who.
Tom Junior, Tom Hoffman, Jr.
Uh, he loves this stuff.
I mean, just absolutely lovesit.
So it's great to have someonewho's like, you know, at the
very top who is excited about itand gets it, and I think will
drive things forward.
And I think a lot of justconversations, like I said, our,
our departments right next toInnovat it, and like, just
(31:43):
different, you just heardifferent things going through
and like, uh, effects AI couldhave in a positive way for for
many businesses.
Um, so.
Which is certainly exciting.
What's, um, I guess what's nextfor Innovative?
What's the next big productlaunch or what do you got?
What's coming up?
Stefan Casey (32:02):
Oh, we got, uh, RO and Reclaim that we, uh, we
launched last October, Ibelieve, at the, at rcc.
Um, you know, we've got a lot ofgood feedback on that, um, both
directly from our customers forour trade shows internally.
Um, and so.
At, uh, Southwest Show next, uh,early spring, late late winter,
(32:24):
early spring.
We're gonna be presenting kindof the gen two of our oil rec
clay, which has taking a lot ofthat feedback into a, a next
level advancement of that.
Kevin Zalaznik (32:34):
But do you put it out there so it has to
happen?
Oh, it's hap it has
Stefan Casey (32:37):
happen.
Um, Yeah, I hope that's, I won'tbe here if that one's happening.
Um, no, I've actually, I'mreally looking forward to that
cause we have had a lot ofreally great feedback both
internally at Hoffman and fromsome of our other coast
customers.
Um, and so I'm really excited tokind of implement some of that
in that house generation.
Um, and that we've been, beenworking on kind of a, a smart
(32:59):
mcc and we kind of did a, a softlaunch of it at, uh, ICA in
Vegas this past year, uh, at alot of.
A lot of diagnostics, a lot oftechnology within our, um, MCCs
and controllers that we arepretty excited about.
That kind of just adds to the,the options and the, um, the
(33:23):
flexibility with the operators,uh, really informs them, allows
'em to make informed decisions,allows them to respond to
failures that may happen in avery quick.
In a rapid manner.
They don't need a professionaltechnician to sit there and help
guide them into resolvingissues.
You know, you're, anybody that'soperating that wash can easily
sit there and go up into an hmi,see what is happening, be able
(33:46):
to resolve the, the problemright then and there.
Um, so we're trying to be moreintuitive and more constructive
for the, for the operator.
Kevin Zalaznik (33:53):
I think it's, a lot of it is just driven by it,
how people operate their lives.
Right?
And, and the user experiencethey have on their following or
on the computer or whatever itwas.
You know, it's like the days oflike turning a nod or whatever
it is, those are gone.
It's all, you know, it's on the,it's on the user from the
interface.
Um, what about you, Shane?
What are, what, what's, what areyou excited
Shane Groff (34:14):
about?
I, I think I'm most excitedabout the relationships we're
building.
I mean, I still go to the showsand, um, each show we get a
bigger booth and we bring moreequipment so people see more and
more what, what we do.
Um, I would say two to threeweeks out of the month where we
have operators touring thefactory and touring, washes the
(34:37):
sea, you know, kick the tires.
And, uh, you know, we get a, ageneral comment a lot of the
time is like, you guys areserious about this.
And, and the first couple timesI'd be like, well, what do you
mean?
And they would be, oh, well Ididn't know if you were making
this in Tom's garage or what youwere doing, you know, and no,
we're serious.
I mean, we've, we've got afacility.
(35:00):
That we built, you know, and,uh, even rent, uh, extra space
in a building next to us.
Yeah.
Uh, so, you know, as people getexposed to that and I, I think
it brings them over to theinnovative team and make some
family, cuz they, they knowwe're here for the long run.
They, they know what we'recapable of and, uh, you know, we
(35:22):
have a lot of great, strongrelationships with operators and
vendors and other manufacturers.
Yeah.
And uh, you know, every sixmonths it goes by you.
You just, you really feel goodabout it cuz it's growing and
it's growing in a really healthyway.
So that's what, you know, I lookto that, I love that side of my
(35:43):
job and really enjoy it.
Kevin Zalaznik (35:45):
What do well outside of the I a, when you
look at the industry as a whole,what's most exciting for you?
Wow.
That's a
Shane Groff (35:53):
loaded question.
Kevin Zalaznik (35:56):
Hey, I'll tell you.
I'll, I'll go first and thenmake it up.
I think, um, uh, I think you'restarting to see, I, I love
technology, um, and I love theai, but I think the, the growth
of carwash and from a marketingstandpoint, I think marketers
are just getting smarter aboutit.
It's not, you know, Oh, let'sjust do a print ad with a coupon
(36:18):
or whatever it is.
I think you're, I think thosedays are gone.
I think you have a, you have ayounger, not younger, just a, a
newer, more progressive flow oftactics when it comes to
marketing and to be able tolook, you know, across the
country and see differentoperators or what they're doing.
I think, you know, some of itis, uh, is pretty innovative.
(36:40):
Um, uh, uh, if you haven't seenit, uh, Take five.
They launched this, uh, pigeon,uh, campaign.
It's, it's brilliant.
Anyone out there just, um, youknow, if you Google Take Five
Pigeon, uh, it's pretty good.
It's very clever, very creative.
So just seeing, um, you know,operators who are taking a, a
(37:03):
much larger approach or, uh,than just, you know, a coupon.
Yeah.
Uh, certainly exciting to see.
Shane Groff (37:11):
I, for me, I, I guess it's really the, the
education of the operators.
Um, you know, I'll use anexample, a couple weeks ago we
did a tour and we're at the carwash and it's, we're in the
northeast, so like everybody intheir brother has a car that has
some kind of rack on it.
It's a kayak, it's a bike, it'sa ski rack, it's in, yeah, it's
(37:35):
unbelievable.
And we were just washing thesecars right through and the
operator's like, Mandy, well,what happens if that top brush
gets caught on that snowboardrack?
I'm like, well, the conveyorpulses, the brush lifts out of
the way and the conveyorrestarts and like, they just
don't know this technologyexists and it's available to'em.
(37:56):
So, you know, for the next likefour hours of our tour, I mean,
he just kept coming back tothat.
He's like, he's like, I justdon't get it.
Why doesn't anybody else do it?
And I'm like, I don't know.
You know?
Uh, we're fortunate enough thatwe operate successful car
washes, and if we turned aroundor turned away cars with some
(38:16):
sort of rack on them, we'd belooking for something to do.
I mean, even in our own parkinglot here in the office, it's
like everybody's got some kindof stinking rack, you know, so
that it excites me that peopleare really, they're learning
about it and they're open to it.
I mean, it, it, I, I started in1993.
(38:37):
Yeah.
If you would've said to somebodylike, Hey, I'm gonna control
that wraparound in the event itgets called on a big towing
mirror, the operators would'velaughed you out of the room,
probably fired you.
Hey, I, I don't know.
It's, but you, you have to doit.
You can't always rely on, on anemployee.
They do the best they can, buthey, sometimes they're short
(38:59):
staffed and they're doing thebest they can and you get a
little hiccup.
Yeah.
So I, I think.
That's really exci.
I'm, I'm a nerd like Tom when itcomes to the control side of
things.
Running around with my laptopand the in the car washes not so
much anymore.
Stuff keeps me busy on the salesside.
But, um, you know, being able toeducate people on that, uh, I
(39:23):
really enjoy it.
And I think the next five, 10years with, like Steph was
saying, all the differentshapes, sizes, colors, whatever
it is.
It's gonna force us to, to getmore creative and that that
future looks bright.
Kevin Zalaznik (39:39):
Yeah.
Well, I'll leave it this, we'llleave on a, a light air note.
And I'm doing, I'm gonna askthis question as a pure selfish
reason.
Uh, has nothing to do with carwash, but I am near the end, end
of, uh, season three of TedLasso and I need something to
watch afterwards.
So what are you guys currentlywatching?
Stefan Casey (39:58):
Uh, or.
Ooh.
Uh, I, I'm, hardest question ofthe day,
Kevin Zalaznik (40:03):
right?
Stefan Casey (40:04):
I, I did just finish Ted Lasso.
Um, and I'm in between tryingto, I'm trying to figure out the
next, you know, next series tostart watching if you have not
watched succession.
Okay.
That is a good one.
Okay.
That is a, a very good show.
You
Shane Groff (40:18):
got shape well in the, uh, In the absence of
Yellowstone this summer, I'velike caught up on every Viking
show there is on Netflix, and Ijust finished it last week.
And luckily season five, thesecond half, season five,
Yellowstone will be out.
So I'll finish that after that.
(40:38):
Um, my better half says I betterget to work out in the yard, so
I, I guess I'm not gonna bewatching any TV this summer,
but,
Kevin Zalaznik (40:46):
I'll tell Yellow sends of, cause you're like, I
wanna be a cowboy.
So bad exact words I used to mywife, I was like, I think we can
be cowboy.
End up the cowboys scout.
I've
Shane Groff (40:55):
got horses at home and hey, if you ever want to be
a cowboy, come over.
Take care of our horses.
We'll see how long you want tobe a cowboy.
Kevin Zalaznik (41:03):
Exactly.
All right.
Well Stephan, thanks so much forjoining us everyone.
Thanks Your.
Thanks for your patience, uh,for the start of season three
and, uh, hopefully we'll haveyou back at some point.
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
All right.
All right.
Bye bye.
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