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Growing Grocery Distributor Restores Worn Concrete Floor
If you’re at a supermarket in East or South Texas and parts of New Mexico, there’s a good chance the item you’re adding to your cart got there by way of Llano Logistics. A high-performance distribution and logistical services company based in Texas, Llano Logistics provides superior personalized distribution services.
Over time, business had grown at Llano Logistics, requiring an expansion of their physical footprint by another 250,000 square feet of warehouse space. While the expansion made room to house substantially more products, the addition of new shiny, clean concrete flooring made the older warehouse floor pale in comparison
Challenge
Dirty, worn concrete floors might seem commonplace in warehouse or manufacturing environments. But they present all kinds of problems. Wear and tear—plus dirt, grime, oil or grease buildup—can lead to slip and fall accidents. When customers, FDA inspectors or auditors do a walk-through, a deteriorating or unsightly floor can make a bad impression.
Like many concrete floors in high-traffic, 24/7 operations, Llano Logistics’ existing warehouse flooring had seen better days. Forklifts, cleaning machines and other equipment were routinely driven on the floor. Imperfections from years of use weren’t just unsightly—they presented safety concerns. Overall, the concrete flooring in the older warehouse space was dark and drab.
“Safety was a big concern,” said Mullins. “When we looked at our concrete under a microscope, we could see tons of imperfections. Aesthetics was second to safety.”
With the new warehouse floors gleaming in comparison, it was time for Llano Logistics to take action. Initially, Mullins thought he needed an outside contractor to restore the older floor. An outside contractor came in to show Llano Logistics their capabilities by restoring a 10-foot by 10-foot space with a traditional planetary grinding technique. The results were acceptable, but the price tag was staggering. “They quoted $250,000 just to restore our dock,” said Mullins.
Llano Logistics had been a Tennant customer for years, relying on a fleet of Tennant equipment to clean their warehouse flooring, including detergent-free ec-H2O™ technology. After learning about the high cost of floor restoration with an outside contractor, their Tennant maintenance technician made a suggestion - Llano Logistics could use their TennantTrue® Stone Care Solutions featuring Diamabrush™ tools with their existing cleaning machines to restore and polish the flooring in-house.
Mullins was intrigued. He set up a demonstration to see if the Diamabrush tools could deliver.
“Buying Diamabrush tools was a gigantic cost savings compared to hiring an outside contractor, the ongoing floor maintenance investment will pay for itself.”
Brett Mullins
Warehouse Compliance and Food Safety Supervisor
Llano Logistics
Solution
Tennant performed a demonstration on a section of Llano Logistics concrete flooring, first equipping their existing cleaning machine with Diamabrush tools to remove the porous layer right down to the non-porous layer. During this floor preparation step, the Diamabrush tools retain their sharp edges and maintain constant floor contact.
The next step was aggressive scrubbing of the flooring using separate Diamabrush tools that are ideal for harsh environments with compacted soil. As a final step, Tennant equipped Llano Logistics’ machine with Diamabrush tools to polish and finish the flooring—ultimately revealing a smoother, shinier, cleaner, fully restored floor.
Mullins was convinced, but he had concerns about the cost.
Mullins was shocked to learn that for an initial $25,000 investment in brushes and replacement blades—a fraction of the cost of one-time restoration with an outside contractor—Llano Logistics could do the work in-house. He didn’t have to hire additional staff to perform the work. He could rely on existing cleaning staff that were already familiar with the machines and warehouse floor layout.
Tennant worked with Mullins to determine the exact type of tools they needed and the cost of replacement blades that would be required over the course of restoring all 250,000 square feet of warehouse flooring. Tennant also projected that approximately $1,500 a year in replacement tools would enable Llano Logistics to build floor polishing into their maintenance routine to keep them clean, shiny and safe for the long haul.
It was the perfect antidote to an outside contractor. Llano Logistics could shift floor restoration from a sizeable, one-time capital restoration cost to an affordable, ongoing operational expense.
“Buying Diamabrush tools was a gigantic cost savings compared to hiring an outside contractor,” said Mullins. “The ongoing floor maintenance investment will pay for itself.”
Results
Do-it-yourself concrete floor restoration with TennantTrue Stone Care Solutions featuring Diamabrush tools was just the solution Llano Logistics needed. No outside contractor, no astronomical costs and Tennant was by their side to train their employees to sequence and use the tools the right way, right from the start.
“It took only about 30 minutes of training because the tools are so easy to use, but the Tennant representative stayed for half a day just to oversee things,” said Mullins. “Tennant has been amazing. They really go above and beyond to make sure you’re happy.”
The fact that Diamabrush tools work with Llano Logistics’ Tennant T20 machine with ec-H2O technology is an added bonus. Moving forward, Llano Logistics wants to migrate its fleet to all ec-H2O scrubbers to reduce the $8,000 a month they now spend on cleaning chemicals. “Anytime there is a chemical used to clean, there’s a hazard associated with it,” said Mullins. “The concrete looks brand new and we’re only using water to it clean it.”
Llano Logistics is now in the process of restoring the rest of their older concrete flooring in the warehouse space. But one thing already stands out—the newly restored concrete outshines the brand new concrete in the warehouse addition.
The safety advantages and aesthetic appeal of their newly restored concrete floor haven’t gone unnoticed. Llano Logistics’ employees prefer to load products from of areas with restored floors because they get better traction. Visitors - clearly impressed - ask what Llano Logistics uses on their floors.
“They think it’s unbelievable that we can do this with Tennant equipment, ec-H2O technology and Diamabrush tools,” said Mullins.
