The Integration Practice

Six berths, one lane, one engineer at the wheel

BluePig Marketing LLC designs computer integrated systems for automated wash lanes, fleet yards and payment points. Each service below can stand alone, but the real value appears when the six share a wiring schedule, an event log and a monitoring desk. Call +14453205569 or write to hello@bluepigmarketing.autos to discuss a site.

Fleet Systems Integration

Fleet integration begins with identity. A wash lane that serves vans, box trucks and service sedans needs to know which account a vehicle belongs to before the driver reaches the arch, and it needs that answer without asking the driver to roll down a window in a rainstorm. We reconcile transponder reads, license plate recognition and account records into one identity service that the rest of the site can query.

The identity service sits behind the lane controller, so a recognized vehicle can open a gate, select a wash package and log a charge without any manual step. When two identifiers disagree, the system follows a priority order that the operator sets: plate first, transponder second, manual override last. Every conflict is recorded with both readings so the office can review the pattern at month end.

We also connect fleet accounts to the customer ledger. Bulk billing, monthly caps and vehicle lists are synchronized on a schedule that the operator controls, and a vehicle removed from a fleet list stops receiving fleet pricing at the next sync rather than at the next invoice dispute. The result is a lane that recognizes the fleet, prices it correctly and produces a clean reconciliation file for the finance team.

Where a fleet yard has its own gate and its own dispatch software, we build the bridge between those systems and the wash lane. Drivers do not learn a second workflow, and the yard manager sees completed washes in the same screen as completed routes.

Automated Wash Control Systems

The wash controller is the conductor of the lane. Our work starts with a written sequence: what must be true before the entry gate opens, when the foam curtain drops, how long the arch travels, when the dryers start and what the lane does when a vehicle stops under the curtain. That sequence is reviewed with the crew before a single line of code is written, because the people who run the lane know where it usually breaks.

We program the programmable logic controller and the human machine interface together, so the screen on the wall reflects the real state of the equipment rather than a hopeful diagram. Interlocks are explicit. If the curtain sensor reports a blockage, the arch will not advance, the exit gate stays closed and the operator sees which stage is holding. The lane stops in a known condition instead of an unknown one.

Recipe management matters for sites with multiple wash packages. Each package is a stored set of step times and chemical doses, and a package change takes effect at the next vehicle boundary rather than mid cycle. We keep an audit trail of who changed which recipe and when, which turns arguments about water quality into a five minute review of the log.

We also test the failure paths on purpose. A pulled sensor cable, a stuck gate and a lost network link are all simulated during commissioning, and each one is required to produce a safe stop plus a named alert. A controller that only works when everything is perfect is not a control system. It is a wish.

Site Network Deployment

The network is the part of a wash site that nobody notices until it fails. We design it as a small managed campus: a protected cabinet, labeled ports, a documented address plan and separate segments for lane equipment, cameras, payment terminals and office traffic. A camera that floods the switch cannot take the pay station offline, and a payment terminal cannot reach the guest wireless network.

Power protection is part of the design, not an afterthought. We specify surge protection for outdoor runs, battery backup for the controller and the switch, and a clear shutdown order for the team when the power company schedules an outage. Cabling is rated for wet and cold conditions and is supported on standoffs rather than lying in a puddle behind the kiosk.

Remote access is deliberate. We use a dedicated management path with multi factor authentication and a written access list, and we can close that path on request without disturbing lane operations. The operator always knows who can reach the site equipment and why.

Documentation comes in two forms: a laminated cabinet card that shows every port and every device, and a digital file set with the cable schedule and the configuration backups. When a technician arrives at midnight, the cabinet card is the first thing they read. When a vendor asks for the switch configuration, the digital set answers in minutes.

Camera and Sensor Integration

Camera placement is a design problem, not a shopping problem. We start with sight lines from the driver seat, the entry approach, the arch and the exit merge, then choose fields of view that cover the decisions drivers actually make. A plate camera that sees the plate is useful. A plate camera that also sees the driver leaning out of the window is better, because it explains the read failure that follows.

Sensors are selected for the environment. Inductive loops, ultrasonic distance sensors and photoelectric beams each have a place, and each has a failure mode that the controller must understand. We map every sensor to a named state in the controller so that a trigger from a wet leaf can be distinguished from a real vehicle at the arch.

Recorded video is time aligned with lane events. When an incident is reviewed, the operator can jump from a failed transaction to the camera clip that shows the vehicle, the driver and the gate. That single feature resolves most customer disputes before they become chargebacks.

Privacy is part of the design. We define retention periods, restrict playback to named roles and place signage where the site requires it. Camera coverage should protect the operator and the customer, and it should never become an open window into a private space.

Payment Kiosk Software

A pay station is the customer face of the whole system. Our kiosk software is written to be readable at arm length under a sodium lamp: large touch targets, a plain summary of the selected wash, a clear total and a confirmation that does not disappear before the receipt prints. The screen also reports its own health to the monitoring desk, so a kiosk that declines every card is visible to the operator before the queue forms.

Tender, refund and offline behavior are defined in advance. We support card, cash and account billing where the hardware allows, and we define what happens when the payment processor is unreachable. The kiosk can switch to a stored offline mode with a defined limit, or it can display a polite stop message. Either choice is documented and tested.

Reconciliation is built in. Every transaction carries a timestamp, a lane number, a vehicle identifier when available and a processor reference, so the daily bank file can be matched against the site ledger without manual guesswork. Exceptions are listed in a small daily report that the office can clear in a few minutes.

We also maintain the kiosk through software updates that can be staged and rolled back. A bad release is reverted at the next maintenance window, and the lane keeps accepting payment on the previous version while the fix is prepared.

Remote Monitoring and Alerts

Monitoring is where integration proves itself. We watch the lane controller, the network, the cameras, the pay station and the power backup, and we route alerts by severity. A failed dryer motor pages the shift lead. A camera that has been offline for an hour appears in the morning digest. The point is to let people sleep when the lane is healthy and to wake them only when something real needs a hand.

Alert design is a craft. We tune thresholds with the crew over the first weeks so that normal weather and normal traffic do not create noise. Each alert names the device, the stall and the last known state, so the person answering the phone knows what to check before they arrive.

We provide a weekly digest that shows repeating faults, uptime by device and the number of manual interventions. Over a season, that digest becomes a maintenance plan: the parts that fail often get replaced on schedule, and the parts that never fail are left alone.

The monitoring desk also supports a shared review session once a month. We walk the operator through the events that mattered, answer questions from the crew and adjust the alert rules together. A monitoring service that never speaks to the site is just a screen on a wall.

How a lane project runs

Night survey

We walk the site after dark, record what the lane actually does and collect the drawings that exist. The survey ends with a written register of gaps.

System design

We write the control narrative, the network plan and the device list, then review them with the crew and the equipment vendors before pricing.

Build and stage

Panels are assembled and tested off site. Software is loaded and exercised against simulated sensors so that on site time is spent on the site, not on debugging.

Commissioning

We run the sequence with the crew watching, break sensors on purpose and confirm every alert reaches the right phone before the lane opens.

Handover

The shift team gets a walkthrough and a quick reference card. The office gets the drawing set, the configuration backups and the alert list.

Monitor and tune

After handover we tune alert thresholds with the crew and review the weekly digest so that maintenance follows evidence, not habit.

BluePig Marketing LLC keeps a small integration calendar on purpose, and the winter survey list is open to operators who want a lane change reviewed before the spring rush.

Start with the lane you already have

You do not need a new tunnel to benefit from integration. Most of our work happens inside existing equipment, existing cabinets and existing payment relationships. Bring us a night, a set of photos and whatever drawings you can find, and we will return a short register of what to fix first, what to leave alone and what a full design would cost.

Reach the team through the contact page, by email at hello@bluepigmarketing.autos or by phone at +14453205569. BluePig Marketing LLC operates from 7533 S Center View Ct, West Jordan - 84084-5526, United States (US).