Monday 26 October 2020

The developer’s solution to increase parking capacity: Automated Parking

 



Are you a developer struggling with parking capacity in your new project? Torn between using space for parking or for green spaces?  Troubled by budget constraints, growing car numbers and limited building space?

In recent times, growing population, availability of easy finance and affordable car options have resulted in a significant increase of cars on the road. For developers of multi-unit residential, office, commercial real estate, airport and hospitality industries, this poses a huge challenge as they have to provide adequate parking space even as they grapple with shortage of land, escalating land prices and other constraints.

Automated parking systems offer an effective solution to overcome these challenges. Automated car parking systems offer clear and indisputable benefits over traditional garages. In Europe and Asia, automated car parking systems have been tested and proven over the last two decades, and they are growing in usage in America too. It’s time for this solution to become mainstream in Indian cities now.

Why choose automated parking systems?

The benefits of automated parking systems include:

1.       Improved Space Utilisation- Typically, parking garages are designed to allow cars enough room to safely move and park, and for people to walk to and from their vehicles. In an automated car parking system, vehicles can be parked door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper. Automated parking systems use narrower spaces because pedestrians do not have to be accommodated and there is no need for ramps, stairwells and elevators. So you require 30-50% less land to house the same number of cars. This substantially reduces land acquisition costs or frees up precious space for other usage.

2.       Reduced Development Costs- Since automated parking facilities require less building space, developers can save on construction costs through reduced excavation volume, fewer building materials, shorter construction time and lower land costs.  These add up to huge savings that go directly back to a project’s budget.

3.       Lower Operating Costs- If being used by known parkers, there is a minimal staff requirement. Since users do not enter the system, lighting and ventilation costs are also reduced, leading to greater savings and sustainability.

4.       Minimal Environmental Impact- There’s a reason why automated parking systems are called ‘green’.In an automated garage, cars are turned off before they enter the system. Cars do not idle for long periods of time while trying to park or exit, nor do they drive up and down ramps or in and out of spaces. All this contributes to a reduction in the amount of pollutants by 60 to 80%, and significant fuel savings as well.

5.       Safety& Security- For the end user, the additional safety that comes with automated parking is an important plus point. In an automatic parking system, the driver simply drops off the vehicle at a convenient drive-in entry cabin. When returning to pick up the car, the driver can wait in a safe, well-lit pick-up zone until the vehicle is delivered automatically. This system eliminates the concern and worry of being alone in a dark garage, searching for your car.

Moreover, the car too is much safer in an automated system. You don’t have to deal with pedestrians, bad drivers or careless parking attendants.
There are less chances of vandalism or theft; dents and scrapes are practically eliminated.

6.       Customer experience-Users of automatic parking systems always park and retrieve their cars in well-lit, comfortable transfer areas. It would be relatively inexpensive for developers to create a luxurious experience for users here. Developers can implement slick touch screens and mobile apps for quick retrieval to make for a comfortable user experience that will enhance the value of their project.

Wohr Parking Systems: the developer’s partner

Even if local governments implement projects to improve public transport; even if they enforce car sharing programs, the proliferation of vehicles is a challenge that’s here to stay. Developers need to look ahead and think automation – so they deliver projects enforced with parking solutions that are reliable, efficient, cost-effective and convenient for users.

Wohr is a well-versed and innovative parking system manufacturer who can help review all your options and choose the automated parking system that is best suited for your application.

Wohr Parking Systems has over 5 decades of experience and thousands of automatic car parking system projects to their name. Wohr has installed more than 700,000 multilevelparking spaces worldwide – over 100,000 in India alone. Wohr offers design flexibility to help in terms of both feasibility and profitability by enabling parking to be located in areas where conventional parking won't fit. The possible locations for automated parking systems are virtually unlimited: above ground, underground, freestanding, underneath or integrated into existing buildings and even very narrow or irregularly shaped areas.

For smaller garages for 15-50 cars, Wohr offers simpler, semi-automated stack parking systems, puzzle parkingsystems and platform parking systems. These are ideal for apartments, retail, small hotels, car rentals & car dealers, or wherever vertical space poses a problem. Multiple units can be installed together to enhance capacity horizontally.

Wohr also delivers state-of-the-art fully automatic parking systems, ideal for large scale apartments and condominiums, hospitals, office buildings, universities, public parking, etc., and most economical when servicing a large number of cars. The automatic parking system can be used for parking vehicles up to 50 levels in height, and is well adaptable to individual project requirements.

Wohr partners with developers right from consultancy with architects in the design stage through planning, construction, installation and commissioning. Wohr also undertakes maintenance and running of the system, ensuring operations are smooth and trouble-free.

Friday 16 October 2020

Improve customer experience with automated car parking systems

We've all experienced the parking space crunch! We've all wasted time and fuel circling buildings and parking lots hunting for the vacant parking spot. There may even have been times when you decided to go shopping to the local mall, found all parking spots occupied, and in frustration, decided to go back home.

In today's rapidly growing urban centres, with the exponential rise in car ownership, parking has become a real problem, getting more and more daunting with time. In many cities worldwide, private vehicle usage is being restricted; in others, cars are banned from entering the commercial districts.

Parking and the retail experience

Traffic congestion and insufficient parking space have become major challenges in many cities around the world. There is research and statistics to show how many hours the average commuter spends trying to find parking space.

This definitely impacts prospective customers. They will be in an annoyed mood before they have even entered your store. Retailers are well aware of how one bad experience affects customers. With customers growing more demanding every day, and the burgeoning options available, one negative experience can drive your customer away for good.

What's even worse, a dissatisfied customer can affect many others - thanks to the growing use of social media to air one's grievances. It is therefore imperative to ensure that customers have convenient parking spaces when they decide to visit your mall or store.

By providing convenient parking, retailers can mitigate the risk of losing customers. In many cases, parking space plays a positive role, persuading customers to choose one mall over the other. Parking facilities will prompt customers to mention it in their reviews thereby giving your business free ‘word of mouth’ publicity.   

Parking is thus an important element of the customer experience. It is essential for store owners to provide sufficient parking. For mall developers, provision of parking spaces will raise your market value, as brands will base their buying/leasing decision on availability of parking space.

Wohr’s car parking systems can help

Wohr is the leading manufacturer of car parking system in India. Wohr has installed over one lakh parking spaces across India – more than any other car parking system manufacturer.  

To alleviate parking problems in India's urban centres, for both commercial and residential developments, Wohr's car parking systems offer a real solution. Wohr's multi-level car parking systems and automatic car parking systems are growing in popularity as they offer optimum utilisation of space, low construction cost, low maintenance costs, and safe, sturdy working for years.

Wohr offers the most extensive range of multi level car parking solutions for customers. Stack parking systems, puzzle parking systems, tower parking systems, platform parking systems – just name the type of automatic car parking system or semi-automated car parking system, and Wohr has it. Innovations brought to market such as the Combilift, Parksafe and the recent Turntable represent Wohr's engineering knowhow and relentless passion for newer and better car parking solutions.  

In fact, architects, builders and developers are consulting Wohr in the planning stage of their projects so that Wohr can deliberate on the brief and come up with the most suitable, cost-effective car parking solutions.  

Many of Wohr’s automated car parking systems are fully automatic and use the latest RFID technology whereby the check in and checkout time for the vehicle can be reduced, and wherever applicable, an automated payment system can be incorporated.

For retail stores, malls and commercial hubs who want to enhance customer experience, Wohr is the go-to parking system manufacturer India. With 6 decades of experience, globally proven expertise, German engineering and safety standards, Wohr car parking solutions spell dependable quality, reliability and durable service in a class apart.