Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing liquid chemicals into a laundry machine is described. An operator interface with a small number of programming/execution buttons is provided. The programming/execution buttons are pressed to define a liquid dispensing program which is stored as a compact set of instructions which can be executed with minimal computing power. Each step of the liquid dispensing program is defined by either delay information or chemical volume dispensing information, and a synchronization flag. When enabled, the synchronization flag in a program step causes the apparatus to wait for a synchronization signal before executing the program step. Synchronization signals are produced by a sensor that identifies water flows either into or from the laundry machine.