Food & Drink Processing & Packaging Issue 37 2021 | Page 7

Combining dedicated new equipment , with rapidly available short term hire machines within your contract , will give you ultimate flexibility .
FINANCIAL AND CONTRACTUAL FLEXIBILITY
There is more than one way to ‘ own ’ your equipment , with an outright purchase being the least flexible of these . The more common contract hire or longterm hire agreements - typically 5 years - allow you to combine the actual acquisition of the equipment with an ongoing service and support level consideration - the truth being that you really do need both . This will almost always work out as more beneficial to your business over time than an outright purchase .
The critical difference here between the various providers , is in how flexible that contract hire agreement is . Look carefully at how easy it will be for you to change trucks if they are no longer ideal for their application or if they become excessive to your requirement . Particularly if that change occurs mid contract . Not all providers are open to taking trucks back . In fact , the ideal partner should act proactively here in identifying the need to change - and if they are truly committed to maintaining an optimal fleet and putting you the customer first , then they will .
Combining dedicated new equipment , with rapidly available short term hire machines within your contract , will give you ultimate flexibility . Supplementing a backbone of ‘ owned ’ machines with your supplier ’ s rapidly available short term hire equipment means you can increase capacity at extremely short notice without the inefficiency of holding spare trucks . Just be sure your partner has invested adequately in their inventory for it to be there when you need it !
Don ’ t be afraid of building some fully refurbished used equipment into the mix too , it will provide a very cost-effective solution to low utilisation roles , or as spare trucks if absolutely necessary .
FLEET FLEXIBILITY
To ensure each piece of equipment is exactly right for its application , the supplier will need to have a diverse and comprehensive range of premium equipment as well as the expertise to be able to effectively evaluate and audit your handling environment . Sadly , no single manufacturer can deliver a full end-to-end range , but the best partner should have a wide enough combination of brands to fully cover all your needs . Additionally , they should be able and willing to identify , specify and customise that equipment to tailor fit exactly to your situation .
Whilst of course we believe that the equipment we sell at Impact is the very best in the market place , the thing that really matters is the service , support and FLEXIBILITY you receive from your materials handling partner .
www . impact-handling . com
FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk 7