HIRE
Construction companies need to deal with rising equipment and rental costs.
Christensen says equipment cost
reductions can also be had through
the use of a comprehensive telematics
solution – which provides up-to-the-
minute visibility into equipment health
and activity – and predictive analytics.
Basically, predictive analytics uses several
monitoring methods to establish regular
trends and then predict the future path
of those trends. With such insight,
equipment owners can shift from a
reactive repair-after-failure approach to
a proactive repair-before-failure tactic.
The end result, he says, is more efficient
operations and increased fleet availability.
Christensen notes that United Rentals
employs predictive analytics around
major component wear-outs and failures,
plus has developed effective preventive
maintenance schedules. This helps avoid
or reduce breakdowns, along with the
expense and loss of productivity related
to them.
Practical tips for managing costs
To help manage rising equipment and rental
costs, Christensen offers some advice:
• Utilisation: First and foremost,
project equipment utilisation over
18 to 24 months. If a piece of
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equipment is going to be utilised
over a certain percentage month in
and month out, it typically stands to
reason that the piece of equipment
should be purchased;
Equipment: Determine if you have
the staff and infrastructure available
to service and transport equipment;
Geographic Footprint: Take into
account the geographic footprint
for where you might need other
equipment because it is very
expensive to transport construction
equipment from place to place;
Scope and Versatility: Think about
the scope of a project, the specialty
aspects of a piece of equipment
and how to enhance the flexibility of
equipment with attachments;
Data Collection: Employ technology
to track as much information from
equipment as possible and learn
how to leverage the data collected
to boost efficiency, productivity and
uptime, plus help stay on track and
on budget;
Working Capital: Consider whether
you are better off using a line item
expense for rental on your profit and
loss statement versus tying up a lot
of working capital in assets that you
may or may not keep utilising on a
consistent and regular basis. If you
have limited capital, where do you
want to tie it up?
Plant Equipment & Hire will attend the
educational session ‘How to manage
rising equipment & rental costs’ on
Thursday the 12 th of March 2020 at
CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, USA.
Watch this space for feedback on the
session.
Equipment cost
reductions can
also be had
through the use of
a comprehensive
telematics
solution.”
APRIL 2020
33