INSIGHT
‘IT’S EVOLVE OR DIE,’
SAYS LOXAM’S DON KENNY
Extracted from For Construction Pros
Adopting advanced technologies, embracing change, using and analysing big data, and
relying on a skilled, highly engaged, and energised workforce to build a successful and
sustainable business and to enhance safety in the powered access rental market, were the
key messages at 2018’s Europlatform.
40
FEBRUARY 2019
E
uroplatform is the event for European access professionals
in the rental industry. Hosted by the International Powered
Access Federation (IPAF) in association with Access International
magazine in October at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland,
the conference heard keynote speaker Don Kenny, CEO of Loxam
Powered Access Division, say, “Change is the only constant, but are
we making progress? It’s evolve and survive or stagnate and die.
Success is fun and infectious but losing isn’t so much fun.”
He challenged the record number of almost 150 attendees to
consider, “How do you work nationally, and deliver locally? Treat
the customers differently, give them something they want,” but
added that innovation also has to fit the business model: “Those
of us running powered access rental businesses cannot afford to
be ‘blue-sky thinkers’. We have to run our businesses as they are
today — but that doesn’t mean we must resist change.”
Brad Boehler, president of Skyjack, shared technological trends
that can help with this, he added, citing augmented reality (AR)
and virtual reality (VR), wearable and smart tech, drones, better
connectivity (including telematics), and robotics. Above all, a
deluge of data could drive enhanced and real-time tracking of stats
such as real utilisation rates, alert equipment owners of overturns
or even near misses that may otherwise go unreported, he posited.
On the importance of data and accident reporting, Andrew
Delahunt, IPAF Technical and Safety director, announced IPAF’s
latest Fatal Injury Rate (FIR) analysis for 2017. While the number
of fatalities rose from 66 in 2016 to 83 last year, this was owing
in no small part to greatly enhanced reporting of accidents and
fatalities via IPAF’s ongoing incident reporting project, he pointed
out. There were nonetheless concerning aspects to the analysis, he
added, not least when broken down by causes and geographical
occurrence of Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP) accidents
leading to fatalities.
The most common cause of deaths in 2017 was electrocutions,
taking over from falls from the platform in 2016, and countries that
saw a spike in the number of fatalities included Spain, France, Italy,
and the US. The US, while it has around 43% of the global MEWP
fleet within its borders, saw the percentage of total reported fatalities
rise to more than 80%. Delahunt confirmed that IPAF would adapt its
safety and training programmes to address these concerning trends.
The conference programme was rounded off with an expert
panel chaired by Peter Douglas of Nationwide Platforms, a Loxam
Powered Access Company; and featuring Jos van Grootveld of
Smart Platform Solutions; Arnold Grootveld of Hoogwerkt; John
Ball, chairman of Access Link; Stéphane Hubert, chief sales officer
for Haulotte; and Norty Turner, CEO of Riwal.
Kelly encourages firms to stay winning in an industry that is
constantly changing.
Turner commented that he couldn’t see contractors universally
accepting higher rental rates to pay for the higher machine costs
of more sophisticated hybrids and electric powered MEWPs, but
that a move to ‘greener’ construction methods would eventually
prevail, “probably starting in Scandinavia and filtering down
through northern Europe and around the globe”.
Ball welcomed the capabilities of new clean machines, but
said he hoped they weren’t imposed by regulators or adopted
too quickly, as the MEWP rental industry is “underpinned by the
residual value of machines”.
Grootveld said he wasn’t too worried about a damaging
environmental legacy arising from needing to dispose of spent
batteries, adding that newer batteries, especially those featuring
lithium technology, had a lifespan of up to 50 years, as opposed to
four or five for standard lead-acid batteries.
Hubert added: “We are speeding up development as the growing
maturity of the technology and design capabilities of electrification
partners throughout the world are allowing Haulotte to speed up our
programmes in this regard.”
Hubert also signed an agreement in advance of the conference
that made Haulotte the first MEWP manufacturer to become a
sustaining member of IPAF. The date and location of the next edition
of the event were also announced mid-conference in Belfast, with
Europlatform 2019 being confirmed for 3 October in Nice, France. ■
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