HIRE
PEH: Are there any challenges a
contractor would face with hiring?
RF: I suppose the biggest risk for a
contractor is to hire equipment that
has not been well maintained, from a
company that cannot give local backup,
because then his job comes to a
standstill when a machine goes down.
A machine that is well maintained and
reliable is a big deal for a contractor.
Contractors do need to find a hire
company that is close to site, so that
if there are any breakdowns or service
requirements, assistance is close at
hand. Having the hire company close-
by is worthwhile. The hire industry is
definitely a localised type of business
and I would advise this. If there are any
www.plantonline.co.za
this service means fewer breakdowns
and costs, and happier customers.
PEH: How are hirers accommodated
when equipment requires parts
replacement or maintenance
(downtime)?
Hire
I have noticed new builders in the
market who prefer to outsource their
plant function so they can concentrate
on building. These guys have changed
the model. Often, they will not have
an office, a yard, or a workshop. They
will have a bakkie, a smartphone, and
a tablet, and will base themselves on
site. This type of builder hires all the
equipment so that he does not have
the cost of maintaining it. He keeps his
costs down by not having the overheads
of a more traditional construction
company. He will also outsource
various parts of the building process,
such as plumbing, electrics, coring,
cutting, roofing, and so on. In a way,
he becomes a project manager. From
that perspective, I think there will be an
increased demand for hire.
And if demand goes up, it’s a
question of capacity and being able
to supply quality machines and
provide good service. There’s so much
competition that providing good service
to customers starts with doing the
basics well — for instance, pricing and
machine quality.
Richard Fraser, sales director at Hire it.
hassles, it is easier and quicker to get a
breakdown service and/or to swap out
machines. If machines are on longer-
term hire, they still need to be serviced
regularly, so being close to the supplier
does make life easier.
Overall, getting value should be
the main objective of contractors, as
opposed to getting the cheapest guy.
PEH: Are there any challenges that
you face as a hiring company, and
how do you overcome these?
RF: From our perspective, we of course
run the risk of theft, fraud, and damage.
We do ask for a damage deposit, which
helps, but the machines we hire cost
far more to replace. We also have to
keep an eye on our customers running
up bills without topping up their credit.
One area where we have struggled in
recent years is workers not having the
correct experience and know-how to
operate the machines. So, we see a lot
of unnecessary breakdowns that could
have been avoided. To help prevent this,
we give basic training and maintenance
steps to the machine end users when
they come into our branches. Offering
RF: Maintenance and service is generally
included in a hire contract. However,
misuse and damage is not. The truth is
that we deal with machines and, despite
our best efforts, they do break down from
time to time. Rolls Royce vehicles break
down, spaceships break down, and so do
power tools. If a machine breaks down,
our policy is to swap out the machine as
soon as we are able to, so that customer
downtime is limited. We will then
evaluate that machine ourselves.
PEH: What other services do you
offer?
RF: When we started, we were just a
hire company. About a decade ago, we
started selling as well. We have had
tremendous success with our national
sales drive. It means that we are not
reliant only on our local economy. In the
past few years, we have also started
importing our own equipment, which
has enabled us to offer our customers
excellent pricing. It also brings our hire
unit costs down and consolidates our
spares holding, so it has revolutionised
our business.
We also sell a wide range of
generators, from small site generators
all the way up to large, silent diesel
backup generators. This has helped
us diversify into other industries and
regions. With the recent load-shedding,
we saw a big spike in sales towards the
end of last year. So, while we would
rather see our power utility servicing the
economy, we will take business where
we can get it.
MARCH 2019
31