Project managers are expected to keep productivity up no matter what the circumstances. Planned, unplanned, seasonal and other events all need to be handled flawlessly. Most suppliers can deliver equipment and services on schedule according to a project plan. While that is useful, it is only table-stakes. It takes more to get the job done right safely, on time and on budget. Finding a partner that can deliver engineered solutions to control costs, ensure crews are properly trained and certified, and manage fleet optimization is essential on today's site to assist the project manager focus on what is truly important on-site.
As you evaluate equipment rental services, it's also important to look beyond equipment, especially in today's fast-paced, digital-driven world. Equipment is an integral part of any project, but it's the labor and materials that can make or break your timeline -- and your budget. Now more than ever, it's up to the partners, suppliers and rental providers to offer better, faster, safer ways to increase your productivity. Tight timelines and fewer skilled workers mean companies crave advanced training, mobile work environments, tracking and benchmarking services to keep projects moving. Look for these four best practices that go beyond equipment to help you optimally address your needs.
Easy, online equipment rental process
An online equipment rental platform can greatly simplify the logistics of solving equipment needs, making it easier to achieve tangible productivity gains, reduce worker downtime and benefit margins. With it, companies can easily evaluate, price and procure rental equipment and services, manage preventative maintenance and optimize utilization to control costs. The site should provide a fully integrated, modern digital customer checkout process. It also needs to offer customers a one-stop, consistent experience with personalized content, including customized calls-to-action that guide renters through the rental process.
A supplier's digital platform should transform the customer experience, moving seamlessly from an online catalog to an interactive digital marketplace. It should feature sophisticated search, filter, group and sort mechanisms to help companies quickly find the right equipment for their jobs. Dashboards and reports generate customized business intelligence, while the technology is mobile-friendly, so customers at remote jobsites can conduct business as easily as from an office. The platform provides flexible checkout that supports quick orders or complex orders and multiple reservations.
Support mobility on the jobsite
Tech-enabled, smart jobsites are increasingly the norm among contractors. Today, equipment fleet management must fit into the mobile workstyle of construction managers, providing detailed, actionable information while they are on the move -- and do it in a secure way that's accessible across multiple devices.
To get the most out of your equipment rental and reduce overall equipment costs, leverage consumption management tools to help you optimize the amount, time and utilization of equipment on rent.
Project managers need to know what equipment they have owned and rented across multiple projects on a variety of jobsites -- and, more importantly, if and when it's being used. Mobile tools provide that visibility from a birds-eye view and enable data-driven decisions that maximize utilization of equipment and control costs in real time. This also reduces waste and costly duplication.
Improve performance metrics
Executing an asset-driven strategy from the beginning can deliver real cost savings. Tracking utilization on a per-unit basis helps to eliminate cost for equipment you're not using or should be called off rent. Consumption management, owned and rented, is the key to keeping your asset-driven strategy periodically measuring that data.
It takes quite an effort to improve how an organization consumes rental equipment. But it is worth the endeavor, because a rental strategy can deliver real savings. It is worthwhile to measure and quantify those savings. For example, by tracking utilization on a per-unit basis, you can avoid paying for equipment beyond the point when it should be taken off rent.
Benchmarking enables companies to uncover the unexpected; it provides a unique point of view on how your performance ranks compared to peers. Equipment utilization can be scored against industry benchmarks, pinpointing opportunities for improvement and quantifying the dollar impact.
Using a benchmarking process, companies can rank every piece of rental equipment across a project and jobsite, measuring utilization and days past due against industry norms. If, for instance, you find that your equipment utilization ranks below peers, the solution could include setting up low-utilization alerts in the fleet management system to flag potential issues or reviewing GPS time-and-use reports weekly.
Advance operator and safety training
It is important for companies to keep their crews trained, certified and safe, on the ground, below ground and in the air. This is a priority on any project, and in many cases, it is the law. This process starts with finding the right training and certification resources.
A supplier should offer a comprehensive training solution designed to help you reduce the overall cost and complexity of safety training and credential tracking for your employees. It must provide multiple training delivery formats to address the diversity of needs among learners. The provider's catalog should span a range of operator and safety training, including operator certification, train the trainer, OSHA training, confined-space entry, competent person trenching and excavation training, and more.
Training also needs to include immersive learning, next-generation training that applies the use of 2-D and 3-D immersive graphics, gamification, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), either individually or in combination, to the education process. This technique allows learners to operate on a different cognitive level, where they are inquiring and analyzing information in real time, not simply absorbing information. It has been shown to enhance the learning experience and lead to greater comprehension, competency, muscle memory and retention levels.
Innovations in technology can reduce time spent sourcing and supporting equipment, limit traffic on your project site and eliminate invoicing from multiple suppliers. United Rentals helps you achieve your uptime goals and deliver the productivity needed to get great project results.
For further inquiries on an equipment partnership you need to cut through the complexity and provide the resources to get the job done safely, on time and on budget, contact United Rentals at (800) UR-RENTS [877-3687] or marketing@ur.com.