Capital Equipment News March 2018

EQUIPMENT HIRE

However, like other capital equipment rental sectors, the crane hire market has also significantly shifted in recent years. Yaman tells Capital Equipment News that the demand for larger capacity cranes has continued in recent years, and to stay abreast of this trend, Johnson Carne Hire continues to invest in larger lift capacity to be able to meet the needs of the market. “Larger cranes allow for complete equipment to be lifted, whereas in the past, using small capacity cranes would call for disassembly of the equipment to lift it as individual components. Numerous benefits of lifting the equipment as a complete piece include reduced overall project time, improved safety with less work taking place at height in terms of reassembly of components and, more importantly, test work can be completed in a more controlled factory environment prior to the lift,” explains Yaman. According to Yaman, there has also been a move from keeping fleets standardised and this can be seen in Johnson Crane Hire’s stable, which covers a wide range of crane types, including hydraulic, telescopic cranes, lattice boom crawler units and lattice boom truck-mounted cranes. “Best practice is demonstrated through our diverse fleet with a number of cranes with similar lifting capacities to be able to meet different lifting and project application requirements with ease. It is always important to do a full assessment prior to assigning a crane to a lift so that we can ensure the most appropriate lifting unit is applied, guaranteeing that the particular unit is the most cost-effective means of executing the project, while still meeting the lifting capacity requirements,” says Yaman. “Another very important trend is the increased awareness in sectors, other than mining, about the need for increased safety when it comes to lifting. This has always been a priority at Johnson Crane Hire, but not always something that all industries have adopted. This is very pleasing and we certainly hope this trend continues,” adds Yaman. Changing client base Change in clientele has been one of the major trends in the local hire market in recent years. In crane rental, Yaman says the move towards renewable energy several years ago has resulted in significant wind farm construction projects across many parts of South Africa, and this has obviously opened up an entirely new market for the crane hire sector. “However, lifting on wind farms comes with a lot of its own challenges. Wind

Johnson Crane Hire has lifted on most of the major wind farms in South Africa and Namibia where it has set itself apart in the sector by maintaining the most diverse and largest fleet of cranes.

out at present. The days of multi-million rand jobs are long gone as government’s construction projects are now being packaged into smaller lots to allow smaller contractors to benefit from the country’s infrastructure rollout programme,” reasons Bevilacqua. For their equipment needs, smaller contractors ought to opt for hire than outright equipment purchase as they are often cash strapped to afford such big ticket purchases, and their work is mostly project based. As a result, Bevilacqua notes that the clientele for his plant hire business has significantly changed in recent years. He is dealing a lot more with new, small and upcoming companies, and this group of customers constitutes 35% of his client base. The different tiers of the client base means that rental companies have to focus on catering for the different legs of customers. For example, the needs of a smaller company that rents two TLBs are different to those of a larger contractor that rents 10 excavators at once. Additionally, the needs of a contractor working in a mining project are different from those of a company that rents equipment to execute a general construction project. Consequently, segmentation of markets is key in today’s equipment rental environment. After understanding the needs of the different customers, rental companies

must also be able to tailor the product as per customer requirements. In today’s operating environment, the value proposition is the most important consideration for end users of equipment, all the way from quality, price to service and maintenance. Crane rental market changes While there is a general school of thought that slowing construction and mining activity is a significant factor in the growth of the equipment hire market, Peter Yaman, sales executive at Johnson Crane Hire, reasons that crane hire has always been a specialised sector of the rental market, especially considering that the machines are very expensive and require extensive maintenance to ensure optimum performance and functionality. “Furthermore, operating cranes is a specialist skill and requires highly-trained certified operators. Add to this the need for cranes to be legally compliant, and one can see clearly why the majority of construction and mining operations rely on crane rental as opposed to owning their own units,” says Yaman. “In the mining and petrochemical sectors, there are periodical shutdowns and lifting activities on these sites require numerous cranes of different capacities for a short period of time and it is not economically justifiable for organisations to purchase their own cranes for this.”

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS MARCH 2018 32