Over the past two decades, battery-powered tools have made tremendous strides in battery life, charge time, weight, and affordability. Vastly improved over the bulky, energy-intensive appliances of yesteryear, modern cordless tools offer a serious alternative to their corded counterparts. Today, battery-powered drills, miters, nail guns, shop vacuums, and even table saws are common sights at job sites around the world.
Coinciding with these hardware advancements, battery-powered tools have surged in popularity in recent years. Construction companies value the mobility they provide and rental equipment providers are more than happy to supply them. And while managing and renting out battery-powered tools might seem no different than working with corded tools, renters and rental companies can employ specialized approaches to make the most out of their cordless appliances.
Double the Items, Double the Tracking
Most power tool batteries are compatible with a wide array of different tools across a particular brand. This cross-compatibility allows batteries to be swapped from one tool to another as they are needed. And while highly convenient, this feature can also result in batteries being lost as they’re shuffled among multiple tools and charging stations.
To combat this, job site managers should consider tracking both their tools and the batteries that power them. Following this procedure requires minimal effort and significantly enhances tool visibility and overall job site organization. The right tool tracking software will be able to accommodate this approach without any difficulties.
Which Comes First: the Tool or the Battery?
A single battery can be pivotal to not just one tool, but multiple. Because of this, rental companies should evaluate how they treat the hierarchy of batteries and tools in their rental management system. Depending on the demand they receive for individual components, it might make sense for rental companies to treat batteries as main items and tools as ancillaries. This arrangement could make better business sense for rental companies and more accurately reflect how such items are actually used on job sites.
Additional Services = Upsell Opportunities
Finally, rental companies should be cognizant of ways to supplement battery-dependent rentals with accessories and additional services. Extra charging stations can allay customer concerns surrounding depleted batteries, for example. And for an additional fee, rental companies can provide their customers with individualized tool tracking and utilization metrics. While not applicable to all customers, certain firms value this insight and are willing to pay for such analytics.
The advantages of battery-powered tools make them well worth the effort of modifying a few business or operational practices to use them to their full potential. With the proper tool tracking and rental management software, implementing any optimizations will be even easier and more convenient than using a cordless power tool.
