Life has a way of complicating the off hire of assets at the job site. When an unforeseen circumstance throws a curve ball at your operations, you might need to keep equipment longer than expected. And as a result, a large amount of that equipment might languish in storage, gathering dust while costing you money.
Expected Versus Actual Off Hire
Most off hire complications stem from when the hire was requested to begin with. When processing hire orders in most ERP systems, you generally specify a delivery hire date and its same or next day requirements. In addition, you’re usually mandated to select an “expected” off hire date. That date multiplied against the hire rate and quantities of the equipment you’re renting determine the estimated value of your order. The commercial team of your equipment provider then uses these estimates to drive cost capture and generate reports. Because of this, pre-populating the most accurate off hire date is almost just as important as the on hire. That simple data point affects a multitude of departments and directly influences your margins.
The True Cost of Inactivity
We all know that equipment hire can be a pain to navigate, but the importance of effective management is difficult to deny. For example, if I hire a drill, but don’t off hire it straight away, it’s likely to be stored. After that, I’ll continuously receive invoice after invoiced, month after month. Imagine how many job sites suffer from this problem. Then picture how many hundreds of thousands of pounds go down the drain as a result.
So What’s the Solution?
While implementing new processes is never easy, solutions exist to reduce over-cost and improve visibility and productivity of your hired assets. Firstly, being able to log on and off hire request (in real-time) via an online portal or mobile app can accelerate the entire order process. From there, should dates need to change, sending a quick update via that same portal or app won’t be a problem. Furthermore, having all-encompassing visibility over your equipment greatly empowers your operations.
Never have equipment on site, at risk of damage, theft, or over-costing with Wynne’s Mobile Apps. Contact us to learn more.
