February 2020

Businesses are under increasing pressure to respond flexibly and efficiently. But how can materials handling operations provide the agility needed, with minimum exposure to risk? Alan Clark, asset manager at Doosan Industrial Vehicle UK, provides a five-point guide to flexing your assets. I n business, nothing is certain. Most companies face a whole raft of on-going commercial challenges from unpredictable spikes in demand and changing markets, to conversely, shortened contract periods and sudden shifts in business strategy. Such uncertainty makes it difficult to commit to long-term contracts on materials handling equipment. So how can businesses provide the agility needed to respond to changing operational requirements, with minimum exposure to risk? Flexibility to hire and de-hire at short notice allows for greater responsiveness when it’s needed and can offer additional support to an existing fleet – without the prospect of being burdened with unnecessary costs stretching into the future, or a punitive cancellation fee. Used strategically, short-term rental can supplement the handling capacity of the forklift fleet and add the flexibility needed to cope with surges in demand or a sudden change in direction. But to achieve the best results it’s necessary to understand the dynamics of your own business as much as possible, to identify opportunities for creating flexibility and to plan in how short-term rental can work to your advantage. Here are five key pointers to help you de-risk your operation: 1. Where can short-term rental help? There can be many reasons why a business should want to source a forklift truck on a short-term rental basis as opposed to going for a longer-term contract typically fixed over five years with penalties for early termination. Unexpected events may occur, such as a breakdown in the fleet, a sudden peak in demand, or a change in product profile. But often, it’s less of a surprise. It may be a planned special promotion, such as Black Friday, or the busy run up to Christmas, where extra capacity in the fleet is needed for a week or two, or perhaps for several months. Then there are situations where a particularly heavy load needs to be lifted, from time-to- time, and it is beyond the load capacity of your on-site trucks. Hiring in a heavy-lifter for occasional use may be the most cost effective solution. In addition, there may be circumstances where you are just uncertain about future needs, whether that’s the number or type of trucks needed or for how long they will be required. It may be that a new contract looks promising but who knows? Short-term rental could be the safest option, and after six months the situation may become a little clearer. Of course, you may just need an extra truck or two to boost supply chain performance for a short period, just to clear a backlog or to respond to a specific customer order. Either way, enhanced service performance does wonders for customer loyalty and a short-term rental truck deployed at the right time could help secure future business. 2. Create flexibility. Looking ahead at planned events is an important step to using short-term rental to strategic advantage. Having a clear understanding of up-coming special promotions and peak periods allows you to book your requirements in advance to secure the necessary truck 34 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk February 2020 Handling, Storage & Logistics SPECIAL FOCUS Five key pointers on short-term forklift rental