RentalMetrics

As an equipment rental house...do you practice what you preach and "rent solutions" when it makes sense?

If you're a construction company or equipment rental company with at least 20 pieces of machinery, you've probably considered buying a GPS solution to manage the fleet more proactively.  You've also hesitated to pull the trigger because you can't see a clear path to payback on the $15k-$20k...first year expense...not to mention the recurring bit.  You're also not too thrilled about Googling "equipment tracking GPS" and sorting through the roughly 240,000 results.

You may want to consider getting some assistance with the heavy lifting.  Consider the tables turned.  Your operation may want to consider "renting" some combination of advice, analysis, tools (not the metal kind), and project guidance.

Takin' It to the Bank 

If you do go it alone, remember that driving efficiency and ROI from every solution you deploy doesn't stop after the project manager moves on to the next gig.  Put the proper metrics in place and systematize their delivery and dissemination.  If current systems can't do that, there may be some fixes that will get you the 80% you need to squeak out additional profit on the bottom line this year without buying new software. 

Project Collaboration Software for Solution Deployments

Here's a quick PPT I put together showing some options, opinions, and results after 2+ years of using project collaboration software.  I highly recommend using this type of organizational tool in your projects or solution deployments.  Feel free to ask questions or for more specifics. 

In my business, I use Central Desktop.  In fact, each client that engages Rental Metrics is provided a Team subscription to Central Desktop's On-Demand Team Collaboration Software.  Soon, Rental Metrics will offer a pre-defined project template designed to supercharge your GPS tracking solution deployments.

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What has 6 Sigma done for you and/or your firm?

If you're in the equipment rental/manufacturing ecosystem and have the liberty to share your thoughts?  I'd be curious to see what you believe 6 Sigma has done for your enterprise?  I'm not looking for confidential savings numbers here...rather I'd like to know the culture changes that have taken place, the mindset changes, and the general mood of the company vs. before deploying the methodology.

I've encountered "We're just doing it because someone got a burr up their rear" to "It has transformed our company into a powerhouse". 

Please share with me and our readers.

The oft overlooked aspect of Leadership in a culture of Lean/6Sigma

During my 6 Sigma black belt training, there were precious few moments dedicated to team leadership and driving the culture of change.  In a great article called, "Lean Leadership Lessons" Jamie Flinchbaugh and Andy Carlino discuss how important it is to have the right people driving the buses.  It's well worth the read.  Here's a quote.

Why is leadership such an important topic in Lean transformation? Because Lean is not something you engineer. When done right, Lean changes the way you think, talk, see, act, and react. It's a battle for employee minds and hearts, and such battles require leadership. Famed Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi summarized leadership with these words: "Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence."

If your company is considering the move to an improvement methodology such as Lean or 6 Sigma, ensure that you're not "filling positions".  Give up your best leaders and high potentials and watch them drive change across the enterprise.

10 year prediction for ubiquitous GPS

My how the humble little GPS chip is changing the game in which we play.  Once only a military guidance tool, we're nearing a time when every thing we buy contains the little bugger that can tell the world where we are (or where we've been) within a few feet.

As the market for personal navigation devices explodes (Garmin, Tom Tom, Mio), will the industrial use of GPS continue to rise? 

Although on a different curve, absolutely.  In fact, I believe that within 10 years, most every piece of construction equipment that leaves the assembly line will have the proper equipment to track and monitor it.  At that point, it will be up to the software folks to create the best possible interfaces, uses, and tools from the data that emerges from the "little black box".   

Essentially, the "On-Star" model will have arrived where you either choose to use it and pay X, or don't...but the goods are there.  Perhaps you'll even be able to retroactively use the anti-theft features if something goes amiss (pay $500 if we turn it on and recover your asset even if you weren't paying monthly, etc.)

But will you wait for this solution utopia to make a move and begin maximizing utilization and up time on your assets?  Get in the loop on what's out there and drive your business to better results today. 

P.S.  I'm still waiting on that flying car.

Gathering data and making it meaningful

In nearly every case where I've been involved with recommending a solution in the rental sector, a big appeal of "System X" has been its ability to extract and manipulate data.  Most often, a large percentage of that data was already available in a corporate or enterprise system. 

Probing further, we'd often get to a point where the client simply said, "Look Doug, I just can't get this kind of data generated from my current systems because they're archaic and tough to deal with...and my IT department just doesn't have the bandwidth to support my needs". 

Takin' it to the bank

Sometimes addressing the core issue of resource allocation to a specific business area will avail a rental operation to new solutions without purchasing the next new system.  Look inside before moving outside.

Software Engineering Explained

Don't let this happen to you. 

...and remember the CUSTOMER isn't always outside your organization.  If you're the parts and service manager, your customers are also on your org chart...just under your name in different colored boxes.

Elegant discussion on enterprise vs. consumer software

Super author and blogger Nick Carr points out today that it may be incorrect thinking to assume that enterprise software cannot also be exciting, pleasing, fun to use.  Carr says,

By perpetuating a false dichotomy between the friendliness of consumer apps and the seriousness of business apps, all that Krigsman is doing is giving enterprise vendors cover for continuing to produce software that's difficult and unpleasant to use.

Takin' it to the bank

When you evaluate your next enterprise application, simply accepting that it doesn't look and feel all that good for the user (after all, it is functional and we're in an industry that accepts old school right?)...is doing your company a disservice.  Keep searching.  If your pleasant AND effective solution doesn't exist, maybe you execute some quick process wins and get more research and analysis on what's out there.

Female Heavy Equipment Operators

There's a nice piece on the NAHETS blog that quotes some great stats about the number of women working in the heavy equipment and construction sectors.  What's of note is that this number is on the rise.  My own subjective data gathering (working with heavy equipment manufacturing and servicing companies) showed zero women in field technician roles.  Apparently the number is less than 2%. 

I wonder if niche product companies and possibly the trade magazines will release some new offerings to capture women's attention?

Equipment Rental: Popularity Continues To Rise

This piece in Reed Construction Data highlights the continued popularity and growth in the rental sector.  It points out the major benefits to the construction/contractor ecosystem as:

• Infrequently used items can be rented as needed vs. buying and sitting on them all year
• No maintenance worries and guarantees of replacement if a machine goes down
• Reduced requirements for storage lots/yards since equipment is "on-demand"
• More affordable...including long term "lease to own" options that effectively finance the purchase in creative ways
• Rental provider keeps up with technology and changing demands for you

As renting becomes ubiquitous (I'm effectively renting the web based software application I'm typing in right now), what will your company do to differentiate?   "We have the best service" just isn't good enough anymore.  Do you have a "Total Solution" for your clients? 

You should.  You can.  You will

Prosper!