Responding to the rental industry's needs to increase aerial equipment fleet utilization and to be more efficient with fleet management practices, Genie will be demonstrating the features and benefits of its Genie Lift Connect telematics program to customers throughout the show.
"Telematics can provide a range of insights for rental businesses about everything from tracking machine location to proactively scheduling machine maintenance and optimizing equipment utilization," says Christine Zeznick, Genie Director of Product and Business Development, Telematics, Terex AWP. "Using telematics, rental fleet managers have the ability to track equipment and proactively respond to equipment issues in the field, which can make the difference for securing more rentals, as well as forging stronger relationships with customers."
Focusing on providing actionable information, flexibility and transparency, the Genie Lift Connect telematics program is purpose-built to directly address the unique business needs of rental stores, such as Vandalia Rental in Vandalia, Ohio.
According to Kurt Barney, President of Vandalia Rental: "The Genie Lift Connect program allows us to further enhance our customers' uptime. Within the system, we can set up notification parameters that can warn us of potential equipment issues so we're able to proactively troubleshoot problems, reduce jobsite trips and increase our overall repair efficiency. After utilizing the Genie Lift Connect telematics system, it's become an invaluable resource for us; it's hard to imagine how we'd ever go back to the way we used to do it."
According to Zeznick, rental companies like Vandalia Rental that are already using telematics, such as Genie Lift Connect telematics, are experiencing a lot of benefits and efficiencies in their day-to-day operations. For rental companies considering investing in telematics, she offers these tips for using a telematics program to manage their aerial equipment rental fleet:
Tip #1: Telematics can help with remote troubleshooting equipment issues in the field. Utilizing telematics for remote troubleshooting gives rental fleet managers the ability to help track equipment and proactively respond to equipment issues in the field, before sending a technician out. This will save time and money. "Think of how much it costs your rental company every time a technician has to get in a truck, drive to a site, address the issue and return to the shop," says Zeznick. "Many of these trips and costs can be reduced, or even avoided, by using telematics to diagnose the issue and help the operator remotely."
Tip #2: Telematics should provide information that allows equipment owners to act. With dashboards and alert notifications, the Genie Lift Connect telematics program can help rental fleet managers understand the information their machines are providing, enabling them to not only react to what is currently going on with their equipment but also to proactively manage what will be happening with their fleet.
Tip #3: Telematics enables rental stores to proactively manage a machine's uptime – scheduling maintenance when it is needed. With telematics, rental stores can know: When was the last scheduled maintenance? Is it due for another? How many hours are on the machine? How long is the machine being used for per day? How many hours has the engine run on this rental? "Knowing the answers to these questions means that telematics will change the way the machines are serviced, enabling rental stores to proactively schedule preventive maintenance needs," says Zeznick.
Tip #4: Telematics can help alleviate a major challenge in the industry today – that there aren't enough service technicians. Telematics offers "descriptive" data which gives rental companies a snapshot of what's going on with the machine, including: Hours, Location, Machine idle time and Faults. "This information helps in rental store options in determining both the number of technicians required and the skill level of the technicians required to respond to equipment issues," says Zeznick. "With telematics, the rental store's product support team can help troubleshoot issues, allowing the technicians to focus on completing the specialized work."
Tip #5: Data from telematics can be used for "predictive" and "prescriptive" activities, such as predicting failures in the field based on how the equipment is being used and proactively prescribing maintenance and service. To understand this, predictive data answers tomorrow's question: "What will happen?" And, prescriptive data answers the question: "What do I need to do?"
"Technology continues to transform the rental industry, and tools like telematics can really help rental companies run their business more efficiently and more profitably than ever before," says Zeznick.
