Capital Equipment News July 2018

EDITOR'S COMMENT

UPTIME SAFEGUARDS THE BOTTOM LINE

W e have all heard the phrase “time is money”. And for capital equipment opera- tors – be it a construction contractor, a mine or truck owner – it has never been more true. Today’s tough operating and economic conditions are putting more strain on already constrained bottom lines. If you have been in the capital equip- ment operation business, you probably, by now, know that maximising uptime is

the foundation to keeping your business healthy and growing. Given that investments in capital equipment are such big-ticket purchases, to maximise return on investment, these pieces of equipment must be kept running at maximum capacity, 24/7/365. Uptime is now the mantra, the figure of merit. Unexpected downtime can be extremely costly as loss of output has a direct, negative impact on revenues. It is thus no surprise that every fleet owner of capital equipment expects 100% equipment uptime. To increase uptime and maximise production efficiency, one must choose the highest reliability equipment and then implement an appropriate maintenance programme to keep that equipment running at peak performance. However, equipment maintenance is not the whole story when it comes to uptime and the consequent improvement to the bottom line. In today’s technological era, there are many tools available to help fleet owners maximise their uptime. Many OEMs, in partnership with their dealers and customers, are continuously developing systems that are largely aimed at maximising this important operating parameter. I recently attended Volvo Construction Equipment’s Volvo Days in Sweden. Of great interest to me at this year’s event was the OEM’s extended enterprise approach to boosting machine uptime. Volvo CE’s focus on uptime is based on the fact that customers only make money when the machines are running. That’s why the Swedish OEM is working closely with its dealers to further improve common processes and systems that will provide service technicians with more efficient access to information and support than

before – ensuring shorter resolution times for customers. You may be running tough, hardworking machines, but no matter how durable the design, there will always be an occasional technical issue. To safeguard completion and profitability targets, machines should be back on the job as quickly as possible. Solving machine issues instantly is an extremely important contributor to fleet owners’ success. With that in mind, Volvo CE has placed uptime at the heart of its latest strategy in its sales region EMEA, using digitalisation tools, such as telematics, as one enabler of improving efficiency. This year, the OEM has embarked on two specific projects to ensure mechanics have access to the right info and support when they need it. The first is called First Time Fix and aims at identifying the root cause of an issue early and as quickly as possible. The second – One Communication Platform – is a new case handling system for all Volvo CE products. Its purpose is to speed up the quality improvement process by using a unique tool to integrate systems and collaboration between dealers, and Volvo’s regional product support and maintenance teams. One Communication Platform ensures that mechanics’ feedback goes upstream in the process all the way back to Volvo R&D. I commend Volvo CE, and many other forward-thinking OEMs, for realising that in today’s tough business climate, there is need to further strengthen the common approach between all stakeholders. There is need for continuous collaboration between the OEM, the dealer and the end user in everything they do – with common systems and processes – to deliver maximum uptime, and ultimately boost the bottom line for fleet owners.

Munesu Shoko – Editor

capnews@crown.co.za

@CapEquipNews

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