Hewden Crane Hire in the UK is experimenting with outsourcing the service and maintenance of its mobile cranes at two of its depots to manufacturer Demag Mobile Cranes. Hewden’s general manager Alex Lowe is anxious to emphasise that it is early days, and no conclusions can yet be drawn. However, this initiative has potentially huge implications for the industry.
I say potentially, because it is equally likely (perhaps even more likely) that Hewden will find that the new arrangement cannot be made to work. There are all sorts of practicalities to be sorted out, not least of which are billing and performance monitoring. A simple approach might be for Hewden to offer to pay Demag a flat fee – let’s say 10% less than its current service costs – and for Demag to guarantee a certain level of availability and performance. If a crane is out of operation for longer than a specified time, Demag could perhaps cover the cost of sub-rental or loss of business.
Even assuming such an arrangement worked, what are the implications for Hewden, should it choose to pursue this experiment and roll it out nationwide? What will be the impact of shedding in-house expertise? Should it really be the manufacturers that fill this need? Can a customer afford to depend so utterly on a supplier? Hewden is increasing the number of Demags in its large fleet, but what about those of its cranes that are not Demag models? How co-operative will Liebherr or Grove be with Hewden’s new service team? So let’s take nothing for granted about this experiment. But I look forward to hearing more about the lessons learned as the months pass. In the July issue we aired the debate, led by ESTA and Ainscough’s Steve Cooke, about the increasing challenge of servicing technologically sophisticated German all terrain cranes. Cooke stated firmly that crane technology was leaving the crane owning companies behind. If that’s the case, then Hewden’s approach, or something like it, may be the solution, and I congratulate Hewden on embarking on this initiative, and Demag for responding.
I welcome your views on this, and any other, vital industry issue.
