Al Maysan discusses why equipment rentals are the answer during the economic downturn.
Relatively new to the equipment rental sector is Al Maysan Heavy Equipment which is nevertheless, making its mark in the country.
Amr Shehata, operations director, Al Maysan Heavy Equipment WLL says that the future of the rentals market is positive: “We only started the division last February, so most orders are for immediate or short term leasing, but the market looks good right now and we have many orders coming down the line,” he assures.
Shehata goes on to explain that over the past three months the company has added about 30 pieces of equipment to its fleet and adds: “We expect to reach 60 by mid-2017, as we have a three-year plan to grow our fleet to between 200-250 pieces of equipment, with the intention of catering to a wider customer base.”
The construction is in a state of flux presently, with project delays playing the main role in the growth of the equipment rentals market. Shehata continues: “Several reasons create more rental requests opportunities, like the cost of manpower, equipment maintenance cost, the delay of some projects’ delivery, the wide range of the equipment required and the need for specialised equipment at certain projects. These are all influencers in going for rentals over the cost of ownership.”
Cash flow is increasingly influencing the rentals decision as Shehata adds: “As the dynamics in the construction market change, some main contractors are moving more toward equipment rental to maintain liquidity. We saw that with our long-standing relationships with globally renowned heavy equipment and commercial vehicles manufacturers, such as Komatsu, Bobcat, UD, SANY, Isuzu and Palfinger. We are now well equipped to offer a rentals solution.”
He explains that the main advantage of rental over sales is that the contractor doesn’t have to carry the burden of cost of ownership, “like operation, service, replacement or maintenance, instead they are paying for their usage”, he outlines. “Also for some contractors, it’s difficult to own a variety of equipment and recruit and manage the operations team, while for rental, we can provide all of that,” the executive shares.
“What makes Al Maysan rental services unique is that we have all solutions related to compact and heavy construction equipment, and material handling all under the same roof,” he explains. “It became easier and more convenient for contractors to rent their needs from equipment and material handling than to own, within the current market situation.” He attests that the decision to purchase equipment has decreased by more than 60% while rental demand has increased by 70%.
Although the demand depends on several factors like the type of the project, at which phase it is, the timeline and other factors, the greatest demand is for the construction equipment range, Shehata adds.
Commenting on the present landscape Shehata says that some of the challenges include the best utilisation of equipment, by reducing and avoiding down time: “Overcoming that challenge and achieving those goals are not easy, but we have the diversification of equipment to ensure this is minimised. We offer guaranteed service, genuine parts and equipment replacement – all to help us achieve our goals.”
With Jaidah Equipment as the dealer of the products Al Maysan rents, there are many advantage to provide the best service for equipment and genuine parts within the shortest time fram, if not available in stock. “This gives our clients a level of service they are not used to, with competitive rates, good service and high quality equipment, Shehata adds with pride.
He continues that the company offers incentives to the rental clients: “We offer additional value services like stand-by equipment on site for clients who rent ten pieces and, if they rent 15 pieces of equipment, we provide a technician on site. If a client hires more equipment, we can even set up a mini maintenance office to provide immediate support on site and ensure a smooth and continuous work flow, giving our clients a nonstop production and the highest uptime with peace of mind,” Shehata explains.
“As quality counts for us, we also test operators to make sure they are well trained which, while resulting in a high level of operational safety, also serves to keep our equipment in an excellent state all the time.”
AL Maysan’s rental offerings start from one month which, according to Shehata “gives a chance to contractors who are facing down times because of any unforeseen circumstance, assisting them in sticking to their project delivery timeline.”
In conclusion he says: “We also have a very attractive and flexible pricing strategy, based on the number of pieces of equipment hired and the duration of the rental contract.”
