When it comes to money, schedules, and execution, choosing the correct equipment for a construction project is critical. The entire project runs more efficiently and equipment is better managed, scheduled, and maintained when a construction equipment manager gets the information and tools they need to accomplish their job properly.
Construction organizations experience increased equipment breakdowns and failures, projects running over budget, productivity stalls, and lost profitability if they do not have adequate equipment management.
We’ve compiled a list of the greatest construction equipment management tips to assist your organization in implementing industry best practices or improving existing procedures. First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about the fundamentals:
What is construction equipment management, and what does it involve?
The process of directing and regulating construction equipment is known as construction equipment management. Construction equipment managers are in control of a construction company’s equipment. They’re in charge of buying, maintaining, and repairing equipment, as well as storing, cleaning, and transporting it. They are also in charge of maintaining inventory and assigning the appropriate equipment to the work.
To properly monitor and manage their equipment, construction equipment managers employ a method known as equipment asset management.
What is asset management for equipment?
The practice of directing and regulating equipment investments on behalf of a corporation — in this case, a construction company — is known as equipment asset management. This procedure meticulously monitors, forecasts, and records the depreciation of equipment assets while also assessing and minimizing risk. Construction equipment managers will be in charge of assessing the company’s assets and deciding what equipment investments (or avoidances) will help the company grow.
Best methods for managing construction equipment
Costs must be tracked, assets must be mobilized, utilization must be measured, and specific job locations or tasks must be billed for. To do so with precision, you’ll need detailed records, knowledge, planning, KPI tracking, and real-time visibility and tracking of all equipment.
The following are the top eight best practices for managing construction equipment:
1. Maintain an inventory of your equipment and keep track of it.
Effective construction equipment management requires knowing which equipment is owned and which is borrowed. Parts and tools should be included.
The next step is to figure out where they are. The best method to do this is to install a GPS tracking system on your trucks. It provides full visibility to equipment managers, allowing them to allocate trucks for pick-up and delivery, track the transportation process, and return equipment to its proper position at the end of the day.
2. Recognize the worth of your equipment
There should be well-documented and updated records on the worth of each piece of equipment your company owns, in addition to knowing what you have and where it is located. When it comes to insurance claims, purchasing, renting, or liquidating equipment, knowing the value of your equipment is critical.
Understanding the value of your equipment might help you calculate rental expenses if you decide to rent it out. It also helps with selling and liquidation by improving your grasp of the remaining service life.
Keep a detailed record of the history of each piece of equipment, such as:
- Date and cost of purchase
- Purchased mileage
- Working hours Working conditions
- Details on maintenance and repairs
- All of these factors go into determining the worth of your equipment.
Check auction websites on a regular basis for the asking and sold prices of identical equipment. Use this information to help you maintain track of your records and manage your equipment.
3. Ensure that operators are properly trained.
Because equipment managers can’t be everywhere at once (no matter how hard they try), having a well-trained team of operators is advantageous.
Operators who have been properly trained contribute to the equipment’s longevity and the efficiency of your business. The risk of broken equipment is reduced if they are vigilant with their daily checks and run the apparatus properly. Because drivers spend so much time operating machinery, they are the most knowledgeable about it. They can detect performance discrepancies that can be identified and evaluated before they become a big issue.
Keeping a line of contact open with these team members provides managers with crucial ground-level information. While technology can provide you with a lot of information about the equipment and drivers, hearing it yourself is crucial.
4. After each use, inspect the equipment.
Even with a well-trained crew, items can slip through the cracks during daily checks, or personnel may forget to include anything in their reports. In any case, following each use, equipment managers must inspect every equipment.
Conditions on the job site may be harsh, and the operator’s vigorous usage may create damage that you’ll want to address before it becomes an issue and jeopardizes the company’s overall profitability.
5. Arrange for routine maintenance.
One of the most essential things a construction business can do to extend the life of its equipment and preserve production is to do preventative equipment maintenance. Managers that create a heavy equipment preventative maintenance checklist for their operators assist the entire team remain on top of equipment needs and enables for proper maintenance scheduling when needed.
6. Be ready for setbacks.
Because preventative maintenance does not guarantee that your system will not break down, you must be prepared for the worst. You may have adequate equipment to maintain your ongoing contracts, but what happens if several pieces fail at the same time?
Because breakdowns are unavoidable, construction equipment managers must have a strategy in place to avoid big project delays and problems. Include scenarios other than breakdowns, such as if a contractor or subcontractor fails to show up or if your preferred rental location is fully booked.
7. Keep up with project specifics.
In more ways than one, having a complete awareness of all of your construction projects is extremely advantageous to construction equipment management. Knowing project specifics such as schedules and budgets aids in the management of equipment requests and ensures that the appropriate equipment is given to the appropriate job. Equipment selection, equipment and operator scheduling, and even maintenance and billing can all be aided by knowing characteristics such as the project location and distance from pick-up.
8. Eliminate paper usage.
Accurate data is required for effective management. Maintaining accurate records of construction equipment information will give the required data to aid fleet management. Switching to a paperless system, where all information can be securely kept and accessed by all stakeholders at any time and from anywhere, is recommended to ensure that this essential information is not lost.
Equipment usage and repair records are examples of data that should be gathered or uploaded electronically. This type of information can be used to spot trends, assess the profitability of a piece of equipment, and aid forecasting. Equipment managers may also come across unused assets that are better rented or subcontracted than purchased.