Executive Hire News › Archives › June 2009 › Market Report : "People are still buying"
Market Report : "People are still buying"
Kicking off our Market Report, EHN talks to a number of suppliers who continue to develop innovative sawing and cutting equipment for the hire industry.
The downturn in construction activity has obviously impacted on sales of equipment for sawing and cutting tasks. However, as with so many aspects of the reduction in business, the effects are by no means uniform. Demand has declined for certain products, while for others it remains positive.
“There has been a reduction in construction activity overall, but people are still buying,” says Phil Winnington, Sales & Marketing Director of Bolton-based Seddons (Plant & Equipment) Ltd. The company, which won the Hire Industry Supplier of the Year Award in the recent HAE Awards of Excellence, is a dealer for manufacturers like Stihl, Husqvarna and Norton, amongst others. “Building and refurbishment work obviously continues in many market segments, and tools like cut-off saws are essential items. This, in turn, leads to demand for diamond blades and accessories, lubricants, dust suppression kits and PPE, which represents other revenue opportunities.
“With hirers wanting to maximise the life of equipment, we have introduced initiatives like our Spare Parts Handbook to enable workshop staff to quickly identify and purchase the right parts for maintenance and repairs. Health & Safety issues remain high on the agenda, and interest is growing in products such as Norton’s Silencio blade, designed for very low noise.”
Richard Wardle, Product Manager - Diamond Drilling with Hilti (Gt. Britain) Ltd, agrees that, while demand for equipment associated with some large-scale projects like building new homes has lessened, interest remains high in innovative smaller tools. “Our DCH 300 electric disc cutter has been received extremely well since its launch late last year. It is ideal for work indoors as it creates no fumes, and it is designed to give virtually dustless operation when connected to a Hilti vacuum. Dust is an increasingly important Health & Safety issue on work sites.”
He adds that Hilti is helping hirers to reduce costs of ownership “with initiatives like our Lifetime Service Warranty and Repair Cost Limit. Hirers can have the tools maintained by specialists and know they are offering customers the right product for the task, rather than buying lower quality equipment that will cost more in the long run.”
Manufacturer’s on-going research and development is resulting in products with performance benefits features and safety features that users will want. Martin Sibley, Product Manager for Bosch Professional Power Tools, says that Health & Safety considerations and ergonomics continue to drive innovation, as on the manufacturer’s GWS 22-230 LVI Professional and GWS 24-230 LVI Professional angle grinders, which were named Best Product of the Year in the HAE Awards. “20% lighter than their predecessors, they incorporate floating rear handles to reduce HAV, as well as ‘kickback stop’ whereby a microprocessor shuts down the machine in a fraction of a second if a disc should become jammed. The grinders also have shatter-resistant blade guards, and a multifunctional triple-control dead man’s safety switch is combined with a smooth start function and restart protection, which prevents the machine from restarting automatically after a power disconnection.”
Like many other manufacturers that EHN spoke to in compiling our Market Report, he says that more tools are scheduled to be launched throughout the rest of this year, so there should be plenty to interest hirers in the months ahead. And, as Hilti’s Richard Wardle points out, “those companies which invest in the right equipment, with the features that customers demand, will emerge from the downturn faster, and stronger.” •
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