Customers are speaking, and machine manufacturers' ears have perked up. Time and again, equipment managers emphasize uptime, reliability and productivity. Now, as more equipment professionals move from maintenance supervisors to asset managers, they've discovered the importance of residual value.
And to their credit, manufacturers are listening and beginning to promote their machine-management services. It's not that these services are just becoming available (most manufacturers offer them), but end-users now recognize their value.
End-users, particularly those with smaller fleets, are learning that machines are not tools to be used up and discarded. With proper care and management, their fleets can retain value over time that can be converted into a new machine when appropriate. Instead of running a machine into the ground, executing jobs at high operating expense, and losing margin and profitability, equipment managers are finding that simple care can extend the life of the machine and keep profit margins competitive.
As executive editor Larry Stewart explains this month in "Lifecycle Research Justifies Investing in PM," preventive maintenance is a foundational part of every machine-management strategy that aims to attain maximum life and maximum resale value.
This is where manufacturers' programs should be evaluated. Machine-monitoring systems allow machine owners to transmit data directly to product-support folks, whether it's their own in-house shop or a distributor's. Determining appropriate preventive-maintenance activities and scheduling the work is far simpler than it used to be.
Stewart also points out that knowledge of a machine's expected component lifecycle provides additional input into a machine-management strategy. Construction Equipment has published two exclusive research reports over the past couple of years denoting component lifecycles for backhoe-loaders, articulated dump trucks, wheel loaders, excavators and crawler dozers. Both of these studies are online at https://www.constructionequipment.com/archive-cex/ in our Magazine Archives section, from July 2005 and July 2004.
Managers who want more than a machine run to destruction must plan ahead in order to recoup the residual value available in that machine. Pay attention to PMs and component lifecycles. And read up on strategies at ConstructionEquipment.com. Type "residual value" in the keyword search box and choose from 18 articles we've done over the years.
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