Sandvik offers solutions for specific markets

The rental market for Sandvik Construction equipment in certain parts of the world offers huge business opportunities, whilst in others, the market is somewhat limited.

This is due to the fact that in order to get the very best out of the equipment, an experienced and well trained operator is required, according to the company.

However, it said that in some parts of the world the renting of Sandvik equipment is a major business, providing solutions for its customers when outright purchase may not be appropriate.

The manufacturer said rental solutions for Sandvik equipment tended to be supplied by specialist contractors which undertake work, with an operator supplied, for a set amount of time.

It said these contractors – in the crushing, screening, drilling sectors etc - tended to be highly experienced, specialised firms, including names like Bam Ritchies (in the drill and blast sector), Premier Plant, Barrack Hill Quarries, and Lancashire Crushing.

Sandvik said the main reasons for the predominance of specialised contractors, rather than rental, was customer demand. But it said that, in some markets, such as the US, and some European countries such as Germany, many companies prefer to rent, often before purchase.

The manufacturer said that many of its dealers and distributors in these markets provided a rental service, and were geared to support such operations with highly focussed customer support.

“The rental market has therefore become a big growth area particularly for distributors of mobile crushing and screening equipment in the US,” the company said.

Sandvik highlighted tunnelling as one sector particularly well-suited to rental – it said there were typically two reasons for businesses to request rental equipment. Firstly, the short duration of a project where the machine was needed, with these cases often referred to as "rent to rent". After the rental period the customer returns the machine back to the supplier.

And it said the second was the need for short term financing. These cases are referred to as "rent to sell". After the rental period the customer buys the unit and part of the rental fees will be credited against the purchase.

Some Sandvik sales companies and distributors in larger tunnelling markets own tunnelling jumbos offered as part of a rental package. The company said this, together with the various other financing options, meant that Sandvik was able to provide more alternatives for customers.

In Europe, Sandvik’s rental fleet possesses standard two and three boom drilling jumbos (DT821 and DT1131 models) as well as fully automated models (DT1131i and DT922i).

However, except in the case of some tunnelling projects as outlined above, Sandvik does not rent equipment to companies directly, but rather supplies equipment to dealers, distributors, and some rental companies (in the US mainly) for them to rent.

This includes breakers (Rammer and Bretec), drill rigs, tunnelling jumbos, mobile screens and crushers.