Hire and Rental News - Access in Action - August 2018

ACCESS in ACTION It is clear Australia is making infrastructure investment. You can see it when you drive around. We believe the Australian market is going to have a good strong run for the next couple of years. And this will be across all three of the Terex divisions: cranes, aerial and materials processing (eg: washing and screening/quarry work). Plus rental companies are enjoying good rental rates and utilisation. The challenge for Australia is in finding skilled labour and service technicians and attracting young people to the industry. We need to apply innovative programs to bring new talent to the market. We see there are options available to us but we do need to work collaboratively with other market operators. For eg: we could partner with rental companies to offer skill sets for industry. Globally we’ve de-emphasised the importance of trades. BL: It is surprising how many Finding solutions to maintain competitive focus... continued rental company owners have trades backgrounds. Our future depends on attracting young people to our space. We have exciting products and new technology. This problem is not unique to Australia; globally we need to do something about attracting young people to the industry. Apprenticeship programs need to be industry wide – not necessarily company specific. We are looking at apprenticeship sharing programs with rental companies as an option to helping to find a solution. We need to think creatively on how to put a program together to suit our needs. No one is currently doing it so something has to change. Talent matters and we need to attract talent to our space. We have a ‘Women in Terex’ program; it is a global program and we have local KPIs to help women progress at Terex. The pool of talent is there to attract; we just have to make our industry attractive to both youth and women. Visit: www.genielift.com.au Building on the popular features of its predecessor model like bi-levelling capabilities on slopes of up to 20 degrees, Series of ‘world first’ product offerings begun at HIRE18 Aspac has released several new products starting with the launch of the Athena 850EVO bi-levelling scissor at HIRE18. single button auto levelling, capable of towing and non-marking tracks, the Athena 850 EVO has new features. These include: Proactive Levelling which automatically keeps the machine level when driving stowed; Dynamic Levelling which ensures the machine will self-level in the air while driving at height; and a Kubota diesel engine. Following the success of the Athena HE 850 Aspac has released its larger bother, the Athena 1470HE which has a 14m working height. The Athena 1470 will self-level on slopes up to 20 degrees by deploying its outrigger system. This also keeps the unit compact with a maximum width of 115cm. The Athena 1470 can be used on level terrain without outriggers with the max working height limited by our smart on board load management system. This model too features a Kubota engine. Rounding off the product releases is the launch of Aspac’s Pegasus Electric Drive Slab Scissor Lifts which feature what the company claims is the world’s first overhead warning system. This overhead warning keeps operators safe from both crush and shear injuries and is simple, effective and commercially available, the company said. Plus, all Pegasus Scissor Lifts are programmable so with a simple procedure that takes seconds, operators can adjust drive speed, raise and lower speed, turning speed, and can restrict the working height of the machine. This is another world first, Aspac has said, custom designed for unique work sites and safety requirements. The Pegasus units can all drive a gradient of 45 degrees due to a clever design and over specified drive components, Aspac management said. The battery management system and Aspac is offering a two year warranty on batteries because the company said its control systems means batteries will never over cook and fail. Contact: 03 9796 4254 or visit website: www.aspacgroup.com.au The Athena 850EVO bi-levelling scissor Genie at HIRE18 in May – Brad Lawrence at left 38 ACCESS IN ACTION • AUGUST 2018