EXECUTIVE
REPORT
GAP has been quick to add Pike’s XLEclipse to its fleet.
Filling more GAPs
A series of open days is enabling GAP to display new products it is adding to meet customers’ changing needs. Alan Guthrie reports from one such event in Motherwell.
GAP Group reports that holding regional open days, where customers can see the hirer’s latest fleet additions and new equipment, has proved very successful. The latest such event, held at the Motherwell branch, attracted an attendance of more than 100 visitors, comprising contractors, utilities staff and other professionals from various industries.
“Starting in November, we have held similar Innovations Day events at our depots in Reading and Bradford, locations serving large catchment areas, and they have been very well supported,” said GAP’s Business Development & Marketing Director, Colin Haxton. “Customers can see new equipment from some of our key suppliers, with an emphasis on products that give a competitive edge in terms of saving energy, time and resources, while increasing performance and efficiency. This is particularly important in the challenging economic climate.
“There has obviously been a downturn in the plant hire market, with decreased activity in house building and general construction. However, the utilities market has proved more resilient, and GAP has continued to add to its fleet in a controlled manner. We are also opening additional depots offering non-
Prolec’s sensing systems warn operators of potentially unsafe working conditions.
Environmental management
GAP has also continued to develop its environmentally friendly Green Action Plan. Health & Safety Manager, Malcolm Campbell, reports that the company expects to have achieved the ISO 14001
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mechanical equipment, joining existing sites at Shotts and Bradford. These will include outlets at Warrington, the Midlands and east London, and this activity will also be added at our existing Plymouth branch.”
environmental management standard, and the ISO 9001 quality management standard, by the time this issue is published.
Not surprisingly, several of the participating suppliers showed products with environmentally friendly characteristics at the Motherwell event, including Pike Signals’ solar assisted XLEclipse traffic light. GAP has, in fact, bought 45 sets, equivalent to the first five months’ production. The cable-free, radio-linked system has low-consumption LED optics and requires no regular battery changes, resulting in reduced fuel usage and fewer maintenance visits. The product is silent in operation and the solar panels charge automatically in daylight.
Youngman Group displayed the diesel Ecolite lighting tower which, as we reported in our March issue, is now being marketed jointly by Youngman and Taylor Construction Plant (TCP). The machine gives up to 170 hours of operation before needing refuelling. Youngman’s Phil Higgs said that interest has been particularly strong from highway maintenance contractors and utilities. The company also displayed a Boss X3 compact scissor lift, which now incorporates an auto-braking system as standard.
Mini excavator safety
Prolec, a manufacturer of electronic safety systems for plant and machinery, promoted Heightwatch, which monitors the working envelope of equipment such as mini excavators and alerts operators if they are being used in potentially unsafe circumstances. These can be set so that, if the user is working in an area with overhead obstacles or power lines at low height, the operation of the boom and dipper arm can be restricted. The Poole-based manufacturer has worked with GAP to develop a system whereby, if pre-set parameters are exceeded, the hydraulic services on a machine will cut out. Other systems are available that restrict slewing movements for safety on slopes such as highway embankments.
AMI Ltd demonstrated its Mtrack tracking system designed to aid machine recovery in the event of theft. GAP offers it on all the minis in its fleet. An unobtrusive battery powered transmitter is hidden within the machine and monitors its exact location via the mobile phone network. If the equipment goes outside pre-set boundaries, an alert is triggered and Mtrack recovery teams can pinpoint its location. A new wired-in system, called AMI Livetrack, has also just been introduced by the supplier.
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