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EXECUTIVE REPORT


Power tools survey


Executive Hire Data takes a detailed look at how our industry buys, repairs and services a wide range of power tools.


We received 104 completed questionnaires following our Power Tools survey, which asked a number of detailed questions about the way our industry buys, repairs and services a wide range of products. The questionnaires were received from a variety of positions, ranging from owners and proprietors in 35 single independent hire outlets to Hire, Depot and Service Managers in larger companies, with 28 respondents representing hirers with over 50 branches.


Figure 1 details the number of power tools purchased in the last 12 months across 13 distinct product ranges from cordless rotary hammers to diamond cutting tools.We certainly expected to see high number of rotary and combi-hammers, medium duty breakers and petrol saws purchased in the last year. However, we’re a little surprised that grinders represented the highest level of purchases across the entire product range. The continued growth in the purchase of cordless tools, which have proved highly profitable to many hirers, should also be noted.


The results from the collated data on average fleet life of the range of power tools featured in Figure 1 make interesting reading. Significantly, up to 50% of hirers didn’t respond to the question, which would suggest that they don’t maintain the necessary records to determine this information. On tools like cordless rotary hammers, the average fleet life is 2-5 years, whereas 3-5 years is the average for combi-hammers, medium duty breakers and petrol saws. Heavy duty breakers are typically run in the fleet for a longer period of 4-5 years. Surprisingly, many of the ranges are operated for longer periods - 15 years and longer in some isolated cases.


Our view is that, if you’re operating power tools that are up to four years old, you are running ‘young’ tools. Any reduction in the age of your fleet will undoubtedly increase customer satisfaction. With regard to grinders, some say that there is actually a high risk in running these products after they become two years old. “At this point - preferably earlier - we recommend that you simply bin them,” one manufacturer told us.


Figure 2 simply lists hirers’ annual spend on power tools.


Figure 3 is more interesting as it assesses annual servicing and repair costs as a percentage of this annual spend. 70% of respondents state that their annual servicing and repair costs are less than 20% of their annual power tool investment.


Fig.3 Figure 4 expresses Figure 3 in actual cost terms. 24 Fig.2


Fig.1


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