Editorial | Welcome
Pain Points equal opportunity
by Clair Urbain, Editor/Publisher
The whole process of attracting customers to a rental center, then understanding their equipment needs and getting the proper steps completed to assure the safety of the customer, rental center and equipment can be complicated and often arduous.
Many of the steps have their own pain points; they are important steps and add no real value to the process, but if they are not completed, can take value away from the transaction in equipment damage or loss or as bad, loss of customer confidence or goodwill.
In the world of lean manufacturing, organizations look at these pain points not as the cost of doing business but instead look at them as an opportunity to increase efficiency. They map the whole manufacturing process from front to back and then look for ways to cut out steps or improve processes so it takes less time or material to produce a product or accomplish a task. They identify which pain points can be eliminated by rethinking steps in the process. It’s interesting that lean teams often find many steps are done “because we’ve always done it that way”. This low-hanging fruit can often be eliminated by adopting new processes.
With the coming adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), many pain points can be eliminated, says Achille Ettorre, AI expert and co-manager GTA Equipment Rental. However, before incorporating AI into the operation, he and his brother, Wess, review the process in question. Often, he says they have resolved the pain point with process improvements instead of implementing AI technology.
As the new year begins, now is a good time to identify your pain points and see if you can turn any of them into opportunities for improvement. Your bottom line will thank you for it.
This article originally appeared in the January-February 2025 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine. ©2025 Urbain Communications LLC. All rights reserved.
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