Instrumentation Rental: The Right Tools at the Right Time |
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By John Greivell, RAECO. Previously published in the September 2007 issue of Industrial Hygiene News Download this Instrumentation Rental article in PDF form. (463KB Adobe .PDF) Have you ever tried to take a measurement, only to be disappointed by the instrument you’re using? Was it old technology that just couldn’t make the measurement adequately or easily? Was a critical accessory or component missing? Did the instrument fail? How long did you spend troubleshooting your own equipment before you could get the job done? And how much outdated EHS equipment is sitting on your inventory shelf? Renting allows you to get the right tools for your job, where you need them, and when you need them. It also removes the financial overhead, maintenance, and reliability issues that plague most companies’ instrumentation inventory.
Renting is EconomicalOwnership carries a lot of costs: initial purchase, storage, depreciation, ongoing maintenance, annual calibration, and insurance, just to name a few. If you’re only using the instrument for a short-term project, or pulling it off the shelf once in a while, renting could be the right solution for you. When you rent, you only pay for the instrument during the time you need to use it. If you own the equipment, you have the initial outlay plus upkeep costs. And, if the technology changes or the manufacturer comes out with a new design, your instrument becomes less valuable and harder to cost-justify. Some instrument technologies carry a high purchase price. Renting provides a great solution when you can’t afford to buy the instrumentation you need, or you’ve already allocated the money for other purposes. It allows you the opportunity to use best-in-class brands without straining your budget. And what happens when your needs outgrow your instrument inventory? When a larger job demands more instrumentation, do you really want to buy additional units for a limited one-time application? Some companies choose to keep minimal instrument inventory on hand, and rent additional units they run into larger-scale jobs than they’re prepared to perform. How do you determine the breakdown of instrument costs put toward a specific job? When you already own the instrumentation, it’s easy to justify the cost of consumables: calibration gases, filters, gas detection tubes, and the like. But it’s difficult to attribute a portion of the cost of a $10,000 instrument to that project. Taking advantage of rental instrumentation makes budgeting for projects straightforward. You can show, without question, your exact cost for the instrument and consumables that you use on any given activity. The carrying costs of the instrumentation don’t get lumped into your overhead or your annual budget. Renting Helps You Find Tools that FitYou’re not always sure that a piece of equipment is the right one for your application. You can rent instruments on a daily or weekly basis, try them out, and find out first-hand if they’ll do what you need them to. If the instruments work as you expect, and you’re going to use them often, your financial outlay for the rental is easily justified, and you can purchase the units you need with confidence. If the instruments aren’t right for your application, you haven’t made a major investment to find out. It’s much easier than buying, figuring out through failure that the instrument isn’t right for you, and going through the red tape (and restocking fees) of trying to return a used purchase. A reputable rental provider will make sure the latest instrumentation is available for your use. You already know that instrumentation technology keeps changing. When you buy, you lock yourself into a dated piece of equipment; one that may not give you the accuracy, reliability, or flexibility you need. There’s no need to tie up your assets in obsolete equipment when you can keep the cash, and get the latest, greatest instrumentation to use when you need it. Some manufacturers do offer trade-in or trade-up options when they come out with new instruments, and while it helps cushion the blow, you rarely recoup your out-of-pocket expenses. It makes buying a new monitor less expensive, but you just start that vicious cycle over again. Renting Gives You Reliability AssuranceIt’s rare that you’re going to use every instrument in your inventory on a daily basis. Some, in fact, you may only use once a quarter or once a year. And while that instrument sits on the shelf, sensors can decay and batteries can go dead. So, when you pick up the instrument to use it, you can’t be sure it’s up to spec. Unless your maintenance and stores teams work together to make sure your instrument is working and has all of its parts and consumable accessories available, you’re not guaranteed that the instrument will perform as expected. It’s the rental provider’s job to keep the instrumentation in working order. Rental instrumentation comes to you in a kit, complete with all the necessary parts and consumable supplies. It’s standard practice for the rental provider to calibrate and test equipment before they send it to you, so you’ll know it’s ready to use when it arrives on your doorstep. This also includes annual certification and calibration to meet OSHA standards. If you need it for compliance and reporting, you can request a copy of the provider’s latest calibration certificate for your files.
Rental Service Is Just That… ServiceOne of the most compelling reasons to rent instrumentation is the service that comes with it. Just as you’ve saved money on purchases, you’ll also be saving on the cost of maintenance and support personnel. Rental services give you access to highly trained people who can recommend the right equipment for your application, and who know how to use the instruments themselves. Make sure you’re dealing with a company that has a long history with industrial hygiene and safety instruments. You want a company behind the equipment that truly understands it: how it works, why you’re using it, and what problems you may encounter in a given application. Check out your rental service’s website for additional resources. Look for instrument manuals, quick-start guides, application notes, and video training. Ask your rental provider if they offer delivery or on-site training to help you get started using the instrumentation. After all: what good is saving money on the equipment if you don’t know how to use it? Rental Could Be the Right Tool for Your JobIf you had the latest technology, could you complete your projects in less time, with fewer frustrations? Would you get the jobs done on or under budget? How much could you save if you didn’t have to pay for annual instrument calibrations or the maintenance team to perform them? Let’s face facts: Your job is to keep your company or its customers safe and in compliance with EPA and OSHA regulations. And to do that, you need the right industrial hygiene and safety instrumentation on hand. You can spend a lot of money keeping your instrument inventory current, or you can rely on rental specialists to provide the measuring and monitoring devices you need, where you need them, when you need them. While it’s not right for everyone, instrumentation rental may be the best tool in your toolbox. The next time you need EHS instrumentation, consider renting: Bypass the budgetary restrictions and ownership overheads, and head straight toward getting the job done.
Download this Instrumentation Rental article in PDF form. (463KB Adobe .PDF) View our complete list of industrial hygiene instruments available for daily, weekly, or monthly rental. |
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As
Vice President of RAECO, John Greivell has been a driving force in launching
its RAECO Rents service. A sales professional with more than 17 years of
experience in industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental instruments,
John is an active member of both AIHA and AWMA.