NEWS
7
JULY-AUGUST 2014
ACCESS, LIFT & HANDLERS
BY THE NUMBERS
C-Tech Industries, LLC, a
manufacturer of joysticks
and control boxes for aerial
equipment, has developed a
redesigned Genie Hall Effect
joystick. The Hall Effect style
joystick features a non-
contact Hall Effect circuit
board. It has a low parts
count for improved reliability.
The outputs are controlled
via a programmable
microcontroller that
allows for a repeated and
predictable output in any
and all positions. The C-Tech
Genie Hall Effect joystick
features are transparent to
the customer. Other than the
larger protective casting, the
customer will not visibly see
a difference in the product;
the features just simply help
the joystick work better.
C-Tech is offering a one year
warranty on the Genie Hall
Effect joystick, available in
both single and dual axis
with or without the cable.
Zilliant introduces rental
rate optimization software
and revenues by better aligning
rates with the market and
customer relationships.
The Texas-based company has
been active in the equipment
rental market for six years, with
customers in the U.S. including
United Rentals, Sunbelt Rentals an
Atlas Copco Specialty Rentals.
As part of the program, it said
Cramo was able to introduce a
fundamentally new rate structure
in Europe, shifting from opaque,
continuous term-based rates to
more transparent and coherent
discrete term-based rates.
Erik Bengsston, Cramo executive
vice president, Scandinavia, said
the software had helped its sales
reps strengthen relationships.
“With Zilliant, we are able to
have more rational and actionable
conversations about price strategy
and tactics with everyone in the
business,” he said.
Deployed on the company's
MarginMax platform, the
application is said to deliver rate
guidance to sales teams in real-
time through their existing quoting
systems. It aligns factors such as
rental duration, geography and
customer spend, then determines
rates based on daily, weekly and
monthly terms.
Zilliant said the technology
resulted in increased transparency
for sales reps and customers
at the branches to help both
parties understand how to get the
appropriate duration and best rate
for the customer’s needs.
"It enables every frontline
employee to make the same
decisions as the best, most
experienced manager,” said Eric
Hills, senior vice president at
Zilliant.
May construction put
in place rises again
Construction put in place in the
U.S. for the 12 months to the end
of May stood at $956 billion, a
+6.6 percent rise on a year ago
according to the U.S. Census
Bureau. This was also an increase
on the year-to-April figure and over
the course of the first five months
of 2014, construction output was
up +8.2 percent on the same
period last year.
Recently, residential construction
has driven growth, however, there
was a downturn in May. Private
residential construction was down
-1.5 percent from April, and the
growth compared to a year ago
was +7.5 percent, a significant
slowdown on earlier in the year.
However, private non-residential
construction saw acceleration
in May. The sector was up +1.1
percent compared to April, and
+11 percent compared to a year
ago, thanks to strength in the
power, commercial, manufacturing
and office construction sectors.
“The May figures show that
construction activity continues to
expand, but with lots of variability
by month and project type,” said
Ken Simonson, chief economist
with the Associated General
Contractors of America (AGC).
“These uneven patterns seem
likely to continue for [this] year.”
He continued, “The outlook is
brightest for multifamily and oil
and gas-related projects, including
manufacturing. But single-family
and office construction, which have
done well so far, may fade later
this year.”
ALH
SHARE INDEX:
JULY 2014
SHARE PRICE
COMPANY
June
Julu % change
Ashtead Group
UK
8.80
9.07
3.07
H&E Equipment
US
34.65
37.07
6.98
Oshkosh Corp
US
54.05
56.12
3.83
Tanfield Group
UK
0.17
0.17
0.00
Haulotte Group
France
11.90
12.75
7.14
Terex Corp
US
38.46
41.23
7.20
Manitex
US
16.65
16.33
-1.92
United Rentals
US
101.05
106.36
5.25
SHARE INDEX
419.5
443.61
5.74
Software company Zilliant has
introduced a new version of
its rate optimization software,
developed for the equipment
rental industry.
Zilliant said Cramo, in Europe,
was seeing revenue gains of
between 10 percent and 15
percent as well as a 6 percent
increase in average rental
duration. Around 40-50 percent
of Cramo's business is now being
channeled through the software.
The system has been designed
to enable equipment rental
companies to improve utilization
$
$4,764
Amount raised for the CliniClowns
charity in the 5 km fun-run held
during the APEX and IRE.
275-feet-long
The length
of the
Antonov-225
Mriya, the
world’s largest airplane. The
plane has a wingspan the size of
a football field.
5 to 20
cents more
Price increase
on Starbucks
drinks.
262,000
Number of
jobs added
to the private
sector in June.
-2.9%
How much the
U.S. economy
shrank in the first
quarter of 2014.
