Why Mobile Apps Are Essential to the Crane Rental Industry

The global crane rental market is expected to have a CAGR of 6.7% from 2023 to 2028, according to research by Market Data Forecast. With the rising demand for renting cranes and the increasing number of construction projects, you, as a crane rental company, must adopt the latest technology and software to grow with the market.

At STAEDEAN, we specialize in addressing the challenges of the rental industry, with the crane rental market being one of our primary focuses. Many rental companies from around the globe have streamlined their operations with our industry-specific expertise and solutions.

In this article, we will share the need for a mobile app within the crane rental market and how you can look for the right mobile solution.

Why do crane rental companies need a mobile app?

1. Solve crane rental market challenges surrounding field workers

A Global Market Insights report states that the top two challenges for the crane rental market are a lack of skilled crane operators and high maintenance/ repair costs.

With the foremost challenges in the crane rental market surrounding field workers (technicians, engineers, drivers, or operators), you, as a crane rental company, must take measures to address them. One way to do this is by simplifying the work of the field workers by introducing mobility into your technology.

A mobile app lets field engineers and truckers communicate with rental back-office teams and clients anytime and anywhere. The app provides all the relevant information to complete the job, where to go, what tools to carry, and what issues must be fixed, helping guide the field workers.

2. View crane maintenance information anytime, anywhere

In the world of heavy equipment, cranes are considered high-value and service-intensive assets. They have also become much more diverse and complex. Each crane type, mobile, crawler, tower, etc., requires highly specific maintenance.

It would help if you track high volumes of operational elements and parts for a single crane at any given time. Accurate scheduling, allocation, and execution of maintenance for each crane can involve different timelines. It could also require different technical skill sets, quick communication about parts and machinery, and special ordering.

With a mobile app, your field service teams can get all equipment maintenance-related information in one place, making it easier to plan and schedule equipment. They can also record or document damage by taking pictures of the equipment during delivery and after pick-up.

3. Stay up to date with relevant information

While renting cranes to industrial projects, you deliver equipment and monitor usage and maintenance across extended periods. Quite often, this also includes operators and project management resources who work onsite.

These onsite workers need efficient ways to register hours and continuously communicate with your planning departments and customers to ensure they stay updated with the latest information.

With a mobile app, your onsite workers can feed information instantly on the mobile app. If the mobile app has offline capabilities, your field team can work in restricted, low, or no internet coverage areas. Additionally, through the app, field service engineers will be automatically notified of any changes in the work orders, schedules, or client locations.

4. Connect your field service and planning teams

You might have several equipment and resources at one long-term job site. However, not all your resources are required for the entire project, and a few will be returned after their usage.

In such situations, instead of facing equipment downtime, you could reallocate the returned equipment and resources to the next project or customer. This way, you can fill all requirements for one project and maximize asset utilization.

To successfully plan your equipment from one customer to another, you need to orchestrate planning and execution between the back office and the job site — and a mobile app can help you achieve this. The rental data is synced to the app, directly connecting the field service and planning teams.

What features should crane rental companies consider in a mobile app?

Now that you know how a mobile app can be helpful in your crane rental operations, let’s look at some features you must consider in a mobile app:

Field service software built on a mobility platform, connected to ERP

Ideally, look for software that integrates with ERP, with a paper-free field service mobility solution and a built-in connector for the mobile platform and your system. In addition, your mobile app should be user-friendly for field users and not just a route to ERP screens.

For example, technicians and onsite project managers should work with user interfaces that give them relevant information and ways of working that are specific to their role.

Mobile platform flexibility that lets you define workflows

You can leverage building blocks and standard templates to tailor existing workflows and create new ones. By using a workflow configurator in the mobility platform, you will be able to provide users with screens, prompts, and relevant information that fits the device and role.

Consequently, it guides users through process steps. A mobile app with a rich workflow is beneficial for managing complex service and transport of crane rentals.

Ability to cover all angles of field service from a mobile app

Crane operators and service technicians can consolidate processes and communications per task. They can also use the mobile app for:

• Time and materials registration
• Electronic signature capture
• Formatted customer communications and rental invoices
• Mobile scanning to auto-register information
• Customer and task-specific notes added by users

Complete, real-time integration with planning

Planners should be working with dashboards that give them complete overviews and details for all the crane rentals and projects. Some of this information comes from a central business system that covers everything, such as locations for depots, suppliers, carriers, customers, etc. The remaining information comes from the mobile apps and devices that people and machines utilize onsite.

With mobility, planners can sync real-time insight about crane rentals and consider customer requirements while coordinating with different resources, maintenance teams, transport, and logistics. They can efficiently plan and execute rental projects and send work orders to mobile users. These work orders are packed with automated steps for easy movement of cranes from one site to another and the option to access all relevant communications.

Action Management that automates sending and receiving documentation

You can configure triggers to auto-send documents via email to customers, suppliers, and third-party stakeholders. These could include the approvals, the crane status, invoices, and notices for completions, delays, or requests. For instance, when a service technician or project manager pushes a button that completes a task, Action Management can be defined for it. After this, all the job details and invoicing go to the back-office workers and customers.

By combining mobile workflow with Action Management, you can reduce errors and paper trails by minimizing manual input.

Want to know more about a mobile app for your crane rental business?

Along with the foundation outlined above, the people who operate, service, and transport your cranes will want mobility that includes 24/7 communication with the back office and other mobile users. This could range from ad hoc communications with planners to full-on integration with the ERP, visibility into spare parts and the warehouse, and quick access to the technicians working at other sites.

The goal of a mobile app is to conserve time and costs while keeping your cranes running in peak condition at maximum usage. Such a solution can also ensure your resources have a secure path to respond quickly and accurately to routine and complex issues.

If you are looking for a rental solution that offers a mobile app for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, check out our rental solution that leverages AI capabilities to ease field service. 

To learn more about the STAEDEAN Rental Management solution specific for complex projects in the crane rental industry, download the factsheet linked below.