Rent or Buy?

One of the great advantages of renting a test instrument lies in benefitting from the rental company’s expertise and market knowledge. A good rental company will hold in stock a very wide portfolio of instruments from all of the leading manufacturers, and through establishing a dialogue with them engineers can determine which one is best suited to their specific need. It is also well worth exploring with them the reasons for renting – if the need is actually longer term they can often help you with that too. Some companies even offer an asset management service, where they will manage a customer’s internal fleet of instruments, making sure that they’re used effectively before you renting or buying more equipment. 

There are a number of key points that engineers should be covering with a rental provider, in order to really make the most of their experience and to arrive at a solution that is the best possible fit to the technical and commercial needs in question.

Identifying the right instrument needed
Rental company sales desks should be staffed by local country applications specialists who understand their rental fleet inside out. It is their job to help customers select the right instrument for their measurement requirement. To make the most of their knowledge, start by discussing the measurement need. Even with a clear idea on the instrument needed or usually used, the manufacturer may have brought out an alternative and there may be completely new solutions on the market that is unknown. Rental is a great and commitment free way of exploring these innovations.
Once the needs have been discussed with the rental desk, the onus is on them to ensure that the system shipped is in line with the discussion. Even though rental isn’t a long term commitment, it’s better to order the right instrument the first time. Slight differences in options or software might make a radical difference to functionality.

Ensuring instruments work
Some suppliers offer ongoing technical support during the rental period and this can be particularly valuable if the company renting it isn’t familiar with the equipment. Ideally, access to a 24-hour technical helpline with a technical team to address any issues with the equipment will also be offered.
The rental company should also verify that the instruments being hired together are correctly configured to work together if necessary, and that any interface leads required are included in the package. It should include all the cables and accessories required, including manuals, and the correct power lead for the country of use. If using the instrument in the field, it may need a suitable carrying case. If the equipment uses consumables or parts which require regular replacement (e.g. batteries), are any supplies included? If the requirement may be subject to change, check to see if the equipment can be upgraded or the rental period extended. If not it might be worth spending a little more time on identifying something that addresses all of the potential needs.

Longer term needs
Often customers turn to rental to get their hands on an urgently needed instrument while they wait for the purchase to be authorised, or because they have used up their capital allocation in that financial year. Many rental companies offer attractive financial options including Rent-to-Buy, where a new unit can be rented for a period of six months and then be converted into a purchase or a lease, with rebates for rental payments applied.
Rent-to-buy suits companies that need the test equipment now but do not have the budget available in the current financial year or know that sign-off will take months to go through. It allows companies to pay a fixed percentage of the list price per month to rent the equipment for at least six months then return it, convert to a lease or purchase it outright at the end of the rental period. It’s usually offered in conjunction with the Original Equipment Manufacturer, which means that the specifications of the equipment can be agreed together, with the rental company buying the instrument and providing you the flexibility to decide what to do later.
Different leasing methods may also be available, such as finance leases, operating leases and operating leases with services. These enable companies to only pay for the equipment while they need it, have no upfront costs and have the flexibility to upgrade the equipment in the future. A divide-by option lets companies spread the costs of buying equipment over 12 months at 0% interest.

Managing in-house test inventory
Rental companies can now do more than just supply equipment; they can also help manage a company’s existing equipment. Companies including Microlease can offer a complete asset management service for a customer’s test equipment, which includes compiling an inventory, taking responsibility for scheduled maintenance and calibration, and even disposing of surplus equipment.
With strategic advice from Microlease on the mix of owned/rented equipment, one major telecoms infrastructure provider reduced its annual test equipment costs by over £150,000. With Microlease’ help, the company has increased utilisation of its own test instrument fleet to over 70%; more than double the industry average. This was achieved by creating an accurate inventory of instruments the company owned and redeploying equipment effectively. In consequence, more than 99 percent of the field service team’s requests for test equipment units are delivered on time and functioning, effectively eliminating delays to installation projects due to non-functional/incomplete test solutions.
Rental is a great tactical option to acquire a test instrument quickly, with no long term commitment it can meet the needs of a specific project or provide cover for an instrument that is being serviced. However, it is just one aspect of effectively managing a test equipment budget. Working with a rental provider on a strategic basis can help end-users acquire, use and dispose of their test equipment assets with maximal financial efficiency, and help ensure that the right tool for the job is on site, on time and fully working on time, every time.