CHAIRMAN: Pierre-Yves Rallet (Loxam)

The Promotion Committee’s mission is to promote the equipment rental concept and support the growth and development of the rental industry in Europe.

The Committee has developed a number of tools to promote the rental business, including the very successful ERA Total Cost of Ownership Calculator. The ERA TCO Calculator allows any stakeholder involved with construction equipment to check whether, in a specific situation, it would make more sense to rent, lease or buy a piece of construction equipment. Variables taken into account include acquisition cost, financing, utilisation rate, maintenance and other costs as well as resale rate.

The calculator has been available on the ERA’s website since June 2008 and has been translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch and Spanish. It is also available as an app for Android and iOS, and can be embedded on external websites.

The calculator was revamped and relaunched in March 2019 and offers a completely unbiased comparative analysis of the total cost of equipment under Lease vs. Buy vs. Rent (LBR) scenarios for five types of machines:

• Wheel loader > 15 T
• Track loader > 15 T
• Wheel excavator > 15 T
• Crawler excavator > 15 T
• General construction equipment machine < 15 T

Read the Promotion Committee publications here.

Committee members

Pierre-Yves Rallet (Loxam), Elisa Taini (Assodimi), Ina Maria Brämswig (BBI), Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC), Ann Harrison (HAE), Jo Power (IPAF), Syrus de Zwarte (Boels), Asif Latief (Boels), Matteo Cattagni (CGT Edilizia), Ulf Boege (HKL), Dave Raywood (HSS Hire), Maria Agerup (Ramirent), Matthieu Mazzega (Still), Gian Luca Benci (Alias), Dan Brennan (Caterpillar), Murray Pollok (KHL Group), Anne-Laure de Noblet (Klickrent), Christoph Schaffner (Avesco Rent), Petr Thiel (Lectura), Cor Tiemens (To Increase), Chris Cassley (Construction Plant-hire Association)

CHAIRMAN: to be nominated

The Statistics Committee aims to gather information on the equipment rental market in Europe and to compile this data regularly.

In conjunction with this, the Committee works at developing a common language in rental across Europe to aid transparency and increase the efficiency of data collection. Every year, the Committee produces European-level statistics for the rental market in cooperation with IHS Global Insight, published as the ERA Market Report.

A Rental Confidence Tracker has been developed with IRN. The ERA/IRN Rental Tracker surveys business confidence and expectations for the future, as well as asking questions relating to fleet investment and time utilisation. It is carried out twice a year and enables ERA to provide good business intelligence to its members.

Read the Statistics Committee publications here.

Committee members

Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC), Elisa Taini (Assodimi), Simon Rainer (HAE), Amanda Beckett (IPAF), Odd Arne Gansmo (NRA), Leena Haabma Hinze (SRA), Juha Ala-Hiiro (Association of Finnish Technical Traders), Jan Piet Valk (Boels), Jukka Hult (Cramo), Steve Gaskell (HSS Hire), Claire Poinsignon (Kiloutou), Samuel Vinet (Loxam), Girts Putnins (Ramirent), Jim Rendahl (Renta), Frederik Kahlert (Zeppelin), Inge Craninckx (Atlas Copco), Michael Lilljequist (Caterpillar), Stephane De Laplagnolle (Doosan Bobcat), Martin Bestwick (Insphire), Federico Fernandez-Ayala (Toro Europe), Phil Hardy (Sunbelt Rentals), Frédéric Bègue (Hiboo) and Chris Cassley (Construction Plant-hire Association)

CHAIRMAN: Martin Sebestyen
(Zeppelin Rental GmbH)

The mission of the Technical Committee is to make it safer, easier, more cost-effective and more sustainable for the rental industry by working together with equipment stakeholders. It is the continuation of the former Equipment Technology and Theft Committee.

Relations with authorities at EU level on theft are dealt with by the Secretariat. The Technical Committee is primarily composed of fleet managers of rental companies and representatives of equipment manufacturers.

The Committee works on:

• The key drivers of the total cost of ownership (damage, accidents, maintenance, parts management, PDIs, etc.)
• Standardisation and alignment, wherever possible (data, decals, tie down points, instruction manuals, etc.)
• Framework of training (skill level, e-learning, etc.)
• The impact of new legislation on the rental industry
• Telematics (connectivity, IoT, etc.)

In 2012, the Committee released a ‘Total Cost of Ownership of Construction Equipment‘ guidance document, representing a common understanding among rental companies and OEMs of the drivers influencing the total cost of ownership throughout the main phases of the lifecycle of equipment.

The Committee has also worked on a ‘Catalogue of Rental Industry Issues, Needs and Requirements‘, on Safety, Operations and Maintenance Instruction Manuals, on an analysis of spare parts and on the standardisation of telematics.

Read the Technical Committee publications here.

Committee members

Martin Sebestyen (Zeppelin Rental), Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC), Antonio Casado (ANAPAT), Jurgen Küspert (BBI), Brian Parker (IPAF), Leena Haabma Hinze (SRA), Andrew Winlow (Sunbelt Rentals), Julien Launay (Avesco Rent), Guy Cremer (Boels), John Smeets (Boels), Klāvs Otisons (Cramo), Gert-Jan Elfrink (Bredenoord), Luca de Michelis (CGT Edilizia), Francois Renault (Kiloutou), William Oldman (Kiloutou), Amaury Delepoulle (Kiloutou), Thierry Lahuppe (Loxam), Miia Konttinen (Ramirent), Johan Timmer (Riwal), Philippe Witte (Riwal), Jean-Pierre De Nil (TVH), Wim Carlier (TVH), Rudie Beverwijk (Altrex), Patrick Stellwag (AMMANN), Anuj Sachdeva (Atlas Copco), Julio Tome (Atlas Copco), Stefaan Vertriest (Atlas Copco), Paul Bramhall (Briggs & Strattan), Michael Lilljequist (Caterpillar), Stephane De Laplagnolle (Doosan Bobcat), David Betts (Euro Auctions), Sebastien Perusse (Haulotte Group), Ludivine Beraud (Haulotte Group), Gerhard Gasser (HILTI), Claudio Fiorentini (JCB), Marko Kuipers (JLG), Emanuele Viel (Komatsu), Patrick Schothuis (Komatsu), Alain Becque (Manitou), Alex Schuessler (Smartequip), Dave Stollery (Perkins), David Hall (Skyjack), Ian McGregor (Skyjack), Jim Waldron (Skyjack), Luisa Parisotto (Terex/Genie), Lee Vickers (Terex/Genie), Mikkel Dalgas (Trackunit), Julien Provensal (Volvo CE), Ville Viita (Wacker Neuson), Craig Richmond (Wynne Systems), Peter Johansson (Yanmar), Pascal Duponcheele (Yanmar), Marc Jan Backer (ZTR Control Systems), Matthew Ross (Sunbelt Rentals), Antti Suoniemi (Ritchie Bros.), Glynn Matthews (Sunbelt Rentals), David Gravez (Loxam), Anders Wictorsson (Renta), Marcus Worthmann (HKL Baumaschinen), Stefan Öttl (Irdeto), David Betts (Euroauctions), Manuel Niederstaetter (Niederstaetter), Jacques Valckenaere (GemOne), Sander Loosveld (GemOne), Scott McCall (Snorkel), Anastasia van der Wielen (To-Increase), Graziano Cassinelli (CNH Industrial), Adrien Montoille (Hiboo) and Chris Cassley (Construction Plant-hire Association)

CHAIRMAN: Mark Bradshaw (HAE)

The Sustainability Committee supports the rental industry in promoting the environmental benefits of rental.

The Committee also works on developing tools for helping members respond to requests from customers and aligning practices in the industry where relevant.

Recent work of the Committee includes researching the carbon footprint of construction equipment, developing the ERA Equipment CO2 Calculator and producing a Sustainable Supplier Framework to raise common standards to set the industry best practice guidelines and raise common practices across the industry.

Read the Sustainability Committee publications here.

Committee members

Mark Bradshaw (HAE), Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC), Antonio Casado (ANAPAT), Brian Parker (IPAF), Jurgen Küspert (BBI), Douglas McLuckie (Ashtead Group), Mark Keily (Sunbelt Rentals), Julian O’Neill (Ardent Hire), Kees Kouwenhoven (Boels), Carmen ten Berge (Boels), Mirjam Werker (Jungheinrich), Cédric Conrad (Loxam), Audrey Miclard (Kiloutou), Perrine Le Borgne (Kiloutou), Sampo Sipari (Ramirent), Yara Abou Karam (Riwal), Daniela Ropolo (CNH), Peter Cavada (Hilti), Paul Williams (JCB), Jo Melville (JCB), Etienne Bourcier (JLG), Darren Fitch (Volvo CE), Aude Brezac (Manitou), Antonin Caillet (Manitou), Bérenger Dudek (Haulotte), Markus Heidak (Zeppelin Rental), Chris van der Gaag (Gorman Rupp), Yannick Borgel (Sany Europe), Marko Sulasalmi (Renta), Jeff White (Caterpillar), Oscar Bravo Peralta (CNH Industrial) Claire Lemercier (Hiboo) and Chris Cassley (Construction Plant-hire Association)

CHAIRMAN: Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC)

The National Association Committee is the platform for the rental associations to meet and exchange, and where they can brainstorm with their European peers about how to improve the rental business.

It focuses on the promotion of rental and the communication, management and coordination of trade events, safety issues, standardisation, theft, attracting talent to the industry and all other issues relevant to the national associations. It also keeps the list of EU issues and EU organisations of relevance to the rental industry, initially identified by the EU Affairs Committee, up-to-date.

The National Associations Committee is also involved in sustainability so that they can motivate their members to make it more central to their business approach.

The National Association Committee was created in 2013 as a continuation of the former Norms and Safety Committee and later EU Affairs Committee, and of the Association Day. It is composed of representatives from national rental associations that are members of ERA, as well as IPAF.

Read the National Association Committee publications here.

Committee members

Jose Blanco (ASEAMAC), Antonio Casado (ANAPAT), Elisa Taini (Assodimi), Juha Ala-Hiiro (Association of Finnish Technical Traders), Herve Rebollo (DLR), Patricia Crespin (DLR), Jurgen Küspert (BBI), Ina Brämsweg (BBI), Paul Gaze (HAE), Jon Eskedal (NRA), Leena Haabma Hintze (SRA), Oguz Yusuf Yigit (iMDER), Valeriy Klimenko (NAAST), Alina Maslenkova (NAAST), Daniel Krug (Verhurend Nederland), Silvia Bakker (Verhurend Nederland), Eric Hunziker (VSAA), Elias Welti (VSAA), Yasmin Zanetti (VSAA), Kaspar Engeli (VSAA), Karin Zumbrunn (VSAA), Peter Douglas (IPAF), Jo Power (IPAF), Christine Lell (IPAF), Romina Vanzi (IPAF), Chris Cassley (Construction Plant-hire Association)

The ERA Future Group was founded in 2016 on the basis that, in a rapidly changing world and in the context of the digital revolution, younger people have, in certain strategic areas, a different perspective than older generations.

The Future Group gathers young managers from rental companies with the objective that they provide their insight and vision on strategic issues. Since its first meeting in 2016, the Group has worked on a number of projects themed around customers, people and technology.

Projects related to Customers

The CRM Guide for Choosing and Implementing a CRM System describes the importance of CRM systems, sets out criteria for success and offers a number case studies and best practices from leading European rental companies.

Projects related to People

Attracting and retaining talent is a critical part of the future competitiveness of the rental industry, and the ERA Future Group has delivered a number of projects on the theme of human resources:

• The How to compete with other industries in securing talent for the Future report provides a European-wide study including major trends and issues that are a cause of concern to rental industry representatives throughout Europe.
• The Job Positions in the equipment rental industry chart offers an overview of the job descriptions that are available in the rental industry so that people with skills can find matches with the needs of a rental company. It also allows the identification of the job positions that are common to most ERA members.
• The Job Positions Profiling: Branch Manager report pinpoints the key features of the role and the attributes that make a successful manager. It includes topics such as daily tasks, responsibilities, collaboration and leadership, career background and values and personality.
• The Use of HR KPIs in rental companies report focuses mainly on the key performance indicators used to evaluate the success of the human resources departments of ERA members. It looks at the different KPIs used during each phase of the employee life cycle, such as recruitment, onboarding and regular employment, and examine further those which are used predominantly by HR managers in the rental industry.
• The Impact of Social Media on Recruitment and HR report looks at the online presence of the rental industry and its use of social media for recruitment, and gives companies ideas to consider when advertising vacancies and tips on how to drive user engagement to attract talent.
• The Exit Interviews report gives rental companies guidelines on interviewing departing employees and provides deeper insight into how to improve HR strategies to retain employees.

Projects related to Technology

The Rental Branch of the Future project looked at the main trends that will influence the equipment rental industry in the next 10 years, from social, environmental and strategic phenomena to technology, talent and the workforce, and evaluated how disruptive and soon the impact might be.

A shortlist of 50 phenomena was initially identified, which was narrowed down to 36. Out of these, technological changes were considered to be the most disruptive and likely to have the most immediate impact, with five out of the ten most disruptive phenomena identified relating to technology and four out of those five expected to impact the industry in the next five years.

Future Group members

Roland Meurs (Boels), Vincent Weijermars (Bredenoord), Vicenc Homs (German Homs), Gloria Gomez Embil (Gomez Oviedo), Nicanor Pinole (Gomez Oviedo), Charlotte Noack (Jungheinrich), Vincent Ranaivoson (Kiloutou), Alice Henault (Loxam), Daniela Niederstaetter (Niederstaetter), Kari-Tapio Saarela (Renta Group), Matthieu Mazzega (Still), Stefan Ponea (Mateco), Jonas Pärssinen (Cramo), Marco Moncada (CGT Edilizia), Kees Van Benschop (Riwal), Carolin Winkel (Zeppelin), Laura Fairhead (Ardent Hire), Michel Boels (Boels), Fréderic Kerkhofs (Atlas Copco), Frederik Wiedmann (HKL)

With the process of digitalisation in the rental industry, cyber attacks, hacking, phishing, data leaks and other online threats are presenting the industry with new challenges. Furthermore, the growth in demand for internet-based solutions and e-commerce as a result of the COVID-19 crisis is making cyber threats ever more important for businesses.

Therefore, the ERA Board decided to convene a small group of IT experts and executives from rental companies with the aim to:

• Define the most common challenges and analyse the impact of cybersecurity threats on rental companies;
• Gather existing best practice and strategies for mitigating the cyber threats;

Read the Cybersecurity WG publications here.

WG members

Mark Hughes (Loxam Powered Access), Joel Särkkä (Renta), Giuseppe Lauria (Tesya), Bob de Leeuw (Riwal), Didier Dhaenens (Mateco), Kevin Price (HSS Hire), Gilles Hensgen (Kiloutou), Saiem Ahmed (Ardent Hire) and Dan Sutcliffe (Sunbelt Rentals)