RAND-Air – an established provider of nitrogen, power, flow (pumps), steam boiler and lighting solutions and part of the global Atlas Copco Specialty Rental division – believes in pursuing constant fleet renewal.
That’s according to Sales and Marketing Manager Byrone Thorne, who said this practice enables the company to retain and effectively manage a constantly updated fleet of equipment.
“Such a fleet reflects our ethos and tagline of ‘making agility count’ for our customers, by ensuring lower operating costs, efficient production and sustainable profitability. This ultimately contributes to our customers’ business sustainability and, in a greater sense, to an improved economic outlook and business positivity,” Thorne said.
Rand-Air Fleet Operations Manager Craig Swart said they offer a “360 degree” complete product offering, with an extensive fleet comprising nitrogen generators, pumps, electric power and diesel-powered compressed air and power accessories, air dryers, generators, lighting towers, compressors and more.
“Rand-Air will take key factors into consideration, such as the size, age and reliability of the fleet. These elements are taken into account when it comes to meeting the changing needs of the customers, their desired applications and – importantly – their need for safety, quality, reliability and availability,” Swart said.
To accurately address the requirements of rentals solutions for the market, Rand-air considers demand, customers’ feedback on the most effective or compatible products to be the ‘best fit’ – for example, the best compressors in terms of size, air and pressure. This strategy is applied to all product solutions, including pumps, lighting, nitrogen generators, diesel and electric generators and more.
Thorne said that while the “best fit” offer is more effective for short-term rental solutions, longer-term rental solutions may be more customised according to requirements. With more specific factors taken into consideration, such as energy consumption, Rand-Air’s products may feature variable speed drives (VSDs) for enhanced energy efficiency over longer periods.
Swart elaborated: “By ensuring we invest according to the industry demand for both short and long-term rental requests and also – equally importantly – divest as and when necessary, we can also fulfil a practical, yet sustainably effective fleet utilisation.”
The company has not only been investing in new opportunities, such as nitrogen, steam and pumps solutions recently, it has also added high-pressure and specialised equipment, such as the Atlas Copco DrillAir Y1260 variable high pressure (21 to 35 bar) compressors.
These compressors are appropriate for applications in the mining sector, including mineral exploration drilling, geothermal drilling, construction and blast hole drilling.
Meanwhile, with the industry move to more environmental-friendly, user-friendly (plug-and-play) machines which are cost-efficient and provide reliable uptime for increased productivity, Rand-Air is focusing on driving the introduction and use of more electric-powered equipment.
Products included in Rand-Air’s fleet renewal investment are the Atlas Copco oil-injected electric compressors, as well as oil-free electric compressors – the latter of which, following increased demand, has gained substantial traction in the market, Swart said.
However, according to Thorne, demand for diesel-driven equipment remains. “Although diesel fuel can prove expensive, these products are more preferred in certain industries; or in operations that are remotely-located and lack easily available and reliable electricity connections.”
