Norwegian contractor improves profitability with ConSite

Norwegian company H&K Sandnes (video) is an active user of Hitachi’s remote monitoring system, Global e-Service, for a wide range of its Hitachi excavators. The Larvik-based groundworks and drainage contractor has taken out a full service contract and extended warranty for all of its Zaxis machines with the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, Nasta.

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This entitles the company to make use of Hitachi’s various after-sales services, including easy access to Owner’s Site and ConSite, which send operational data daily via GPRS or satellite from its excavators to www.globaleservice.com. ConSite is an automatic service report that summarises the information from Global e-Service in a monthly email.

In addition, the ConSite Pocket App shows alerts in real-time for issues arising with the machines. These incorporate recommendations on what course of action to take and step-by-step help guides. The app also enables H&K Sandnes to see the location of its fleet.

Reduced fuel consumption

“The service contracts and extended warranties enable us to keep the Hitachi machines for between five and seven years,” says owner Rune Sandnes. “It is also beneficial to us, because we know what the fixed costs will be and this enables us to make an accurate forecast.

“We have been receiving ConSite reports every month for the past two years and it’s excellent for monitoring emissions, fuel consumption and availability. We will certainly continue to increase our usage of this tool in the future, for example to help our operators to use the machines more efficiently.

“We monitor the CO2 emission statistics for our local government projects and share these with the operators so that they can take effective action if required. And ConSite can also assist us in analysing the productivity of the operators and machines, although we take the different types of jobs – and how busy they will be – into account.

“Finally, the reports are also a useful indicator of the improvements in fuel economy. For example, we can see that there has been a saving of up to one third in fuel costs between the ZX225USLC-3 and ZX225USLC-6. The new machine is excellent and the TRIAS II hydraulic system has certainly helped in this respect – which is so important for the bottom line.”

Strong relationship

Nasta supplied the company’s first new Hitachi excavators, a UH083 and UH063, in the mid-Eighties. More than 30 years later and the current Hitachi fleet ranges from a ZW65 compact wheel loader, ZX65USB-5 mini and three wheeled excavators (a ZX140W-5, ZX145W-6 and ZX170W-5), to eight medium excavators (a ZX85US-5, ZX135US-3, ZX135US-5, ZX225US-3, ZX225USLC-5, two ZX225USLC-6s and ZX290LC-5).

“If there is ever an issue with a machine, Nasta takes responsibility and the technicians come to our aid as quickly as possible,” adds Rune. “They are attentive to our needs and respond with a high level of priority. We even have the flexibility to borrow another excavator if required.

“Nasta looks at everything from our point of view, and we are extremely satisfied. We have had a strong relationship with them for many years. There is also excellent communication between the operators and the service team – which is most important.”