Before we can accept delivery, please send
A main contractor's site team emails before every delivery: current examination certificate, operator's manual, noise and vibration information, the machine's handover sheet and your method statement for delivery. The hire desk searches shared folders, an old email for the certificate, and the manufacturer's website for the manual. Twenty minutes later the pack goes out, missing one document that nobody could find.
The delivery arrives and the gate won't accept it until the missing document is emailed.
Why documents are hard to find
Documents belong to three different levels: the individual machine, the model, and your company. Most hire companies store them by whoever last dealt with them.
| Document | Belongs to | Changes when |
|---|---|---|
| Examination certificate | Individual machine | Each examination |
| Service record | Individual machine | Each service |
| Operator's manual | Model | Rarely |
| Noise and vibration data | Model | Rarely |
| Handover or familiarisation sheet | Model or category | When you revise it |
| Delivery method statement | Your company | When you revise it |
Without a structure, the latest certificate is found by searching emails, and the old one is sometimes sent by mistake.
What the searching costs
Hire desk time on every hire for larger customers. Deliveries held at the gate. Old certificates sent in error, which undermines customer confidence. And a scramble whenever an auditor or a customer's safety team asks for a full set.
The requests are also growing. Main contractors ask for more paperwork before accepting plant than they used to, and each has its own list. A hire desk that handled a few document requests a week can find itself handling several a day, each one a small search that interrupts the next booking. None of it earns anything, but getting it wrong can stop a delivery.
A document library per machine
- Documents are stored at the right level: machine, model or company, with the date and version of each.
- Examination reports and service records are added automatically as they are completed, replacing the previous version as current.
- Each customer can have a standard document list, so their pack is built the same way every time.
- When a hire is booked, the pack for that machine and customer is assembled and sent by email or a download link, or it is ready for the desk to send in one click.
- Documents past their review date or certificates approaching expiry are flagged, so an out-of-date one is never sent.
- The customer can download documents for any machine on hire from their on-hire view.
The content of your method statements and handover sheets is your responsibility and your safety adviser's. The library makes sure the current approved version reaches the customer.
What the hire desk sees now
Document packs go out with the booking confirmation, complete and current. Deliveries aren't held at the gate over paperwork. When a customer's safety team asks for everything, it is one download. And when a certificate is renewed, the new one is the only one anyone can send.
Is this your document routine?
- Customers request documents before most deliveries.
- Finding the current certificate means searching emails.
- Deliveries have been held for missing paperwork.
- Old certificates have been sent by mistake.
- Manuals are downloaded from manufacturers' websites each time.