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the rail engineer • June 2013
TO
HIRE OR BUY?
One of the management decisions that has to be made by any contractor on the railways is - to hire or buy?
The benefits of hiring in plant are obvious, and logical. The latest equipment is available, without a high capital outlay and with skilled operators. Someone else maintains it and ships it around the country, and it isn’t costing money if it is sitting idle. When costing out a job, the cost of plant on a daily basis is known and fixed, and if it should break down someone else will replace it. However, there is an alternative theory that, if the company can stand the capital outlay, owning its own plant can improve flexibility and give it a commercial edge over competitors, if it has plant no-one else does.
The WAD model Stobart Rail, formerly W A Developments (WAD), has been delivering projects on Network Rail’s infrastructure since 1997. There are many reasons why the business has been an effective deliverer, including a directly employed multi-skilled and experienced workforce and in-house training from an award-winning training school. But, in the
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opinion of the company’s management and directors, one of the most crucial elements is an understanding of and investment in plant and maintenance. Early on in the embryonic stages of WAD, when setting the foundations for a successful business, the management team identified the importance of setting up its own plant division. Having been let down on numerous occasions on civils sites, the fear of failure in the newlyentered rail sector drove the team toward the conclusion that investment in plant and the maintenance of it would be vital to their successful entrance and prolonged stability in this new sector. The first acquisition, in 1997, was a Daewoo 140 with a road-rail conversion by Philmor Rail, a compatible oil-braked trailer, flail attachment, rotator clam and grab and a selection of buckets. Using the supplier’s maintenance manual and adding in a number of additional checks, the plant department, assisted by AJ Hargreaves, devised a robust maintenance and preventative maintenance plan to give the company and its customers the assurance needed to ensure minimal disruption caused by plant failure. At that time, the business supported a number of clients delivering works directly and also providing operated plant for hire. The next step in its development was to draft a Railway Safety Case (Plant Operators License) for the operation of on-track plant in possession, a license for which was granted in 1999. This provided the business with greater opportunities and the decision was made to invest heavily in plant and equipment to complement its already experienced and multi-skilled workforce. Additionally, a twin test track was constructed with RRAP (road-rail access point), ramps and a test rig for achieving
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