When a rental company manages to optimize its internal processes to serve customers, it becomes more competitive, allows it to invest in new technology and equipment and hire more staff, in a market that is becoming the Hunger Games.
Juan Tamayo*
Although I am an engineer in installation projects and designer of audiovisual systems, in recent years I have been working hand in hand with many companies that hold live events in Latin America and I have found that those that have fewer logistical problems are those that have defined very clearly the roles of each person in the installation process, set-up, execution and dismantling of each event.
But those that have the staff that do everything, are the ones that generally have more problems because they channel all the information and workflow through them. Of course, there are events where a person or a group of people must do everything, for example some corporations that install a projector, a couple of microphones and a couple of speakers, they will not send a team of 10 people to perform this work.
In the rental companies we find 3 large equipment: audio, video and lighting. Now, if technologies converge towards telecommunications networks such as IP, why not have a team of IT people?
I believe that we should not describe each team and the functions it performs, because its name says so clearly. The most important activity of each team I consider should be communication, this is channeled through the production of the event, who will organize each execution time of each activity so as not to have downtime or waiting times. The production can be owned by the rental company or through a third party, because in large events there may be more than one service provider.
A good event always goes well from planning. Making the analogy of projects, if I have a Grant diagram, or a flow of activities, I know in advance what elements and activities I will need before executing the project. The same goes for live events. Once the contra rider is approved (rider is the technical document that specifies the event, contra rider is the proposal of the rental company) each team must begin to plan and program what elements it needs to send to the place of the event.
If you have to perform a programming, routing or flow of signals, you must perform them from the warehouse of the company to optimize the assembly time of the system and have more time for tests and liquidate less time of working hours per man, and remember that the night hours are the most expensive. A clear example, which surprised many of us, was the assembly of Madonna on her tour of Latin America a few years ago, the production company had everything so well organized, that the elements that left the container or truck were immediately installed and there were no pieces left.
Achieving this level of organization is not easy, and requires a lot of time and patience, as in corporate companies, it is required to train staff and break operating paradigms, get rid of activities and trust that another can do a job well done.
By executing these types of activities, the company begins to optimize operating costs (have you seen the theory of profit level optimization and signal processing?). When you achieve this, your operating costs should start to go down, allowing for several situations: It becomes more competitive in a market that is becoming the Hunger Games, investing in new technology and equipment, allows you to hire more staff.
The investment and control of expenses is an issue that greatly harms rental companies, because by "improving costs" they acquire elements of not so good quality. Some common examples are:
Microphone cable: The difference in cable prices goes in two factors basically. The first of these is in the ability to protect the signal against noise by electromagnetic induction (at the level of protection by the copper jacket) and the second in the ability to withstand heavy work. The linear meter difference of these cables can be between 25 and 50 cents on the dollar, it is not much considering the problems that will be saved
Connectors: Using inexpensive connectors can impair the operation of the event as such. A connector that fractures, that is damaged, can cause a signal not to reach its destination properly. Finding a noise in the middle of an event can be harmful.
The most common example in shopping is buying new technology that is just being developed. Many startups choose to have the latest product launch, all for being recognized and possessing a product acquisition status. But how many of these products have had to be returned because they have firmware errors, design errors or simply did not work? Worst of all, they are taken as payment for new equipment but with a lower cost due to depreciation.
My advice, not as an entrepreneur in the world of income, but as a project designer, is that before buying technology to improve the operation of your company, carry out with your financial team a cost and return on investment analysis of all the equipment you need, so you will know how much to expect to recover the monetary investment.
A cost that is generally not talked about, more due to ignorance than desire to talk about it, are those associated with the performance of the staff when executing a given task. Many companies choose to double shifts, even working days in a row with few hours of sleep and sleeping basically where they can.
Depending on each country there is a rest legislation, but let's not take it on the legal side, let's talk about the practical, how I demand concentration from a person who has not slept for 3 days, it is not possible to achieve this. The same goes for food, poor feeding generates problems in the execution of events. My advice is that within your team include an advisor on health or occupational risks to help you design activities in which you can give them rest and food necessary to execute the tasks given within the rental company.
As you can see in this article, the invitation is to start observing your income company as a growing institution, analyze expense control, optimize these to be able to better invest your money. I do not speak it as experience in the field, I speak from the point of view of project executor, the rental company is a project where many believe, starting with their employees.
*Juan Tamayo is an Application Engineer of Audio-Technica for Latin America (www.audio-technica.com) and has worked in the world of audiovisual systems for more than 10 years working as a designer, controller, installer, consultant and educator. If you have questions or comments, you can do so through the mail [email protected]
