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We met with forestry industry leaders, suppliers and contractors to demonstrate how they could get more time on the machines.

On Day 2, our CEO Simon Boakes presented on how our innovative products help loggers achieve Hydraulic Uptime.

Productivity matters – reduce unplanned downtime

At HarvestTECH 2021, we explained how BOA is supporting contractors in forestry and other primary industries to improve their productivity and profitability through reducing downtime.

The New Zealand Productivity Commission states “Productivity is about ‘working smarter’ rather than ‘working harder’. It’s a measure of how much output we produce from a given quantity of inputs.”

New Zealand’s productivity ranking has dropped 7 places since 2017, amongst the 37 countries that make up the OECD. As a country, we do have the potential to be the global leader in forestry harvesting. So it’s important to understand and assess opportunities to improve productivity and drive value in this crucial industry.

One big obstacle for operators in this space is that 37% of machine downtime is due to hydraulic hose failure.

Unplanned hydraulic downtime costs time, money and oil

We can’t bank time; once it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s therefore important for forestry contractors to think actively about how much hydraulic downtime costs, and how to reduce it.

When a hydraulic hose blows, operations stop until a hose technician can replace it. This downtime on the job can be very costly; some of our customers report that it would take approximately 3 hours to get back up and running. With a cost of $10,000 to $15,000 to operate one logging crew, the cost of an hour is $1000 or more.

Additionally, the oil lost from unplanned downtime has a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

Turning wasted time into profit

For BOA Hydraulics, there are 4 important pillars of reducing downtime for forestry operators:

• Having access to the right tools onsite with the BOApod
• Comprehensive training for safe hydraulic hose repair and replacement
• High quality hose and fitting products, and
• The BOAhub application for managing inventory and ordering stock.

These four pillars make up our Integrated Solution for customers to help them turn wasted time back into profit.

Hydraulic hose technology: BOAhub software

The BOAhub release in December 2019 offered a simple inventory management tool for heavy machinery operators. Integrated with the BOApod unit, BOAhub offers scan-to-order functionality allowing users to easily restock hose and fitting products.

Now, BOAhub reduces downtime and hose repair fees by connecting contractors with local BOApod operators in real time. Released in March 2021, ‘Find a BOApod’ allows users to find and book hose technicians to repair blown hoses. The software uses geolocation tracking to track BOApod hose technicians’ travel to the site for fully transparent and speedy service.

This trailblazing technology contributes to reduced downtime and costs by making local hose technicians more easily visible and accessible, and by bringing down repair costs. This is especially helpful for those operating on remote sites in New Zealand, a common occurrence for forestry workers.

In the 2021 HarvestTECH presentation, Simon Boakes confirmed “we’ve got a very full pipeline of releases for this software throughout this year… it’s ongoing, and it’s all about delivering that value back to the industry.

We’re passionate about reducing downtime for you

“It’s been really exciting for us working with the industry… we have a huge passion [for this work] because we deliver real value. That’s what makes us get out of bed every morning and do what we’re doing.”

Watch the full video of Simon’s presentation at HarvestTECH 2021 below. Get in touch with the BOA Hydraulics team today by calling us on 0800 20 20 20 or through our website.