Confidence among equipment managers remains steady, according to the Equipment Manager Confidence Index, published by Construction Equipment. The Q2 2021 Index is 106, down slightly from the 108 reported in January of this year. The Index was as low as 99 in June 2020, but has hovered in the same mid-range for several months. The Index measures equipment manager confidence on a scale of 0 to 200, with 200 indicating full confidence that the next month will be “better.”
“Construction has been steady during the pandemic,” says Rod Sutton, editorial director. “Even so, it has been difficult to predict where the general economy will go, plus we have continued concern about how the pandemic will play out. A confidence index in this range is no surprise.
“According to our 2021 Annual Report & Forecast, equipment managers expect 2021 to be a better year for business,” Sutton says. “Eighty percent of managers also rated their fleet health as ‘very good’ or ‘good,’ which further suggests manager’s confidence is based on exterior forces such as the economy rather than the state of the organization for which they work.”
The Equipment Management Confidence Index is published and available to the entire industry at ConstructionEquipment.com/EMCI. Other data trends are available only to members of the Index group. For example, acquisition data supports the idea that used equipment values are strong. Managers in the group say it is a better time to sell used equipment than in the past.
Additional insights available to members:
- Overall economy health
- Current fleet health: now v. last year
- Future fleet health: now v. next year
- Equipment acquisition: better or worse to buy new
- Equipment disposition: better or worse time to sell used
- External rental: better or worse time to rent
- Peer to peer rental: better or worse time to generate revenue
- Planned maintenance: spend more or less than last year
- Rebuilds: more or less likely than last year
In addition to the Confidence Index, members of the platform also provide opinions on trends within asset management, including acquisition expectations, rental plans, and maintenance. In June, for example, the index showed that managers are not looking at the next few weeks as a better time to rent equipment. With the free access, managers can see how the trend is unfolding and compare themselves to others in the platform.
Equipment end users can have access to these insights for free. Others, such as manufacturers or dealers, may gain access to the data as observers by registering here. The next Index computation occurs at the end of June. Equipment managers can join the group anytime in order to provide opinions and access quarterly trends. Baromitr’s visualization features also allow members to analyze performance and compare how they are doing relative to others in the group.
The data-driven Index is powered by Baromitr, a scalable, peer-benchmarking platform. The Equipment Manager Confidence Index is a custom algorithm that combines multiple inputs to calculate a score from 0 to 200. The higher it is, the more confident equipment managers are.
