Mills CNC’s SMART Options rental initiative is aimed at precision manufacturers looking to increase (and improve) their machine tool capacity without being tied to any long-term purchase agreement.
Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has refreshed and relaunched its popular ‘SMART Options’ machine tool rental scheme in a move to help UK and Irish component manufacturers acquire a new Doosan machine tool.
The ‘SMART Options’ rental scheme, available on all new Doosan machines supplied from stock by Mills, is administered and managed by Mills CNC Finance, the company’s independently operated machine tool finance arm.
Says Mills CNC Finance Manager, Ian Barber:
“We expect that the majority of our ‘SMART Options’ rental business will be (as it was previously) with SME’s – although the Scheme is of course open to larger OEM-type companies too.
“We have re-introduced ‘SMART Options’ because we have found that, although many component manufacturers are busy (and expect to be so certainly in the short-to-medium term), and that they need additional machine tool capacity and capabilities to cope with the work currently in their order books – there are a number of market issues (such as the impending European Referendum), that are affecting business confidence and are leading to Capex investment plans being put on hold.
“As a consequence some companies are reticent about saddling themselves with what they consider to be long-term financial commitments caused by investing in a new machine tool via a bank loan or via traditional Hire Purchase or Operating Lease arrangements.”
In contrast the SMART Options Rental Scheme is flexible – and is designed to bridge the gap between manufacturers needing access to high-performance machining capability and capacity on one hand – but not wanting to ‘break the bank’ acquiring it on the other.
The SMART Options Rental Scheme has a number of elements.
The first of these is that the rental period for a new Doosan machine must be for 12 months, in the first instance. Although towards the end of the 12 month period manufacturers have a number of options open to them:
Return the Doosan machine to Mills CNC;
Extend the rental period for a further 12 months;
Buy the machine and get 100% of the rental payments made refunded against the original price of the machine.
Continues Ian Barber:
‘‘SMART Options gives manufacturers much needed breathing space to be able to focus and improve their performance in the short-term without being distracted by what may or may not happen in the future.
“Furthermore, SMART Options’ rental payments are highly-competitive and, as a consequence, attractive offering low rates to manufacturers. Such low payments combined with the Scheme’s ‘No deposit required’ condition and the fact that machine tool delivery, installation and training are all included in the price – will generate significant interest.
“The introduction of SMART Options is yet another example of Mills CNC having its finger on the pulse…of understanding market dynamics and trends…and of doing everything it can to make customers’ lives easier.”
