Equipment replacement analysis for publicly owned fleets

Appleby, Richard Charles Edward (1993) Equipment replacement analysis for publicly owned fleets. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (16MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

The economic life of equipment is the point in time when the sum of all equipment costs are minimum. The factors associated with equipment costs are operating and maintenance costs, ownership costs, obsolescence costs, parts cost, downtime cost and training costs. With today's economy, public sector agencies are finding it more and more difficult to acquire the funding necessary to operate, maintain and replace their equipment fleets. In many cases, equipment is used far beyond its optimum economic life because of this lack of funding. In these cases, the fleet manager requires some method of prioritizing the equipment replacement list. -- In order to effectively plan equipment replacement purchases, the fleet manager must have the ability to forecast future costs. In some cases, geographic location has an impact on delivery time of new equipment to the public agency and forecasting future equipment costs can provide the lead time necessary to order the new equipment before the end of its economic life. In other cases, the timing of budget approval for replacement funding can delay the purchase of new equipment. -- The criteria used for deciding when equipment should be replaced vary from one agency to the next. There are also some differences in the criteria used depending on whether the agency is public or privately owned. -- There are several fleet replacement techniques available to the fleet owner. In general terms, the life cycle cost method, interval life method and nomographs are commonly used. Each method has varying degrees of complexity. The causes of each method depends on the accuracy of the input information used by the fleet manager. -- Commercially prepared software is available to the fleet manager to assist in the equipment replacement decision. These software packages perform different types of fleet management functions. Fleet managers should thoroughly investigate the software being considered to ensure it fulfils their needs. -- Fleet replacement models can be developed in-house or by computer software consultants. The model should be designed so that it is adaptable and easily modified by the fleet owner. It should have the ability to compile cost data in a concise and logical format. It should also have the capability of forecasting future equipment costs and provide the fleet manager with a priority listing of equipment to be replaced.

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