This past fall, two rental professionals traveled half a world away from their stores to experience life and rental 180 degrees from the norm as the latest participants in the International Rental Exchange Program, administered by The ARA Foundation for The Global Rental Alliance.

Michael Hayek, branch manager of Kennards Hire P/L in Sydney, Australia, spent six weeks stateside, working at Eagle Rentals in Seguin, Texas; Taylor’s Rental Equipment Co. in Fort Worth, Texas; and Taylor Rental/A&A Tents in Shreveport, La. He also attended the Texas Rental Association Roundup in San Antonio, Texas, in September, and the ARA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 16-18.

Meanwhile, Todd Daymont, CERP, manager of American Party Rentals in Durham, N.C., flew across the pond and south to spend six weeks in Australia, working at Harry the Hirer in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, outside Melbourne, and traveling with the rental store to events as far as Sydney.

Both participants chronicled their experiences in online blogs posted on The Global Rental Alliance Web site at www.globalrentalalliance.com.

While in the South, Hayek worked in almost every capacity, both behind the counter, outside the office and in the yard. At Taylor’s Rental Equipment, for example, he worked in both rental divisions. “In their party and event division, I worked at delivering and installing tents and learning about their party hire business. It has been interesting to see how they wash and press their linens, clean the cutlery and dishes and care for their tents as they get them ready for their next hire. On the equipment side of their business, I have been on various deliveries helping with customer check-in and check-out. I also have operated different types of equipment and spent some time in the mechanic building learning both how the equipment repairs are done and the process for ordering parts,” he says.

While at Taylor Rental in Shreveport, La., “I worked with the day-to-day operations of one of the branches serving customers, creating contracts and handling check-in of contracts as well as some deliveries and pick-up of equipment. I learned how to weld while spending time with the lead mechanic and also went with the store manager on some job quotes surrounding the Christmas holiday,” he says.

Hayek says, after working in the U.S., that “we are very similar in the overall operations of the business, but still much different in certain areas such as store layouts, deposits on equipment, bookings for customers over the phone and the advertisement of monthly rentals. I found that the competition in America is much greater than in Australia. Many rental stores diversify in other types of methods to receive income. For example, party rental was in just about every store. Some stores displayed and sold window screens in their rental stores and another was selling lounges on consignment with a furniture company. There also were stores receiving income from people using storage space in their rental yard,” he says.

Daymont says he “basically rode the coattails of the person I was staying with” during his time in Australia working at Harry the Hirer. “I stayed with four different host families. I got my field experience working with different project managers. Overall, there were a lot of similarities,” he says.

“They have a tremendous corporate culture. My observation was that all employees felt like they were a part of the larger entity. Everyone wore their respective uniforms. There were in-house sporting teams and competitions. They had an internal newsletter that employees received with their paychecks. The place oozed with signs of uniformity and teamwork,” he says.

“The thing about Harry the Hirer is they have this capability across all the divisions and they weave it together with precision. They are very conscious of how they assign labor and monitor hours employees spend on each job, so over time they have developed means of predicting how much labor and how many hours a job will require. The software they have really allows them to account for all these variables,” he says.

“I am amazed at the level of attention to detail. Dynamic Inventory Control [DIC] is an example. DIC is a method of reducing any and all inventory to the most basic and common identifiers. The idea is to make inventory storage and identification simple enough that temp labor and the like can easily identify and properly handle and store any piece of equipment with little directive from those higher up the chain of command. This is achieved by simply placing a sign, which includes a large picture of the item and instructions regarding the item, at the storage location for each type of equipment. This system is impressive and has given me the necessary input and motivation to make it a reality on the home front,” he says.

The two exchanges completed phase two and three of the International Rental Exchange Program. This year, a United Kingdom rental professional will be designated for working at a U.S. store in the fall, and an exchange is planned to Australia in May to June 2010 from the U.S. or Europe. Discussions on an exchange between France and Quebec, Canada, are ongoing.

Daymont encourages those with the time and availability to take advantage of the exchange program. “Such an opportunity is not to be passed up. Should you have the chance to go abroad, make the most of it. You will receive tenfold in return for any investment of time and effort,” he says.

Those interested in being part of the International Rental Exchange Program should call Jenni Venema, ARA Foundation director of development and association programs manager, at 800-334-2177, ext. 236, or e-mail jennifer.venema@ararental.org. For more information on the exchange program, go to www.globalrentalalliance.com and click on “International Rental Exchange Program” at the top of the page.

This past fall, two rental professionals traveled half a world away from their stores to experience life and rental 180 degrees from the norm as the latest participants in the International Rental Exchange Program, administered by The ARA Foundation for The Global Rental Alliance.

Michael Hayek, branch manager of Kennards Hire P/L in Sydney, Australia, spent six weeks stateside, working at Eagle Rentals in Seguin, Texas; Taylor’s Rental Equipment Co. in Fort Worth, Texas; and Taylor Rental/A&A Tents in Shreveport, La. He also attended the Texas Rental Association Roundup in San Antonio, Texas, in September, and the ARA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 16-18.

Meanwhile, Todd Daymont, CERP, manager of American Party Rentals in Durham, N.C., flew across the pond and south to spend six weeks in Australia, working at Harry the Hirer in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, outside Melbourne, and traveling with the rental store to events as far as Sydney.

Both participants chronicled their experiences in online blogs posted on The Global Rental Alliance Web site at www.globalrentalalliance.com.

While in the South, Hayek worked in almost every capacity, both behind the counter, outside the office and in the yard. At Taylor’s Rental Equipment, for example, he worked in both rental divisions. “In their party and event division, I worked at delivering and installing tents and learning about their party hire business. It has been interesting to see how they wash and press their linens, clean the cutlery and dishes and care for their tents as they get them ready for their next hire. On the equipment side of their business, I have been on various deliveries helping with customer check-in and check-out. I also have operated different types of equipment and spent some time in the mechanic building learning both how the equipment repairs are done and the process for ordering parts,” he says.

While at Taylor Rental in Shreveport, La., “I worked with the day-to-day operations of one of the branches serving customers, creating contracts and handling check-in of contracts as well as some deliveries and pick-up of equipment. I learned how to weld while spending time with the lead mechanic and also went with the store manager on some job quotes surrounding the Christmas holiday,” he says.

Hayek says, after working in the U.S., that “we are very similar in the overall operations of the business, but still much different in certain areas such as store layouts, deposits on equipment, bookings for customers over the phone and the advertisement of monthly rentals. I found that the competition in America is much greater than in Australia. Many rental stores diversify in other types of methods to receive income. For example, party rental was in just about every store. Some stores displayed and sold window screens in their rental stores and another was selling lounges on consignment with a furniture company. There also were stores receiving income from people using storage space in their rental yard,” he says.

Daymont says he “basically rode the coattails of the person I was staying with” during his time in Australia working at Harry the Hirer. “I stayed with four different host families. I got my field experience working with different project managers. Overall, there were a lot of similarities,” he says.

“They have a tremendous corporate culture. My observation was that all employees felt like they were a part of the larger entity. Everyone wore their respective uniforms. There were in-house sporting teams and competitions. They had an internal newsletter that employees received with their paychecks. The place oozed with signs of uniformity and teamwork,” he says.

“The thing about Harry the Hirer is they have this capability across all the divisions and they weave it together with precision. They are very conscious of how they assign labor and monitor hours employees spend on each job, so over time they have developed means of predicting how much labor and how many hours a job will require. The software they have really allows them to account for all these variables,” he says.

“I am amazed at the level of attention to detail. Dynamic Inventory Control [DIC] is an example. DIC is a method of reducing any and all inventory to the most basic and common identifiers. The idea is to make inventory storage and identification simple enough that temp labor and the like can easily identify and properly handle and store any piece of equipment with little directive from those higher up the chain of command. This is achieved by simply placing a sign, which includes a large picture of the item and instructions regarding the item, at the storage location for each type of equipment. This system is impressive and has given me the necessary input and motivation to make it a reality on the home front,” he says.

The two exchanges completed phase two and three of the International Rental Exchange Program. This year, a United Kingdom rental professional will be designated for working at a U.S. store in the fall, and an exchange is planned to Australia in May to June 2010 from the U.S. or Europe. Discussions on an exchange between France and Quebec, Canada, are ongoing.

Daymont encourages those with the time and availability to take advantage of the exchange program. “Such an opportunity is not to be passed up. Should you have the chance to go abroad, make the most of it. You will receive tenfold in return for any investment of time and effort,” he says.

Those interested in being part of the International Rental Exchange Program should call Jenni Venema, ARA Foundation director of development and association programs manager, at 800-334-2177, ext. 236, or e-mail jennifer.venema@ararental.org. For more information on the exchange program, go to www.globalrentalalliance.com and click on “International Rental Exchange Program” at the top of the page.