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ZHANGCHUNYU INTERVIEW
ChangingHorizon
EuanYoudale spokewith the general manager of China’s
biggest AWP rental company ZhangChunyu to find out how
the sector is set to change and grow.
“We could see that companies have made [good
returns] in thewell developedmarkets so that’swhy
we entered the AWP sector,” says Mr Chunyu, who
workedwith Far East Horizon for eight years before
assuming his leadership role at Horizon. Mr Chunyu
spoke though aHorizon company translator.
Nowwith 13 branches across China, the total fleet
comprises 1700 units – the 1400 aerials, 200 asphalt
pavers and compaction machines, and the balance
ingenerators and forklifts.
Of the access equipment in its fleet, 80% ismade
up of scissors, with the majority of the rest being
booms. Horizon chooses to invest in JLG and Genie
machines, with themajority - 1150 of them - coming
from Genie. It has about 50 JLG units, all of which
are booms. The fleet includes one each of the two
biggest booms in the world: the 180 ft (55m) Genie
SX-180and the 185 ft (56m) 1850SJ fromJLG. Vertical
masts and spiders are the likely next addition to
its fleet.
Research
Horizon’s launch followedmore two years’ research
into international rental markets, including visits
to Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and,
specifically, UnitedRentals in theUS.
With this research in mind, Horizon concluded
that it was the right time for China. “First, Chinahas
beendeveloping rental formore than 20 years, so it
now understands the concept of rental. Second,
the use of these types of machines is growing
as people use more-and-more equipment
rather than human labour, and third, China
is attaching great importance to safety
on worksites and it leads to people using
AWPs rather than scaffolding.” An additional
factor, says Mr Chunyu, is China’s growing
prosperity; “We are richpeoplenow.”
He adds that there is “positive influence”
from outside the country that is helping to
Zhang Chunyu, general manager of
Shanghai Horizon Equipment and
Engineering Company
develop safety. For example, Western contractors
insist on certain types of equipment being used on
their worksites in China, such as on the Disneyland
Shanghai project now under construction. “And
there are similar foreign funded projects that have
been around and have influenced the way we do
work.”
The company is making the most of China’s
transitionbygrowingother partsof itsbusiness too,
notably its paving equipment fleet. “The Chinese
road building equipment rental industry is in good
shape after years of development; however, most of
the rental companiesare small. Sowewant tobe the
bigger onewith strong industrial influence.”
The sector is not without its challenges, however,
with tough competition and low pricing affecting it
for the last couple of years. “But, from a long-term
view, the market is still promising. We will expand
our paving equipment fleet step-by-step, and we
aspire to build our own brand as a rental company
which leads themarket inChina.”
Rental
Thecompany isalwayson the look-out foradditional
rental segments, although Mr Chunyu intends
to keep an eye on product trends and customer
demandbeforemaking any new investments.
As previously mentioned, around 80% of access
equipment in the country is owned by rental
companies. According to Mr Chunyu end users are
found in the shipyard and construction industries
- the former being the first customer of AWPs in
China.
“With the development of rental companies, more
construction companies will prefer to rent rather
I
t is revealing that a company established only
fouryearsagocan layclaimtohavingthe largest
fleet of aerial platforms in China – 1400 units
at the time of writing. That is evenmore surprising
when you consider that HorizonEquipment began in
2011 not as an access player but by renting out road
building equipment, to which it then added shoring
products suchas hydraulic struts. Itwas in 2012 that
the first aerial liftwasadded to the fleet. Since then,
Horizon has also entered the power generation and
industrial forklift rentalmarket.
According to Chunyu Zhang, Horizon’s general
manager, there are only five access fleets of more
than 500 units in China. Even so, around 80% of
activeAWPs in the countryare in thehandsof rental
companies, he says, most of which are small, local
outfitswith fewmachines.
Horizon’smove into rental in 2011 came as a result
of the experience of its parent company, Far East
Horizon, in the financial leasing market. Far East
Horizon’s clients included construction companies
whichwereusing leases toacquireequipment. Itwas
a relatively short step from that to establishing an
equipment rental business, initially focussingon the
road building and shoring products that its clients
wereusing, but then adding access equipment.
