November 03, 2020
Should You Rent or Buy Commercial Cleaning Equipment
When it comes to making a large equipment purchase for your business, navigating the myriad of services, companies, and opinions advertised online can be daunting and time-consuming. Add to that the decision on whether to rent or buy equipment for your business and the list of options and opinions is even greater.
For businesses who want to save time and money, the subscription model is the way. The low monthly subscription cost and all-inclusive service and parts model can save you 2x the machine cost in its lifetime and proactive service will save your team significant time on repairs.
In addition to lowering the bottom line and increasing efficiency, the subscription model offers flexibility for changing needs and analytics for fleet management.
Often when we think of renting commercial cleaning equipment, we either think of it in terms of very short-term rental, or we shy away thinking that owning the item is a better option because we’ll be making an “investment” and can re-sell the equipment when the equipment is no longer useful to us.
However, this is not always true—it depends on the market and type of item. In fact, for many in the cleaning industry, just the opposite is true due to the very nature of how some subscription services work.
Typically, when we think about rentals, we think of short-term agreements. Typically you'd rent the equipment for a project and then return it. If there is one quick job to handle, this can work fine, however, for businesses that have regular cleaning routines, this is a less-than-ideal option.
Especially when there are companies like ICE Cobotics, that offer a 36-month term rental subscription. This is a long-term rental subscription that is very cost-effective. There are some major benefits including:
Let’s explore these further!
With a subscription service, the predictable flat monthly fee is the only payment your business will need to budget for, maintenance and parts are completely covered! Stop worrying about large upfront capital investments when you can switch to a flexible monthly subscription to meet changing needs. Manage a large fleet? No problem, there is still only one bill for the entire fleet making it easier to track payments and costs associated with your equipment.
When a business invests in cleaning equipment like autonomous floor scrubbers and vacuum sweepers, there is no guarantee that your equipment will last or not have issues. The cost of purchasing equipment upfront combined with the service and parts can end up costing you a fortune.
Over the lifetime of the machine, an equipment owner typically pays for the machine twice over its useful life in unpredictable repair bills and parts. When renting, the monthly payment includes service, parts (including lithium-ion batteries), air freight charges, training, installations, travel, and labor. Often, these items go overlooked and are a large added expense throughout the year.
When working with equipment that has i-Synergy fleet management software, like Cobi 18, an autonomous floor scrubber, the unit is tracked through the cloud-based platform. This allows end users as well as the ICE Cobotics Client Care team to easily stay apprised of machine alerts and notifications.
With this service, a technician can remotely access the machine to diagnose and troubleshoot the problem. If the issue cannot be fixed remotely, a technician will be sent to the site to fix the problem within 48 hours. This service saves your team time and money.
Additionally, ICE Cobotics offers a swap model service. So for any machine that cannot be fixed virtually or through onsite support from a technician, they will swap the machine for a new one.
Lastly, ICE Cobotics also provides machine technology and software updates regularly at no extra charge which helps you avoid technology obsolescence.
Our equipment is advanced and intelligent. It comes fully equipped with lithium-ion batteries and smart software. It is no secret that lithium-ion batteries have become one of the best ways to power technology.
Due to the ultralight metal combined with the highest electrochemical potential these batteries hold their charge long enough to get any cleaning job done. They are some of the fastest-charging batteries on the market and need the least amount of replacement or attention.
For example, tests have shown that ICE Cobotics equipment lithium-ion batteries perform five times better than traditional lead-acid batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries are also some of the most expensive batteries on the market—so knowing that these are covered with the subscription service helps with even further cost-savings.
Lastly, when using the data pulled from i-SYNERGY users receive in-depth analytics on including machine location, areas cleaned, square footage cleaned, time used, and alerts and service reports. This collection of data allows users to discover how much time and money they’ve saved over the 36-month rental service.
This can also be another costly expense once a large piece of equipment has run its course. Disposing of technology of any sort can be a hassle and hindrance, not to mention costly, sometimes in the neighborhood of $2K just to dispose of the item.
With a subscription rental service, this cost is included—keeping expenses down in yet another way. Additionally, should a business decide to purchase equipment like this, there is the chance of re-selling and making some money back once the robot has run its course.
However, it is important to think of how fast technology advances and how quickly updates and advances happen in the tech industry. By the time the subscription service is up, a business will most likely be ready for the latest upgrade and newer equipment.
Trying to sell the old equipment can be a hassle and by the time regular maintenance and parts are factored into the total cost of the equipment it is likely your return will not make up for the investment.
ICE Cobotics is the premier manufacturer of subscription-based cleaning equipment.
From the low monthly cost all the way to the disposal of the equipment, ICE Cobotics has aligned its interests with its clients and is equally invested in the performance of the equipment. Their subscription model is focused on benefiting the client and making the partnership as easy as possible!
Reach out to our experts to learn more about our services and equipment.
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