Total Control® Case Study

Equipment Sharing Optimizes Utilization on Massive EV Battery Plant Build

Single source equipment model plus visibility through Total Control® cuts costs by roughly 20%

Facing tight space constraints while building NextStar Energy’s 4-million-square-foot battery plant, Alberici-Barton Malow used United Rentals’ Consolidated Rental program and Total Control® software to share equipment among trade partners and manage utilization in real time. This approach reduced on-site equipment, improved safety and delivery logistics, streamlined billing transparency, and cut rentals and costs by over 20%. Strong collaboration among A-BM, United Rentals, and trade partners was cited as key, and the model is being considered for future projects.

A-BM had to build a 4‑million‑square‑foot battery plant on a tight 220‑acre site with no adequate laydown yard, making it challenging to control the amount of equipment on site. The core challenge was limiting and coordinating equipment across many trade partners to avoid an unsafe, congested site and rising costs.

Building Canada’s first large-scale lithium-ion battery production plant posed unique challenges for the design-builder, Alberici-Barton Malow (A-BM).

The parcel of land was extremely small relative to the size of the plant, constructed for NextStar Energy. The 4-million-square-foot facility would sit on a greenfield site of just 220 acres. Space for an adequately sized laydown yard was nonexistent. A-BM sought a smart way to limit the number of pieces of equipment on site while also reducing costs.

The solution: Equipment sharing

United Rentals offered a solution successfully implemented by other large contractors: equipment sharing through United Rentals’ Consolidated Rental program. A-BM rented all the main equipment needed for the project from United Rentals and shared it with its trade partners on a controlled basis. This approach reduced the equipment needed on the tight, active site at any given time, which boosted safety.

At peak, the project required more than 1,000 pieces of equipment. The number would have been significantly higher if not for the Consolidated Rental program.

“Had each trade partner ordered equipment directly, A-BM would have ended up with far too much equipment on site, creating an unsafe jobsite and increasing costs,” said Jenna Lansky, United Rentals digital customer success manager.

With a United Rentals branch located just six minutes away, equipment was delivered on schedule as needed, with no need for a laydown yard.

Optimizing utilization through Total Control®

The Consolidated Rental program gave A-BM full control over all the equipment rentals, facilitated through Total Control, United Rentals’ cloud-based worksite management solution.

Trade partners entered utilization forecasts based on their man-hour curves into Total Control to help with equipment planning. When they needed equipment, they entered the request using their unique purchase order number. A-BM reviewed each request and approved or denied it based on utilization trends.

When the project began, United Rentals hosted weekly utilization meetings with A-BM and its trade partners to discuss equipment needs. “But once A-BM started tracking utilization with Total Control, it became their bible,” said Rich Durocher, United Rentals key account manager.

If a piece of equipment was underutilized, A-BM would call it off rent or, more often, move it to another trade partner.

“Two or three trade partners could share a single piece of equipment throughout its lifecycle,” said Scott Teron, United Rentals district manager for Ontario South and GTA. “And because we didn’t have to pick it up, clean it and redeliver it each time, we generated additional savings for the customer.”

Visibility into rental periods for each unit allowed A-BM to further maximize the value of their equipment spend. If a week remained on a monthly rental and a trade partner was done with the equipment, ABM could choose that specific unit, already paid for, to give to another trade partner.

Consolidated billing and cost transparency

Total Control brought A-BM another benefit: streamlined billing. Instead of needing to process thousands of invoices from trade partners, A-BM received consolidated monthly invoices from United Rentals. Each detailed document included backups that A-BM shared with auditors from NextStar Energy for quick sign-off and payment.

“Total Control gave A-BM and NextStar Energy an open book, which is why United Rentals was the only vendor to have its invoices approved and paid on a timely basis,” said Durocher.

Successful outcomes for all

Thanks to the Consolidated Rental Program and Total Control, A-BM estimates it reduced equipment rentals by more than 20% and cut equipment costs by 20%.

“Coordinating with United Rentals, our Prime Rental Vendor on site, made managing the equipment much simpler while also creating cost savings that were very beneficial to the owner,” said Zeid Amin, procurement manager at A-BM.

“Handling orders and managing utilization in Total Control was a game changer that no other equipment vendor could match,” Amin added. “Trade partners received their equipment on time and A-BM, with the help of Total Control, was able to effectively remove equipment when they were no longer efficiently being used. The Equipment Yard Program was a great success!”

Another key to success was early and close collaboration among all parties.

“The word partnership gets thrown around a lot in our industry,” said United Rentals’ Teron. “But this is one job where everybody was all in, with trust and respect on all sides.”

Alberici was so pleased with the outcome that they are exploring using the same approach on future projects.