NEWS

Mills CNC Smart Options rental Mills CNC offers smart option for machine tool buyers unwilling to commit to long-term finance UK and Ireland Doosan agent Mills CNC has unveiled its refreshed and relaunched ‘Smart Options’ rental initiative, which is aimed at precision manufacturers looking to boost their machine tool capacity without being tied to any long-term purchase agreement. Available on all new Doosan machines supplied from stock by Mills, it is administered and managed by Mills CNC Finance, the company’s independently operated machine tool finance arm. Says Mills CNC finance manager, Ian Barber: “We expect that the majority of our ‘Smart Options’ rental business will be, as it was previously, with SME’s - although the scheme is, of course, open to larger OEM-type companies, too. “We have re-introduced ‘Smart Options’ because we have found that, although many component manufacturers are busy, and expect to be so certainly in the short-to-medium term, and that they need additional machine tool capacity and capabilities to cope with the work currently in their order books, there are a number of market issues, such as the impending European Referendum, that are affecting business confidence and are leading to Capex investment plans being put on hold. “As a consequence, some companies are reticent about saddling themselves with what they consider to be long-term financial commitments caused by investing in a new machine tool via a bank loan or via traditional hire purchase or operating lease arrangements.” The Smart Options rental scheme has a number of elements. The first is that the rental period for a new Doosan machine must be for 12 months, but towards the end of the 12-month period manufacturers have a number of options open to them: Return the Doosan machine to Mills CNC; Extend the rental period for a further 12 months; Buy the machine and get 100% of the rental payments made refunded against the original price of the machine. Continues Barber: ‘‘Smart Options gives manufacturers much needed breathing space to be able to focus and improve their performance in the short-term without being distracted by what may or may not happen in the future. “Furthermore, Smart Options’ rental payments are highly competitive and, as a consequence, attractive, offering low rates to manufacturers. Such low payments, combined with the Scheme’s ‘no deposit required’ condition and the fact that machine tool delivery, installation and training are all included in the price, will generate significant interest.”