New Serial Hub Digital Feature Brings QR Codes to Genie Lifts
Genie is making it significantly easier and faster for equipment owners and operators to find important machine information, including the operator’s manual, maintenance requirements, safety-related information, and parts ordering and availability.
In July, Genie began rolling out QR code decals — located in an easy-to-access location on each machine, and on the machine’s serial plate — on select new machines. When scanned with the camera on a smartphone or tablet, those QR codes provide quick access to digital information specific to the machine’s serial number via a new digital platform, the “Serial Hub.” Important machine information, including the machine’s manual, can be accessed from the Serial Hub, which also will be available through GenieLift.com and the Genie customer portal. Likewise, the Serial Hub will provide convenient links for direct parts ordering, making it easier to order necessary parts while standing by the machine.
There is no cost to access Serial Hub or to include the QR codes on new machines. Equipment owners who wish to connect machines already in their fleet will be able to purchase QR code decals and link them to any existing Genie machine in their fleet.
“The process is quick and simple,” said Matt Skipworth, Genie vice president, global services & digital solutions. “You simply scan a new QR code decal, enter the machine’s serial number, and affix it to the machine. If a QR code gets scratched or damaged, replacement QR codes can be purchased at a nominal cost and added to the lift the same way. We’re always looking for ways to make incremental improvements to our machines, and our customer service and support. We saw an opportunity to enhance the user experience and streamline access to critical information, so we did it.”
Because Serial Hub is digital, customers will have access to improvements as Genie continues to innovate. This includes future plans to add product walk-around videos, operator and technician training videos, and further integrate customer needs into the digital platform. These videos could help trained operators make sure they’re familiar with the specific model of lift they’re about to use, enhancing safety and efficiency. These features are in development and will be released as available.
QR codes are being phased in now for customers in North America and should be included on all new machines globally by the end of 2025.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.