Danny Lim
Digital Solution Provider
So you have already been dealing with heavy machinery and equipment for a number of years, providing rental and sale of equipment? For the rental business, it is already on an upward trend in most parts of the world. The growth is similar in Europe too, where growth is expected between 2% and 3% each year.
But as it goes, every new step comes with its own set of challenges and taking steps to benefit the overall business is no exception. In this article, we would like to show how you can benefit your business through the use of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System.
1. Control over your complex business
You already have a set of business operations in place that work efficiently with your sales and inventory that you have been continuing year after year, but with the addition of the renting function, you are adding more business operations to your company. Your challenge will be incorporating an entire system that helps you bind the business together, including the rental desk, cash flow, and management. The only way to do it is to improve your control of all equipment and data is with an effective ERP system that spans the business processes of dealers, renters and service providers.
2. Utilisation of rental equipment and its resale value
As your business evolves with the movement in the market, you must be able to analyse and anticipate the market demand in advance, maximise utilisation of rental equipment and ensure maximum resale value for your equipment. All these complex interlinked tasks can be managed by using an ERP system with an asset management module to help you track all rental, service records and their parts and accessories. This level of control over your equipment can allow you to reduce equipment downtime and improve overall planning and utilisation.
3. Rental Needs VS Sales Needs.
You may be asking yourself this: “Should I focus on maintaining my rental equipment or spend on my sales equipment?”. If maintenance of rental equipment will cost more than it can bring in, it will usually be logical to place more emphasis on your sales channels and after-sales support processes. Before you can plan which direction your business is heading, you probably will have to manage and balance a huge list of functions between rental and sales assets. Having the right ERP system can assist you in planning and unifying all your processes while offering the right tools to keep rental and sales assets segmented.
4. Balancing your Cash Flow and assets
When managing your rental assets, you don’t want them to sit unused, rusting after the first scheduled maintenance. Also, if you just have enough equipment to meet the daily rental schedule, you might need to refuse a potential customer who turns up at your warehouse and you find yourself not having enough equipment at your warehouse. A balanced portfolio of rental assets in the yard and in the field will make sure there is control over your cash flow. Some ERP software will be able to help you track these assets, giving you real-time data for better planning of asset utilisation and service.
5. Equipment lifecycle management
Throughout the lifespan of your rental assets, there will be many servicing processes, rebuilding, repairs, changing components and multiple users. To maximise and not affect its functionality, you must track the costs and processes of an asset. An effective ERP system provides a means to track data and assist the user in deciding if a rental asset is ready to be retired or sold off. The ERP system in place should also integrate all data from various function process, from a quotation to an invoice. This single view of all data will allow highly efficient tracking and decision-making on any individual asset.
6. Equipment servicing is not a troublesome task.
The assets are used by various companies year after year in different conditions, and thus you need a proper system in place to plan and execute any maintenance with efficiency. Our ERP system provides a strong platform for users to plan equipment servicing through all the real-time data that is fed back. The process of issuing an order for maintenance is also efficient, as all tasks will send notifications to respective users when an action is required from them, reducing the time needed to make a maintenance order.
7. Two great customer service tools.
Your sales team may need to work long hours to record all project activities and make sure that all data recorded is accurate. While this seems to be a bit impractical when implemented manually, an ERP system can fulfil the purpose. The ERP system provided by Synergix Technologies can be implemented and provide real-time information of customers to your sales force, minimising the chance of errors. The ERP system will record all project activities, track client usage of a product, transactions so far and any relevant project info of a customer and a service enquiry call module to capture all the call-ins from customers. These 2 functions together will allow your sales team to manage and assist your customers as much as possible in the shortest time needed.
Synergix E1 developed by Synergix Technologies
Synergix Technologies Pte Ltd, the largest ERP solution provider in Singapore, can assist your rental business in handling and automating its business functions, allowing you to do more in less time. Ensuring that you have all the relevant data to plan for your business ahead. Want to know more about the solutions we provide? Contact us so we can assist you in automating your business functions.
