As a high-tech equipment and medical device manufacturer or distributor, you might have inventory not being used—especially during these difficult times. What if these idle assets could generate multiple revenue lines for you instead of just add to your costs? Have you thought of any plans to optimize your existing product lines?
Now is the time for you to be innovative and figure out ways to keep your business going.
Rental is proving to be one of the best revenue streams for many companies. Renting your idle assets will not only ensure a new revenue model, but it also maximizes the benefits of your products. And, if you are doing this already, are you sure that you are tracking your equipment and devices accurately?
Renting your equipment without proper tracking involves a lot of risks, including missed equipment usage and location tracking and failing to perform servicing and maintenance on time. This shortens the lifespan of the device or equipment, leading to massive losses.
We’ve had a lot of high-tech equipment and medical device companies approach us, at To-Increase, with similar business issues. And, we were able to help them generate various revenue and contract billing models as well as track their assets by offering our end-to-end equipment rental solution.
The entire process of purchasing, implementing, and deploying a rental software can be complicated. So, it would make sense to start by looking at its benefits. But, let’s first understand the difference between the needs of high-tech equipment and medical device rental businesses from the rest.
How are high-tech equipment and medical device rental software different from the others?
An equipment rental solution for high-tech equipment and medical devices requires a slightly different set of capabilities than a regular one. It focuses on various processes and businesses that the rented equipment can support instead of specific equipment itself.
Imagine your company rents home equipment like water heaters, furnaces, and air conditioning. Your customers could be from any industry and their business style would differ based on their need for the equipment and what they are using it for. As you can see, it is not about managing one piece of equipment or device—instead, it is a way to help the customers manage their entire home systems. And, this requires you to work with a diverse set of sales and revenue models.
Another good example is a company that rents medical pumps to doctor’s offices, hospitals, clinics, as well as dialysis treatment facilities. Although they are merely renting pumps, they have to deal with a variety of different customers. On the other hand, if you are renting a bulldozer, you are renting only to a construction company.
Some companies have various end-customers to whom they rent different devices. And, high-tech equipment and medical device companies are among those.
Unlike heavy equipment, the high-tech equipment and medical devices need to be shipped in bulk—say 1000 customer services or 600 devices every day. Therefore, the logistics and revenue models are different, but the processes, at the highest level, are the same. You offer a piece of equipment to a customer, and they will have to pay rent over a specified period.
Benefits of an equipment rental solution for high-tech and medical devices
1. Complete visibility
Running complete rental operations of your high-tech equipment and medical devices requires you to manage a wide range of revenue and inventory tracking models. This is a complex yet crucial process—and without visibility into your equipment, you run the risk of unaccounted losses in your business.
A well-integrated rental solution offers complete visibility into your equipment and devices through every stage of their lifecycle and across the supply chain. As a result, you can improve your logistics management and, thus, deal with different sales packages and revenue models.
2. Better planning
Data is the new currency, and a rental solution can offer deep insights through continuously updated data in your ERP system. It also comes with a planning tool that gives a complete overview of all your equipment and devices. This means you can plan both the operational as well as strategic aspects of your business.
Historical data offer insights into different trends of your equipment in the past. For instance, the data can reveal a rising demand for a device or equipment during a particular time of the year or from specific industries. Such information allows you to be prepared with a product in terms of availability and pricing.
You can also use this data to schedule preventive maintenance for equipment during their low-demand period to maximize ROI. Besides, industry insights can help you in managing your inventory as per the market conditions.
3. Streamlined operations
Collaboration between all the different teams in your company and across the supply chain is crucial to ensure a seamless business. Operating an equipment rental company needs you to schedule shipment in real-time, track location, condition, and usage of the asset. You also need to have your workforce in line with the rental operations for them to take up the right task at the right time.
An enterprise software offers real-time mobile access to all the equipment and personnel details, improving levels of transparency and customer experience. Some solutions also provide a graphical planboard to check and manage billing, rental period extension, service and maintenance, etc.
4. Cost reduction and improved revenue
Maintaining customer satisfaction and cost-saving at the same time can be difficult in complex operations as in high-tech equipment and medical device rental businesses. However, striking a balance between the two is crucial in today’s competitive world.
An ideal rental solution can help you save unnecessary transportation and maintenance costs, wherever possible, by better planning, streamlining, and minimizing equipment downtime.
For instance, a solution with the Internet of Things (IoT) feature can track both the location and the usage of equipment or device. It means you can monitor the movement of your products and also keep track of any usage beyond the agreed terms to bill your customers for any extra usage.
5. Increased customer satisfaction
Finally, when your rental processes are streamlined and planned well, it directly enhances the efficiency of your entire supply chain. Also, the mobility feature in a solution ensures faster, accurate, and on-time billing. An agile supply chain means happy customers.
Moreover, a rental ERP solution allows you to access the past records of your long-term or recurring customers. You can use this data to offer special discounts and customized deals to improve your customer relationships.
Next steps?
As you can see, a comprehensive equipment rental software solution helps you manage various revenue streams for your high-tech equipment and medical devices. However, you need to consider a few essential points before investing in the right solution as it can have a long-term impact on your business. They are as follows:
- Since the customers of high-tech equipment and medical devices can be from any industry or background, it is vital to understand their needs clearly
- Discuss with your IT and operations team to list out their requirements
- Identify solution providers that can help you find the right software solution to meet your needs
- Schedule demos and discussions with the shortlisted solution providers
- Check reviews, case studies, and testimonials from their existing customers
Ready to begin your search for the right solution? DynaRent is a good example of the kind of solution you should be looking for. It is a complete equipment rental software solution with multiple features that helps you enjoy all the benefits mentioned in this blog.
Ankit Bhadana
Anastasia van der Wielen
