The equipment rental industry is expected to grow in the coming years due to rising demand for renting among contractors and the flexibility of rental services. According to Research and Markets, the global construction equipment rental market is anticipated to reach USD 280 billion by 2030.
With these favorable trends, you, as an equipment rental company, must have the right technology to grow with the market.
At To-Increase, we offer equipment rental software embedded in Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management to help rental companies streamline their end-to-end business processes. During our 18+ years of experience, we have encountered multiple global rental companies unsure of the benefits of equipment rental ERP software.
This blog will share the benefits of using equipment rental ERP software, so you know how it is instrumental in adding value to your business.
What are the top benefits of equipment rental ERP software?
1. Maintenance and spare part management
During the in-house maintenance of your fleet, you require spare parts, upgrades, and repairs. In most instances, rental equipment maintenance is scheduled regularly, and while your team will be aware of the schedule, they may not be sure who will ensure the required spare parts are available at the right time.
When such instances occur frequently, you need to reschedule the service of the particular equipment. Equipment rental ERP's Material Resource Planning (MRP) function helps you in this aspect.
The equipment rental ERP software lists spare parts with the delivery times for each component. Based on the stock levels, your ERP will automatically notify your purchase department of the required spare parts and timeframe.
With this, you ensure timely maintenance and servicing of your rental fleet, positively impacting your equipment lifecycle management.
2. Single source of information
The information required for management reporting often comes from different components of the software in an equipment rental business. Data such as customer information, orders, rental projects, accounts, payments, and utilization rates are documented in separate locations.
With no single source of information, you have to refer to multiple sources to understand your customer base and analyze the well-performing assets.
An equipment rental ERP software offers you all the critical data in one overview. In an embedded ERP solution where rental processes are also carried out, all the information comes from a single system (database). You can easily combine the data in different ways, reducing complexity with integrations and dependency on multiple systems.
There is only one truth in equipment rental ERP software, eliminating double data entry, downtime, and communication silos.
3. Support for contracts
You may establish different rental delivery models to align with customer demand and must comply with regulatory changes according to the operational leasing accounting standards.
Handling complex contracts with varying customer profiles in siloed software systems is challenging.
An equipment rental ERP solves this challenge by recognizing multiple revenue streams and allowing you to invoice customers based on the payment mode. The software can manage complex contracts and set up project-specific pricing for rental, sales, and hours. Your business can have different invoice profiles, calendars, and rental types.
4. Manage selling processes
By default, ERP solutions provide excellent support for selling standard items. Using it with a rental component (equipment rental ERP), you can easily combine rental contracts with the sale of standard items.
For instance, you rent drilling machines and combine specific drill bits as standard sales items in the same rental contract. With an equipment rental ERP, you can manage the rental processes and sell the attached consumables as part of the main rental object.
5. Financial management
Irregular cash flow and revenue loss due to delayed equipment maintenance are critical challenges for equipment rental companies.
Equipment rental ERP with end-to-end financial management can manage all contracts, renewals, rental invoices, and credits in a central location. It offers standard templates for billing models in a single view, enabling quick calculations of rental rates.
With simplified finance management, you can enhance financial decision-making, reduce costs, unify business processes, and gain 360-degree financial visibility into all assets.
6. Human resource management (HRM)
The HRM department also uses ERP functions to collect and store information related to HR activities. Data on recruitment and selection, the discussion reports of invited candidates, employee assessments, etc., are commonly used in the ERP.
The equipment rental ERP would also have up-to-date records about the required courses and certificates employees have taken. You can also get the information about the date for renewals for employees and send them reminders.
The data about the qualifications and certifications of your team will be helpful when you need to schedule a service order along with a team with specific skills and qualifications. This helps with knowledge transfer and internal training.
Want to know the right equipment rental ERP for you?
An equipment rental ERP minimizes the number of solutions you use by consolidating operations on a single platform. If you want to standardize your rental processes and digitally transform your business, you can explore the option of rental software embedded in an ERP.
Such solutions have all the capabilities of a standard ERP with additional capabilities to handle rental processes, making it easy to use.
Equipment rental software embedded in ERP can support you through all the stages of rental operations, as seen below.
When looking for equipment rental ERP software for your business, follow these steps:
- Identify your operational bottlenecks and create a comprehensive list of software features and requirements.
- Discuss with different teams in your business to identify challenging processes which require automation.
- Research your ERP solution options based on your business criteria and needs.
- Evaluate the options against specific parameters (such as budget, implementation, ERP, etc.).
You can begin your first step of learning more about the essential features of equipment rental ERP by reviewing the checklist attached below.
Get insights into the following:
- Selection criteria to consider
- Crucial rental ERP essentials
- Conditions to ensure the success of your software
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Michiel Toppers
