The enterprise segment perched on the edge of the so-called fiscal cliff follows drastic measures to curtail excessive capital expense in lieu of affordable products and services available on a subscription basis. Business organizations and industries need to maximize the potential of their working capital to survive the competitive economic landscape. In this context, rental equipment companies have taken the center stage in providing high-value and expensive equipment as an OpEx solution to cutting capital costs.
The rental vertical is posed for unprecedented growth as the enterprise market readily embraces the notion of long term profitability by trading off CapEx with OpEx. However, the equipment rental vertical itself faces challenging circumstances in providing customers with the flexibility, scalability as well as freedom from high capital cost and complexity they need to operate profitably. The most critical challenges for rental equipment companies include:
Manage Complexities in Billing and Scheduling
Rental companies are challenged with complicated operations as part of equipment lifecycle, fleet and cash flow management operations. Taking control of the sheer range of functional tasks and processes is barely possible with traditional information management solutions that only add to challenges associated with legacy IT and management processes, techniques and technologies.
Balancing Asset Portfolio and Cash Flow
Renting equipment is profitable only as long the balance between upfront investments on rental assets is justified with on-time dispatch and return of rented out equipment. Rental companies can achieve critical competitive differentiation by optimize rental planning and scheduling such that no customer is turned away due to lack of equipment and fleet in the inventory.
Utilization and Re-Sale of Fleet
Rental companies experiencing unprecedented growth need to scale resources efficiently in meeting varying market demands and managing changes in cash flow profile to improve utilization of the available equipment and fleet. They also need to maintain regular maintenance and service to maximize re-sale value of the fleet toward the end of it rental life approaches. Without the ability to anticipate and manage these changes optimally, rental companies end up losing profitability as they fail to meet their planned lowest cost per transaction threshold.
Offering Superior Customer Service
Rental equipment companies need to provide 99% equipment availability to accommodate the schedule of potential customers. The lack of holistic visibility into customer activities and requirements prevents rental companies from optimizing inventory and equipment portfolio based on changing customer demands. Rental companies need to align inventory levels with equipment rental time frame and quantity requirements, which only comes with advanced IT solutions yielding predictive insights in real-time.
Equipment Lifecycle Management and Planning
Rented equipment undergoes strict operating schedules causing significant wear and tear to its core components with use in manufacturing industries. Rental companies must maintain absolute visibility into equipment condition and performance especially toward the end of equipment lifecycle. Modern workload demands and data-driven financial transactions call for state-of-the-art equipment lifecycle management and planning capabilities to keep track of the data deluge that comes their way. Without accurate forecasts and planning of equipment service and repairs, rental companies lose in terms of CapEx as well as OpEx.
Sererra Solutions
The Sererra RentalSeries built on NetSuite platform empowers rental companies with cutting-edge ERP capabilities to streamline rental processes and activities. Sererra offers the following key capabilities in addressing critical challenges facing rental companies:
- Cloud-based real-time data management and processing.
- Leverage NetSuite ERP solutions to enable end-to-end resource planning and management.
- Efficient implementation and optimal ERP readiness to maximize returns on ERP investments.
- Advanced inventory control and optimization with real-time information management and automation capabilities.
- Flexible user interface to create customized statements, invoicing, agreements and templates.
- Use of mobile ERP solutions to maximize workforce productivity.
With these capabilities, rental companies can succeed in addressing critical business challenges to increase revenue margins, grow customer-base and achieve superior competitive differentiation.
